Long Way From Home

'Long way from Home, Boy', I thought to myself several times the last couple of years. It has been 10 years since I left home and 9 years in USA. I have been to different places like a wandering Samurai - Baroda, Morgantown, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Philadelphia. But nothing has come close to home, never felt the same like h0me. Morgantown and then Philly come close but they are as close as horizon. There are several things I like about living in Philly, my lifestyle has improved since college and am in good place I think.

But there are certain things that I miss. I miss the cold ocean breeze and the hot summer days. I miss the convenience store whose owner is an obnoxious snob but lets stuff out on credit. I miss the gang of guys making passes at cute girls in the street corner. I miss the teeth bites while trying to mediate a silly dispute between two young girls. I miss being pulled out of line for a first day first show after waiting in line for 3 hours and buying the tickets in black for a farce in the name of movie called 'Kondapalli Raja'.

I miss waking up at 5:00 AM to be at the tuition center for IIT. Never been any close to getting into IIT. I miss being the scared kid on the first day at school(AUCE college). I miss the road side junk food at the beach. I miss the cricket at my friends backyard with shady rules like one bounce catch.

I miss the soothing shade under the coconut tree in front of my home. The coconut trees are no longer there, but their imagery is still intact. I miss the sweet smell of jasmines from the 8 ft long Jasmine plant in my backyard planted by Mom. They must have grown longer. I miss the sweet taste of guava from my backyard.

I miss the tender touch of my 12 lb and 1 year old niece who is 11 years now. I miss not seeing the reaction on my nephew's face when he puts on the Spiderman costume I sent him. Most of all I miss my family. I miss not being for them when they need me. I say to myself several times a year 'You are long way from Home, Boy'.

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Above is an expanded version of my prompt for 'You are long way from Home, Boy' at my writer's workshop.