Room Full of Stuffed Animals
"Why didn't you do your homework again? This is the THIRD time this week! Tell your father to come see me this Friday after school!" Shae's English teacher finally had enough of her excuses.
Shae could barely stand still, her body shivers uncontrollably out of lack of sleep and fear, face pale like wallpaper, in contrast, her lips exhibit an abnormal bloody red. Head down you could not see her big dark brown eyes, but a drop of tear falls on the floor quietly.
Shae is not so worried about her English skills, she couldn't care less about a language that she barely uses. What scares her the most, is having her dad called to school. Shae's dad is a tall strong man. As the man of the house, he takes of the responsibility of providing for the family. He works as a sales man for an American company. The constant stress of meeting unachievable sales quota has really taken a toll on him. He is nice and caring for the most part, but it is not easy to always keep his calm and patience with Shae, a growing teen who can be annoying at times.
Shae has not been the easiest kid growing up, having been curious like a boy and gets herself in trouble. Perhaps because she grew up with her cousin Wales and his boy crew, Shae acts more like a boy and does stupid teen boy things. In primary school, students were supposed to stay quiet in class to let the teacher speak. Shae apparently had a hard time sitting still on a wooden chair all day having spent her childhood with Wales in the nature. She would shout out random things in the middle of the class such as "OMG there is a cat!" or "WOW it is going to rain soon" while the teacher is talking. Next thing she knows, her dad is called to school, and when she gets home, physical punishment is the usual treatment.
Shae is truly scared of her dad even until this day. When he gets mad, red blood vessels close in from his sclera to iris like a burning spider web. Eyes fueled with anger and rage, he stares at Shae as if he was going to tear her apart. Like Inuyasha when he turns into a full demon and loses himself, Shae's dad truly turns into another person who seeks vendetta. He would rush towards Shae and before she realizes, her face is slapped to the side. The stroke is so merciless that her entire cheek loses senses. Following the numbness, it burns in agony like oil lit on fire while a bloody dark red color manifests and swells in the shape of a cruel hand. It happens so sudden that she even forgets to cry. It is only few seconds later that her body starts to twitch uncontrollably until it turns stiff, fingers sticking out straight and hard like steel. Her breath becomes shorter and heart pounds so fast like a speeding car that is about to crash. She stretches her tiny mouth wide open gasping for air. However, with her heart beating out of her chest, her breath becomes so shallow that her lungs can barely retain any oxygen. Like a fish out of water, before long, Shae's vision gets blurry and her mind sinks deep under, mocking her pointless struggle.
Shae still remembers when she was in primary school, she used to live on the 8th floor while a playmate lived on the 6th. It was a weekend, her parents had taken her to the amusement park all day. As they finally went home and reached the 6th floor, Shae wanted to knock on the playmate's door and keep playing. As a kid, she never gets tired and is full of life. On the contrary, her dad has been exhausted having spent all day at the park in the blazing heat. He frowns and says: "Shae, I am tired, go home." Shae fails to see the sign of displeasure and proceeds towards the door about to knock. After all, she is just a kid who's never had to bend the knee to life and responsibilities. How could she possibly understand how drained his father has been in order to keep a roof over her head. "No. Go home." Shae's dad grabbed her left arm. He is clearly losing his patience. His hand is so big that it wrapped and locked Shae's skinny arm entirely. Shae tried to break away from the firm grip while yelling "No I wanna play!". Next thing she feels is a brutal force that's so intense as if it wants to pull her left arm out of her body. In a way it did, her undeveloped shoulder was severely dislocated that day.
Shae doesn't recall much about the aftermath. All she remembers is that her dad gave her a giant stuffed panda as an apology. A gesture that repeats itself every time he hits her. In retrospect, Shae seems to always lose her memory after her conscious grew dark. Shae is terrified of pain, yet she gets it so often that her brain developed a protective mechanism to conceal the terror. Her memory is like a damaged tape, with constant bits and pieces missing. Indeed, all the trauma was buried deep as if it never existed, except Shae's room full of stuffed animals serving as silent witnesses whose testimony will never be heard, like Shae' deep rooted pain and fear.
Today is Thursday. A rushed farewell to Azeroth.