Narrative

Time

It is 2012, Lee is now a woman in her late forties, and she is petite and with a thin frame.
She aged significantly from the hardships that she had been through in her lifetime. The wrinkle
on her forehead is visible and her hair is in gray strands. She is now a monk in Wong Tai Sin
Temple in Hong Kong. She is trying to make up good deeds in the life she has left. Lee suddenly
has a flashback of her life from August 10, 1993, nineteen years ago, when she was only thirty.
On that time, it was a humid day in the busy crowded streets in Kowloon. Food vendors were
trying to sell their food and merchants laid down their goods to sell. These small streets were
crowded as cars drove past the people walking along. The sun was blazing hot as it shined
directly to Lee’s face as she was selling siopao, Chinese steamed buns. Sweat dripped down her
forehead as she stood there waiting for sunset to arrive so she could end her exhausting day. As
she was selling her food, smoke polluted the air; it wasn’t comfortable to breathe in. Lee still
slowly inhaled and exhaled, she reached down to feel her stomach. She was nine months
pregnant.
At sunset, Lee packed her stuff to head home. She lived in the poor suburban area of
Kowloon. It was an old small house. She set her things down and lit a candle since it was getting
dark, and she had no electricity. A few moments later, she heard footsteps staggering in through
the door. Lee knew immediately that it was her husband, Wong. He was heavily drunk. Wong
started having gambling problems as he was lured by some of the merchant on the side street
sellers to make bets. Gambling caused Wong to lose money. He was in a very depressive state
for years and Lee tried to help him become the same person again, it wasn’t possible. He started
to take drugs as to relieve stress and pain. This cost him a lot. Wong had taken the wrong path by
his choice to start gambling. He thought it was by chance that could make him richer, but it
wasn’t. It only made him more addicted and he neglected his wife, and started to abuse her.
Wong approached Lee. He was drunk, his clothes were ripped and dirty. His hair was
messed up. Wong was tall; he had a lanky body. Lee’s heart raced quickly as she panicked inside
to whether her husband was going to hit her. She was afraid as she knew he was going to ask for
her money. She doesn’t want to be in this abusive relationship anymore. Wong came close to
Lee and strikes her. Lee lost balance and fell to the ground; she struggled as she pushed herself
back up. Wong unintentionally knocked down the candle setting the room on fire. As Lee tried to
escape from him, he reached to her and tried to strangle Lee. She used all her strength and
pushed Wong over, and accidently knocked him unconsciously on the fire. Wong’s body was
already covered in flames, as Lee yells out for help. She ran out of the house to save herself, but
deep inside she felt guilty for her husband’s death. That neighborhood was quiet years after that
as reporters only reported that they found a dead body burnt in fire. Only the ashes of that house
remained.
A week passed by, it was August 17, 1993; Lee went into labor and gave birth to a baby
girl. She named her Ann. They both moved together from Kowloon to settle together in Wan
Chai, Hong Kong. That city had more opportunities than Kowloon. Lee never talked about her
husband to Ann. She knew deep inside that she doesn’t want Ann to feel resentful of her horrible
past. Ann grew up to be the typical teenage girl. On the outside, she was slim, petite, and had
beautiful long black hair with brown eyes. Ann seemed cheerful, and had a lively personality.
Everyone in school thought that she was a very happy person. It was different because when Ann
arrived home, she was quite; she didn’t spoke much with her mother, Lee. There wasn’t much
communication between the mother and daughter. Since Ann was little, she lived by herself at
home while Lee went out to sell siopao. As Ann grew up to be a teenager, she changed. Ann
once had overheard her mother talking about her past. Ann deep inside knew that she wasn’t
supposed to know or have heard that. The thought of her father being burned in the flames to his
death has haunted her for years. One day Ann patiently came home from school, she set her
books down and went to sit in the dining table. Ann had a blank look on her face. She seemed
callous and insensitive. Lee made soup for her; her mother asked Ann what was wrong. Ann
responded with a shrug, no words, just silence filled the room between these two. There was no
conversation. Ann went up to lock herself up in her room alone. Lee thought that this is normal
for her daughter to act this way since everything seemed okay. Their lack of communication
caused them to not understand each other.
Few years have passed; it was August 2011, Ann was nineteen years old and was in
college. She was a very friendly and outgoing person in school, but no one knew of her bipolar
disorder. Secretly, Ann started to take drugs as a way to cope with her emotions. She thought
she wasn’t content with her life. Ann never appreciated what she had or the fact that her mother
had to work to be able to make her go to school. Ann felted emotionally trapped inside. She was
always depressed at home. During her years in college, she allowed her grades to drastically
drop; no one knew her true behavior. Ann secretly took ecstasy in her room to make herself feel
consciously happier. Until one day, while Lee was preparing to go sell, she heard a thumping
sound from upstairs. It was from Ann’s room. Lee rushed in to find her daughter’s body on the
floor with drugs scattered all over. Ann had overdosed on drugs. Ann had no pulse and her eyes
were dilated. Lee never knew that Ann had been secretly using drugs for years.
The flashback ends, as Lee comes back to the present day, where she is now an old
woman. She opens her eyes to see the bright sunny day as the breeze slowly moves through her.
It felt relaxing. After Ann’s death, Lee has ordained to become a monk in a temple. She wants
to find inner peace and also make up for her traumatizing past experiences. Lee hopes that in
the next life, she will be a better person and she would be able to fulfill her life with more good
deeds. Lee thinks that life does go on, even after living through horror, she can still find a bright
way out. She hopes that time will heal her. As Lee’s last thought disappears, she closes her eyes
as few tears rolls down her face. It is deeply silent in the Wong Tai Sin Temple, and Lee goes
into a meditative state.