“Aren ‘t you going to come out from in there?” a clear voice rang suddenly. She stumbled into a narrow entrance lit by bamboo framed oil lamps to discover its origin. It came from a tall green headdress with pretty purple patterns which housed a face whose warm smile and laughing eyes were full of such strong love that she had only previously known in her grandfather. The kind that made you feel enough in just being – effortlessly accepted. Physical discomfort instantly gone, the preceding episode also evaporated from her mind.
Nothing needed to be said anymore right then. Stolen childhood memories overwhelmed Gugu, hitting her in fragmented waves, then a strong flood of emotion made her leap to embrace this strange woman who she intuitively identified as her Grandmother. Possessed by an urge to never let go, she sobbed so much that her sinuses ached but the benevolence in their shared pull comfortably enveloped her, as if she were a newborn swaddled in cloth. Safe.‘Who are you’ repeated in Gugu’s head long after they had been introduced. The brief explanation she received about both of them just recently finding out the other had survived sufficed, albeit temporarily.
Serendipity could be verified another time. For she was awestruck with this first female family member to not be a distant recollection, with whom attempts at remembrance were a minor struggle at best. Instead every interaction was a canvas for Grandmother to impress with either her verbose prose or uncanny ways of turning life into art through just the way she behaved – the stage provided by her granddaughter’s adoring gaze. Little things like the ridiculous flourishes she used to manically stack tomes onto her ever expanding bookshelf. She frequently roped them b. .
his wife was alive. But what caused them to be estranged? There was too much mystery. She wondered if she would uncover the buried past. As if he could read both of their minds, Grandfather walked in and froze when figured out what had just transpired. His shoulders slumped. The sadness in his expression tore a sharp pang in her chest.
Slow, silent tears fell smoothly down his cheeks and settled in his laughter lines. Opening his mouth to speak, he found nothing would come out. His voice broke with the weight of all he wanted to say. The words were dying on his lips before he could form them. Guilt seeped in between them, uninvited, it thickened the air. He breathed a heavy sigh of acceptance, “So.
This will be your true self. Congratulations.” Gugu cast her eyes downwards then her gaze shifted up to Grandmother, who beamed with joy “Welcome to your whole, new life.”
