Chapter 6
Edward Quan ·
That night, “Mom's” voice came from outside my door.
“Yiyi.”
Strange.
She'd never come looking for me at night before.
“What is it?”
I stayed on the bed and called back without opening the door.
“It's almost your birthday.”
“I've got you some new clothes.”
...
My birthday?
I froze.
So it had been two months since she'd tricked me into coming back here from Uncle's.
But no.
Something wasn't right.
What was it?
I opened the door.
“Mom” stood there smiling, holding an outfit.
I took it and unfolded it.
A pink dress.
It looked very familiar, though I couldn't immediately remember where I'd seen it.
“Can I wear something else?”
“I don't like pink.”
I held the dress out to her.
Her smile vanished.
She didn't take it.
She just stared at me.
“Yiyi's being naughty again.”
“That makes Mommy unhappy.”
“Fine...”
“I'll wear it.”
I was irritated, but I still didn't dare defy her.
I was afraid of what she might do.
After changing, I went out to the living room.
“Mom” was on the sofa.
When she saw me in the dress, she smiled again.
“You look so pretty in that, Yiyi.”
I didn't answer.
I stood there, waiting to be told what came next.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen today.
“Come here.”
“Have dinner.”
“Then we'll go out to celebrate.”
Go out?
I perked up immediately.
A spark of hope flared inside me.
I sat down at the table, intending to eat a few quick bites and get it over with.
The dress had long sleeves, with a huge bow at each wrist.
The bow was in my way.
I tried to undo it.
As I drew my arm back, my elbow knocked the rice bowl off the table.
It landed squarely on top of my foot before rolling onto the floor.
I bent to pick it up.
The instant my hand touched it, the thing I'd been vaguely struggling to grasp all this time suddenly became clear.
I looked down at the foot the bowl had struck.
It was like lightning flashing through my mind.
...
The bowl had fallen from the table.
Straight onto my foot.
Even through slippers and socks, it should have hurt.
But I hadn't felt a thing.
Nothing at all.
I suddenly remembered.
All this time, I hadn't seen the sun.
Or rain.
Only that gray sky.
Grandma and Uncle had never come looking for me.
Time had passed unnaturally fast.
In the blink of an eye, New Year's Eve had become my birthday.
...
These things couldn't happen in reality.
I was dreaming!
Then when had the dream begun?
At the hospital?
At Uncle's?
Or right at the start of winter vacation?
Maybe I could find the answers inside this dream.
All the answers.
I calmly picked up the bowl and pretended nothing had happened.
“Where are we going for my birthday?”
“Mom” didn't answer.
She kept her head down and ate slowly.
After dinner, she went to her room for a while.
When she came out, she had a very large handbag.
It was bulging.
I wondered what was inside, but didn't dare ask.
“Let's go.”
“Time to celebrate your birthday.”
She opened the front door.
I went to my room for my backpack, then followed.
How strange.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open that door.
Yet she always did it so easily.
Just how strong were her supernatural powers?
We left the residential complex.
There wasn't a single person or car on the street.
Every shop was closed.
The sky was still gray.
Like the end of the world.
“Mom” walked ahead.
I followed quietly, memorizing every street, every sign, every place we passed.
Suddenly, she doubled over and screamed.
“Aah!”
“Who's there?”
“Aah!”
She clutched her ears.
Slowly, she sank to her knees, then fell to the ground.
She convulsed, her body twisting more and more violently.
I ran over.
Her face was contorted with pain.
Her mouth hung open as she groaned.
I noticed the red spot on her right thumb was growing.
Its color deepened from pale red to the color of blood.
Behind her ear, a dark red patch was appearing too.
It spread quickly, as though the flesh were rotting.
Then Grandma's voice rang out from the sky.
“Yiyi.”
“Kill it.”
I looked around.
I couldn't see her.
“Hurry!”
Her voice came again.
From my backpack, I took out the scissors.
The same scissors I'd packed for my second attempt to run away.
Step by step, I approached “Mom.”
Both my hands shook.
I'd never even killed a chicken.
How could I kill a person?
Someone who looked exactly like my mother?
“Mom” lay groaning on the ground.
The red patches on her hand and behind her ear kept spreading.
I stood beside her, not knowing what to do.
In the end, I still couldn't bring myself to do it.
Grandma's voice grew urgent.
“Yiyi!”
“If you don't kill it yourself...”
“Once its vital point has swallowed it completely...”
“You'll be trapped in the dream forever.”
Right.
This was a dream!
Only a dream!
None of it was real!
I had to get out!
I told myself that, summoned all my courage, raised the scissors, and drove them toward “Mom's” heart.
...
The groaning stopped.
“Mom's” eyes opened wide.
She stared at me.
Then her body began to disappear.
Her feet.
Her legs.
Her stomach.
Her chest.
At last, only her head remained.
The corners of her mouth slowly rose.
Her eyes stayed wide open, fixed on me.
Smiling.
That image carved itself into my mind before she vanished completely.
“Mom” was gone.
I was alone on the street.
What had just happened was too incredible to believe.
Perhaps this had only ever been a dream.
Once I woke up, my ordinary life would return.
I looked down at the place where “Mom” had disappeared.
Her handbag was still lying on the ground.
Inside was a lifelike doll.
I took it out and examined it.
It was the doll I'd seen in the wardrobe.
Only then did I understand why today's dress looked so familiar.
The dress I was wearing was exactly the same as the doll's.
“What the hell...”
My scalp prickled as I stared at the doll dressed just like me.
It felt like I was holding a burning coal.
I hastily threw it back into the bag.
“Yiyi...”
“Yiyi...”
Grandma's voice rang from the sky again.
I stood, unsure which way to look.
“Yiyi...”
She kept calling.
My head began to spin.
Everything around me blurred.
I clutched my head and shook it hard.
Then my gaze fell on the doll in the bag.
Huh?
The writing on its dress.
Where there had only been “April 11”...