“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.”  Robert Louis Stevenson

I remember the first day I left. I was so hyped. My body was shaking in excitement that I was finally free. Free from asking permission to go places, free from Mom not trusting me to go out with my friends. Free from getting a fasi from slippers and free from Dad’s dreaded exercise routine because he says. “Ma tua e lapoa tele ova lou ai chicken n chips.”

As I stepped onto the Air New Zealand plane, I finally felt the feeling of being an adult.

The year now is 2053 and I am 40 years old. It has been 22 years since I have left my charming Samoa. I now have wrinkles and a lot of spots. Within my brown hair, there are grey strands. I have travelled all over the world. I have seen the enormous marble of the Taj Mahal and the ancient palace of Jordan, carved into tough stone. I have walked on the Great Wall of China and eaten friend crickets. I have been to the massive volcano in Hawaii. Even though I have been to all these places, I am not happy. As I’m sitting on my porch in New Zealand, my mind drifts, thinking of the fresh i’a just pulled out of the ocean that morning.

I miss the feeling of warmth when I sleep. I miss the golden sand stuck between my toes. I miss the special fried chicken for to’ona’i and I really miss jumping into the crystal clear water in the ocean. When I was younger, I was so desperate to leave the country because my mom would not let me go places, like parties with blasting music.

As a teine Samoa it is hard having strict parents that are over protective.

Just at that moment, my cell phone rang. I looked down and saw the words, “Home sweet home.” which is Mom. I thought, “I wonder who died? Or how much money does she want?”

“Hello?”

“Hmmm, magaia le ta’a pei a oe e leai sou aiga, Anissa. It’s time for you to come home because Dad is sick.”

After those words, I felt so guilty because I had been away for so long, and for the first time ever I knew my mom was right. I had to go back home.

So now, 22 years later, I’m at the airport about to step back onto an Air New Zealand plane. But this time I’m returning home to look after Dad, I’ve had my freedom and now it’s time to be a real Samoan girl.

Anissa Perez is a Year 5 student at Vaiala Beach School and this literary piece won her first place in the Year 5 English category of the Samoa Observer Short Story Competition.