Fortune Cookie

Chapter TWO, Harmony

Listening and Hearing are not the Same

If a small problem is overlooked, it could develop into a big disaster as ant can multiply, making tunnels in the dam to allow water soak in and consequently bring it to a collapse.

-- Chinese Original

Fang sat under the tree of cherry blossoms. Gentle shade blocked the blazing sun as she lay in the short, soft grass. The scent of sweet blossoms drifted through the air. She’d been named after the scent of this old tree. Her name meant Fragrance.

A short bridge led over a clear, trickling stream. Under it was a calm pond filled with brilliantly colored koi that swam about the stream.

Fang tossed a few food pellets into the clear water. The koi pushed angrily to the surface, trying to get there before the other fish. The splashed and fought over the food and their slippery bodies rubbed together.

When all the food had been walloped down by the fish, they return to quickly darting about the pond, innocently. Fang watched them, looking down from the bridge and lying on her stomach.

“Fang, come inside,” her mother called from the kitchen. Rolling over on the wooden bridge, Fang sighed and finally made herself go to the house.

“You called, Ma?” The kitchen was steaming out of pots and pans, and Fang’s mother stirred the dishes angrily, multi tasking with her great talent.

Fang still looked at herself as a young girl, though she was now around thirty years old. She’d married, divorced then married and divorced again. Now she was back where she started, a dreaming girl who has dreams yet to fulfill.

But over the years, Fang and her mother had drifted farther and father apart until now there was nothing left. Fang recalled the saying “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”, and she’d forgot it up until then.

Fang recalled the moment when she was first married. She was seventeen years old, and her heart was set on the perfect everlasting marriage. But you must remember, the ancient Chinese custom says that no bride chooses her husband, and vise-versa.

Since she was four years old, she was destined to marry the boy that she hated. Every day as she walked home from school, he would kick mud in her face and kick her shins until they were black and blue. Fang would never forgive her mother for choosing her husband, this pig.

One night, Fang heard her mother and father discuss this matter secretly. “She will marry into a rich family, a good thing,” she heard her mother say. Then her father grunted in agreement.

She hadn’t understood the words until she was older, and came to hate her mother with a deep and unspeakable loathing. Standing for herself, Fang’s mother told her it was lucky, and sent her off with only horrific thoughts in her head.

One baby and five years later, the marriage was broken and Fang decided to go against tradition: have a second marriage. This time, she’d go with her own choice, a tall handsome man who looked promising.

That was her second fatal mistake after divorcing her first husband. Feeling guilty and foolish now, the only thing Fang could do was stand up for herself and say, “What was I suppose to do, stay married to that pig?” And when her mother spoke of her second husband she’d say, “He was deceiving, that was only one mistake made.”

Husband number two turned out to be having numerous affairs.

Now, Fang and her mother were mad at each other. Her mother mad because she was right all along and Fang mad because she thought that her mother was mistaken. And here they were, with nothing left to say.

Fang strolled into the kitchen and acted like everything had been fine, treating her mother nicely. “What’s for lunch, Ma?”

With a fake, (but bright) smile, her mother turned around with a dish of steamed vegetables and rice. “Cooked your favorite way,” she said and gave Fang the plate.

Fang sniffed the dish deeply and smiled at the fragrance. “Just the way I like it, Ma.” Now, becoming impatient with the way things were going, Fang sighed and the false smile released from her face.

“Oh Ma... I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you. None of my marriages ever worked out, I’m such a disappointment.”

“Your last husband was not too bad, Fang.”

Fang sighed and rubbed her temples. “I know... I just...” Suddenly, her mother’s beautiful China fell of the edge of the counter as Fang’s mother turned around. “Oh Ma, I knew it would fall!”

Fang’s mother looked up from the boiling food, her mouth open. “Then why didn’t you stop it?”

A/N: This has a double meaning to it. Review my chapter and see if you can guess. Okay, a short one I know, but I think this one is OK. Just for all of you to know, I’m getting some of my ideas from the book The Joy Luck Club. I think you should all read it. (Honestly, it’s the best book I’ve ever read).