The girl from the blue gate · a Seoul alley

Where & when

• Blue Gate Alley · Seoul · South Korea 1994–2001 steps by the blue gate

About them then

Bomi · about 10 then

The girl who lived two houses down. She was a few months older than me, wore her hair in two short braids, and could toss five pebbles in the air and catch every one on the back of her hand.

Who I was then

The skinny kid from the corner house who always lost at pebbles.

Why I'm writing

To reconnect · Just hoping to know they're well

Every evening after school we sat on the steps by the blue gate while her grandmother's cooking drifted down the alley, and she taught me the pebble game until my hands stopped shaking. When my family moved away she pressed something small into my palm and told me not to open it until the bus had left the alley.

Passed on by 0 · reached step 0 · 0 keeping an eye out

Could this letter be about you? This is me