Helen Jo

Sonder Place Helen Jo

There is a place where many houses are all jumbled. There, everything - doors, walls, windows, roofs, paths, and alley- is all piled and clustered, and incredibly each one leads to the others. So just walking among those houses feels like playing hide-and-seek.

Alok lives there. It's a bright morning. Alok feels brave today. I am ready for an adventure, he declares.

Alok hesitates in front of a house he has walked by often. He barely knocks on the door, and it swings open!
There stands a granny up on a ladder by a huge window.
"Good morning. My name is Alok."
"That s a beautiful name, Alok. Good morning. Please come in," the granny offers kindly.
"Thank you. What are you painting up there?" asks Alok.
"A sun. I am tracing a morning sun and painting it on my window so that I can keep it all day long. My room gets dark very quickly in the afternoon."
Oh! Alok smiles with a nod.



"You have a beautiful smile just like your name!" says the granny.
Alok realizes he doesn't t know the granny s name yet. Her name must be warm and beautiful just like herself! thinks Alok. "May I ask your name?" he asks.

"My name is Yawasedafnworehfoemandelkrapsecnomomfoemanehtni."

Alok mumbles, "E...excuse me?"

"It is Yawa-sedaf-nwo-reh-fo-eman-delkraps-ecno-mom-fo-eman-eht-ni."

"Can you tell me one more time, please?" stumbles Alok.
The granny repeats her name, but Alok still cannot even call one syllable of her name!
"A name like mine is difficult to remember, Alok. People hardly remember or call me by my name." Suddenly a shadow crosses where they are standing. "I better get back to work before the sun goes down." The granny picks herself up with a wistful smile.