Chapter 3 Days passed, and Jiranan found herself walking on cloud nine. She felt like a woman in love. With a lover who tucked her in at night, wiped her tears away, and kissed her face to sleep. The banishment to this lonely place had lifted her spirit and restored the happiness that she had not had in a long time. Smiled like a young girl, she hugged herself wondering if her dreams were real or fake---did someone really comfort her or was it just an imagination? Malis had warned her of the room, stating of its curse. Her grand-aunt had disappeared one night in that room and no one ever knew what happened. But the thought did not scare Jiranan so much after she felt the warmth of the room. Sighing, she walked in the garden and picked some lilies to put in her room. "Miss Jiranan, your mother is here," Malis frantically said, trying to catch her breath after running around looking for Jiranan. A little worried, Jiranan stared at the house before sighing and trudged her way back to the house just in time to see her mother's annoyed look. "Wipe that smile off your face, right now, young lady," her mother quickly reprimanded. "Do you know the trouble you've caused? Your sister's boyfriend isn't allowed near her because his mother's afraid of what that Pakjira girl will do. If only you weren't so clumsy and spilled that drink, none of this would have happened." "I'm sorry," Jiranan whispered, near tears. "Sorry? That's not going to do anything. You barely stood up for yourself that night. Every person who saw you there only shook their head and wonder if your sister is exactly like you. What an embarrassment! Your dad is returning from America tomorrow because of all this. Can't you ever help the family?" The words broke her recovering spirit, and Jiranan wept silently, keeping her head down. Her mother didn't stop there. She went on to complain of Jiranan's past, her unattractiveness, her failure. Everything was being opened up, leaving her vulnerable and weak. Her mother didn't like a daughter like her. She knew, but Jiranan couldn't hold herself up like Jariya. She knew. When her mother left, Malis came up to comfort her, but Jiranan was already running to her room, locking herself up. Throwing herself on the bed, she cried and cried. No one understood what she had gone through. Jiranan was only the shadow of Jariya. All anyone expected was for her to follow silently and obediently. She tried and her best only disappointed her mother even more. In the midst of her sadness, Jiranan did not know whether she had fallen asleep or not. All she knew was that someone came to comfort her. What's wrong? A tiny whisper through the air stole through as if soothing her sadness. "Why can't I be strong? My mother is right. I'm just an embarrassment to the family." Don't cry, love... "I'm not beautiful. I'm not gifted with any talent. I am strong and confident. Why can't I have all that? Look at myself. I am an embarrassment to myself." What do you want? "I want beauty, confidence, strength. I want love and appreciation from my family. No one will say that I am an embarrassment, but I'm too weak to fight back. Who am I kidding myself?" ~ ( * ) ~ A thin shiny light broke through the dark, dusty room. She should have coughed, but she realized that she wasn't. Racks of broken woods stood on one side of the wall while another had huge carvings of chairs, structures unfinished, and a variety of little wood carvings. She found a small carving of bears and shrilled at the cute object, running her fingers over them. "Who's there?" A voice vibrated through the room, sending her to gasp, straightening up to stare at a shadow from the door. "Who are you?" The voice asked again, walking into the room. She turned suddenly and bumped into something hard and collapsed. The man rushed in, turning on the light, but found nothing. Andrew Gregson walked around once more and wondered if it was his dream haunting him midday. But she seemed too real to be a dream. But she disappeared like in his dream when he could see her and her pain, but she never responded. Maybe she was like his other creations. They had a spirit, but they cannot respond to him. What was the point of having this extraordinary power when he really didn't use it for any purpose? ~ ( * ) ~ Jiranan stared into the mirror, her eyes much darker and sharper than before. No sign of tears could be traced over her flawless face. Tracing her cheek with the back of her forefinger, Jiranan smiled arrogantly. "Beauty is in the way you hold yourself, my dear Yui," she said, pulling the strand of hair away from her eyes. She turned around and made sure that the dress she wore was in neat order. Perfect. The black dress clung close to her like water dripping. Costume diamonds made her skin glitter. It wasn't night. It wasn't a party. It was her coming. "Don't worry, Yui. I will make everyone realize how special you are." With a toss of hair, she grabbed her purse and walked out. A flicker of light tainted the mirror and a vision of a sleeping girl formed before it was suddenly engulfed by a billowing mist. The mirror held a secret that only the carvings knew and they laughed at the silly human who fell under its spell. Shadow Main       Home        << Back 2       Next 4 >>

Copyright 2003 Lina Em.
This story is fictional and any similarity to real life is coincidental.
Please don't take this story and pass it off as your own, all work belongs to Lina Em.
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