Why Must The Bird Still Sing in its Cage?- Creative writing

The year is 228, it was the year I turned eighteen, the year my entire world was ripped from its foundation stone. My story begins in the city where I was lived; it was called Hou-han. It was a small city that dwells in the outermost part of the Wei borders. It was a time of great bloodshed as the three kingdoms battled for supremacy. With Hou-han so close to the Shun territories Emperor Ming ordered warriors of every rank to protect the city and its people. As a woman in my family it was my duty to be seen and not heard and to only speak when spoken to, but in my stubbornness I made it my goal to speak my mind whether or not the occasion called for it. It was expected for servants to visit the market daily to fetch the food for their master’s meals. Whenever I had the chance I would sneak away with them to escape from my pampered prison.

During the spring solstice many acrobatic troupes would come to the crowded market squares. On days they’d come I would beg my sister to cover for me so that I might go and watch them. Shun Shui, being as obedient and soft-hearted as she was, allowed me to go. I would hand her the erhu I was supposed to be practicing (and hated) and I’d climb the maple trees that were in the farthest wall of the courtyard; that was the quickest way outside the walls. I would run as fast as I could to the market place to watch the acrobats perform.  The market was always filled with marvelous smells of roast ducks and steamed dumplings. The market had small restaurants wedge between the narrow streets of Hou-han, in which I visited often.

The soldiers would patrol the streets almost daily, awaiting information from spies sent out into the Shun and the Wu territories. It was not uncommon for the emperor to have foreigners in his army, but they had to be especially careful not to be mistaken as an assassin and/or a spy, if they were they would be instantly killed. The people felt safe and secure with the soldiers in the city. Every time a general and his men paraded through the city, people would crowd the narrow sidewalks to watch them pass. They would waive their arms sending them their good fortunes; they’d throw azaleas and chrysanthemums on the street. I never understood why the soldiers were giving so much praise. They came to our city with no warning; they paid naïve merchants and farmers for their land and made them homeless. They took our food and forced many of us to go hungry and they’d stomped through the market and leave trails of horse dung and crushed flowers everywhere.  It aggravated me.

I’d stay to watch the acrobats perform, but I would always make sure I was home before anyone knew I was gone. Just as I’d sneak out of the walls I knew how to sneak back in. In the back wall the maple tree branches hung over the walls. When my half-brothers, Xun Shing and Qing Xyan would go to the market, they would try to bring us with them, but Mama and Baba wouldn’t allow it. So Xun Shing and Qing Xyan would run to the back wall and they’d chip away the mortar that held the bricks in place. We called it The Vanishing Maple. It was a childish name and we meant to change it, but the name kind of stuck. Any way once the bricks were free Deshi Dong, Shun Shui, and I would climb the maple branches to the other side of the wall, and to get back in without being noticed we would use the cut out bricks as footholds and we would climb back over the wall without being seen. Now that we were older I was the only one who still used The Vanishing Maple to get in and out of the walls, and it still worked.

It was on one particular day, however that I stayed out later than usual. When I came home, I found my sister crying under one of the mulberry trees. I ran to her side and sat next to her. I asked her

“Shun Shui what is the matter?” she had her hands covering her eyes and she would not answer me, she cried heavily. I questioned her again; she lowered one of her hands to the ground. She picked up the erhu I had given to her earlier; she placed the instrument onto my lap.

“What happened to it?” I demanded looking at the shattered strings and the twisted bow. She cried even harder, I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Shun Shui,” I said comforting my sister. She snapped her hands back over her eyes,

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed desperately trying to calm herself down

“Hey it okay” I said speaking in a tone of voice that our mother used to calm our tears. “Look it’s not that bad, really. I can fix it, see?” I held the instrument in palms showing it to her, but she would not look at me. “And besides” I added “at least now I have a good reason not to play it.” I could tell she wanted to smile but she held it back.

“Come” I insisted “let us walk around the courtyard so I can tell you all about what happened in town today.” She nodded her head, I tucked her arm undermine and we walked out from underneath the shaded mulberry tree. The blistering sun blinded my twin and me. I looked over at her face; her pale cheeks glistened from her endless tears. I looked close at a strange coloring around her temple. I stopped walking and I turned in front of her,

“What happened to you?”  Her eyes began to wonder, “Nothing, I uh...slipped,” she explained. I could always tell when she was lying, she could never look at my eyes and she would stumble over her words. Moreover, there were only two clumsy people in my family, my brother Deshi Dong and myself. I gave her a look of skepticism

“You slipped, really?” I questioned, I began circling her like a vulture

“Yes really” she confirmed, I was surprised. I knew this must have been serious; she had never lied to me twice in a single conversation. To make it seem like I had believed her I began to interrogate her. I asked her where she fell, in what room did, and who was around to help her. With each question her cheeks burned, her eyes bounced, and her words hardly made a sentence. I knew she was about to break.

“But then what happened to my erhu?” I inquired. Shun Shui broke, she shouted

 “He got angry and accidently threw it at me.” I was speechless and confused. Who would throw something at her? She had never done anything to anger any one in her life. I went over and over in my head the entire family, trying to find out who would want to hurt my twin.  The first person I thought of was our sister Xun Shin, but she loved the erhu more than anything so she wouldn’t destroy it. Then I thought of our half brother Qing Xyan, but he spends most of his time staring at his own reflection to notice anything.  So he couldn’t have done it. I knew for a fact that it wasn’t Deshi Dong or Xun Shing because I remembered they went to the market places to flirt with the merchants daughters. That just left the servants, who would have been punished for such abuse.  Baba and Mama were the only ones left. I knew who it was, but concerned I asked her,

“Who did?” but I already knew the answer. She looked at me horrified, not wanting to tell me. “It’s okay I won’t tell anyone, I promise” and I always kept my promises. Using her sleeve to dry her face, she leaned over to my ear, she whispered softly,

“It was Baba.” I knew it, Mama couldn’t have done it she loves Shun Shui and me too much to do us any harm. Immediately Shun Shui snapped back from her confession.

“But he didn’t mean to” she defended him “he just got so angry when he was walking by and you weren’t here. He asked me why I was practicing your erhu, so I told him that I wanted to learn how to play it. But he did not believe me.”  Shun Shui’s eyes filled up with tears; her cheeks had lost their color as she tried to remember every detail. “You should have seen his face. Jia Huo I was so scared, I did not know what to do. And before I knew it Baba had the erhu in his hands smashing it against the stone. I tried to stop him, but he spun around and slammed it into my head.” Shun Shui sank to the ground with her hands again covering her eyes. She tried to hold back the tears, but they broke through her wall of resistance.

“I’m sorry.” She kept repeating. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me Jia Huo.” She fell on her knees, her hands tugging on my sun-dried, dust covered tunic. She begged me to forgive her but I couldn’t speak. I was the one who should have been punished not Shun Shui. I was the one who snuck outside the walls and left her to cover for me. I was the one who came back later than usual. It should have been me, it was my fault and I knew it. She looked up at me, her broken green eyes piercing my guilty soul. I couldn’t take it; I sank to the ground with Shun Shui still holding on to my clothes.

“No, I’m sorry” I said. She kept looking at me, her tears like a heavy rain storm continuing to crash onto her lilac colored tunic. “It was wrong of me to leave. I’m the eldest; it’s my responsibility to make sure that these things do not happen. I can’t forgive you, for there is nothing to forgive. I’m the one to blame for this. Baba should have been angry at me, not you. It’s my fault that your tears will not cease, that your face is in pain. It is all my doing and it should be I who begs for your forgiveness.” My voice began to crack; I could feel the warmth of my tears sliding down my cheeks. Shun Shui’s tears were still falling. I took the sleeve of my turquoise tunic and dried the tears of my twin. Like a mirror Shun Shui did the same. She smiled, I smiled in return. We took each other’s arms and pulled ourselves off the soft grasses.

“Am I forgiven?” I probed; she smiled and nodded her head. I smiled; I knew she wouldn’t stay mad at me for long. That night Shun Shui slept heavier than usual, but I was restless. The guilt I felt was eating away at my soul. How could I have let this happen? I stood from my bed; the cool nightly breeze surrounded me. I walked through the courtyard; the fullness of the moon illuminated the yard. I sat underneath the silver mulberry and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a small flickering light coming from my parent’s chambers. My curiosity grew into an aggravating attraction, I couldn’t fight it. I found myself crouching outside their chamber, listening in on their quiet conversations. But as I listened closer to them I realized that it was my father who was doing most of the speaking. I looked thorough the thin sheer door, I saw my mother sitting on the edge of their bed, her black hair fallen over her shoulders. She said nothing; I could see that Baba was angry with her.

“This is your doing” shaking his bloodied up fists. My mother’s kept her head low, trying not to look Baba in the face.

“I’m sorry Heng Fu” she apologized. I looked to my father; his eyes were burning a fiery red. He raised his fist high into the air

“Silence!” he shouted, his hand came down on my mother. She fell to the ground holding onto her cheek; I covered my mouth to hold back from crying out. I’ve never seen father so cruel. He shouted

“If it weren’t for me, you and your little bastards would be right back on the street where I found you.” My jaw dropped to the stone below me. Illegitimate children, could it be true? Could Shun Shui and I truly be another man’s children?

“I made a mistake, I know that. Please Heng Fu, I beg for your forgiveness.” My mother pleaded. Baba scoffed,

“You are not worth my forgiveness, if you hadn’t opened your legs up to that Buddhist monk than you would have never had this problem.” A Buddhist monk!  Not only was the man who raised me not my father, but my real father was a monk?  This just could not true. I stepped away from their chambers confused and in disbelief of what I had heard. I walked back to my chambers; I tried to forget what he said. I sat back on my bed, forcing my eyes to stay closed. I laid their till the sun begun to rise. My father’s words kept repeating themselves over and over in my head, it would not stop. “If it weren’t for me, you and your little bastards would be right back on the streets where I found you.” 

After many hours of lying there trying to sleep I gave up and rose from my soft bed. I looked around at my sisters in their peaceful slumbers; I became envious of their serenity. I tip-toed quietly out of our room and walked again through the open courtyard. In the morning light the servants already performing their daily duties hum peaceful melodies and speak of the latest gossip. I stood behind one of the columns watching a girl who looked to be around my age. I couldn’t image being the age that I am and working for a man they called master. She was a flower gatherer; she’d picks fresh flowers from the yard, arranges them and places them in beautiful vases for the house. I watched as she hopped from bush to bush collecting the sweet smelling peach blossoms and the colorful orchids, transforming them into a display that is both magnificent and breathtaking. She fills the vases with a smile on her face and I can’t help but wonder “why is she so happy, what is there to be joyous about?”

As she completed her task she looked around to see if anyone was watching, certain that she was alone she began to sing. Her voice was the most beautiful instrument I had ever heard, with a melody that was as unique as her. While she sang her arms and legs followed the music. With each word her body moved with such elegance and grace. Her arms would bend like the bamboo in the winds; her legs would sweep across the grass as if she were sliding on ice. I moved closer to watch her perform. I scurried up the tall branches of the mulberry trees and watched her as she set her spirit into the wind. I began to sway to her music and I accidently broke one of the branches of the tree. The girl jumped from the sound, she looked around to see if anyone was there. I smiled at the fact that I was in a tree and that she would never find me. I was wrong, she walked under me looked up to the branches and when she saw me she fell to knees and covered her face. I jumped down from the tree.

“What’s your name?” I requested. She tilted her head up towards me,

“Li Jun” she answered obediently. I crouched down next to her,

“Well Li Jun” I put my hand on her shoulder, “you sing beautifully.” She looked up at me and smiled. After that day Li Jun became my closest friend. Mama didn’t approve of me spending so much time with the servants, but I didn’t care. I could tell things to Li Jun that I could never say to Shun Shui. I kept her secrets and she kept mine. I could trust her with anything, even my own life.

 The summer’s heat simmered through Hou-han bringing along with its fire drought, hunger, thirst, and death. The courtyard becomes crowded with family members’ who try to cool themselves by sitting underneath the wide palm trees. Other than the unbearable heat the servants still worked, my brothers still practice their swordsmanship; my sister still played her yueqin for Mama and the other women, and Baba continued to look for husbands for his daughters.

I still can’t understand why Mama was so calm, even after these many months. I sure wasn’t, not after hearing that Heng Fu wasn’t my real father. No one else knew either except for Li Jun, I told her everything. Neither one of my parents knew that I heard them that night. Since then things were never the same. In some way I lost respect for Heng Fu, how could I be sure that he wasn’t lying to me about anything?

Then thing began to become more complicated; the more Heng Fu presented me to suitable men to marry, the more I pushed them away. I dishonored my family many times in the past three months and I’m beginning to reach my breaking point. It was during an interview that I finally broke. The man Heng Fu had chosen was an old wealthy merchant. He disgusted me when he spoke, he had missing teeth and every time he would speak, his saliva would fly out of his mouth. I was not happy with this, I stood up before Heng Fu, I told him,

“I will not marry this man!” He smiled to the merchant as he grabbed my arm and pulled out into the courtyard. He shouted at me,

“No one wanted you; this is your last chance and you will not disobey me again. You will marry the merchant and that’s my final decision. Now do you understand?” I nodded, inside my head I was screaming for someone to break these chains that were about to be joined to that dirty old man.  Heng Fu released my arm and returned back to the man. The servants watched as Heng Fu yelled at me including Li Jun. She walked over to me,

“Jia Huo? Are you alright?” I looked at her, in my desperation I pleaded for her to help me.

“I have to get out of here Li Jun. I can’t marry that man, I just can’t. Please Li Jun, as my friend I am begging you to help me escape. Please!” I saw tears being to run down my friends face than I felt the warmness run down my cheeks as well.  I knew she didn’t want to but she nodded her head to help me. That night we came up with a plan to meet each other outside the walls of the house, there under the cover of nightfall we would travel together to the edge of Hou-han’s outer wall.

“I can go no farther Jia Huo. If they find that both of us had vanished they might suspect something.” Li Jun confessed. I knew she was right and I knew she wouldn’t be coming with me. I hugged my dearest friend farewell, I instructed her to give a letter to my sister explaining why I left, but not to where I was heading. She held the letter close to her to keep it safe. She watched me as I slowly disappeared into the night’s shadows.

I didn’t know what I was doing, I had never been outside the city walls and now I was traveling alone at night in an unfamiliar land. Although the days had dry sticky air where its thickness made it difficult to breathe, the nights were also very dry but they were also dangerously fridge. My clothes were not in the right condition for this weather. I walked as far as I could through the unrelenting arctic winds, but I was losing strength and began to grow weary. The fear of wild animals crept its way into my thoughts so I refused to stop to lie down. I pressed onward until the sun peaked over the distant mountains. I stopped and laid my head on the trunk of an old tree. My eyelids were heavy from exhaustion and my body grumbled for nourishment, I couldn’t fight it any longer. I quickly fell into a heavy sleep. I dreamt of Shun Shui and the reactions she would have when Li Jun gave her the letter. She would cry out to Mama and Baba and tell them that I had run away. Then Heng Fu’s words echoed “No one wanted you. This is your last chance.” The look in his eyes frightened me, even in my dreams. He starred into my very being “You were never worth it” he threatened.

I quickly sat up reentering reality. I looked around me; there was a fire pit with a black pot steaming over it. The smell of what was in it was intoxicating. I never noticed that I had slept on a small pillow and that I was covered with a warm traveler’s blanket. I was confused, had I brought these things with me before I left Hou-han? Of course not, but where had all of this come from. Then someone spoke,

“You’re awake.” I looked for the voice, but the strain from my eyes clouded my vision. A figure began to appear, I became frighten and I dragged myself over the trees roots, I couldn’t understand why I felt so weak. The figure came closer, my eyes became clear. It was a man, a young man; whose hair was tied back with black silk. He leaned over the steaming pot with a bowl and filled it. He brought the bowl over to me,

“Here eat this” he instructed lowering the bowl to my hands. I wouldn’t accept it.

“You must eat; you need to regain your strength.”  He was right; I took the bowl in my hands and brought the seaming bowl of soup to my lips. The warmness ran to the back of my throat and then down to my stomach. Never had I tasted soup that was this satisfying.  I tried to finish the soup but I couldn’t. The man put out his hands again and I placed the bowl into hands.

“Thank you” I said weakly, the man nodded

“You must rest now” he told me. I was too tired and too weak to argue so I lay back on the small pillow and drifted into a slumber.

The next morning I arose with the sun, the man already awake greeted me pleasantly.

“Good morning” I returned the greeting. He sat by the roots of the tree with a small bowl of dried oranges in his hands.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Starving” I admitted, he smiled and chucked a little. He handed me the small bowl containing the orange slices. I looked down at the fruit. I never liked oranges but I didn’t want to seem rude, so I slowly brought a little of the fruit up to my lips. I gave the bowl back to him,

“Who are you?” I questioned, he took the bowl from my hands,

“I’m Shen Zhi, and might I ask who you are?” he inquired,

“Jia Huo” I replied. He repeated my name,

“It is a pleasure to meet you Jia Huo.”

“Likewise” I stood to my feet and looked up into the peach tree with the fruits in full bloom. I looked to Shen Zhi,

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?”  He also stood to his feet

“Well” he began putting all his utensils back into his travel bag. He walked next to me, I felt my cheeks burn. He picked up the small pillow and blanket and stuffed them also into his bag. I waited patiently for him to answer me. He began down the road, I followed him. He said,

“I was walking down this road early one morning a few days passed. The sun had not yet risen and everything was hazy, I could barely see where I was going.” He paused for a moment. “As I was walking I wondered off the road and onto the grass. I walked pass that tree and trip over what I thought was a root. When I looked closer at it I found that it wasn’t a root but a leg, your leg. I looked down at my feet scuffing the ground below me. So I stayed there till the sun had cleared my vision so I could see who it was. When I looked I saw your face. Your lips had turned blue and your entire body was shaking uncontrollable.” I looked back at him,

“But why did you stay?” He looked at me,

“Well I couldn’t just leave you there to freeze to death, could I? What kind of person would do that?” I stopped; “Heng Fu would” I thought. Shen Zhi looked behind him,

“You okay?” he questioned, I nodded and continued to walk. We walked in silence, it was agonizing. I desperately wanted to break the uncomfortable quiet.

“What city are you from?” I asked,

“Qufu” he recalled. I had never been there and I heard it was months away from Hou-han.

“Why are you so far from your home?” I questioned. He looked at me as if I were kidding,

“Your joking with me right?” he laughed. I tilted my head in confusion; I didn’t understand why he asked me that. “You do know where you are don’t you?” I shook my head; I honestly didn’t have a clue. He laughed and said,

“You really don’t do you? You’re just outside the city of Cheng-de.” I understood why he laughed at me; Cheng-de is one of Qufu’s neighboring cities, but what I didn’t understand was how I walked this far from my home.  

“Where are you heading to? He asked. I didn’t know how to answer him. I didn’t where I was going; all I knew is that I wasn’t going back to Hou-han. I remembered Heng Fu yelling at Mama about a Buddhist monk, so I figured as long as I’m on my own now the perfect time to find my birth father. And if there’s one place I know I could find him, it would be the Buddhist monastery in the city of Luoyang.

“Luoyang, to the monastery” I finally answered. He stopped and took hold of my arm, he snicker

“You in a monastery, surly someone as beautiful as you is not seriously considering to becoming a sour faced, old nun.”  My blood boiled under my cheeks at the thought of him thinking I was beautiful. I wanted to laugh through my embarrassment but I kept a straight face. I tried to explain to him what I meant,

“No,” I began “I’m going there to find my father.” I stated,

“In a monastery” he joked.

“Well you see…uh…I’m meant…it’s not…” I tried so hard to make him understand, but my words would just not cooperate with me. I took a deep breath as I released my frustration,

“You wouldn’t understand” I finally admitted. He shrugged his shoulders. For awhile neither one of us said anything. Shen Zhi had this cautious look on his face and I wondered what he was thinking.  We walked for what seemed like hours exposed to the open sun with nothing to shade us from it.  The weight of my hair only felt heavier from the sun’s draining power.  Shen Zhi and I both agreed to stop and rest underneath one of the wild peach trees. Shen Zhi fell onto the grass; he closed his eyes and sighed. I sat with my legs crossed, my hands whipping away the heavy sweat from underneath my long and matted braid. I leaned on the trunk of the peach tree as I looked up to the high branches. 

“So what are you doing out here?” I asked Shen Zhi. He opened one eye and tilted his head to look at me; he closed his eye and lay down once more. He replied,

“My father was the general in the emperor’s army” I was stunned,

“The emperor, you mean Emperor Ming?” I interrupted; he sat up crossing his legs,

“Of course, what other emperor is there?” I ignored his comment and allowed him to continued,

“Any way he had just returned from an important mission, it was his last mission as general. Whenever my father was away, being the eldest son if fell on me to take my father’s place in the family.” He talked about his family, but I didn’t really listen. Everything he said sounded muffled and distorted. I watched his face as he spoke. I watched how his eyes reacted when his spoke about his spoiled younger sisters. His expressions made me laugh,

“What?” he questioned, I covered my mouth to quiet my laughter.

“Nothing, please continue” I told him. He nodded

“As the eldest son it now falls to me to take my father’s place in the army. I told my father that I wanted to travel to all the places the scholars told me about before I went.”  He paused for a moment,

“And did he approve?” I asked, Shen Zhi looked at me and smiled,

“Would I be here if he hadn’t?” I felt like a fool asking him that. I made myself laugh to hide my embarrassment,

“No, I guess you wouldn’t. And I would be here sitting alone talking to the trees like a lunatic.” He laughed at my humor. I looked away from him and up to the fresh peaches dangling from the high branches.

“So where do you live?” Shen Zhi inquired; I didn’t say anything for awhile. I had hoping that the conversation would change to something different, but it didn’t. He asked me again, this time I had to answer.

“Hou-han” I said ashamed. He said nothing in response. I searched his face looking for any sign that he knew why I left, but he didn’t. I guess I was just being a little paranoid. Shen Zhi reached into his bag and pulled out some orange slices. He turned to offer me one, but while his back was turned I climb the branches of the peach tree.

“Jia Huo?” he called out my name. I was amused that he didn’t know I was right above him.

“Where did she go?” He wondered. I tried not to laugh so he wouldn’t find me.

“Jia Huo, where are you?” he shouted, I started feeling bad about making him worry, so I finally I shouted

“Up here.” He looked up and saw me sitting on one of the high branches with a peach in my hand. I was laughing because it took him awhile to find me.

“How did you get up there?” he laughed,

“I climbed of course. Would you like one?”  I offered he shook his head in response.  “To bad, oh well your loss” I teased.

“Why don’t you come down?” he suggested. I rolled my eyes like a foolish child, but he was right. I quickly swung from the branches like a lemur, jumping from branch to branch on my way down. I jumped on a branch that was very weak, the branch snapped from the force I put on it. I quickly grabbed the closest branch to me and held on for dear life. Shen Zhi ran underneath me,

“Don’t worry Jia Huo, I’ve got you.” I looked down and realized how far I would fall; I tighten my grip on the branch. My hands began to slip; I felt my lungs struggle for air.  Shen Zhi shouted,

“Jia Huo, let go.”

“Are you insane?” I cried,

“What are you afraid of? Don’t worry I promise to catch you.” Scared out of my mind I knew he was right. I swallowed my pride; I closed my eyes and released my grip on the branch. I felt the wind on my back as if fell back to earth, I wanted to scream but nothing came out. Suddenly my body made contact with Shen Zhi’s arms. The force of the drop made Shen Zhi fall to the ground as well. I opened my eyes and saw that Shen Zhi had indeed caught me.

“See” he said trying to catch his breath “told you I would catch you.” I smile,

“So you did.”  He smiled back; his mesmerizing deep green eyes became fixated on mine and I began to lose myself in his embrace. I felt as if I was in a dream with his arms holding on to me, but my reverie was broken by Heng Fu. His words echoed “no one wanted you.” I stood to my feet, as did Shen Zhi.

“We should go.” I said hurriedly. Shen Zhi agreed. We once again began the journey to Luoyang; it took us many months to get the city. When we arrived outside the cities walls I could not have been more thrilled.

“Luoyang” I said proudly, I quickly unbounded my hair so that I could wash it in the nearby stream. I washed out all the dirt and filth that had weighed so much. Once my hair was cleaned I once again braided it into a single tight braid. I found wild flowers on the road and I put them in my hair as decorations. Now I was ready to enter the city. As we walked through the city streets, Shen Zhi turned to me,

“What do you want to do first?” he asked me, I told him

“I have to find the monastery. To see if my father is there.” Shen Zhi nodded in understanding.

“Then to the monastery we will go.” I smiled at the fact that he would be coming with me. It felt safe when he was around me, plus I liked his company. Like any other city the monastery was on the other side of the city, outside its walls. We walked to the end of the city and there I saw the doors decorated with breathtaking colors of red and yellow. I ran to the doors eager to find out what lay behind them.

“Jia Huo, wait” Shen Zhi warned, I turned to him. He came up to me and placed a hand on my hair. “Your hair, you must hide your hair.” I gently removed Shen Zhi’s hand. I lifted my braid, twirling it around my wrist. I had nothing left, no home, no family, no dignity, and worst of all no honor; my hair was the only thing I had left. But I needed to find my father no matter the sacrifices I must endure.

“Hand me a knife” I commanded Shen Zhi. Reaching into his travel bag he pulled out his knife. I took it from his hand and brought it up to my braid. In a single swipe my long braid fell to the ground below me. I felt as if I had disappeared into the darken abyss, I felt empty and cold. I had no past, no remembrance of who I should have been. I handed the knife back to Shen Zhi and I sank to my knees. Tears roll down my face as he shaved away all of my once beautiful hair. When he was finished I stood and knocked on the door. A man answered it dressed in the traditional robes that were painted with bright colors of red and yellow.  His ageing skin gave away his age and his short stature only made him look even older.

“Welcome brother, welcome sister.” he greeted looking from Shen Zhi to me. “Enter into our sanctuary.” We thanked him by bowing at our waists with our hands folded like we were in prayer. The old man turned to guild us into the monastery; we followed him through the pathways made of broken stone. I was amassed at all that was surrounding me, monks meditating on the tall undisturbed grass, nuns plowing the fields, and retired soldiers exercising their old fighting skills.  The man led us to the temple; he gave us robes to wear.  Shen Zhi asked,

“What is your name monk?” the man turned to him,

“A name is not something that one can claim; a name is a gift that can easily be taken away.” He looked to me and smiled,

“To my brothers I am known as Master. Tell me my young friends, what is the purpose of your journey?”  Shen Zhi and I looked at each other with no answer to his question. The old man grinned,

“You are silence. This must mean that you are in search of something.” He stood close to Shen Zhi, he made Shen Zhi look like a giant compared to his small height. Shen Zhi cleared his throat and looked down at the man. Suddenly the man’s mouth stretched from ear to ear,

“Ah, I see you have found what you are searching for.” Shen Zhi nodded confirming the man’s words. I was confused, how did the man know what Shen Zhi was searching for when he said nothing. The man then turned to me; he looked me in the eyes, but I turned away. The man spoke,

“You, young one, have been lost. Your path is unclear and you cannot see.” I didn’t understand him, what did he mean when he said my path is unclear.

“What do you mean monk, I don’t understand” I confessed. The man held out his arm to me,

“Come” he invited “soon all will be clear.” I took his arm and he began leading me from the temple’s steps. I looked back to Shen Zhi; he smiled reassuring that I would be safe. I turned to the man. We walk in silence around the open grassland.

“What is your name child?” he asked, I sighed nervously

“Jia Huo, Master.” He tighten his grip on my arm,

“Shu Fang,” he interrupted. Shu Fang, how did I know that name?  I didn’t have the chance to ask him. He turned stopping in front of me making me feel uneasy. He looked deep into my eyes,

“What is it you’re searching for? Could it be to learn of your future, or maybe you come looking for a husband?”  I shook my head denying everything he suggested. I can here for one reason and one reason only, that was to find my birth father so that I might bring honor to myself. Shu Fang lifted his withered hand to my face; the warmth of his touch was familiar to me, almost like he knew me from long ago. I held his hand against my cheek trying to remember, my frustration spilled from my eyes. Shu Fang whipped away my tears that made me smile. He spoke,

“You’re beginning to see.” I backed away from him,

“See? See what?” I asked him. He smiled and pointed his boney finger to a small pool over by the motionless monks who were in meditation. I walked over to the pool looking over my shoulder to see if he was following me. When I reached the pool I looked into its clear waters. What I saw in the water couldn’t have been me. No what I saw was my mother, her soft green eyes staring into mine. Shu Fang walked over,

“What do you see?” he asked. My eyes became blurred and I whipped them on my sleeve to clear them. I looked again at the women looking back at me,

“Mama” I whispered. I had been away from home for so many months and I longed for my mother’s warm embraces.

“You have her eyes you know” Shu Fang told me. I looked at him, doubting him. How could he have known what my mother looked like and then it came to me. I gasped and covered my mouth, Shu Fang smiled,

“Now you see, your path is clear and you are no longer lost.”  I fell to the ground before him unable to believe that I had found my true father. Shen Zhi watched from a distance, he saw me fall and ran to where we were. I felt him running towards us through the ground. I never wanted to stand; I didn’t want to wake up if this was only a dream. Shu Fang held out his hand to help me up, I held his wrinkled hand in mine; I laid my head on his hand and wouldn’t let it go. Shen Zhi called out to me shouting my name

“Jia Huo. Is she alright?” He asked Shu Fang. He nodded his head; Shen Zhi knelt to the ground next to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I felt such a mixture of emotions I didn’t know which ones to let out and which ones to keep quiet. I began to laugh then I cried, then I laughed and cried. For the first time in my life I felt whole; I had finally found the one thing that I craved since the very beginning of my existence. The one thing I yearned for more than anything else in the world, Acceptance!

The Girl With the Violet Eyes- Creative writing

It all began with a letter, a letter to her father. She wrote,

Dear Father, you mustn’t be angry with Daniel, it was not he who convinced me to journey beyond my forest home. Though you forbade me from ever leaving this plot, my curiosity has overtaken me. I want to know of the land beyond the trees. About the world from wince Daniel came. I want to learn the ways of the people. I want to smell the things I have never smelt, I want to touch things which I have never touched. I want to see the places that I have only read about in books. I need to visit the world beyond the land, beyond the place where the fairies dance, beyond the place where the deathsand lies. Do not worry about me, for I am not alone. Daniel has sworn to protect me from any harm. He makes me wear a head covering, though I cannot say why, and he told to me that I mustn’t look at anyone’s eyes.  I do not understand why he makes me do such things, but a small price must be paid, and so I gladly hide my raven black hair, and shield my violet eyes from strangers.  I trust Daniel, father, you should too. I will come back, though I can’t say when. I promise you that I will return from the world, unharmed,

 With all my love, Acayla

Her father wept, “Foolish girl” he shouted "she knows not of the dangers from that world.”  Jacob thought it best if she never knew about the outside world.

“I knew that this day would come, but I had hoped that it would not be this soon. I should have told her, I should have told her about the world, and how unforgiving it truly is. But it is now far too late to tell her.” He walked out of the cottage,

 “Oh great God, watch over my daughter.” He lends himself against the bare barked tree.

At the edge of the forest, Daniel led Acayla to the forest end. Holding Daniel’s arm Acayla was overcome with anticipation,

“The end of the forest” she proclaimed “Yes, this is where your world meets mine.”  They walked to the tree line, Acayla releases his arm “let’s go!” she pleaded. Daniel quickly pulled her back behind the trees.

“What’s wrong?” she asked “We mustn’t be seen, if we are spotted, people might begin to suspect” he whispered. “Suspect, suspect what?”

  He shushed her “be silent” And she did so.  “Now stay here, and when I call you, you come” He commanded, she nodded in agreement.

Daniel poked his head out; he looked to the left, to the right, and then to the left again. He then slowly walked away from the trees. Acayla thought he looked like a scared chicken, hiding from her father’s ax.  He stopped half-way in the road. He turned and motioned for her to follow, and she did.  Acayla took a deep breath; she closed her eyes and walked away from the world she knew. Daniel grabbed her hand,

“Open your eyes” he told her. Acayla slowly opened her violet eyes. She looked around, and smiled. Daniel released his grip on the girl. She slowly walked away from him, all of a sudden; a rush of joy came over her. She lifted her hands to the sky and danced around.

To the villagers, of Acheronian, they may have thought that she had been acting childish. But Daniel did not speak. He didn’t think that bring her out of the forest, would have affected her in such a way. She paused from her dancing,

“What is that wonderful smell?” she asked Daniel, but he didn’t hear her, so he didn’t respond. “Daniel” she called out.  

He snapped to and walked to her “What is it?”   “Can you smell that?” she asked him, he nodded in agreement. “Let’s find out, come on” Acayla grabbed his arms and started walking towards the smell.

After a short walk up the road, they came across the small village of Acheronian.  Acayla became overwhelmed, at the sight of so many unknown faces. But her thoughts quickly switched when the unknown smell, crept slowly towards her. She had been unaware that Daniel had walked away from her.  

“Acayla” he whispered, she turned to him.

He asked her “Is this what you had smelled?” He was holding a freshly baked apple pie in his hands. Acayla tried to identify the unknown item.

 She scratched her head “what is it?”  “It is called an apple pie” he told her, she laughed “an apple pie, Who ever heard of using apples in a pie?”

 “Would you like to try it?” he asked her. She nodded her head in excitement. They both walked over to where the pies were being sold.   

“One large slice if you please” Daniel told the man.  He cut a large piece and gave it to Daniel. In return, Daniel paid the man; he gave him a silver piece. He thanked the man, and gave the piece to Acayla. She took the pie, and brought it up to her mouth. She took a bite from it, and smiled.

“Do you like it?” Daniel asked her, she swallowed the bit of pie.

She smiled “I have never tasted anything like this in my life.” 

“So you do like it then?” her smile widened “I love it.” Daniel smiled “I knew you would”

But Daniel’s smile quickly faded, when a strange man hurried past him.  Acayla looked at him

“What’s wrong?” she asked him. He put his hand in her shoulder; He whispered

“Keep your head down” Acayla knew that there was something that Daniel wasn’t telling her. Daniel told her

“Stay here, I’ll be back.” He walked to where the strange man ran from.   He stopped in front of a wall, covered with announcements. He spotted a poster, it shocked him.  He pulled it off the wall, but he never realized that Acayla was standing right behind him.

 “What is that?” she asked him. He turned around,

 He shouted to her “I thought I told you to stay by the seller”, Acayla’s face widened, Daniel never raised his voice to her like that, it rendered her speechless.

He covered his face with his hand.  He could tell that he had upset her.

“Acayla, I…I’m sorry…” she interrupted him

“No, no it’s my fault. I should have stayed by the pie seller.” He turned back around, and looked at the poster. Acayla walked up to him. She grabbed the poster from his hand.

 “What is this” she asked, “it is a reward poster. They offer money to people who find criminals.”  Acayla read the poster. It read, reward; two hundred silver pieces. “It has writing on it” Acayla said “To whoever can find the girl with the violet eyes, and hair as black as a raven. You shall be greatly rewarded.” Acayla stared at the paper,

“This is about me, isn’t it?”  Daniel did not answer her; he just stood there in silence.  She read the small written words at the end of the poster, Acayla whispered

“Bring that thing to the town square, dead or alive.”  She grew angry; she crumpled the poster and threw it to the ground. Daniel tried to explain

“Acayla, you mustn’t be angry with the people. They believe anything they are told, wither it be true or not”

She looked at his face “you knew about this, did you not” she demanded, Daniel slowly nodded his head. Acayla scoffed, he tried to explain to her

“Acayla, just listen to me...” “No, Daniel you knew”  “just let me explain…” “You knew!” she sneered. In her angry, she pulled off her head covering that had concealed her black hair. She started into the crowed. Daniel grabbed her arm and pulled her back,

“Acayla, stop, you don’t understand what you are doing”

“Get your hands off of me” but he only gripped her arm harder. He dragged her back, to her he said

“Foolish girl, you know not of what they’ll do” her jaw dropped to the ground, her hand flew across his face

“How dare you!” she stormed away. Daniel followed her, but lost sight of her amongst the people.

Acayla was full of rage, but even in her hour of madness, she could not ignore all of the faces beginning to staring at her. She continued walking towards the edge of town. One man stopped her in her dead in her tracks.  She kept her head low, so that he could not see her face. The man grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. He said to her

“What a pretty penny, I’ll get for you, my dear.” Acayla didn’t say a word; she just kept her head down.

“What’s your name, child?” he asked. She continued to say silent. The man asked again

“Answer me, girl” but when she said nothing, the man flew into a rage.  Acayla could see, more men were gathering around her. The man spoke again

“Look at me, girl” but she, dared not to raise her head. The man grew frustrated with her, with his massive hand; he tugged on Acayla’s black hair. Though she tried not lifting her face, the man was stronger than her. She could now see just how many men, stood around her. Liquid fear ran down her dust ridden face. She thought to her self

“Why did I not listen to Daniel? He knew about this, and he tried to warn me, but I did not listen. This is my fault”   

As her tearstained face was made known, many more people surrounded them. One woman yelled out “it is she, the devil’s condemner” many of the people heard this; they shouted in fear

“Let’s be rid of this devil woman, once and for all”

Acayla couldn’t escape their words, and one by one each man took their fists and rammed them into her. Hitting her in the stomach, in the face, her legs, her arms, everything they could hit, they hit with a force. She tried to pull away from them, but was unable to move, for a man held her up so that she couldn’t reach the ground. With each devastating blow, she cried out in agony.  

She begged them “Stop, please stop” but the blows only increased. She struggled against the mob of men, she continued to cried out “please I beg of you, stop”, just when she thought she was certainly going to die, when she looked to up to the villagers, off in the distance she saw a glimmer of hope, a man. This man was familiar to her, recognizing the man she gathered up all the strength that she had possessed.

She screamed, “DANIEL!”  In hearing his name, he looked for the voice. He saw the people crowding, so he ran over there. He push his way through the multitude of people, when he was to the center, he saw a disgusting sight. Acayla had been beaten severely, she was rendered unrecognizable.

 He called out her name “Acayla” the people looked to him in awe.  He saw a man readying himself for the finial blow, but Daniel grabbed the mans fists, that were just inches away from Acayla’s face.  By some miracle Daniel ran into the tree line, carrying Acayla in his arms.

He said to her “Your father was right, Acayla. I should have brought you here” he knew that she could not hear him, she had been knocked out. “I’m so sorry, Acayla, your father will never forgive me.” Holding Acayla in his arms, they fled into the darkness of her forest home.

That's What She Said- Creative writing

Saturday afternoon, Iris and Andrew sat in the waiting room of the court mandated couples therapist Doctor Laura Fluent.

“I don’t why I have to be here? You’re the one who wants the divorce” Andrew pointed out, Iris rolled her eyes

“If you would’ve just signed the papers we wouldn’t have to be here, now would we?”

“Well forgive me for trying to save our marriage” he said sarcastically.  Just then the gray haired women in the front called there names.

“Come on let’s get this over with” Iris moaned, they stood from the foamed filled chairs. Andrew pushed impatiently through the open door, he walked over to the two person couch and he plopped down on it, slowly sinking into its old leather. Iris walked in slowly and rather irritated that she had to be here. She sat next to her husband, both looking at the opposite walls, like little five year olds on a time out.  Across from them sat a woman dressed in an old black blazer that looked as if it were washed with bleach. The women introduced her self

“Welcome mister and misses Crisp, I am Doctor Fluent” she looked down at the clip board in her hands “I’ve been informed that you two have been having some relationship problem” She looked up at them, and waited for a response.

“Yes” Iris answered honestly “yes we have,” the women nodded her head, leaning forward on her clip board,

“Okay then, before we begin I must inform you, how your sessions are going to be conducted.” She paused for a moment

“Here is how it works, I’ll ask one of you to tell me what the issue is, and then I will ask the other to tell me their side of it. Understand?”  Iris nodded, Andrew groaned

“I don’t have time for this” he mumbled under his breath. Iris heard him and she jabbed her boney elbow into his arm.

“Ow!” he said, but it didn’t hurt him at all. Iris glared into his eyes, and although she didn’t say anything, he knew she was telling him to shut up. Then she turned back to the women and gave her the innocent smile she always faked.  With a pen in her hand, the woman began to write on her clip board, shaking her head as she scribbled.

“What is she writing?” Iris whispered, but Andrew ignored her. The room was silent; Iris sat wondering what she was writing down, while Andrew tried to force himself to sleep. The women ceased the writing; she looked up, breaking the silence,

So Misses Crisp” the women began, Andrew jolting from the sudden noise. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and pretending to yawn, both women starring at him, one with a look of embarrassment, while the other looked back to Iris. She began,

“Misses Crisp”

“Please, call me Iris” she interrupted, Iris smiled

“Iris” the women repeated “Tell me why you think you’re here?”  Iris straightened her posture,

“Well” she started “you see, I want to divorce my husband, bout he wouldn’t sign the papers. So I went to the judge to see if he could force Andrew to sign them” The women’s hands raced across the clip board, recording every word Iris said.

“And what did the judge say?” she asked, her arm glued to the board,

“Nothing, he did nothing. And what’s more, he laughed at me.” She turned to her husband, pulling his arm closer to her “but Andrew hated it when people laughed at me, so he jumped out of his chair and punched the judge right across the face, knocking him to the ground” Andrew stood over Iris

“I did no such thing. I didn’t hit the judge, I punched your idiot lawyer, you lying, conniving, son of a…”

“Mister Crisp!” the women shouted
“You see, you see what I have to put up with!” Iris interjected,

“Silence both of you, I will not tolerate such behavior in my office, is that clear?”

Iris nodded her head. Andrew sunk back into the couch, his hand coving his muffled curse.  Iris looked at her husband, the back to the women who was smiling at her, she thought

“This is great, she’d on my side.” The women regaining her thoughts asked Iris why she wants to divorce her husband. Iris feeling very proud sat up a little straighter,

“It all started a few months ago I had a since that something wasn’t quite right”
“and what was that?” the women asked, Iris continued

“Well there was this woman…”

“Oh great, now you got her going, thanks a lot doc.” Andrew interrupted

“Mister Crisp, please,” the women said, silencing Andrew,

“Go on” she urged Iris

“Thank you” Iris spoke softly,

“Well like I said there was this woman, Heather. She lived a few blocks from our house, she was homeless you see. “She paused to take a breath,

“One day I came home early from my Pilates class, and I found that girl waiting on our front porch” she stop to watch the women writing down everything she said,

“I see” the women agreed. Iris continued
“I walked up to her and I asked her what she wanted.” The women quite writing and looked up at Iris

“And what did she want?” she asked, Iris took a deep breath, and then she shot her husband a judgmental glance, that she perfected.

“She said she came to see Andrew, my husband, here. I told her that he was still at work, and to come by later. So she nodded her head and started to leave, but before turning out our drive way she walked back to me. She handed me an envelope and said “make sure he gets this” then she just left.”  Iris stopped; she waited for the women to finished scribbling all over the paper. The women leaned back in her chair, 

“And what made you think that something was wrong?” she asked her

“She was pregnant” Iris said forcefully, the women’s face was still.  Andrew looked at his wife, with her eyes burning the very depts. of his soul.  The women asked

“Care to explain, Mister Crisp?” Andrew was dumbfounded, but the words still came,

“Yes I knew the girl” he said not realizing what he had just said,

“I knew it, you sneaky, low life, son of a bi…”

“Misses Crisp, let him finish” she shouted to Iris. Andrew regaining his composure, he cleared his throat

“Yes I knew the women, but it’s not what you think. She was homeless, so I helped her find a job. And then I found out someone had attacked and raped her. So when she told me she was pregnant, I told her I would help, in anyway possible.”

He stopped and turned to his wife; her eyes widen with shock and confusion. The sound of a pen running filled the dead silence of the room.

“What?” Iris questioned, breaking the quiet.

“That’s why she came to our house, to ask me for help. Did you honestly think I would risk our marriage on a homeless teenage girl?” he asked. Iris didn’t respond, but the women did. 

“Thank God it’s four o’clock.” She cried out, looking at her watch. She looked up at Iris and Andrew who were surprised to hear here say this.

“Sorry,” she began, she returned to her business like self

“Well I think we have accomplished something great here today. But I’m afraid that your time is up, and I have other patients to council.”  The women stood from her chair, Andrew and Iris copied.

“Same time next week?” she asked, shaking their hands. Andrew looked down at his smiling wife, with a peacefulness surrounding her, something he hadn’t seen in a while. He answered the women, saying

“Yes, will be back.” Iris nodded; they began to walk out the door. Iris looked back at the women

“Sorry, about this misunderstanding” but the women just replied

“Don’t worry this kind of thing happens all the time” she smiled and waved good-bye. She continued to wave and smile until they exited the building. When she was sure that they were gone, she called to the gray haired women

“Nancy, do we still have that scotch from the Christmas party?” the women yelled back,

“Yep”

“Good, next time that couple has an appointment, make sure you give me that scotch. Those people are nuts.”

Nothing More- Creative writing

String beans, pot roast, and corn. That’s what she wanted. She could’ve asked for anything, and that’s what she had chosen. I guess to understand this story I have to start from the beginning.

My little sister, Evangeline was born November sixth two thousand. She was seven pounds and twelve ounces; all in all she was a pretty healthy little girl. Growing up was nothing more than what would typically happen to a little girl. She caught all the usual childhood illnesses, the flu, the occasional stomach bug, a small case of the chickenpox, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Evangeline could be described as a happy, bright, blue-eyed girl, who made everyone smile. We all loved her, her friends, her teachers; even my best friend’s cousin’s boyfriend loved her.  

There is that saying, that nothing bad could ever happen to me, I’m just a little kid. That is precisely what me and my parents thought when Evie was born. But when Evangeline was seven years old, the unimaginable happened. I was in my history class, when I was called to the front office.

My teacher wouldn’t tell me why I was being called, she told me “take your stuff with you; I doubt that you’ll be coming back.”

So I did. I walked to the office; there I saw my parent’s waiting for me. “What’s going on?” I asked them

Daddy just said “We’ll tell you when we get into the car, now let’s go.”

So we got into the car and drove from the school. There was an eerie silence in the car, but it they didn’t say anything to me until we were about five minutes away from the hospital.  Mom said to me “Evangeline, collapsed in school today” my whole body went cold

“Why? What happened? Is she okay?”  Neither one of them would answer me, but I wanted to know why?   I was begun to get very aggravated, but from the back seat, I saw mom biting her lip, which she only did so that she wouldn’t cry. So I just kept my mouth shut.

“Were going to the hospital” daddy said, “but is she okay?” I asked again, even more concerned “She’s fine, were just going to find out what happened.”

We got to the hospital parking lot; daddy dropped me and mom off at the door. We went in to the front desk.

“I’m looking for my daughter” “name” the lady asked “Evangeline Adams” “one moment please” her hands flew across the computer keys. “Ah yes she’s in room A15. Down the hall, fifth door on the left” “thank you, let’s go, Sammy” mom told me. We walked quickly to the room. The door was open so we just went right on in.

Evangeline saw us “Mommy, Sammy, what are you doing here?” mom replied “to see you of course” she laughed. “Is daddy coming?” “Yes, he’s parking the car” “oh goodie.” A few seconds later daddy came in “daddy!” she shouted

“Hi baby, how are you feeling?” “Hungry” mom laughed “well there’s a surprise.”

Just then a man in a white lab coat came in “Mister and Misses Adams?” mom and daddy nodded “I’m doctor MaCcalventine”  I giggled, what kind of name is that? Doctor MaCcalventine, HA! Anyway he asked mom and daddy the usually questions, and both of them gave him the usual answers. This is so boring; I would rather be back at the school, then to be here.  I walked up to my little sister, who was brushing her baby dolls hair, and I sat on the bed. Doctor MaCalvientyne or whatever his name is, was still talking to my parents. He was whispering so I couldn’t make out what they were saying. “Evie” I asked her “are you as bored as I am?” She nodded her head, the Doc stop talking to our parents and came over to Evie.

“Do you remember what happened, sweetie?”  Evangeline said to him “my name’s not sweetie, its Evangeline” I laughed, but I stopped when mom gave me “the look.”

“Of course it is, but can you tell me how you fell?”  Doctor what’s-his-face asked

She told him “all I can remember is Mrs. Stacy, that’s my teacher; she asked me how many fish were in the picture. There were sixteen, I think, but when I tried to answer her my brain froze and that’s when I fell.”  As she was telling him this, he wrote. I swear he wrote down ever word she said. He finished writing, and he asked me

“How old are you?” “Fourteen, how old are you?” I was being really sarcastic, and mom gave me that look again. “Sorry” I told him.

He spoke “I think you’re old enough to hear this. Mister and Misses Adams, I am very sorry to tell you, but we have done some test on your daughter, and as we feared your daughter has absence epilepsy.”

I learned about epilepsy in fifth grade. So I knew what he was talking about.

“Epilepsy, Evangeline has epilepsy?” “Yes, but there’s nothing that you should be too concerned about, her epilepsy is actually very common, and should go away when she hits puberty.” We were all relieved “You should consider taking her out of public school though.” Mom nodded “okay, we’ll do that.”

We left the hospital that same day. When we got home, Evangeline jumped out of the car, and she ran to Honey and Pop, our grandparents. She told then what had happened to her. I could tell by their faces that they were shocked; they pulled her in, and gave her a big bear hug. They looked at each other, then at my parents, then to me, and then they looked down again at Evie. They had absolute terror sneaking across their faces. Seeing them scared made my stomach turn. I was scared too, but Evie was skipping towards me, so I quickly slapped on a fake smile. She was smiling like everything was fine. I guess she really didn’t understand what she had. She grabbed my hand and we walked inside.

After finding out what was wrong with Evie, everything changed. Mom quit her job to home school Evie; daddy had to get another job to keep everything going. And me, I learned just about everything there is about epilepsy. So now every time Evie had an episode I knew what to do. I would wait till it passed, then I would ask her what was today’s date, or when was she born, or who she was, questions like that.  After a while we all got use to her episodes, it was nothing more than a routine now.

But everything changed that next year, her seizures became more intense, and they began to last longer than usual. On a good day, she would seize maybe once, but on others she would have six or seven episodes.   Mom and daddy were getting very worried about Evie, so they took her back to the hospital, but doctor MaCcalventine a.k.a. doctor MaC, told them that there was nothing to worry about, and he told them to take Evie home, so they did.  The next two years were full of hospital visits, multiple up-all-nighters, and the ever continuing battle with Evangeline’s condition. But every time she was taken to see Doctor MaC, he assured them that it would go away once she hit puberty, so you could have just imagined how excited they were when Evie’s tenth birthday came.  We threw her a big party. We had the cake, the presents, the decorations; we had it all, and then some. Everyone was there, her friend’s were there, some of her old teachers came,  and even my best friend’s cousin’s newest boyfriend was there. After the party, things went back to what we called normal. Until one day Evie seized, but this seizure was unlike all of her other episodes. Mom was in the kitchen, and I was in my bedroom when it happened. Neither one of us knew she was having a seizure. All we heard was a loud thud. I ran from my room to see what it was. I flew down the stairs, where I saw my baby sister crumpled at the foot of the stairs.

“Mom!” I screamed, mom ran in and she saw Evie.  “Oh God, Sammy hurry call 911” so I did.

Moments after we arrived at the emergency room, Doctor MaC told mom “due to the fall, her brain has been severely damaged.” I asked him “but doc, she’s going to be okay right?” he shrugged his shoulder “I don’t know” he said.  Daddy came in; mom had called him in the ambulance.

Daddy shouted “what happened?”  “Evie fell down the stairs” I cried. Doctor MaC pulled them aside and talked very softly, but I could still make out a few words. Brain, fall, damage, seizure, coma, death, which was all I heard. I felt numb, my entire body went cold. A nurse came in; she told us that Evie was awake and that we should say our last goodbyes. So they took us to her room. Before going in mom tried her best to dry up her eyes, I was the first one to go in. I saw my baby sister; she was hooked up to every machine known to man.

 I sat next to her and I asked her “are you scared?” she looked up at me, her eyes swollen almost completely shut, and she smiled at me. She said “I’m not scared, are you?” “Very.” she grabbed my hand “don’t be scared sissy, I’ll be okay, you’ll see” I tried so hard not to cry, so I bit down on my lip, just like mom does.

Then mom and daddy came in. “How are you feeling” daddy asked “hungry”  “well what you want then?” mom asked her. She thought for a moment then she replied “I want string beans, pot roast and corn” “but Evie, I thought you didn’t like string beans?’ I said. “I know, but you…” she couldn’t finish, we all saw what was happening, and the very familiar symptoms that have plagued her for the past four years.  I didn’t want to believe it, doctor MaC was right.  She would have an episode, fall into a coma, and then her body would shut down, and she would die.  We all sat there in her room for about an hour or two.  Then we all heard a sound we thought we would never hear, the sound of the heart and brain monitors flat lining.

“She’s gone” I whispered, “My baby sister is gone.” I started to cry. My parents said their goodbyes to her and left me alone in the room with her body. I picked up Evie’s small hand and rubbed it against my face. She was so brave, that it made me brave as well.  I laid her hand back down on the bed, I stared towards the door, but before I left I turned to the bed and said “see you around, little sister.” And I left. That night I lay in my bed staring up at the ceiling.

“Well Evangeline, we had what you wanted, we ate the string beans that you hated so much, we ate the pot roast, which you could never get enough of, and we ate the corn, your favorite. It was really good, Evie. You picked out the right meal. I love you baby sister, and I’ll be seeing you. Sleep well.”  I closed my eyes and dreamed of my brave little sister, Evangeline, and the last thing she could ever want, was nothing more than string beans, pot roast, and a ridiculous amount of corn.