“[Lane, I’ll make you wear a wedding dress
someday. You’ll look even more beautiful…..]” I dug my nails into my palm, but tears flowed
uncontrollably…
I stood by the window, watching Sienna and
Lane laughing by a mud puddle.
Sienna saw me and called out.
“Nancy, come join us! This mud is fun!”
く
Lane laughed, his eyes on Sienna’s muddy
form.
He seemed to have forgotten.
Three years ago, I begged him to make mud
figurines with me at a stall near the City God
Temple.
He was disgusted, calling it a “vulgar display
of piety.” He said the mud made him
nauseous.
Now, the person making the request has
changed, and the disgusting mud is no longer
disgusting.
Henry was busy inside, so I avoided him.
I was about to go into the garden when
Sienna ran to me, holding two mud figurines.
“Nancy, do you like them?”
At that moment, my blood froze.
Three years ago, Lane was in a car accident.
I waited outside the ICU for over twenty days,
making him a bracelet.
<
I also crawled on my knees to the Buddhist
temple in the snow, fasting for seven days
and nights, praying for his safety.
The moment Lane came out of the ICU, I
collapsed.
I was weak from lack of sleep and a cold. My
hands and feet always get frostbite in winter.
But the bracelet was cut in half, mixed with
the mud, used as the doll’s hair.
Lane appeared behind me.
I pointed to the doll’s hair, looking at him.
“Lane, tell me, is that the bracelet?”
Lane paused.
He glanced at the doll.
Casually, he replied,
“Yes, I didn’t have anything else handy, so I
used it. Sienna said it made the figurine look
lively. What do you think? Don’t they look
nice?”
His nonchalance made it hard to breathe.
It was as if a serrated knife was cutting my
heart.
I knocked the doll from Sienna’s hand.
I dug the broken bracelet out of the mud.
Tears streamed down my face.
“I don’t think so! They don’t look nice!”
Before I finished, Sienna ran into Lane’s
arms, crying.
“Nancy, only a few of us were here today. Henry was inside, Lane was with me. It was
only you, after our argument, you left
secretly! It has to be you!”
“Please, give me back the pendant. It was my
fault today, I’m sorry. Just give it back, I’ll do
anything…
“”
Sienna cried pitifully.
Lane’s eyes were filled with concern.
“Lane, I haven’t seen the pendant. It wasn’t
me.”
Sienna looked up.
“Will you let me search?”
Before I could answer, Lane and Sienna went
into my room.
“Search! What are you asking her for? |
should have searched long ago. I was trying
to give her a chance…”
I thought of something in my closet.
Frantically, I tried to stop them.
Too late.
The pillow with Lane’s picture on it hung
limply in Lane’s hand.
He froze.
Then, as if discarding something filthy, he
threw it away.
He stepped forward, slapping my face.
His eyes were filled with shame and disgust.
“Nancy! You’re a shameless, disgusting
woman! You’re filthy! You make me sick!”
He dragged Sienna away.
I covered my stinging cheek, looking at the
ruined pillow.
