Her bruises turned from red to blue. Then from blue to purple, and purple to black. It was like rainbows had formed themselves on her body. She touched one of her bruises and grimaced in pain. It hurt and she didn’t like it. She never wanted those ugly bruises.

Her mother entered her room, shoving a big plastic that contained eyeless dolls into her face. Without a word, her mother got out of the room and locked the door.

That was it.

Her mother wasn’t there to serve her breakfast or talk to her like any mother would do. She was just there to ignore her. She wasn’t doing a good job being a mother to her and she knew that but she didn’t care. As long as her daughter could sew some eyes for the dolls then she would be satisfied. All she ever cared about was money. That was what humans had always cared about. It was what we called human nature. Yes, nothing could change nature because it was destined to be like that.

The clicking sound on her door made her heart sink. Her mother would always lock the door and kept her there until the next day. She couldn’t even go out to play or watch TV like any other teenagers. She was forced to be in the room and sew eyes for the dolls.

With trembling hands, she used a needle and thread to sew the eyes. She used to prick her fingers a lot when she was young but now that she had sewn for 5 years, she was better. But better didn’t mean she didn’t prick her fingers at all. Sometimes she would when she was careless. She wasn’t perfect at sewing and she never would because she refused to be perfect. She hated sewing. She hated being locked up in her room all day. And most of all, she hated herself for living such a miserable life.

A soft, familiar melody floated throughout the room. She stopped sewing and quickly crawled towards the wall of her room, leaning her head against it. She could hear the mellow music clearly when she pressed her ear against the wall, closing her eyes to concentrate on every note. The music came from an acoustic guitar. It didn’t come from the radio or TV. Someone was playing it.

The music gave out a peaceful vibe. It had always helped her to calm down and escape from reality for a couple of moments. The person behind the wall might not know this but the music was everything to her. It was her source of joy, the only thing that she had been looking for in her life, her hope and dreams. She wished she could play the music too. She wished she was the person behind the wall. But all she could do was wish. Wishes don’t come true at all times. Wishes are like balloons that float into the sky. Some would pop before it could fly high and some might not even have the chance to fly.

But she knew it wasn’t wrong to wish or dream. Even if both of those things didn’t work, she could always pray in her heart.

The person stopped playing. She opened her eyes and used her hands to trace the wall, as if by doing so she would be able to go next door and tell the person to play again.

“Yaa, Myungsoo, stop playing that stupid guitar!” a guy with childish voice said. She could hear him making his way towards the guitar player and snatching the guitar away. “We should go now.”

“I know, I know.” The person who played the guitar—who she assumed was Myungsoo—replied lazily.

A shuffling sound could be heard. Then there was the sound of a door being opened and shut. No one was in the room anymore.

She rushed towards the only window in her room and stared outside for a long time, waiting for someone to pass by down the narrow alley.

Soon, the person came into view. The guitar player, Myungsoo was walking with a tall guy—the one with childish voice. She stared at Myungsoo as he walked along the alley, his red scarf wrapped loosely around his neck and his black boots making rustling sound when they came in contact with the snow on the ground. The wind blew softly past his face and he used his gloved hand to fix his black fringe. He rubbed his arms up and down, trying to get rid of the cold but he ended up sneezing.

She kept her eyes trained on him until he was out of sight. When he had left, she leaned against the window and sighed. Before she could rest for a while, her mother came into the room. When her mother noticed that she wasn’t doing her work, she marched towards her and grabbed her bruised arm. Then she started hitting her with a broom.

The daughter moaned in pain, curling her body to shield herself from the merciless blow but her mother kept hurting her until a new bruise formed on her body, like a blooming flower.

When her mother was out of breath, she walked out of the room and locked it again, like she always did.

The bruised girl coughed and moaned, clutching at her chest as she got up from the floor. Tears came to her eyes. She blinked and the tears descended from her eyes slowly, trailing down her cheeks like a flowing river.

She grabbed an eyeless doll and started sewing.

She had to do it despite the hatred she had towards sewing.

She had no other choice. Fate had decided the kind of life she would be living. But she always believed that someday she would stop sewing and do something else. It was only a matter of time until she could finally be free.

The moon revealed itself when the sky turned dark. She was lying on her fragile bed when she heard the same melody again. Smiling, she placed her ear against the wall and listened to the beautiful tune with her bruised eyes shut.

Such wonderful music. If only she could play it too, she would be the happiest person in the world. If only life can be traded among humans. Then maybe everyone would understand the countless sufferings the poor people suffered from.

Unfortunately, life wasn’t made that way.

Everyday she wished that she could sit in the room behind the wall. Everyday she wished she could play that music with her own hands.

She didn’t wish to be with the guy next door, she wished she could be the guy.

She knew it wouldn’t happen but at least she could dream and hold on to that hope for as long as she lived.