All girls want to be Cinderella. Even those ‘I’m-the-most-independent--around’ girls want to be Cinderella. The logic is simple. We don’t like poverty and if we were to have a guy, a rich guy is better than a poor guy –

Is what my mother told me everyday. Obviously, her experiences with Dad weren’t very good.

“Haena, you have to marry a RICH man. Listen to mummy. A very very rich man.” She whispered into my ear every night. It was my bed time story.

But, no. I don’t want to marry a rich man. I want to marry an average guy, who is average looking, with an average height. I just want a normal guy. Nothing special and nothing outstanding.

Hmm, what shall I wear today? The news forecaster said it would be freezing today.

“Haena, hurry up!” Mum shouts at me through the door from the living room.

“I can’t!!” I shout back and return to my desperate search for my warm sweater. I haven’t shopping since like forever, so my closet technically has two jumpers. And every day, I stand in front of the two sweaters and spend about 10 minutes considering which one will be better.

Mum finally walks into the room with her fly slapper. “You’re going to miss the bus, and I’m not giving you a ride!” She swears furiously. I swear she was some sumo wrestler, no…some wild tiger in the amazon. Do tigers live in the amazon? No…they live in China.

“Mum, a girl needs some time to think what she wants to wear!!” I give her a frustrated sigh.

She gives me a quick roll of the eyes. “You have two jumpers. One is black and one is brown. Just choose ONE colour!”

She clearly doesn’t understand fashion. Doesn’t she know that a black and brown coat brings very different textures to the holistic image?!!

“I’m going to freeze to death if I don’t plan carefully! It’s going to be coldest winter I’ve experienced in the last 50 something years!” I exclaim desperate for her to understand where I’m coming from, but clearly Mum and I are on two very different pages.

“Jang. Hae.Na. You haven’t lived 50 years. Now just wear the black jumper and go!” Mum pushes me out of the door and throws my black jumper on my face, before I have the strength or the words to retaliate. She slams the door at my face and locks it quickly.

“Mum, you’re such a ninja in the morning!!” I shout from outside.

“Go!” Mum shouts back.

Stupid…stupid, stupid! I wanted to wear the brown jumper, I was so close to choosing that brown jumper. It would have made my eyes look brighter today…well that’s a lie. But, I just felt like wearing the brown jumper today!

I frown at the black jumper and force it around my shoulders. I immediately sense this day isn’t going to be very good. I trudge down the slipper road and step on the pure white snow. It clearly snowed a lot last night, but I guess the snow cleaners haven’t reached this part of the town yet.

Before I know it, I slip on the road and fall flat on my bottom. . I knew something bad was going to happen!

I swear and pull myself up from the ground. My bottom feels cold and painful. I dust the small white particles off my arse and gather my emotions together.

“Idiot!” A small voice shouts behind me. As I turn my face to look at the little stinker, a small, hard ball hits my face. The white particles break apart and stuff my mouth with cold, wet liquid.

Just .

“You little stinker, I’m going to kill you when I get back!!” I swear at little Bin. He’s the rascal living next door. He always thinks he can get away with bullying me because he’s 8 and I’m 18, so I just have to live with his . But one day, I’m going to cut something. Something very precious. You wait and see little rascal.

I give him my middle finger, but precisely at that moment his mother has to walk out. She looks at me horrified. It’s as though she has never seen a middle finger standing up.

“Jang Haena!!!” She screams out my name like I’m some criminal.

I roll my eyes and turn around. “Oops!” I shout back unapologetically and run to the bus stop.

As I arrive at the bus stop, the bus is about to leave. I jump on and scan my transport card. Phew! Nearly missed it. If I missed it, Mum would have really been pissed and I would have to face that wanker Bin aga