Have you ever told someone you hated them, but the honest truth was that you wanted their attention so much? Sometimes, when you want their attention that much, you'll act as unreasonably as a three-year-old kid who wants a certain item at the store and refuses to let it go, or starts crying in the middle of the aisle. It was clear that lately, Xiao Lan had been very clingy to me. I chased him away, but he remained determined to be close.
I heard Xiao Lan say, "Jig, wake up."
As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Xiao Lan carrying me downstairs. I looked behind us, and picture frames on the wall began to fall, crushing on the stairs. Objects flew everywhere.
I said, "Xiao Lan, put me down."
Xiao Lan put me down quickly, and we rushed down the stairs into the living room. Then we walked to the front door. I grabbed the doorknob, but I couldn't turn it.
I pulled as hard as I could. "Xiao Lan, we're locked in!" I struggled hard to open the door, leaning against it, and looking over Xiao Lan's back. The hideous monster slowly walking down the stairwell and then, she stood a few feet away from them. "I like beautiful Alicia."
Xiao Lan looked at me and said, "She's angry."
"What?" I could barely hear Xiao Lan over all the flying objects.
Xiao Lan shouted, "She's angry!"
"I heard your voice the first time! You don't have to yell at me. I'm not deaf!"
Xiao Lan's voice was sharp. "Well, if you heard me the first time, why did you still ask me?"
"Xiao Lan, how dare you try to argue with me? I've had enough of you, Mister Know-It-All!" I was so annoyed with Xiao Lan. Lately, every time Xiao Lan praised others and not me, I got angry with him. I mean… look at me, I'm a handsome guy. I have good looks, maybe not as good as Xiao Lan, but I look good. I think I look a bit like Andy Lau, I have actor's material! "I'm fed up with your arrogant attitude. I don't need to listen to you." I saw a chair flying towards Xiao Lan's back. "Xiao Lan…" I raised my right hand to protect my face from the flying chair, and the chair stopped floating. This action reminded me of the time when the avalanche hit us on the mountain.
Xiao Lan began chanting, and a white circle surrounded Alicia, who was struggling and screaming. A few minutes later, Alicia calmed her anger and cried in the middle of the magic circle.
Alicia sobbed and said, "Ungrateful. I've been working hard all my life, and when I took my last breath, no one was by my side. Ungrateful!"
Xiao Lan said, as poetic as a monk, "Never get too attached to anything in life. It only brings you suffering."
"How can I? They're my children! They were raised by me alone. Now they're all grown up and have successful lives, when I'm at the end of life," Alicia sobbed. "No one is willing to support me. I changed so much for them; all I wanted was for them to do the same for me in my last days. As their mother, I deserve this!"
Xiao Lan, the heartless monk, said, "If you can't do anything about it, then let it go. Don't be a prisoner to things you can't change."
Alicia screamed, "I can't let it go! I can't! I don't deserve this!" Alicia turned back into a rotten monster. "I don't deserve it!"
I felt sorry for Alicia. As a son who witnessed the death of his mother, I still had a lot of regrets. I remembered my mother's last day in this world. I had kissed her goodnight, and she smiled at me. I still regretted not staying up all night, watching her take her last breath. I had failed in many ways, but being an ungrateful son was not one of them. My mother was a happy mother when she died, and I think this is why I have never seen her since her death. In this world, she had no worries or resentments that could attract her soul.
I dropped the floating chair on the floor and walked into the circle, facing Alicia. I stretched out my arms and held the rotting corpse in my arms.
I sighed and said, "Alicia, happiness begins with you. Being a good mother doesn't mean you have to endure your children's nonsense. If they are ungrateful to you, let karma deal with them." I patted her gently on her back. "For me, you're an excellent mother for raising two children alone. In my book, you're the Mother of the Year. If they don't know how to appreciate you, it's their loss." I sighed. "Besides, you weren't alone when you died. Your best friend, White, was always with you, and not just that, she died alongside you." I pulled myself away from the corpse.
"White…" Alicia's sobbing voice became lower.
I said, "Although White is an animal, some animals are more loyal and love you more. Love comes in a variety of different shapes and forms. For example, Xiao Lan and I… scratch that. White, the cat, cared for you a lot. That's why she tricked us here… led us here to save you from suffering." I looked at Alicia.
Alicia's face slowly changed from a rotting corpse to a young beauty in her thirties.
Alicia called, "White, come here, girl!" White ran from behind the back door to Alicia and circled her legs. Alicia bent down and hugged White, holding White in her arms. "We've been friends for so many years, and I didn't realize that the people who cared about me most were the people who had always been by my side."
When I saw White and Alicia, I was happy for them, but at the same time, I was angry with Alicia's ungrateful children.
I asked, "Alicia, how many children do you have?"
Alicia said, "Two."
I smirked and said, "I'll help you teach them a lesson, and I'll make them regret everything they've done to you in the past."
Don't get me wrong, I'm a decent and good person. I treat everyone equally, but when someone treats me wrongly, I retaliate. Once I've started my revenge rampage, it won't stop until I'm satisfied.