In a little village of Samoa, a girl ran away from home. Her family missed her greatly and people from the village were still whispering about her disappearance to the new country, America. 

Her name was Tui, and she was the eldest out of five siblings. She loved all her siblings, but she was the closest with her only sister, Mana. 

    Although she was expected to be the saddest, she couldn't be more happy to read another letter from her beloved sister when she comes home after chores.

Mana had successfully kept it a secret from her parents, who were enraged when Tui wanted to go to America. They believed she needed to stay home and help the family, but no one could stop her motivation.

    Her letters were sent out every week by the delivery man, but recently, she had sent none. Since she's been missing her sister's letters, she decides to reread the ones from when she first left.

The first one is dated January 2, 1869

lanruari lona lua 1864

"This is Tui, and I have safely arrived in American ports, but I'll need a moment to adjust after that awful ship rocking. I hope my English is enough to get me through the rest of my journey. There's so many buildings here in New York as well as many people.

    There's no fale (homes) here, but with this many buildings, maybe they live in one. It seems very dirty and crowded here, too different from home. As strange as it may be, I need to find a job to pay for shelter, which is oddly expensive."

January 2, 1869

    "A strange woman came up to me on the street where I was looking for a job and suddenly asked me to work at a nearby place. I don't know the English word for it, but she said it's a good place to start. I think it's similar to weaving baskets back home, but I'll hope for the best.

She said I can start by the beginning of next week, so soon. Will you tell me how mom and dad are? Our siblings and cousins, too? I just hope to come back to help everyone in the village."

January 10, 1869

    "I found out the English word for the name of that building, it's a factory. I knew it from these angry people screaming it in the streets with signs, yelling the word while pointing at a nearby factory. When I stepped into mine, all I could see were girls working on clothes. The factory on the inside seemed very dirty, but I couldn't complain as they tested my skills immediately.

    I'll work my way to finding medicine practices here to take care of our sick aunties and uncles. Today was very tiring, and I already dread having to work as long as I did today."

January 13, 1869

    "I found somewhere to live after living on the streets for a week, it's in a very crowded area. This place probably houses twenty families! There's no such thing like this back home, but there's many buildings like this one. I share my room with another family, an Irish family. They've told me many interesting stories.

Although I like them, I deeply miss the cool air when I sleep, like how it was back in our fale. Sleeping under such a closed space makes me remember when we'd watch the night sky before we fell asleep."

February 4, 1869

"I haven't been feeling too well lately, but I've been very happy so far. Recently, I've been helping with the building of a nursing school. This will be my chance to continue to learn while helping others achieve their dreams. I cough miserably now, but in a few years when that school is       built, I'll become a great nurse and come back home.   

 Work is still very much tiring, but I've gotten used to it. Maybe Elise will finally convince me to join the protests going on outside the factory. I haven't heard from her lately, but I'll find her soon."

February 17, 1869

    That letter dated February 17, 1869 would be the last letter Mana ever recieves from her sister. Unbeknownst to her, she gladly slips the papers back into their envelopes when her parents call her for dinner. Although she knew it had been two months with no letter, she had enough hope in her sister. Maybe the delivery man forgot the letter or it got lost at sea.

    She went to bed with a serene dream of her sister. Mana couldn't wait to go to America and see the new opportunities to be a nurse, just like her big sister.