From a distance, it would appear to be a long box full of holes, buried in the valley. Upon reaching it, the stone box would grow into a concrete architecture, and thousands of narrow windows present themselves. It would be hard to imagine that millions of people could live there.
Most families in the building shared a room together, having more intimate relationships than anyone else. At night, they drew out a huge futon from the cabinet and slept on the ground. Every morning, they put the futon back, took out the tea table on the side, and shared a huge pot of soup.
Fortunately, the girl here had some space for her own: the only bedroom in the apartment, although it was unusually small and could fit only a twin-size mattress. When lying down, the girl would feel as though she was being kept in a box. All of a sudden, she felt very depressed yet unable to express the feeling.
It was 1:59. Mom always backs right at 2 pm. The little girl went close to the window to see if mom was coming back. It was still strange for her to look through the protective mesh on the window. She doesn't know how long she lived here after the silhouette had gone. Since then, the giant silhouette dragged her into a series of nightmares, as if that monster was still in her new home. Once, she woke up with a start from one of the nightmares. As usual, there was terrible noise outside the room. It made her imagine thousands of cats scratching the wall, an uncontrolled orchestra, a great flood, penetrating her and leaving her riddled. She wanted to know the truth; but by the next day, seeing mom with swollen eyes, bruised joints, and wrinkled face, the girl forgot everything she was about to ask. Mom’s appearance saddened her and she got even angrier when discovered the red splash concealed by the new table cloth. Knowing the silhouette caused her mom to bleed made the girl eager for revenge. However, she didn’t get the chance to execute her plan, because, after that day, the enormous silhouette and the sounds just disappeared, as if nothing had happened before.
Thinking about this, the girl couldn't help flinching backwards and ended up sitting at the dining table, at first hearing the sound from the key opening the door downstairs, then stepping on the stairs, footsteps in the hallway, and finally, key inserted into the lock and the door handle twisted. She knew exactly where the sound was coming from.
It was mom, holding a thick envelope. Girl recognized that thick envelope and a smile crept onto her face at the thought of the fancy meal that awaited her that night.
She enjoyed the time she spent with her mom, her only family and only friend. Sometimes, noticing the corners of mom’s mouth slightly sagged and hearing the sigh, the girl would turn alert and ask what she could do to make her happy, but usually, the response was nothing more than the girl growing up safe. This response created more anxiety for the girl; she could never let her mom down. She listened to everything her mom said to her and did whatever she wanted, which sometimes made mom happy. And of course, she loved her very much.
Every night, they lay side by side, and mom read a bedtime story about a girl devote herself to a cow. The warmth from mom’s body made her feel so close to her, and the joyfulness of her mind soothed her worry and let her fall asleep comfortably. To her, the room was the entire world.
*
When the girl fell asleep, mom walked out of the room and shut the door. She had protected the girl very well, putting all the sharp tools up high and securing the gates so no one could hurt her. Watching her gradually grow up from a creature that she could easily hold by her arm to a body that has nearly the same size as hers is no doubt the most exciting thing in her life. She had patiently waited for that day to come, the day that the girl turns an adult, that she will take action on the plan she had buried for years.
*
It was a time of many shortages, except the numbers of people alive, aging, being born. It was a time of uneven distribution: food, space, and–worst of all– love. But the lady persisted. She gave birth to the girl as the only way to save her relationship with him, who now had no more patience with her. One day while she was still pregnant, the lady glanced out of the window and saw that same silhouette with another lady–younger, prettier. Then, when the baby was born. The heartbroken lady could give only a little love. She had tried to kill the girl, cutting until she found the rare purple blood coming out of the little body. She was shocked at first, terribly shocked, but then she couldn't control her excitement for the blood, for its deep purple.
*
“You are part of me, and I have gifted you 18 years of life, given you freedom. I provided your place to live and food to eat. Now is the time for you to pay back that generosity. Be grateful and give me your blood and I will remember you forever, my good girl.” the lady said to herself, holding the sharpened knife stabbing the air repeatedly. In the middle of the night, in this dimly lit living room, she was rehearsing everything, waiting for the next day to come.
The girl, so thrilled to transform into an adult, failed to fall asleep. Shivering, she witnessed everything through the door gap, and pinched her arm to see if she is in a nightmare; so while the lady entered the bathroom, she snuck out of her tiny bedroom, took the knife quickly, and fled from home. Then, she heard a piercing scream at her back, hurried footsteps came toward her. The girl ran desperately, save herself from that sharp claws almost going to thrusting into her shoulder. Lights on, all neighbors woke up, and the sounds gradually died away. Afterwards, she was completely exhausted and stopped at nowhere.
Everything seems new to her. Walking aimlessly through the city, soon after, she reached the sea, where full of huge rocks on the shore. Jagged, they poked her feet and kept her from just submerging in the water. She followed another course. On the way, she saw sheep and cows on the farm and a pigeon smashed by the tire of a car. Then, under a street light, there was someone she felt very familiar with, though she barely ever left home.
*
The same silhouette with a young lady attracted the girl. She determined to follow him, sneak behind the usual body, and enter his place. When the door closed, she took out the lady’s knife from the pocket, raised her arm, then stabbed him in the neck heavily. The silhouette unexpectedly turned around and grabbed the girl's arm, so strikingly powerful that the girl was unable to move at all. She was so frightened that didn’t realize the knife had already fallen from her hands. The enormous silhouette cornered her into a dead end and hit the wall. Bodies twisting and scuffling, reminded her the same situation outside that bedroom. Without any weapon, she bited that approaching arm heavily and was pushed to the ground all of a sudden. The silhouette screamed in pain on the side, turning smaller and smaller. Girl struggled to reach the knife not far away. Once the knife was in her palm, she swung it frantically and thurstted it at him with force from her whole body, just as the lady pierced the air with the same knife. Too soon, the house fell silent again. She killed him. In exhausted fear, the little girl fell on her knees in the mess and stained her dress. Breathing heavily, she stayed in the same position, losing any sense of time.
...
When the sun rises, it shows her father’s blood all over her dress.
She stares. It is purple.