to China, my alternate reality

A friend of mine is going to visit China for 2 weeks in June, and thinking about her trip makes me miss the place so much. Or perhaps miss isn't the right word, because my memories there are few and warped by childhood. It's that I long for the feeling of being there. In the five weeks I traveled China before beginning college, there were so many moments I wondered what my life would have been like if I'd grown up there. Different, absolutely, but while I was there I couldn't help but  feel deep down: it would have been nice. It would have been comforting in the most mysterious way. So many times I felt, breathing that air, that I was breathing the air of home. of some distant past. of a dream. of another life lifetimes ago. something imprinted. something my heart remembers but I cannot.

photo: liobambi@deviantart