I was asked to read my adult writing piece to the audience at the closing ceremony of the Teaching of Writing Institute this afternoon. The following is the final version for this afternoon:
This is a story about my grandma, happend in the 1940s in a small village in southern China.
“What happened, Mom?” Lin asked as she walked to her Mother.
“Oh, my little sweetheart,” her mother couldn't help crying before her daughter. “Your father will have you marry into the Wu family next month.”
“M...Mom,” she stammered with her black eyes opened wide, "which…which Wu family?"
“My poor girl, my baby, you will marry the oldest son of the Wu family in the Kim Village...He is ten years older than you. How could I live without you?” Lin's Mother looked at Lin as her heart was breaking.
“Mom, I don't want to get married. I don't want to leave you! Let me go to talk to father,” as Lin was about to walk out of her room.
“My silly girl, are you crazy? You will be beaten to death. Oh, my poor little girl.” Her mother held Lin in her arms and kept sobbing.
Lin rushed back to her room and cried hard in her bed. “I hate him. I hate this suffocating family!” The hatred and pain soared in her heart, “I hate the fact that I have to follow and accept everything arranged by others. Why do I have to follow father and why do women have to always follow men's decisions? Why could a woman as kind and noble as Mom never be well treated by father? Why? Why?!!!”
“No, this is not what I wanted.” Lin wiped the tears on her face.
Suddenly, there was something glittering in her eyes. “Why not run away from this family and never be controlled by father or any other man in the world?” She recalled, “Lu mentioned that there were jobs for women in the nearby city Yichun...Yes! I should go to Yichun.”
“But I can't leave Mom...” Lin hesitated.
Lin walked to the window and stared at the light from her mother’s room. Everything around seemed frozen and there was no other sound heard except for her own heartbeat.
Finally, Lin walked back to her bed with the decision made.
The next morning, before dawn, a girl sneaked out of a big house and walked towards the mountains faced by the village. On the other side of the mountains, there was a city called Yichun. The girl started to climb the first mountain. The sun was rising. Bright sunshine started to cover the peaks. The girl’s face became as rosy as the dawn. She continued climbing, without stopping or even glancing at the house which was becoming farther and farther away.
...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment