*NIP* A Single Grain of Rice

Part 3

Author's Note: Some Chinese language is used in this section. "Qing qing de, haizi" means "Softly, child" and her dog is "Xiaodi" which means "Little Brother" and is pronounced "Sh-how-dee". The horse is "Khan" pronounced how it looks ('can' with a british accent). "Kuai" means "fast". "Niu" means "little girl". Translations provided by Google Translate.

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I can't go back to sleep, not after the nightmare, and not after what Grandmother said to me. It's rare that she comes and comforts me at my age now, although she did when I was small.

"Qing qing de, haizi. Softly, child. Your grandmother is here."

I hug my knees, looking out the window. The dawn is not yet come, but the sky is beginning to lighten. The clouds are dark, thick, heavy with rain already, and I wonder how I can walk to the Matchmaker and still look like a bride if I'm dripping wet.

i don't really mean to, but when I wake up, the sun has risen, what little I can see of it, and instantly I know it's very late for me to just be waking up. I scramble to my feet, yank on my clothes, and dash into the kitchen. 

"Mama?" I ask, but she's gone. "Father?" i glance out the window up the small rise at the back of the house, and I can just make out my Father's praying figure in the house of ancestors. Of course he would be there. Reaching for the loaf of bread on the shelf, I trip over something on the floor, and both the bread and I tumble to the floor. Xiaodi is at my feet, shaking his long brown ears. He jumps up and runs over to jump at my neck. His big brown eyes are caring, and his little fluffy tail is wagging like a leaf in a hurricane. I laugh as his wet tongue licks my face, and I stand up, snatching the bread from the floor before he gets to that. Xiaodi will eat anything. Speaking of eating... I tear off a chunk of bread and stuff it in my mouth before grabbing the bag of rice we feed to the chickens. I also find a bone from a few nights ago when we had pork, and toss it to Xiaodi, when an idea hits me. Crazy, definitely. But I am in a hurry, and it just might work. Approximately three minutes later, the bone is tied to a string. The string is tied to a small stick. The stick is tied to Xiaodi. Xiaodi is tied to another string. And that string is tied to the bag of rice for the chickens. I point the little brown and white ball of fluff towards the henhouse and he takes off after the bone dangled in front of him, leaving a trail of rice behind him. With a truimphant smile, I race to the stable, where our horse, Khan, lives along with a few pigs, and Bai, the milk cow. I leap onto Khan and we gallop through the wooden gates, leaving them banging behind us.

The ride is pretty hard, but I know Khan can handle it. He's a very strong, young horse, and highly intelligent. we zip through the empty farmland, hurdling over fences and scaring away some birds. My hair is whipping in my face, and I realize that i'm grinning wildly. A whoop escapes me as Khan pickes up speed, his hooves thundering on the ground that flies past under my feet. After the whirlwind of a ride, we approach the city's main gates. We slow to a trot, and weave through the daily traffic of the market. At last I spy the small building with a blue roof and a small ceramic dragon balanced above the door, just as Mama described. I duck through the door, and grin at my mother, who looks like she swallowed a bee. 

"I'm here!" i announce cheerily. 

"Mulan, you-"

"Ah, my dear, your lucky day at last! Come, come my dear, let us get you cleaned up in a hurry, shall we?" A short middle-aged woman with her graying hair in a tight bun scurries over to me and places a firm hand on my back, practically pushing me towards a tub of frothy water. 

"Get in, dear, and before your mother can really give it to you," she adds with a wink. I rather unwillingly undress in front of her, but she smiles at me reassuringly. I lower myself into the tub, shivering.