Chapter 12
+ 5 Points
Chapter 12
They left in a huff and headed to the clothing
section.
They laughed with the salesperson, saying they were buying new clothes for their eldest daughter.
When asked about her height, they looked
blank.
“What about weight?”
Another exchange of puzzled glances.
In the end, they haphazardly bought a
one–size–fits–all.
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Convinced I would be grateful.
Along the way, the snow and wind blurred their vision, but luckily the soul doesn’t feel the cold.
We stopped by my grandma’s crumbling brick wall, and Mom angrily got out of the car when she saw the locked door.
Her red high heels sank deep into the snow.
“Lazy girl, still in bed at noon!”
“No manners, doesn’t even answer the phone. Just wait until I get my hands on you!”
Dad regretted his impulsive decision.
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come. The snow’s so heavy, it’s freezing. Really dampens the
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mood.”
Until the creak of the gate.
The yard was a pristine white, undisturbed, and whole.
In the center, a black figure huddled, covered in
snow.
Mom thought it was clothes blown into the yard and nudged it with her foot.
The solid feel made her stumble back.
“Ah!”
Her scream pierced the storm.
Breathing heavily, she struggled to believe.
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“I’m seeing things, right?”
Enough snow fell from the kick to reveal the form, and my brother screamed.
“It’s sister!”
Dad’s gaze followed my brother’s point, and he trudged over through the snow.
My body was stiff like frozen meat.
With a push, Dad turned me over.
Curled up, face buried, lashes iced over like a sleeping cat.
I couldn’t bear to see my own state and slowly closed my eyes.
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Mom instantly broke down, likely terrified by how I looked.
My brother, shaken, darted away and vomited, insisting we leave.
Mom and Dad sat in the living room, their expressions strained.
Only now did they realize their once cozy home was drafty and worn.
On the table were frozen buns, a bowl of
iced–over water, and cold sweet potatoes buried in the ash of the hearth.
These remnants of my life constantly reminded them of how I had lived.
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– 5 Porns
Still in shock, Dad remained silent as Mom continued to lament.
“I kept saying we should visit her, but you insisted she’d follow us back.”
Enough!” Dad slammed the table, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
“I wanted her to see Grandma, or she’d resent us. You didn’t listen, and now you blame me.”
Tears welled in Mom’s eyes.
“You said work kept you busy–if you focused on Sol, you couldn’t handle Stella too. Can you blame just me?”
Their accusations ceased as they settled on the belief that my death was unavoidable.
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It was no one’s fault.
They gradually accepted this, their expressions softening.
Suddenly, a phone rang, startling them.
Following the sound, they found an old phone charging.
It was obviously mine.
Dad exhaled, picking it up with curiosity.
It was the doctor, asking when I’d come for chemotherapy.
Dad frowned. “What chemotherapy?”
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When the doctor realized it was my dad, she explained my cancer diagnosis to him.
The phone slipped from Dad’s hand, and he slumped sideways, drained.
Mom covered her mouth, tears streaming uncontrollably.
“How could this happen? She’s so young!”
“She really was sick… She asked for help, but we dismissed her, thought she was being dramatic.”
She clung to Dad, sobbing and tearing at his
shirt.
“We’re the ones who killed Stella! It’s all my fault! She could’ve lived well!”
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Dad pushed her aside, crying out unabashedly.
“Don’t you think I know? My Stella!”
I doubted my own eyes, seeing their tears of
regret.
Where was their parental pride now? They actually admitted their mistakes.
But what did it matter?
I was already gone.
