A Cricket Named Song

Early on a Sunday morning, Ying rested his head upon his pillow. Wind pounded on his window as a mid-Winter thunderstorm poured rain over the people of Beijing.
A great collection of noises came from the alley outside Ying's window.
Motorcycles buzzed along as they splashed through puddles while rain beat upon his window. Ying lay in his bed, spying on the conversations of the people outside.
“Hurry up before it starts raining harder!” said one girl.
“I’m running as fast as I can,” said the other. Wheels whirred across the road and a motorbike’s horn beeped.
Ying also heard crickets chirping. He turned over on one side and looked at his empty cricket cage.
The sounds of cars and people soon subsided. Ying listened to the raindrops falling on the street and crickets chirping.
“Every cricket cage deserves a cricket,” he thought to himself. He sat up in bed and stepped into his sandals. As he snuck through the kitchen, Grandma Mei sat at her sewing machine, mending one of Grandpa Jong’s shirts.
Ying propped the back door open and slipped through it. The chirping came from beneath an old wooden piano sitting beside the door.
Ying crouched down and looked behind the piano. Several bright green crickets sat, chirping their songs.
Ying reached out his hand and the chorus of chirps stopped. The sound of a single "cree-cree-cree" continued as all but one cricket escaped Ying's grasp.
"Ah, I see the problem now," said Ying. Ying cupped a hand around the cricket and gently grasped it by a leg. With a careful pluck, he freed the cricket’s leg from a splinter of wood.
Ying held the cricket between his fingers and investigated it. The cricket chirped softly as his eyes watched Ying. The cricket’s eyes were bright orange-red.
“They thought you were the unlucky one, getting caught by the little boy, but you are the lucky one. You will get to live in a beautiful cricket cage that’s all your own.”
The back door creaked as Ying pulled it open. The sewing machine stopped and Grandma Mei came into the kitchen, to find her grandson half-way in and half-way out of the house.
“What are you doing up so early?" she asked.
“I found a cricket for my cage,” said Ying as held out his hand.
“He is very beautiful.”
“I think so, too,” said Ying.
“Go fetch the cricket cage and put him inside.”
Ying ran to his bedroom and opened the cage door.
“In you go.”
When he returned, Grandma Mei was standing at the kitchen sink, cutting apples into tiny slices and placing them in a small bowl. She put a sliver into Ge's cage. The cricket walked over to the apple and began to nibble.
"I once had a cricket when I was a little girl," said Grandma Mei.
"Really?"
Grandma Mei nodded. "Every day I would go to the orchard and pick fruit from the trees and slice it into cricket-sized bites."
She picked up the bowl and walked into the sewing room as Ying followed her. He set the cricket cage in the middle of the floor and laid beside it. Grandma Mei placed the bowl of apples beside Ying and sat in heer chair.
Ying rested his head in his arms, watching Ge explore the inside of the cricket cage.
“What was your cricket’s name, Grandma?”
“I called him ‘Guo-Guo,’” she said.
“I like that name. I wonder what I should call my cricket.” Ying investigated the cricket, which sang in his hand with a low, but steady ‘cree-cree-cree.’
“How about ‘Ge’? said Grandma Mei.
“Ge? Yes, I think I like that. Do you like that, little cricket?” The cricket chirped as Ying blew gently on his face.
‘Ge’ meant song and singing was Ge’s favorite thing to do. He chirped steadily, singing a song for Ying and Grandma Mei. Ying clucked his tongue, trying to chirp like a cricket. Ying rested his head on his arms as he stretched out next to the cricket cage.
"What do you have there?" asked Mrs. Liu as she entered the sewing room.
"Ying found a cricket."
Mrs. Liu looked at the cricket cage sitting in the middle of the sewing room floor. "Ma, you know how much I dislike crickets."
"I know you've always been afraid of bugs, but crickets are good luck."
"I'm not afraid of bugs, I just never liked them."
"I don't think you've ever touched a cricket your whole life," replied Grandma Mei.
"That may be, but I'm not afraid of crickets. Ying pick up the cricket cage and bring it here," said Mrs. Liu.
Ying picked up his cricket cage and advanced towards his mother. She opened the door and poured Ge into her open hand.
"See? I'm not afraid of crickets," said Mrs. Liu. She quickly dropped Ge back into his cage and fastened the door shut. It must have been quite some adventure for Ge, since he was quiet for the first time since Ying found him behind the piano."
"Wash up, Ying. We're going to run some errands before everyone wakes up."
Ying sat the cricket cage on the sewing table and went into the bathroom for a shower.
"Even though you put on a brave face for Ying, I know you used to be terrified of bugs," said Grandma Mei.
"Honestly mother, that was a very long time ago."
Ying finished getting ready and returned to the sewing room.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"I have to run a few errands."
"Can we go to the library?"
"Of course," said Mrs. Liu.
Ying took Ge along, cradling the cage in both hands as they rode to the library. Ying checked out several books about crickets and read them as Mrs. Liu ran her errands. She went to the bank and the florist and then the grocery store. When she shopped, Ying went inside with her. Ge went along, too.
"Mama, I read that Crickets like apples. Could we buy some apples?"
"Of course," she answered.
Mrs. Liu pushed the shopping cart through the store, stopping in the produce section. Ying rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he investigated the apples.
“Which one do you think he will like best?”
“Which one do you like best, Ying?”
“I like green apples.”
“Then we will buy green apples.”
“What if he doesn’t like them?”
“Then we can buy some red apples, too. Whichever ones we don’t eat, I’ll give to Grandma Mei. She can make us an apple pie.”
“That’s a good idea.”
After they finished shopping, Mrs. Liu paid for the groceries. Ying placed the cricket cage into the grocery bag with the apples.
“Ge, make sure not to eat all the apples while we ride home,” said Ying. They loaded the groceries in the back seat. Ying sat beside the groceries and watched the cricket cage. Ge was silent as he rode along in the grocery bag. Ying figured Ge was busy smelling the apples and could not focus on singing.
“We have one more stop to make,” said Mrs. Liu. She drove down familiar streets, stopping at the end of a Hutong.
“Are we going to the Opera House?”
“I need to see Mr. Wong.”
Ying smiled at his mother. He was happy that she had surprised her with a trip to the Opera House. Again he took his cricket cage with him, to show to Mr. Wong.
The inside of the Opera House was busy with activity. Actors were singing and studying their lines. Mr. Wong was in the tool shop, fixing one of the swords.
“What a pleasant surprise,” said Mr. Wong as he looked up from his bench. He set his tools down and stood up to greet Mrs. Liu and Ying.
“I wanted to return these costumes to you,” said Mrs. Liu.
Mr. Wong tried on his soldier’s costume. It fit perfectly. He picked up a sword and moved about, testing the seams.
“This is fantastic work.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wong,” replied Ying’s mother.
“No problem at all. You’re a blessing to the Opera House. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
Ying’s cricket chirped loudly. Mr. Wong bent down and peered into the cage.
“What’s his name?”
“Ge,” answered Ying.
“I can see why. He’s very loud. A loud cricket is a blessing, too.” Mr. Wong grabbed rough wire from his desk and wrapped it around a pencil. He grabbed another pencil and rubbed them together. It clicked like a cricket’s chirp.
"Can I try?" asked Ying.
"Of course."
“Did you know that when a cricket chirps, it rubs its wings together?”
“That can’t be,” said Ying. Mr. Wong pointed to the back of the wings. There were tiny ridges on the inside of the wings, and as Ge rubbed them together, he chirped.
“What else do you know about crickets?” asked Ying.
“I know all sorts of things. I used to own a cricket when I was a boy.”
“Almost everyone I know owned a cricket as a pet.”
“It is good luck to have a singing cricket in every house,” said Mr. Wong.
“I guess we’re lucky then,” said Ying.
“Your sister and grandmother won’t be feeling lucky if we don’t get home and fix lunch,” replied his mother.
They returned home, only to find Grandma Mei and Lien-Hua in the kitchen, fixing egg drop soup. Lien-Hua stirred the chicken broth while Grandma Mei gradually added the raw eggs. They bubbled in the boiling water, instantly turning into egg drops.
“Mother, you didn’t have to prepare lunch,” said Mrs. Liu.
“I haven’t had a chance to cook in a long while. I wanted to prepare soup.”
“Grandma Mei makes the best egg drop soup,” said Lien-Hua.
“It looks like you’re making it too,” said mother.
“I’m just doing what Grandma tells me to do.”
Everyone gathered around the table as Grandma Mei chopped mushrooms and onions and dropped them into the soup. She filled bowls with soup and placed them on the table. Meanwhile, Lien-Hua put on a pair of oven mitts and retrieved pork dumplings from the oven.
Everyone but Ying began to eat, who was busy cutting one green apple and one red apple into slices. He placed slices in Ge’s cage and on his lunch plate.
As he sat at the kitchen table, Grandpa Jong looked at Ying’s new pet. The cricket took turns chewing on the red slice and then the green slice.
“I guess he likes both,” said Mrs. Liu.
“Me too,” said Grandpa Jong as he snuck apple slices from Ying’s plate.
“Hey!” said Ying.
“I just thought your cricket had good taste.”
“Of course he does,” answered Ying.
“What’s his name?” asked Lien-Hua.
“His name is Ge.”
“That’s a funny name,” answered Lien-Hua.
“I think it’s as good a name as any,” said Grandpa Jong.
“I still think it’s a funny name.”
“What would you have called him?” asked Ying.
“You should have called him ‘Lien-Hua.’”
“It’s a boy cricket,” said Ying.
“it’s still a better name than ‘Ge,’” she answered.
“Lien-Hua, when you get a cricket, you can name him whatever you want,” scolded Mrs. Liu.
Everyone continued to eat and talk about Ying’s cricket, a cricket named ‘Ge.’