When I was a young boy, I went and hung out with a friend. I guess I knew him from school, but can’t really place the details: how old I was, who he was, where we went to school. In fact, I don’t remember much about him at all other than what we did that afternoon and the fact that he was asian.

We were playing at his house and had ventured into a wooded area on the outskirts of their suburban neighborhood. He decided it would be fun for us to play sword fight. We had some sticks or maybe even a plastic toy sword or two and chose our battleground: a small grassy mound at the edge of the treeline. He wanted to be on the top of the mound, so as to have the advantage of higher ground, and I went along with it. At that time, it felt as though other children were more confident than I was. I wasn't very assertive.

So we go on fencing, crossing blades and striking each other's weapon, and it bubbles up. I knew what it meant, and I knew I shouldn't say it, but I wanted to. So the next time our swords hit, I decided to make a sound effect.

“Chink, chink, chink" as the pretend metal clashed.

I don’t have any other memories of hanging out with that guy.

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