Our Missing Hearts

Margaret had set up a bedroom in her abandoned base for Bird, hoping he would find her someday. He is cautious, and she realizes how much of his life she’s missed.

Margaret tells Bird the story of her past, as well as how and why she left the family, while working on a project. Margaret’s father and pregnant mother had moved from Kowloon to a small town in America. Once, someone set a bomb off in the family’s mailbox, motivating Margaret’s parents to dress her like other American children. They studied their neighbors and mimicked them to fit in. Margaret moved to New York City for college, where she started experimenting with style as she was finally free to be anonymous. She also started writing poetry.

By the time Margaret was a junior, a great economic depression hit the country. Blocks of the city were shuttered, and massive unemployment and disillusionment set in; mass protests turned violent. Newspapers started referring to the situation as the “Crisis” because there was too much going on to develop a more specific label. College classes were canceled, so Margaret moved in with friends of her friend Domi.