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Jan 29, 2019 18:25
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Family Above All 1,534 words Prompt: Supernatural Chinese Looking-for-love Story (at Christmas) Nina Fong slammed the door to her room, shaking the posters of punk bands and Russian political philosophers on the walls. She threw herself onto her bed and screamed into the nearest pillow. Outside the room, her mother yelled, “This won’t do you any good, child! You’re going whether you like it or not!” Nina jumped off her bed and stomped to the closed door. “Nora’s much more important to me than my stupid dead grandpa! So why don’t you just gently caress off?!” There came no reply, only frustrated muttering (“I can’t believe this. Liang Fong, the child’s father’s father, and the child won’t even…”) A few moments later, Nina’s mother could be heard creaking down the stairs. Nina’s phone vibrated. She pulled it out and opened the lock screen to find a text from Nora: Are u there? The lock screen was a picture of Nora. Her sandy hair, piercing green eyes, and melancholy smile always comforted Nina. There were, of course, other pleasures to be had with Nora, but her body, Nina felt, could be appreciated in more ways than one. If only the two were together tonight, on Christmas Eve, when lovers always professed their love. But they weren’t. As Nina thought that, she knew what she had to do. Yeah, im coming, Nina sent back, and within a few minutes, she had changed clothes, shimmied down the drainage pipe, and landed on the ground behind her house. No, it was his house. Liang’s. Not hers - never hers. ***** A half hour later, Nina felt she was no closer to her destination than when she had left. The bitter December winds cut through her deep blue coat and black stretch pants. Cars flew across the road next to Nina (could the next one be her mother’s?), blowing wet snow behind her round glasses and forcing her eyes to negotiate quick shifts between light and darkness. Her phone vibrated again. Where are u? “poo poo…” Nina muttered. She pulled one glove off with her teeth and was halfway through a response when the tell-tale whine of a police siren broke the eerie calm between wind gusts. Nina yelped and tried to stuff her phone back in her pocket, but as the siren grew closer, a strong wind started up. Her phone flew from her hand onto the road, and with a grave crunch, it was crushed under the wheels of the police car. Before Nina had the chance to panic, the car pulled over a few feet in front of her. She gasped, then darted into the woods by the road. Thirty seconds, a minute, ninety seconds - how long would Nina run, against the wind? She saw a clearing, then a shed. A shed! Nina’s boots tracked snow on its decaying wood panels as she ran inside and swung the door shut. She fell to her knees and shivered on the floor for a while, then reached for her phone - her phone... Nina pounded the wood with her fists. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” she yelled. Her sobs rocked her entire body and scared off the worms and ants crawling between the floorboards. “Yes, that was stupid of you, wasn’t it?” The voice - a man’s voice, obviously sneering - had come from behind her. She stopped. She didn’t dare turn around. The voice sounded so familiar… What was it? “Oh, get up. No grandson of mine is going to cry on the floor like a… Like a failed… Like a failed something or other.” Grandson (the very nerve!)? But that would mean - Nina pulled herself off the floor and turned toward the voice. The spirit of her grandfather, Liang Fong, cast in a pale green light that illuminated most of the shed, stood before her. His arms were crossed and his entire face seemed to participate in a glare. “B-but…” Nina stammered, taking a few steps back, “y-you’re dead.” “Yes. I see you’re a very intelligent young man, to recognize that.” “Shut up!” Liang smirked for an instant, then contorted his face, wrinkly and mean even in death, to a frown. “I am your grandfather. You should be showing me more respect.” He shook his head, then let out an exaggerated sigh. “But then, you were never a respectful one, were you, Derek Fong?” Nina growled. “It’s Nina.” Liang laughed a long, vicarious laugh. Nina curled her hands into fists and stamped on the floor. “Don’t laugh at me, you old bat! My name is Nina!” “Ah,” began Liang, moving closer to the young woman, “but that’s not the name your mother gave you, is it? Cruel, nasty child. Always forsaking your poor family.” Nora and Nina had spent hours coming up with her current name. Nina saw Nora again, in her mind’s eye... Would they ever meet again? Was this a hallucination? Would Nina die here? No, she wouldn’t. Nina ran toward the door to the shed, passing through Liang’s spirit - what a clammy, ugly feeling - on the way. Liang moved in the same way, at lightning speeds, without making a sound. Before Nina knew it, his hand was on the door. “Now, now,” Liang chided. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” “Let me through, rear end in a top hat,” Nina said. “Very well. I don’t have the power to stop you. But - where will you go? And where are you right now? Might I remind you you don’t have your phone?” “I’m going to Nora’s, obviously.” Liang laughed again, but this time the laugh was heartier and lower in pitch, as if it was malicious. “Then go on ahead. Try to force your way through the woods.” Which Nina did. As she stepped outside, she noticed that the wind had picked up, and that it had started to snow. Even the skin under her wool mittens felt every single gust. Disregarding these omens, Nina trudged onward, lifting her knees to her chest just to get above the snow. Where was her scarf? She must’ve dropped it while running to the shed… And then Nina saw light - candlelight, flickering in the distance. No, candles wouldn’t stay lit in this environment, they’d have to be electric… That thought drew Nina’s eyes deeper into the woods, so deep they could make out a woman in ceremonial garb, praying. Her family’s shrine to Liang. Nina pivoted on her boots (well, pivoted as much as was possible in the snow) and made her way back to the shed. She wasn’t giving her family the satisfaction, not even after all this. When she got back to the shed, Liang was waiting for her, his arms crossed, that damned ghosty smirk on his face. “So,” he began, moving toward his granddaughter, “what did you see?” “I’m not talking to you, old man.” “Your mother and father are very brave to come all this way in the snow, just to pay their respects.” Nina stuck her tongue out at Liang, who merely chuckled. He went on: “Do you remember the night I died? No? Oh, come, come, it’s easy to remember! Christmas Eve, five years ago!” Nina pursed her lips. “What about it?” she spat. “Every year since then, they’ve come, rain or shine, to honor me. And you’ve come with them! Every year! But why not this one, Derek? Why -” “It’s Nina! And I didn’t come because I hate you.” A hint of some hitherto unknown emotion flashed across Liang’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come, replaced with a glare. “Fine. I should’ve known you wouldn’t listen, stubborn bitch.” Nina felt the world around her freeze. “What did you call me?” she spoke, in a low voice. “A bitch, of course! A bitch! Bitch bitch bitch!” Time stopped. This was why. Nina remembered a day, seven years ago, when Liang and her parents had gotten into a bloody argument. Like every other time, he could not be reasoned with. Never. Not to mention the dead dream of him accepting Nina for who she was. And yet her parents would go and honor him, as if he hadn’t done anything at all?! What was the point?! And yet - what was the point of this, right now? All this anger over a dead man with no real power? Nina closed her eyes and breathed a few deep breaths. Her mind was clear, somehow, clearer than it had been all night. She walked back to the shed door, opening it - and the snow and wind had stopped. The woods were clear. “Where are you going, Derek?!” Liang snapped. “I haven’t finished with you!” Nina stopped and turned her head slightly. She smiled at Liang, then said, “I don’t hate you. ...I didn’t come this year, though, because I realized some people aren’t worth honoring.” With that, Nina strode out the door, gently shutting it behind her. As she walked through the woods back to the road, the protests of Liang’s spirit fading behind her, she took in the calm Christmas Eve air. Phone or no phone, shrine or no shrine, grandfather or no grandfather, only two things mattered: Nina and Nora. “I’ll be there soon, Nora. I promise.”
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Feb 3, 2019 15:22
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Thanks for the crit!
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Feb 5, 2019 04:27
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