Page 126 - NS 2024

Things must’ve gotten a bit rough this time around though, because Min was on her back crying when her mom came and picked her up. She coddled her and walked her over to the wooden swing near the gazebo, gently whispering comforting words into her ear. When they sat down, the breeze made her mom’s jet-black hair look like a flickering shadow shivering around her head. Min was just about calm when a butterfly landed on her knee, and she immediately began to work herself up again. She didn’t shake it off or smack it, though. It was so pretty! She wanted her mom to get it off for her though.
Her mom just looked at her solemnly. “It’s often the prettiest things that hurt you the most, Minny.” Her eyes looked distant, maybe even empty, and there was a flat sorrow to her voice that even the youthful mind of Min was discomforted by. After a momentary pause where
they stared at each other, Min confused and anxious, her mother seemingly burdened beyond measure, her mom shook her head slightly. Her mind now cleared, she grabbed the butterfly by the wing with her finger and thumb, pulled it off Min, tossed it on the grass in front of them, only to squash it underneath her brown Reebok tennis shoes. “That’s what you do to the things that hurt you, Minny.” And to that, they both laughed.