To my Mother Emmaye who loved my creative stories (Teret-Teret) and encouraged me to tell it all when I was a little girl.

To my two beautiful children, when I count my blessings I count you each twice.

To my unborn grandchildren, I loved you before I met you.

©Elsi Abebe 2018

2nd Edtion.All rights reserved

Edit suggestion : elsiabebebook@gmail.com

Far, far away, on the side of a mountain, Grandma lived in a little, old-fashioned house, in a country called Ethiopia.

I had been waiting so long to see Grandma again. I could hear her loving, sweet voice. It was at that moment that I looked up at the sky to see if my twinkling, wish-stars were up there. But all I could see were the birds flying high over the blue sky.

My waiting began when school was ready to end and when the teachers were preparing to say good-bye.

My waiting went on when the summer sunshine began reflecting, and when the neighborhood kids started riding their bikes in the front yard. I waited and waited, for my twinkling, wish-stars to show up in the sky. Slowly they started showing up here and there.

It was then I counted seven twinkling stars and whispered my wish one last time. My wish was for Grandma and her humongous suitcase to come soon. I could hear the sound of Grandma’s plane from my bedroom. Tucked in my wooden bed, I could imagine Grandma’s humongous suitcase. It was then I fell asleep and dreamed about the presents Grandma had for me in the humongous suitcase.

The air was so fresh with the sound of thunder very far away. The sunshine was too bright to sleep through the morning. It was then I said my little prayer to God.

In my backyard, I could hear Grandma’s plane flying in the sky. I looked up and waved. And I blew a kiss.

Shortly after, the kitchen phone rang; and I ran and picked it up.

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It was Grandma. She said, "Is this my brown sugar?" in her sweet voice. She told me to wait for her at the airport. I jumped and jumped till the dial tone on the phone went toooooooooooooo.

"Here is Grandma!" Mama shouted so loudly. I sure saw Grandma smiling at me, taking her fast walk.

In her hand were Jebena, her traditional coffee pot,

and a small red bag with the Ethiopian Airlines picture along the Ethiopian national flag on it.

It was then I ran to her to give her a big bear-hug.

She told me she missed me so much.

It was then I gave thanks to my wishing twinkling stars.

We walked and walked with my hand in her hand. It was then that I asked my Mama where the humongous suitcase was. She told me not to worry. But my little heart was telling me something was not right.

It was then I saw Mama talking to the airport people who were wearing a special uniform. Mama looked confused, and Grandma looked upset. It was then I said, "What is wrong Mama?"

They told me not to worry, again and again. It was then I asked where Grandma’s humongous suitcase was. Mama bent over and put her right hand on my shoulder, and said "Sweetie, I think it is missing".

I looked up to look for my twinkling stars, to tell them I needed a new wish. All I could see was a white roof over my head.

“We should go home now, sweetie!' Mama said.

We walked toward the door. I scuffed my shoes on the floor. Grandma rubbed the back of my neck. 'Don’t worry. Someone will call us when they find the suitcase.”

But I was worried. I looked up again. This time, all I could see through the giant airport window was the afternoon summer sunshine in the bright, blue sky. No wishing stars.

On the way home, I dreamed about Grandma’s humongous suitcase full of presents. The garage door noise woke me up from the sweet dream.

“Welcome to our house,” I said to Grandma. 

Then I ran up the stairs to my little bedroom, which was decorated in pink. For my sixth birthday, Daddy had decorated the roof with blue twinkling stars that would glow in the dark.

    I swished the curtain closed and covered my bedroom window with a thick blanket. 

It was then I saw the twinkling stars in my room ceiling glowing like my wishing twinkling stars in the sky at night. I whispered my wish one last time, for Grandma’s humongous suitcase to be found.

    That night, I lay in bed and thought about last summer when Mama dropped us every Saturday morning at the mall.

Grandma always took me to the coffee shop where she bought me chocolate milk and cookies and ordered Ethiopian coffee for herself. I loved translating for Grandma, since she did not know how to speak English.

The best part was to watch Grandma riding the escalator to the second level of the mall where the jewelry stores were. Since Grandma was scared of riding the escalator, she would tap the moving escalator five times with one foot before she put both feet on the moving escalator. She would squeeze my little hand so hard that it hurt.

Then she would pray to God not to fall down.

I would laugh and laugh. How funny that even Grandmas are scared sometimes. Before I knew it, Grandma would jump hard onto the floor, and thank God for keeping her safe.

The next morning, I woke up when the doorbell rang. I skipped down the stairs two by two. Two big men were lifting Grandma’s humongous suitcase from a big blue van.

I was so so happy to see Grandma’s humongous suitcase, my heart was beating real fast.

Mama had to call Daddy to help the two men. Grandma’s humongous suitcase was even more humongous this year.

We all sat down on our living room floor and opened Grandma’s humongous suitcase.

Grandma said, “Are you ready Brown Sugar?' in her loving sweet voice. My big brown eyes were even bigger when I saw all the things in Grandma’s humongous suitcase.

First, Grandma held up a white Ethiopian traditional dress with green, yellow and red embroidery at the bottom.

“What are these colors?” she asked.

I proudly said, 'It is the Ethiopian National Flag!"

Next, she held a kid-size Ethiopian clay coffee pot

called Jebena. “I am going to teach you how to make the

famous Ethiopian coffee.” I clapped my hands. Grandma held 

a plastic bag with coffee beans in it. “This coffee came from a place

called Keffa where coffee was found for the first time. See how the

word coffee sounds like the word ‘Keffa’? Your great

grandpa had a coffee farm in Keffa.”