Happily Ever After
A Reconstructed Story adapted from ‘Girl’ written
by Jamaica Kincaid
It was a story
about a girl who managed to live her life happily ever after. She wanted to live her life like anyone else,
pursuing happiness and fulfilling it with everything she delighted. She wanted
to cherish every moment with pleasure.
In the afternoon,
she hurrily ran to her house after meeting the other girls she knew at school.
She knew it would be a problem if she came back late. She took a deep breath
before she entered her house.
“Where have you
been? I was in pain waiting for you to
come home! And—oh—look at you, sweating like a dirty labor—let alone the
umbrella you forgot to bring to school. The sun must have burned your skin into
ash. Now go change and soak your worn-out clothes.”
Not even a word
came out from the girl’s mouth. She could have defended herself, but she knew
it would be useless. She just helplessly obeyed what her mother yelled at her.
Coming back in
silence, the girl was aware that it was already the time for her and her mother
to have a dinner. She prepared for it and looked forward to her mother’s coming
down the staircase—slightly hoping she would not bring her anger to the table
this time.
Her mother came
with a latent face. The girl knew she was beautiful—they looked alike. Her
mother would become what she would become in future time. Only this way, the
girl could know her mother was kindhearted. They sat without sounds and had a
thought concerning about each other at the same time. The mother glanced around
her daughter—examining if she was physically and mentally fine.
“Don’t you dare
doing the same mistake again.” The mother said as her fed herself with a spoon
of Ravioli. She frowned. “This tastes bad. You must not serve food like this if
a guest is having dinner with you—especially a man.”
“Sorry.”
“And that is not
how you behave when serving a man. Apology must be uttered properly. This is as
to why I don’t permit you to play with Tessie; she is a bad girl. She sings
Benna at school and dresses like a slut I have always warned you against
becoming.”
“But she is kind
to me, and I never sing Benna at school, mom.”
“How is she kind
if she is now pregnant? Not to mention she is not yet bounded in marriage. If she were you, I would have aborted anything
you had in your womb.”
Her Mother
realized what she had just said was beyond rough. She could not help herself
but say it because it was all for the
sake of her daughter. She was too afraid her little, innocent girl would end up
being troubled at this time in which the world had slowly befriended the
insanity. She would not survive if her daughter encountered the wrongs.
The girl started
to squeeze her fingers in her fist and fully put her effort on not shading
tears that were about to fall. She had a dispute with herself. She tried hard
to acknowledge this talk as her mother’s being thoughtful—however the hatred
and dissapointment were unavoidable. She pretended to lay her bangs down just
to hide her tears.
“You must behave
well. That way, the prince will sense your beauty and come to get you. If it’s
not him, then just leave the man, he’s not worth it. Let it only be the prince.
You want to live happily ever after, don’t you?”
It is a story about I who manage to live my life happily
ever after. I want to live my life like
anyone else, pursuing happiness and fulfilling it with everything I delight. I
want to cherish every moment with pleasure. But not like this.
The girl nodded.
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