Page 188 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

were drooping in silence.
“Daisy! Daisy!” Mama shouted as she walked in. “Who was here?”
Mama pointed with the tip of her toe at the small hole scratched out of the
ground.
“Someone from Mosquito Village,” Daisy said softly.
“I see. It’s been so many years, and yet their descendants still haven’t
dropped the idea!”
“Who?”
“Those outsiders. Back then, you were still little. Your dad went to Mosquito
Village for a short-term job, and got acquainted with them . . . Oh, why should I
tell you this? It’s all in the past. Forget what I said.”
She put the pot on the stove, getting ready to steam rice.

“I’m sleepy, Mama,” Daisy said.
“Of course you are. You haven’t slept well since you came back from there.
Go to sleep.”
Daisy went back to her room and lay down, but she couldn’t sleep. She was
agitated, so she hurriedly dressed, put on boots, and went outside. She was in a
daze, and only heard her father say from behind, “Daisy, ah, Daisy, where are
you going?”
As she passed the wide-open door, she kicked over a small bench without
realizing it. She walked straight out of the backyard and came to the highway.
She was so sleepy, but why hadn’t she been able to sleep? Later, she leaned
against a large willow tree and dozed. In a dream lasting only two or three
minutes, she saw a flock of silvery white birds plunge down like shadows
sweeping over from midair. All of a sudden, the ground was covered with dead

birds. And then, the “rat” emerged from the heap of bodies. She awakened with
a start and returned to the backyard. Mama was just saying to Dad, “It’s those
outsiders . . .”
“Daisy, are you okay now?” Dad asked sternly.
“I’m terribly sleepy. It’s so light over there, and I couldn’t sleep . . . ,” she
said vaguely.
“Did you get a good look, Daisy? What I saw was merely a dark blur. The
moon had risen, but it didn’t light up anything. What were you looking for in the
house?”
“A rat. Let me rest my head on the table and take a nap.”
She closed her eyes and still didn’t fall asleep. She was dispirited, yet also
excited. Indistinctly, she heard her mother calling her in the kitchen.
“Daisy, Daisy, it’s here!”
Daisy sprang up and dashed to the kitchen.
“Where? Where?” she asked.