Hey

VCN '08

Synopsis:

The story takes place in America in modern times. Huy, who is Jennifer's cousin from Vietnam, flies over to America to stay with Jennifer for the remaining year of high school. The main character, Jennifer, develops frustration and anger towards her family, eventually developing hatred towards her Vietnamese lineage. Jennifer runs away from her friend's party after Huy embarrassed Jennifer. She runs into a park and sits by a well, thinking about how her life is never well. She accidently falls into the well and wakes up in a different world, where she finds herself in the past when Huy was still living in Vietnam. Huy's dark past was revealed in Jennifer's eyes and realizes how much she has mistreated Huy.

Characters/Description:

Jennifer Huynh

Jennifer is the only child in her family and about to graduate from high school in a few months. She is excited to enjoy the rest of high school with her friends before going off to college. In the beginning, Jennifer treasures her friends much more than her own family. Jennifer does respect her parent's ways of culture and tradition, but never truly understood why it was a custom to follow certain rules. The moment she realizes that her cousin from Vietnam is going to stay with her and go to the same college, Jennifer becomes very frustrated, not understanding why she always had to watch him. Eventually she runs off from a party and falls into a well that took her back into Huy's past. Throughout the story, Jennifer eventually learns how lucky she actually is to live with her family and redevelops a bond with her family but especially Huy, who had gone through a lot in Vietnam.

Huy Vu

Huy is Jennifer's cousin from Vietnam who will be attending a university in the United States. Huy comes from a life-struggling background. He remembers how much struggle his family had gone through to get him a chance at a higher education in America. Huy had been more quiet and submissive, and never wanted to express how he really felt about certain things ever since the day his father was killed in front of him. In the past, Huy was very open and always willing to help others.

Dung Huynh

Dung is Jennifer's mother. Dung always act like she knows her daughter, but in reality Dung never understood how much different her life was different from her daughter's life. Dung believes she knows what's best for her daughter, but eventually realizes how much frustration Jennifer had gone through during the visit. Then she realizes their generation gap was much more different. Dung eventually learns that her daughter's generation goes through different issues than what she had gone through.

Vu Huynh

Vu is Jennifer's father. Vu always acts stern and strict on everyone, only to protect the people he cares about. He expects people to follow his orders only because of the belief that the oldest one in the family is the wisest.

Spirit

The spirit encounters Jennifer and takes her into Huy's past life in order for Jennifer to learn an important lesson