She Is A Haunting: List 1

by Trang Thanh Tran
Needing money for college tuition, seventeen-year-old Jade Nguyen agrees to spend the summer in Vietnam with her father, who is restoring a house that is still under the control of its former French owner.

This list covers "Mouth"–"Kidney."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 59 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sparse
    not dense or plentiful
    Lily’s already telling him everything he’s missed in the past, oh, four years of sparse calls.
  2. heady
    extremely exciting as if by alcohol or a narcotic
    The heady fragrance of flowers thickens, luring us closer.
  3. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    Below it, a girl sits on the stair’s railing, balancing, precarious, her hair as shiny as oil over cast iron.
  4. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    The windows look out to a swath of pine over the hills, and hydrangeas turn their heads up, sneaking a glimpse inside.
  5. incense
    a substance that produces a fragrant odor when burned
    Ash flicks from the incense down to the rice-filled container.
  6. ambitious
    having a strong desire for success or achievement
    You asked me to come. You dangled the money in front of me. I’m an ambitious gremlin, so of course I want it.
  7. opulence
    wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living
    The décor hints at opulence but suffers a muted glamour, so I use words like old-world charm and hidden treasure in my notes app.
  8. venture
    an investment that is risky but could yield great profits
    He spent most of last year traveling between Vietnam and the States, not sharing news of his “venture” until we called to get info for financial aid applications.
  9. naive
    marked by or showing unaffected simplicity
    It isn’t a journal, I’m sure of that, since Ba taught me—when I was seven—that it was naive to keep my secrets where people could read them.
  10. cloying
    overly sweet
    There’s something about this house, and its cloying perfume, that draws every unwanted thing from me.
  11. intersperse
    place between or among
    A list of repairs starts at the beginning and continues for a few pages, numbers interspersed between crossed-off items.
  12. iteration
    the act or process of doing or saying again
    The scribbles are messy, and farther into the notebook, Nhà Hoa’s hand-drawn floor plans gaze back up at me. Rigid lines, narrow hall—but the furniture moves in each iteration.
  13. reconciliation
    the reestablishment of cordial relations
    Ba, however, would argue that I did not follow our arrangement, which we still need to iron out. Lily being around complicates things somewhat, though she should know I’m too petty for real reconciliation.
  14. foliage
    the collective amount of leaves of one or more plants
    Leaves shuffle, and for a second I think a daddy longlegs is creeping among the foliage.
  15. feign
    give a false appearance of
    I used to call her before talking to anyone I needed to feign happiness around or sweet-talk, because it was easy to smile with her, to be known by someone so well.
  16. itinerary
    an established line of travel or access
    I showed her the itinerary the airline had emailed me.
  17. blustery
    blowing in violent and abrupt bursts
    Leaves fall in blustery wind, willing me to take a leap.
  18. cusp
    the point of transition when something happens or changes
    There’s still a chance to tell Mom everything, instead of leaving home and not letting her know the real me. How I part my hair in the middle because I can’t stand asymmetry, how I like the color of leaves best when they’re golden just beyond the cusp of fall, or how secure I feel the tighter my clothes are.
  19. appendage
    an external body part that projects from the body
    The unnatural appendages vary in length, so they must’ve died at different times from the same disease.
  20. astringent
    acidic or bitter in taste or smell
    The astringent smell of Listerine cool mint and original wafts from my mouth, still dry and feeling full of splinters or legs of unknown origin.
  21. sustenance
    a source of food or nourishment
    I require sustenance, even if my mouth doesn’t want it.
  22. veneer
    an outward appearance that is deliberately misleading
    I switch to a Very Pleasant veneer in response.
  23. dissertation
    a treatise advancing a point of view resulting from research
    I did my dissertation on the founding of French Indochina.
  24. defer
    yield to another's wish or opinion
    This woman has her PhD in colonization, and I’m supposed to mindlessly defer to her?
  25. nostalgia
    a longing for something past
    We used to do this every other weekend.
    The nostalgia is desperate to entrap me with hope. Maybe this is the strategy he’s going for: pretend as though he never left us in the first place and that this is a special summer for father and daughters to bond.
  26. endeavor
    earnest and conscientious activity intended to do something
    She’d been lukewarm on the fishing part of our family bonding endeavor to begin with.
  27. tendril
    something long, light, slender, and often curling
    Lily twirls a loose tendril of wet hair.
  28. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    “It’s what I want.”
    The wistful tone pinches my insides.
  29. loll
    hang loosely or laxly
    My jaw lolls wide as she shines the phone’s flashlight inside.
  30. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    My brain’s wired this way—fleeting happiness and snagging anxiety.
  31. swathe
    wrap in or as if in strips of cloth
    Both my parents reminded us of such hardships often, as though too much time swathed in polyester-blend sheets in our own beds would make us ungrateful, which, I guess, I can be.
  32. obscure
    make unclear, indistinct, or blurred
    I’m in the middle of texting her, since it’s widely available and not obscured by a thousand syntax lines, when the hallway squeaks under the weight of small feet.
  33. depraved
    deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper
    My nightmare should put on more clothes because maybe I’ve reached some depraved state where I can’t look away from a face that promises sweet pain.
  34. cliche
    an unoriginal or predictable theme, situation, or person
    Like the cliché, she’s different from other girls. She’ll change me. She’ll make me brave. She’s dead.
  35. penchant
    a strong liking or preference
    I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I do have a penchant for sweet people.
  36. specter
    a ghostly appearing figure
    No specters or hidden eyes are among the pines on the surrounding wallpaper.
  37. enthralled
    filled with wonder and delight
    Erase away those rotted parts until only her motions remain. She had the graceful showmanship of someone who knew my deepest secrets. I’d been scared, but enthralled too.
  38. idle
    not in action or at work
    The sleep paralysis has come back, and every time I’m idle for too long I remember the girl in the kitchen from two nights ago.
  39. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    My sister knows how an impending fight sounds in my voice.
  40. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    He sees me as a liar, but how can I lie to him when we don’t talk? The me in the mirror is flushed red. I want to put her to rest. I wish this was a ruse.
Created on Thu Mar 28 15:01:29 EDT 2024 (updated Fri Mar 29 13:16:33 EDT 2024)

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