When I was eight years old, some of my friends switched from being an only child to an older brother or sister in the family.
One day, during a ten-minute break, I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked my desk-mate a question: “What's that scratch on your face? Do you have a cat at your home? Or do you have a fight with someone?”
My desk-mate laughed sarcastically, “Yes, I do have a ‘cat’, and this cat is my little sister. When I was told to look after her, I don’t know why she scratched me suddenly when I approached her. She’s just a little baby, how can she…Babies are just like cats!” He said angrily. Those words were rooted in my mind like seeds.
Since then, I have tried all kinds of ways of expressing that babies are just like cats to parents, while they tried to persuade me otherwise with the same degree of effort. But I always win by asking them to promise me I would be an only child in the family. When I thought I was safe, something disturbed my sweet ‘dream’.
….
It was a peaceful afternoon when I came home with my friends through the only road. We passed the peddlers selling refreshment who were busy dealing with a crowd of boys and girls after suffering the whole-day hard work in school. As I thought I would spend the day as I spent the other day, I met Ms. Dong, who is my friend Dong Ningxin’s grandmother.
She asked with a concerned tone, “How’s your mother doing?”
I replied to her, “Not good! My mother seems to have a stomach illness. She throws up sometimes.”
She smiled, the wrinkles on her face were jostling together, “You might have a younger brother or sister.”
I still remember the moment I was hit by this thunderstorm. I couldn’t see clearly anymore that my mother might have lied to me by using the excuse that she had stomach pain. Everything stopped other than the sounds of my throbbing heart, indicating something under the surface will be disclosed urgently.
Having no time to say goodbye to my friends, I ran to my home as fast as possible. Trees with dark green leaves standing on the side of roads passed behind me quickly. At that moment, time seemed to slow its pace, and loads of questions were bursting out of my mind as I was running.
….
Finally, I opened the door, appeared in front of my mother and urgently asked the only question on my mind, “MOM! WILL I HAVE A YOUNGER SISTER OR BROTHER?”
Obviously, this unexpected question startled my mother who was laying on the bed, which made her gaunt face become more pallid. She tried to sit up by supporting herself on her elbows, but after several tries she failed. At last, she looked at me silently, opened her mouth slowly and said the word, “YES.”
My tears welled up from my eyes so my vision became dim. I asked my mother with a shivering voice, “Why? Why do you do that even if I have told you millions of times I don’t want to have a younger sister or brother? Why did you do that even if you promised?” I couldn’t hold back my feelings any more. Tears seemed to be the cheapest thing in the world. Sobs became loud wailing.
My mother said, “I’m really sorry. I think…” She was gazing at me who was crouching.
I interrupted her words immediately “Don’t tell me again, all is good for me!” After saying those words, I stood up, went straight to my room quickly and locked the door violently, leaving no room for explanation. I laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling in my room and imagined everything was just a dream, ignoring my mom knocking on the door. Gradually, I fell asleep with my tears….
I had a long and warm dream \that I still remember the details of clearly. One day in autumn, my parents and I came to the hill covered by vast lime-green grasses where we planned to have a picnic. We climbed to the top of the hill, and found a maple tree with deep red leaves, reflecting a golden glow under the sun. My parents and I sat under the tree and chatted with each other happily, laughter echoing through the hill.
At that moment, my mother’s abdomen swelled with her anguished expression, and it became bigger and bigger. My father pressed my mother’s abdomen, but his efforts failed to prevent its growth. When everyone was panicky, my mother’s abdomen suddenly turned into a red air balloon, becoming higher and higher as we watched. Then, the red air balloon became a little red dot in the azure sky. All of us, especially me, let out a long breath.
In the next few months, I tried to become the quietest person in the family, locking myself in my room as soon as I got home, regarding my mother's tasty and fancy dinners with silence, and never thanked her for preparing steaming bathwater and bringing new clothes.
….
It was one afternoon on another autumn day when maple leaves had turned red, my younger sister was born. I was forced to come to the hospital even though my heart was unwilling. When I entered the room, my mother was laying on the sickbed. Even though giving birth to a baby is tough work, I have found nothing but a sweet and happy smile on her face. A small baby who was wrapped by a warm blanket was sleeping in the crook of my mother’s arm. I was frozen and all I could do was stare at the little creature in the distance without any words. To be honest, I thought she was ugly because of her crumpled face, pair of little eyes and flat nose.
As the sun lights changed, suddenly, a light through the window hit my sister’s face. Maybe the little creature felt the warmth, a slight smile appearing on her face. I caught the smile, as if it was contagious. I approached her step by step and bent, staring at her carefully. The little face has turned red under the sunshine. Thick eyelashes indicated that she might be a beautiful girl when she grew up. Even though there were some freckles on her nose, it seems like those would disappear in the near future.
“She doesn't look like a cat at all, does she?” My mother smiled at me.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” I still kept my standpoint.
“She really looks like you did when you were a baby”
“I must have been prettier than she is.” Both of us laughed.