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1st Person....
"(Y/N), supper!", mother calls. I then hasten my original pace of reading trying to finish my chapter. "Before your food gets cold, please!", my mom adds impatiently. 'Good god...' I fold the top corner of the page then snap the book closed, placing it on top of my bed mattress.
"Yes, hold on!", I call back trying to keep the attitude away from my voice- while I secretly am trying to suppress a groan. Getting into anymore trouble right now wouldn't serve me too much good. But, all the times I did get into trouble- it was worth it.
I hurry out of my bedroom and nearly knock over a house plant in the process. The candles in the dining room are dim, but just right so we can see where everybody is. I pull out a chair from underneath the birch table and let out a puff of air once I slump down into my seat.
I took notice very quickly that my father was absent from the table, and absentmindedly queried; "Where's Papa tonight?"
My sister passes me the shrimp platter, and my face is gleaming with excitement. 'Yummy, we have shrimp tonight!'
"Still at work," mother explains. Nobody in my family really knows what our dad does for a living- and it's not like we talk about it anyways...
I pick up my utensils and plop a few shrimps onto my own dish. I clasp my hands together in front of my head and close my eyes to say quick prayers. I reopen them and also set my handkerchief on my lap. 'Not that I'm messy, it's just you never really know what mess there will be!'
Using my chopsticks, I bring a shrimp to my lips and in an instant I taste butter, salt, and fishy flavor. 'Fishy flavor... Yes. That's exactly it.'
My mom, sister, and I all perk up in alarm when we hear the front door to our cozy house kick open and the frame of it shakes. My mother slowly stands up and and relaxes her shoulders once she sees it's our dad having trouble walking inside.
I don't think he's sober... I go to the sink and get a rag and rinse it in our stored bucket of water. It wasn't exactly a warm temperature, but it's fine for now.
I walk towards my dad, and I see my mom is having trouble getting him to sit down on a stool. I try to calm him down and get him to cooperate with us- but my useless attempts made it only worse...
He raises his fist and smacks me across the face hard. I yelp in pain directing my attention to my other family member's expressions, looking for something in their eyes- just waiting for somebody to do something. I feel blood dripping down my face, and I slowly put a hand to my nose, feeling the red substance sinking in the crevasses of my fingers.
I slowly realize that none of them were going to do anything- so I angrily wipe the dripping blood with the back of my hand and bolt out of the room, and outside my next location being? No idea.. just somewhere away from them. Maybe I would go back, who knows? I'm too infuriated to care right now.
I reach the frontline of tall and slender bamboo trees and I start sprinting towards the wood. My foot gets caught on the roots of a tree, and I tumble into the dirt road next to it.
I groan audibly, and I hear a loud rustle in the bushes near me. I stand up brushing dirt off of my (f/c) kimono and face the figure in the shadows emerge- (Sister's Name).. I wish I didn't have to see her right now.
We stare only at each other- not knowing what else to say. She starts first by murmuring; "Dad is asleep now.. you can get bandages for your nosebleed."
"Eh, it doesn't matter. It's not like this is the first time this has happened.. Plus, my nosebleed already stopped a while ago." 'I think. But I'm not going back right now- because it's not like any of them stood up for me. I'll go back in later..'
"I'm sure he's sorry y'know... You should come back inside, it's getting darker out," I can hear the clear pity in her voice. 'But she can't relate because everybody treats her like an empress.'
"Yeah sure, in a few minutes. Just leave me be for a while, please?" I try to conceal the mixed emotions up with my expressions all pinning down the look of calm. She hesitantly nods and then turns in the other direction and strides off back to our home.
I crouch down slowly, then rolling onto my back to take a look at the starry sky while I pursue the constellations in the sky.
The air suddenly feels freezing- and my flesh feels tickly almost as if there were daggers of ice penetrating the surface of my skin. I suck in a breath, and I spring up from my spot on the tuff of grass.
A male's laughter is the last thing I hear, before I fall into a horrifying and unexpected slumber.
