*NIP* A Single Grain of Rice

Part 2

"NO!"

I sit up in a cold sweat. It took me a few seconds to slow my breathing; to picture myself as a serene lake on a cloudless day, not agitated. The sting of my faceless husband's blows still tingles on my body. I shiver and hug myself, rocking back and forth on my pallet. I close my eyes and try not to remember his sneer, the rough, rotted teeth, the matted tangle of unkempt hair, and his growls of anger as the blows rained down. The most horrible part was that the nightmare didn't end when I was awake. I will meet the matchmaker today. That could very well be my fate. I know girls are rarely this terrified of marriage, but I have a good reason to be.

My best friend as a child was Li Mae. She wasn't blessed with much beauty on the surface, but under her rough complexion and gapped teeth lay the kindest heart I have ever known. Mae is a few years older than I, and met her matchmaker three years ago. That old busybody landed her with a drunkard who beat her when he ws sober and assulted her when he was drunk. Mae lived with him for a year before pleading to the courts for a divorce. She did finally recieve it, but it took years, and sweet Mae was broken inside and out. She moved far away, without saying good bye, and without returning. 

"Mulan?" a soft, hoarse voice asks.

"Grandmother?" I say in surprise, and a few seconds later, the old woman hobbles into the archway that was the entrance to my room. 

"Bad dream, my dear?" she asks in a business-like way, but her eys are soft and sympathetic. Her flyaway silver hair sticks out around her head and catches the lantern light, so it looks like she glows.

"Yes, Grandmother. I'm sorry to wake you," I murmmer. She ignores my rare display of manners and lowers herself next to me with a grunt.

'Tell me. Perhaps the ancestors will reveal something to us." I shudder, but relate my dream. Grandmother pats my knee gently at the conclusion.

"Mulan, it was not only a dream," she says softly, gazing at me with a sad smile. I jump to my feet.

"That is my future?!" I nearly shout. Grandmother shakes her head calmly, and motions for me to sit down.

"No, child, it shows your fear. You fear that it is your destiny to just be a mother, and an unloved wife." I blink in awe. How could she know?  Catching my look of surpirse,she chuckles.

"Don't look at me with your mouth open, dear, I'm old enough to be an ancestor and I was in your place once. Oh, you wouldn't believe the dreams I had..." she says, a hint of a smile on her face as she remembered.

"What did you dream, Grandmother?" I ask, truely intrigued. She shoots me a smile and a knowing wink.

"I dreamed about the emporer's son."

"The emporer's son?" I repeat in surprise.

"I'm the one with bad hearing, dear, yes, you heard me! I dreamed of being married, of being beside him as he someday ruled. But," she continued with a sigh, "it was foolish. And look how I turned out. Destiny knew what I needed. I am so proud of my family. of you!" She adds, tweaking my nose, and drawing out a small laugh from me. "Mulan, do not worry. I'm sure my son would be more than happy to give you some happy proverb, but I prefer to put it simply. Destiny awaits you, Mulan. Follow your path and your destiny will find you. You don't have to go out looking for it." She stood up with some small cracking sounds and a long sigh, then picked up her small lantern.

"Thank you, Grandmother," I say softly. She doesn't turn around, but I could almost swear I heard her whisper,

"Thank you."