Хэн хаана байх вэ

Nick is leaving the town for the first time. His summer job is at a resort overseas. Dad opens a paper map on the kitchen table. “Let's follow you hour by hour,” he says.

Nick looks down the row of times. “At eight I will be eating breakfast.” Sara writes the fare beside each hour. Dad checks the booking on his phone. Mimi asks about ten o'clock, and Nick looks at the map. “At ten I will be travelling by rail.”

Mimi repeats the plan in her own words. “At six I will eat my breakfast.” Sara looks up from the paper and counts on her fingers. “Will you be waiting alone in the terminal at noon?”

Dad traces the highway on the map with one finger. The bus will leave from the stone wall. The bus is due to depart at nine. Nick carries his bag out to the gate. Dad turns on the radio, and thick fog fills the harbour. “You won't be boarding that aircraft today.”

Nick rings the office at the resort. They move his start to Monday and send a new plan. Instead of a landing at two, he will be crossing the sea on a slow night boat.

Dad brings down Grandad's old navigation book from the shelf. Its pages smell of salt. Sara redraws the hours in pencil. “At two you will be reading this on a deck.”

The bus arrives, and Mimi waves until it turns at the corner of the street. At two the family stands by the window, and Sara smiles. “Right now he will be watching the coast go small.”