A Family She Never Had

Images of Mimi’s past play in photographs. Still images like drawings. Scribbled lightened colors.

“Mom!” Mimi ran to her mother with a slip of paper. Joyous in her stride, she presents her paper to her mother.

“Not now Mimi.” her mother said. Indifferent and without care or remorse, she walked away with glamour. She wore a red dress, mesmerizing in its elegance. Stunning. She walked out of the room without uttering another word.

“ But.. I got an A!” Heartbroken, Mimi drops her hands to her side. The slip of paper on the floor. A perfect score on her test result. Mimi looks down at the floor. Heartbroken.

The scene shifts to another instance in middle school. The lines are more defined but scribbled nonetheless.

“Father… my teacher wants to meet you in the open house, I—”

“I will not waste my time with frivolous moments. Don’t talk to me unless it is an emergency.”

“Y-yes father…”

With a heavy heart, Mimi arrives at the open house without her father. Her teacher knew right away what happened.

“He’s not coming, is he?” The teacher asked.

“Yes…” Mimi replied. Defeated, she looks away in disappointment. The teacher sighed and gathered his papers.

“A shame really.. I wanted to talk to him regarding your studies. A huge accomplishment for one so young. Top of your class and consistent. Listen. I will ask you to not give up. They’ll come around eventually. Have some faith in your parents.”

Mimi left the classroom with renewed motivation due to her teacher’s speech. inspired, she threw herself into her studies and made remarkable progress. As a result, Mimi consistently made perfect marks on her test and became the top student in the entire school. The next set of photographs became more refined. Images of Mimi—Older. Bold. Frustrated.

“I always tried to give my parents the benefit of the doubt. However, more and more, they kept failing me. Setting my expectations lower until there was… nothing. I kept wondering if it was me who pushed them away. Was it? What if I was never born? Would they even care if I disappeared? I asked those questions every day. I was never sure what my parents were thinking, and it made me feel… so.. so…”

“Why? Why are you leaving?” Mimi called out to her parents. Their suitcases packed with clothing and other wares. Mimi’s mother left as always without saying a word. The butler brought the suitcases outside the house. One by one into the trunk of the limousine.

Her father does not bat an eye at her. Adding insult to injury, he does nothing but place his watch onto his wrist and put on his blazer.

“Dad, my graduation is in a week, why can’t you wait until I graduate!?

“Enough with your petty squabbles, we have time to discuss your choices when your mother and I return from our trip.”

“But I was accepted to all the best colleges! I did everything to get your approval and I got nothing! Nothing!” Mimi yelled from the top of her lungs where the whole house vibrated. Her sadness was felt by every word she said, but her father didn’t share the same sentiment.

“I said enough!” Her father roared in rage Mimi has never seen before. Eyes widened with uncontrollable anger. Mimi left speechless from the outrage. Before leaving, he walks in front of the shaken Mimi. He stared with deep dissatisfaction. Mimi is too afraid to meet his gaze.

“When we return, we will also discuss your behavior. If I hear you even step one inch out of line, you will regret it. You have done nothing but embarrass me and your mother.” Mimi is left shocked as her father turns to leave.

“If only we had conceived a son… He muttered. Her father was clear and didn’t stutter in his words. Tears in her eyes, the door closes without an ounce of care and meaning. She falls to the ground. A lost hope of ever gaining her parent’s favor.

“I..I d-don’t understand.. Why.?

…..

The pictures fade into darkness. Dissolved as quickly as they had flooded into her mind.

“Why…?” All Mimi heard was silence. Nothing.

Mimi opens her eyes to see a ceiling of some sort.

“Hold on… I’m… alive? How? And what is this place…” Mimi surveys the area and clearly realizes there is something odd. Odd embroidery. Pots and pans filled with foods unknown to her. Mimi quickly realizes her refuge is a huge tent. A tepee made of cloth.

“This.. this is not home… Where am I?” Mimi looks at her hands and immediately realizes the situation. Hands of a chalky white. Clothes of old times were cheap but so warm she felt something she had not felt in a long time. Battered and stitched to prevent them from falling apart, she can see they were handled with care.

“My hands… my nails…. Who or what am I?” All she can do is touch her face. Her hair white as snow. Her nails looked sharp as knives. 

Mimi can hear someone come into the tepee. She was human but horns stuck out from her temples. Even though she was not human, she looked so stunning. Like nothing Mimi had seen before. The moment she and Mimi exchanged eye contact, she dropped everything. She ran to Mimi with tears in her eyes as she carefully touched her cheeks and the back of her head.

“Oh my goodness, Aru! Aru, my dear daughter, you are alive. I have missed you so. I… I have missed you so much!”

Mimi couldn’t say a word because before she could, the humanlike mourning mother hugged her. All Mimi could do is feel an embrace she longed for. Something she wanted from her own parents. An affection she missed all her life. It brought her to tears. She wailed. They both held each other as they wept and fell into a light slumber.

“Ami, is there something the matter?” A man enters the tepee to his manner of worry into a sense of calm. As they slept, he could not help but smile at the sight of his family.