Mr. Kim

by Mingzhao Xu

This story was originally published in Day One, a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers.

After his father’s sudden death, Peter Kim returns to his small midwestern hometown. Despite his big postgraduation plans, his sense of duty forces him to stay, and so he takes a job mentoring children and leaves his girlfriend and grad school dreams behind.

One day, Kim is driving a van full of kids when he loses control and careens off the road. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead cell phone, he hears his mother’s voice chiding his every attempt to lead his charges to safety. His hold on reality begins to slip, and soon Kim is forced to face both old and new his parents’ imperfect way of expressing love, the pain of not belonging, and the surrender of his ideas about his future.

Compelling and relatable, Mr. Kim speaks to the struggle of finding balance between creating a new life and fulfilling all of life’s many obligations.

24 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 16, 2016

About the author

Mingzhao Xu immigrated to the United States from China as a child. One of her greatest joys in life is using fiction to highlight the humor, challenges and pathos of her childhood. She currently lives in California.

Reviews

[Amy Vedder · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever stuck between compelling & dutiful choices in life, Mr. Kim is a very good read. This is a very well written story about what it takes to make choices in life, and how it matters to be a certain kind of person in what choice you pursue.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this story online and decided to check it out.

I loved Xu’s writing style, by the first page I was highlighting a passage I found stunning. This continued throughout the story.
I think the story pieced together rather well, allowing for the current events in Kim’s life and his backstory to develop in a linear and engaging way.
Overall, this was a super quick read with some insightful passages and deep themes.

[251 Things To Do · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story that reads like a novel. The author manages to throw an intensive plot together all in a few pages, brilliant work. Peter Kim, the main character, is your classic young newly immigrated child who grows up with the challenges of being a minority in a western country and being split between two completely different cultures. Only ever knowing what it’s like to live in a city, a concrete jungle, he finds himself stranded in a more wilderness area. I laughed when reading the line “…might get eaten by bears.”

The story almost seems to perhaps reflect the authors background. Through Kim, she recounts the common barriers and hardships of being an young immigrant with accuracy. A wonderful view into the depths of culture, learning, and growing. Great read!

[Mina Harker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting psychological sort of read.

[V.L. Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this story, very powerful and I look forward to reading other works by this author.

[Kathryn Parry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story.