Angel in the Full Moon. Don Easton

ng was led farther down the hall and Pops opened the door to another room.

      “This is your bedroom,” said Pops, placing H

ng’s bag of clothes on the floor. “You can hang your jacket in the closet.”

      H

ng gazed around the room in awe. It was huge. Her eyes wandered from a big stuffed teddy bear lying on the bed to something that startled her.

      “Mister Pops! There is a television in my room! Do we watch it in here?”

      Pops laughed and said, “No, that is just for you.”

      “For me!” H

ng exclaimed, putting her hand over her mouth.

      “You can watch it in here if you want to be alone. I’ll show you another television that you can watch if you do not wish to be alone. It is much bigger, but first, I want to finish showing you around up here.”

      H

ng opened the closet door and saw that the closet had more space than the area that both she and Linh had when they slept at home.

      Pops opened another door beside her bedroom. “This is your bathroom,” he said. “If there is anything you are missing or anything you need, please just ask me.”

      “Mister Pops, this is ... for me, too?”

      He grinned and said, “Mister? No, no, no. Just call me Pops. Yes, this bathroom is for you until your sister comes. Then you’ll have to share the bathroom with her. Of course,” he said, opening the door to another bedroom, “she’ll have own her room.”

      “I’ll go now,” interrupted

c. He handed Pops a cellphone and said, “For later.”

      Pops had H

ng wait in the kitchen while he went to the garage with

c was gone, Pops returned and said, “Come, follow me. I’ll show you a real TV set.”

      H

ng was in a daze as Pops led her to the basement, where they entered a large room with wooden panelling on the walls and thick wall-to-wall carpet. There was a leather sofa, two upholstered chairs, and a coffee table in the room.

      “Help yourself whenever you want,” said Pops, gesturing to a bowl full of candy on the table.

      H

ng gawked at the wall opposite the sofa. Hanging on the wall was the largest television set she had ever seen.

      “And this room over here is just another bathroom,” said Pops, gesturing to another door. “The room beside it just has my weights for working out.”

      H

ng started to cry. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t help herself.

      “What is wrong?” asked Pops.

      H

ng flung her arms around him and said, “Nothing. It is so much just for me. My tears are happy tears.”

      Pops hugged her back and said, “Why don’t you go back upstairs and freshen up? Take a hot bath or a shower. There are clean towels in the bathroom for you. It is also lunchtime. While you’re doing that, I’ll order some pizza.”

      Pops stared at H

ng for a moment and said, “If you like pizza? Otherwise I can order something else?”

      “I like pizza,” said H

ng, using her hands to wipe her tears. Later, while gorging herself on pizza, H

ng turned to Pops and nervously said, “My father has a phone. He asked that I call him.”

      “I think you should. He must be worried.”

      “I have not talked to him for six months—no, weeks,” replied H

ng. “I worry about my sister and grandmother, too.”

      Pops checked his watch and said, “With the time difference, it is now about four in the morning there. Maybe a little early for a call. Let’s wait a few hours.”

      H

ng nodded in agreement.

      Pops spied H

ng’s extra thumb and gently reached out and touched it. “I was told about this. Does it cause you pain?”

      H

ng quickly withdrew her hand from the table and placed it on her lap.

      “Please, I did not mean to embarrass you,” said Pops. “I just wondered if it caused you any pain.”

      “It does not hurt” replied H

ng, matter-of-factly. “Only in my head it hurts. Not real pain.”

      Pops smiled knowingly and said, “If you like, in time, I will have a surgeon remove it for you. But that will be your decision. It does not bother me at all.”

      H

ng smiled and brought her hand back into view. “I think I would like that. To be the same as other children. My sister does not have this problem. She is perfect.”

      “Your sister ... I understand the next ship leaves in three days. Do you think she will like it here? I bet you miss her?”

      “Yes, very much,” she admitted.

      “I hope you will be happy here,” said Pops.

      H

ng beamed. Words were not necessary.

      “Your English is very good, but in a few days we will start you on home-schooling. Right now, I bet you are exhausted.”

      H

ng smiled and said, “Yes. I am very tired.”

      “If you’ve had enough to eat, go to your room and take a nap. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours and then you can call your dad.”

      H

ng went to her room and climbed into bed. She had never slept in a bed so big. Or on a mattress and pillow that was so soft. Too soft for what she had become used to. She elected instead to lie on the floor and cover