Sein Sein - Shumawa Magazine Short Stories (2)

Beautiful new day

When she stood in front of the Inspaktaw U Aung Din, Nwe's face grew even more pale. I knew how much anxiety was burning inside her. It seemed that even her two legs, which supported her entire body, were about to give way.

Nwe stood leaning against the table in front of him. Her hair was falling down her forehead. A small strand of hair, about an inch long, was tied in a bun, and her shoulders were covered with a thin layer of hair. Her pale skin, her sharp nose, her thick eyebrows, and her long eyelashes were all in harmony with her beauty. If only her big brown eyes were bright and moist, and her plump, unpigmented lips were filled with a smile, how much more charming and open would Nwe's beauty be?

My heart was beating softly with compassion. I was also anxiously waiting to see what kind of 'answer' U Aung Din would give.

Nwe.. Nwe.. Nwe, a young writer who is only 23 years old. I can still hear the words she said late last night.

My father is intelligent. He has a good imagination. He is always inventing. He is happy when he is busy with his work. His main job is a car repair shop. But he also repairs radios, phonographs, hand-operated machines, and bicycles. He also designs and builds motorcycle bodies. Among his works, there is even a double-decker motorcycle. He also asked his students to help him build it himself. When this motorcycle was built, the people in Nwe's village couldn't stop praising him. Nwe's family was also very happy.

There aren't many families. Mom, Dad, Nwe, my younger sister, Kyew, and Dad, my older sister, that's all.

Among them, my father is the one I love the most. My father understands me. When I go on a long trip, whether it is to Yangon or a city outside of the city, my younger sisters will ask me what I want. My mother doesn't ask me for anything because she is afraid of having to buy it for me or causing trouble. However, when my father comes back, they don't have all the things they need, but they always buy things for their eldest daughter and the food items that my mother likes, so my mother and younger sisters often make fun of me and say, "I love my eldest daughter."

"At times like this, the family feels sad again. Not only do they not love me, they don't even seem to like the fact that my father loves me."

It's so heartbreaking to think about it. But Nwe loves everyone, so if they knew, they would be sad, so she kept all her sorrows to herself, so that they wouldn't know.

During school holidays, my mother and my younger sister like to go out and watch movies. They don't invite me. I'm left at home with a pile of unfinished chores. I don't get bored doing housework because I have to do my usual chores. I don't have time to go out because I'm so busy with my work. But I'm sad that they don't ask me to come with them.

In fact, my father, who was never lazy, would only send me movies to watch more than three times a year, saying, "Daughter, if you're going to say that this movie is really good, you're going to be left behind by the next generation. Let's go see it."

On important days, if you want to observe the Sabbath with your elder brother, you usually have to do the household chores a day in advance and go with him.

Nwe has been helping her older sister in the kitchen and dining room since she was about ten years old. By the time Nwe was about 15, the kitchen and household chores had become almost a chore, and she had reached a point where she had to help her older sister.

The mentally retarded child also has to pay attention to schoolwork. In the short time that he has to spend, he can read foreign newspapers. My father always buys a women's journal and two magazines for me. Those reading times are the most satisfying moments in my life.

So, to make a long story short, the year I graduated from seventh grade, my father died of a stomach ulcer.

In the Nwe family, except for Nwe, there are only those who are good at what they do and who are good at using things, so they have furniture worthy of a fortified house, and they can wear beautiful clothes and move around freely, so there is no leftover material or clothing.

But Ma Mae Ho is an amazing woman. She ran the car repair shop with her father's former students and continued to operate it. She knew the market for everything related to cars, from small parts to car bodies and equipment. She managed it. So even though the income was not as good as it was when my father was there, the family didn't have to worry about it.

My grandmother, who is fond of gardening, has been growing more and more flowers and vegetables from her garden and selling them to help support her family's expenses. My daughter, who is also the eldest daughter, has a lot of responsibility, so she helps her mother at work and with her grandmother's garden in her free time.

This is the only shame I have for failing 9th grade for 2 years straight... How much did you have to hurt your mother... As a widow, I feel so bad that my daughter-in-law wasted all the work that my mother had done. Besides, as the eldest daughter, my daughter-in-law should be a role model for her younger sisters. Now, it has become a family tradition that the eldest and the prettiest is my daughter-in-law.

Nwe felt sorry for herself, but she was proud of her younger sister |. Nwe had to sit for the second year of the 9th grade exam, and she had to sit for the same exam as Nwe, who had just come after her. Nwe had failed for two years, but her younger sister, Nwe, not only passed the exam but also came out with honors in both subjects. My younger sister, Kywe, also came second in the class in the 7th grade. They are such cute girls.

So Nwe was debating whether or not to continue studying in the third year. In the end, although she felt sorry for her mother, she had to make a firm decision to continue this year because it would be difficult to find a job if she did not pass the 9th grade.

This year, I spent the whole day at home, preparing food for my mother and sisters, preparing food for the children, and cooking food for the children, but I couldn't stop myself from going to school. Sometimes I would walk to Thanakha and rub my hands and continue to attend night school. After night school, I would memorize the exam papers until midnight, thinking that if I didn't pass the exam this year, I wouldn't be able to do it later than midnight. I would wake up before 5 am and do homework and do a whole cycle.

The talented Nwe has been working so hard since the beginning of the year that she has passed the ninth grade. The talented younger sister, Thaw, has passed the tenth grade with honors in physics. The rich one has also passed the eighth grade and is now in the ninth grade.

So, I hope that it will help send my younger sister to university, so I can find a job. Let's just say it's lucky.

Just before the school day, Nwe started working at the office. Nwe could save 15 kyats a month for her own expenses and give it all to her mother, and then she could breathe a sigh of relief.

I get up earlier than usual to do household chores, cook and prepare rice for myself, pour water quickly, rub the thanakha without looking at the mirror, leave the house before the thanakha dries, and tie my hair with a ribbon while walking, but I don't complain. As the eldest daughter, that's all she should do.

And even though I only have to do this kind of work in the morning, I can also rest and recharge at night. If I can go to bed early at night and read the magazines and books I bought with my own money, I can call it a satisfying and comfortable life.

But... But I've been content with my life for less than a year. Fate has come with a bang, and I can't build a stable foundation anymore...

They say that my family is different.

After my father passed away, my older brother and I shared a room. My three younger sisters had always shared a room. Now that my younger sister had gone to university, only my younger sister and I were left with the same room.

But when Nwe insisted, “I want to live alone in a room,” everyone was dissatisfied. Kyi Thet said, “This girl has been living with her sister all her life and is just breaking up now. I can’t tell if she has a boyfriend or not. I’ll send her to her mother’s house and I’ll sleep in the back room like before. She’ll live as she pleases.”

“My mother also said, ‘In a house where there are only women because there are no men, it’s not right for us to sleep in separate rooms. If my daughter-in-law comes to sleep with me, I’ll sleep soundly and soundly.’”

Nwe said, "No... I'll sleep alone. I'll sleep in the back room, but Mi Nwe will go sleep with me." So they all looked down on Mi Nwe.

Finally, Mom and Dad swapped rooms and gave their two-person room to Nwe. The three of them were moving around in the three-person room where Nwe was staying. They were so busy moving around that they were arguing about whether they would get a "cat" for nothing.

The problem became even more serious when the summer school was closed and Thaw returned. In fact, if Mi Thaw slept in Nwe's room, it would be over. Nwe kept saying, "No one can come to Nwe's room," and Yi Yi Thet and Thaw had to go down to the apartment downstairs to sleep, only to be scared. So every night, Yi Yi Thet would start to scold Mi Thaw.

Also, regarding food and drink, he insisted, "I can't take responsibility for the kitchen. I'm too tired. I'll take over this responsibility completely. I'll just do the farming."

So even when the elder brother took over the cooking, Nwe still didn't eat properly. He would take his breakfast and dinner with him, close the door to his room, and eat alone.

I also made mistakes at work and when I got angry, I would take leave and say I didn't want to do it anymore. When I got home, I would just close the door and sleep...