- 16.
Dad became a vegetable.
Polly cut ties with them, and never came
back.
My brother was in debt, a lot of it from online
lenders, with extremely high interest. He
worked like a dog but it was never enough.
The debt collectors came knocking
constantly, they beat him up on a regular
basis. He would cry and beg them for mercy.
He didn’t dare to go home. He was running all
over the place, completely destroyed. The last
time I saw him was at my tombstone.
He had his leg broken by the collectors,
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sweating and bleeding all over the place.
He was frantically cleaning the blood,
mumbling, “Don’t be afraid, Jenny, I’ll clean
this up for you…
وو
That was the first time he had ever called me
his sister!
He finally realized what he had done, and
broke down in tears, the tears falling onto the
blood.
I sighed, and looked away.
My mom, after a lifetime of being a
homemaker, now had to do odd jobs. She had
become a shell of her former self.
She was quiet and withdrawn, looking like a
L
Only when she was looking at my picture
would her eyes light up.
She would ask me if it was cold down there,
if I was hungry. She would use her limited
food to make me my favorite dishes, asking
me again and again to come and eat.
Day after day, year after year.
I watched her suffer, watched her back
become hunched, watched her hair turn
white.
The hate and bitterness slowly faded away.
Mom, please stop punishing yourself.
I whispered into her ear, but she just felt the
wind.
く
She quickly stood up, tears in her eyes. She
was calling my name.
Jenny, are you back?
Jenny, I miss you so much.
I miss you.
I was crying, my heart aching.
After spring, Dad could not hold on any
longer.
He was laying in bed, barely breathing, his
face gaunt like a skull.
At the end, he was clear for just a second.
He pulled mom’s hands and told her, “When
I m gone, burn some guns and swords. I
wasn’t a good father to Jenny when she was
alive. I don’t want to see her get bullied in the
afterlife.”
Mom nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.
Dad smiled, and breathed his last.
I closed my eyes and flew away, my heart still
hurting.
