Little Chan was almost delighted when she stepped out of the school “Tomorrow is going to be a big day” she thought secretly. She started going home. She could see so many people and decorations around the road. Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year! She could hear people greeting each other, hugging and smiling. From tomorrow, she could spend one week on vacation and that could be fun. Sinking in her sea of thought, finally she arrived at home.
Almost all of them were busy. She saw her two brothers helping their father to make a big sculpture of a snake. Which was covered with green yet fresh papers. She could hear her little sister singing songs that she learned from her pre-school. “Little snake, little snake… come again another day….” and that sound echoed throughout the air. Everywhere seemed so lively and lovable. “Hey dear!” little Chan could hear the sound of her mother, “Can you help me prepare these dumplings? They are almost done baking, but I need someone to help me with them.” “Okay, mommy!” Chan jumped happily. She’s fond of helping her mother.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you,” Said her mother again, “You know what? Granny Bing Bing will come to our house today for the new Year dinner” “Wait, what?” Chan shouted in delight again, she hadn’t met her granny for five years and this could be a delicious encounter. Granny and Chan share their ideas through letters as a tradition ever since the Covid-19 started. She has told her many secrets that which she hasn’t dared to tell her family members. And she believed that she was blessed to have someone like her as an emotional support. So, Chan was super excited to meet her granny again. “She just called me two hours earlier but I’m afraid we can handle everything and decorate our house before they arrive,” said Chan’s mother with a red face. Chan could see that her mother was so tired. “Don’t worry mom,” she said, “I’ll take care of everything, and you’ll be fine.”
From then onwards, Chan helped her mother with almost everything. For cooking dumplings, preparing beef noodles, and cleaning the house. With the effort of Chan and her siblings, they were able to prepare dinner on time. They were waiting for granny Bing Bing’s arrival. And yes, she appeared finally with some of her other relatives. Chan ran towards her and hugged her like a little girl. “Do you know how much I missed you?” said Chan with tears in her eyes.
Then here comes the time for dinner and everyone looked fresh and clean. All of them sat around the big table. The smell of the noodles made their appetite even higher. Chan helped her granny to get her favorite dishes. Everyone was excited to look at the table with almost filled with mouthwatering spicy meals which are origins in the Sichuan area. The family atmosphere was at its best level until Granny Bing Bing said something that Chan would not like.
It happened like this. Family gatherings were considered as something precious in Chan’s family. That’s where you solve your problems, talk to each other and sometimes forgive yourself for the mistakes that you made last year. So, it’s common for relatives to talk about their family, kids and future life goals at the New Year dinner table and by doing so, you can get some valuable advice from your relatives directly. But there’s a secret that no one knows at the dinner table. The promise between Chan and her granny was more than that. They are not allowed to share each other’s secrets that they share through letters to anyone without the permission of the other person. But surprisingly when Chan’s father began to inform the relatives about her progress, Granny said something that Chan’s whole New Year turned upside down. “Even though Chan has failed Mathematics, she’s still a good child. I hope she will make a huge effort next year and surprise every one of us!” said Granny with a very affectionate voice, yet giving everyone a sudden shock, placing Chan under a huge mess. That was true, she had failed her Mathematics exam this year but was too afraid to tell anyone except granny, with the fear of making everyone worried. She kept looking down and didn’t dare look at her parents after Granny revealed one of the top secrets.
“Chan! Look here!” shouted her father angrily, who’s so strict with Chan’s studies as all Chinese parents with their kids. “Don’t scold the child,” her mother begged. “It’s a new year! Let her enjoy her meal at least.” She said helplessly.
Chan could feel the tears running down her cheeks. Without looking at anyone, she ran to her room and locked herself in. “Why did granny tell that in the middle of the dinner party? How dare she?” Chan cursed almost everyone in her family, crying like hell desperately and keeping her dark pathetic face on her knees. She felt helpless and weak. She could hear her mother talking to her, knocking on the door but she didn’t care. She could hear her brothers whispering, but what she cared about was her inner mind which was heated like a hotpot and struggling to hide. Finally, she decided to go and unlock the door secretly.
One hour passed like this and no one dared to face Chan. She was half sleeping and half crying when she heard the cracking sound of her doorway. She looked at the door rubbing her eyes. That was granny Bing Bing, who was standing in front of her door. “I’m sorry dear!” she said. Chan couldn’t help but sit on the bed. But she didn’t want to talk to her as she used to be. Granny Bing Bing was someone that Chan respected and loved when she was little. They often talk so much over the phone and Chan has told so many secrets to her that she hadn’t told her parents. Because she knew that Granny would not reveal her precious secrets to anyone else. “But what happened today?” Almost in front of everyone, her sweet granny revealed one of the most serious darkest truths of her and ruined her entire week of happiness.
Her granny came in and sat on her bed with a little box in her hand which was covered with red paper. Giving gifts and money wrapped in red packets is a quite famous tradition in China in the New Year season. “I brought this for you,” said her granny, giving the box to her. Chan didn’t look at the box. She looked somewhere else, ignoring her grandma.
Granny Bing Bing took Chan’s hand. “I’m so sorry dear,” she said, “I know that I shouldn’t have said that at the dinner table. But I forgot that’s a secret between us!” she said. But that made Chan even more angry. She just jumped out of bed, yelling “Forgot! You forgot! Are you going to forget everything then? Ok! I also don’t want to talk to you! I’m also going to forget you!” She shouted madly and covered her face with a pillow when her granny was trying to say another word. Chan cried as she wished. She felt like she was betrayed by someone she loved so much.
She could hear her grandma stepping out of her room slowly. She didn’t care to look at her either. She stayed still when she heard the little van that her grandma came was going out of the gate. “How foolish I am to keep secrets with someone who has such a bad memory,” Chan thought to herself. She saw the little red box that her grandma gave her on her bed. “Why did she bother to bring me this stuff if she forgets everything? Such a joke!” she said almost throwing the little box to a corner of her cupboard.
One month passed after the New Year. Then two months. And then three. Chan had completely forgotten almost everything about the gift that her grandma gave her that day and she didn’t even talk to her grandma since then. But one day, when she was hurriedly looking for a book in her cupboard, she heard something breaking which sounded like glass. She was surprised and looked for it and finally found Grandma’s gift which had fallen on the floor.
She opened up the gift out of curiosity which was wrapped up with a bright red colored paper. Inside that little box, Chan found a mirror that had shattered because of the sudden fall. It consisted of a wooden frame, and there was a sculpture of a snake from the handle and back to the handle, covering almost all of the mirror. And there was a letter also on the ground which seemed to be written by her grandma. Chan decided to read it.
“Dear Chan!” in the top left corner she could see those words. She started reading the letter hurriedly, widening her eyes. “Two days ago, I suddenly forgot my name and who I am. When I met the doctor, he told me that I have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. I know how it feels to forget the familiar faces you know, and I consider this as one of the worst diseases, but as I’m old enough, I have to go through everything. But I’m worrying about what we discussed over these years, and I’m afraid that I’ll forget them. So, I wrote them down in a book, and I thought to send that book to you. Otherwise, I’ll lose it by myself. I can’t rely on anyone else to keep that book instead of you. So, keep our secrets with you dear. I’m afraid I can’t read them as I’m forgetting everything. My mind is going weak every second. I know there are some secrets you haven’t even told to anyone else other than me! So, if I ever reveal any of our secrets because of my stupid disease, please forgive this old lady for that.”
Tears were falling from Chan’s cheeks without even knowing when she started reading the next half of the letter. Her granny mentioned the wooden glass in that part. “The gift that I gave you is kind of a toy. It’s not a real glass. You can make that up by yourself after if shattered. We called it ‘myself glass’ at that time. Because you will learn many life lessons from it. That has been given by my granny, in the year of the snake, like this year, on my birthday. She told me that whenever I feel weak, broken or angry, throw that mirror to a place where there’s sunlight and see what happens. And yeah! There’s magic in that! And you can re-prepare it also.”
Chan looked at the mirror on the box. That was almost broken. She took the broken pieces to a little verandah in her room where there was strong sunlight and laid them on the floor. “Wow,” she was surprised. Each broken piece reflected the sunrays so strongly and was ten times lighter than before. Then she tried to do that again with the same kind of mirror that hadn’t been shattered. But she couldn’t reflect that much of the strong sun rays into her room with an ordinary mirror. With the amazement of this special gift, she began to read the last part of the letter, which was almost one paragraph.
“Remember my dear! I know that some subjects are hard for you to score well in exams but remember to fight hard. Did you see what happened to the shattered mirror when the sun rays were poured on it? It reflects the sunlight harder than an ordinary mirror. When you feel like you’re working and weak, and when you feel like you’re not good enough, remember this special mirror. You can shine so brightly after you are shattered. After you are broken down. Because what’s more important in our life is not about winning always. But cherish every moment. And that makes our life worthy to remember for!”
Chan ended up reading the letter full of tears, with regret and respect for her granny. She cursed herself for not reading the letter when her granny was still there. As for the letter, Chan was able to fix the shattered mirror to a perfect one again. She placed that gift on her table with respect and gratitude. When she picked up the red wrapper of the glass, she saw some shining letters on that which gave Chan a little drop of hope.
“The Year of the Snake is all about embracing happiness, cherishing what you receive and chasing your dreams. The same things the snakes do with their slim yet long body and tail.”
Chan rubbed off her tears and ran downstairs to make a call to her granny, full of happiness like a free soul, with no burdens in her heart.
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