Minhee stood in the darkness her arms hanging by her sides.  She felt blind, lost, and helpless.

“Hello?” She yelled.  “Is anyone there?”

 A ray of dim light seeped through from behind causing her to turn around.  She squinted and shaded her eyes as the light got brighter and engulfed the dark.  When she was able to reopen her eyes, a new environment surrounded her.  The scene looked so familiar; a family, her family, sat at the dinner table enjoying a family dinner.  Minhee stared at the little girl sitting beside her dad and across from her mom. 

“Is it good sweetie?” her mom smiled.  The little girl took a big bite and hummed a tune of bliss.  The father of the family let out a hearty laugh.

The scene started to disintegrate and Minhee held out her hand trying to grasp the memory.

“No… where are you going?” she whispered as she watched it fade. 

“Sweetie want anything else?” a warm voice asked in the distance.  Minhee spun around to the sound.  She noticed the setting changed into a living room and on the couch, she stared blankly at her family.

“I want some ice cream!” she beamed.  Her mother smiled.

“Anything else sweetie, it’s a bit late” she answered.

“No! I want ice cream! Strawberry ice cream!” she yelled.

“Sweetie it’s 9.  Maybe tomorrow” her father bargained.  The little girl formed tears.

“No! I want ice cream now!” her voice muffled as she finished her sentence.

“Okay. Let’s go… go grab your coat” her mom sighed and smiled.  The little girl immediately brightened up and smiled.

“Okay!”

Minhee watched the little girl run up the stairs and come back down with her sweater.  “No… Minhee don’t go… stay home” she begged her younger self.  But the young Minhee ignored her plea and walked right through her.  Minhee turned around to keep up with the younger one; she was jumping up and down in glee. “No! I’m begging you! Please stay home!” she yelled as she watched her family walk out the door and file into the car. “NO!” she cried but it was no use.  She felt invisible… but wasn’t she always invisible?  Minhee focused her gaze on the fading car progressing further down the road, hoping it would turn around.  But the car disappeared and just like that everything turned black making her feel blind once more.  She felt her legs becoming weak but a loud screech made her alert and she clutched her ears at the too-familiar noise.  Unknowingly, tears formed at the brim of her eyes and she found herself reliving the death of her parents.  She unwillingly watched her parents burn into flames as soon as the two cars crashed into each other.

“I told you not to go!  Why didn’t you listen?” Minhee painfully cried.  She snapped her head to the voice coming from a young girl.  She gazed in pity and slight hatred at her younger self.

“Umma! Appa!” the young Minhee cried in the rain, already drenched. 

“I told you… Why?” Minhee cried as she fell to the floor and became engulfed in the dark.  Even though she was alone, the tears of her younger self haunted her.  She heard every drop fall to the floor and the sound of the rain ringed in her ear.  The roar of the crackling fire killed her; the yells of the firemen and screaming sirens became suffocating.  She could no longer hear her own thoughts.

“Stop” she whispered. But the clamor continued to get louder. “Stop……” but the noise would not listen.  She shut her eyes tight, “STOP!”

At once, everything became silent, almost to the point where the silence even became suffocating. 

“Minhee…” a soft voice called. “Minhee… stop crying.  I’ll protect you.  You won’t be alone anymore” Minhee slowly opened her eyes and looked up.  She saw her younger self crying into her arms and beside her was a small, white fluffy dog.  The tips of the ears were white but as if it were dipped in a soft brown.

“Minhee” a familiar yet distant voice called. “Minhee!” it sounded harsh.  She felt a hand shaking her. 

Minhee slowly lifted her head and squinted from the bright light.  She looked at the hand on her arm and traced it to the owner.  She looked at her friend, Naeun, in confusion.  She had a pained face plastered on.  Minhee cocked her head in confusion.

“Minhee care to explain why you were sleeping in my class?” the teacher crossed his arms.  A feminine stifle of laughter emitted from behind her back. 

“Sorry Mr. Song” Minhee whispered with her head down.

“Stupid” a small voice called and the girls surrounding her laughed.  Minhee sighed as she ignored the obnoxious laughter.

“Miss So.  If you can sleep in my class so peacefully, why don’t you come up here and solve this problem?” he challenged.  Minhee unwillingly pushed herself off her desk and walked up to the white board.  She grabbed a random marker and hesitantly brought it up to the board.

“What’s wrong? Hurry up, we still have the lesson to cover.  You don’t think you can do it?” he demanded but she could hear the mockery in his voice.  She sighed and solved the problem with ease.  The teacher cleared his throat and fixed his tie.  “You can go back now” he awkwardly allowed.  Minhee bowed and rushed back to her desk.

“Show off” the same annoying voice commented.  Minhee sighed and rolled her eyes at the desk.  10 minutes later class ended and she packed her bag.

“Minhee, why are you crying?” Naeun asked from behind.  Minhee touched her cheek and noticed it was wet.  She quickly wiped it and shook her head.

“It’s nothing.” She denied.  Naeun eyed her suspiciously but shrugged it off.

“Bye Minhee!  Happy birthday!” she smiled and left to go home.

Hope you enjoy

just think of this chapter as a prologue :)

kinda a way to show minhee's past 

Enjoy