In Another Life

The Letter

Mingyue woke up with a nervous feeling spreading throughout her bosom. She tried breathing through it, but to no avail. Her had made it's way to her heart, feeling the fast beating thumps that it produced. She had no reason to be worried, she knew how her day was going to go.

Everyday had almost the same schedule: Wake up, go to the bakery, and go home to sleep. It rarely had any variance, but she had a feeling that today would be completely different.

"Mom?" Mingyue called out, she waited a minute to hear a response, but none came. "Mom!" She repeated, louder. The small house shared nothing but a deathly silence.

Mingyue slipped on her slippers, running through the house. It took merely a minute to check the whole house, the last room she had yet to check was the kitchen. Low and behold, there her mother sat at their round table in the kitchen.

Jingjing was clearly immersed in the letter she was reading. Mingyue took note of how her brow was slightly creased and her face was quite red. The girl took a seat next to her mother; seeing the fancy envelope, Mingyue picked it up in hopes of finding out what was so important.

Jingjing snatched the envelope away, tucking the letter into a safe place. "Don't worry about this Mingyue," She spoke softly, "would you like me to make you breakfast? Is eggs and bread alright?"

Mingyue nodded, allowing her mother to make her breakfast. It wasn't everyday that Jingjing would have the time to make food for Mingyue. Most of the time, Mingyue just ate at the bakery– she couldn't even remember the last time they had a proper meal.

Once breakfast was finished, Jingjing walked over to the door, sliding on her shoes, "Go get changed and meet me there, alright?"

Her daughter nodded, running along to get changed into proper clothing for the day. It was a similar outfit to yesterdays, the only difference was it was a different depressing grey. It didn't change how dull Mingyue felt, it actually made her feel like she was living the same dreadful days, but seeing smiles on everyone's face made everything it worth it.

The man had come back again, this time ordering a pecan pie and pumpkin bread, strange combination, but there have been more odd ones. Like the day before, Mingyue prepared the food, whilst her mother collected the money. Also like the day before, Jingjing's face was beat-red.

The sun nearly showed that it was noon and Mrs. Kang still hadn't been in yet. Mingyue started worrying, maybe that was her bad feeling from the morning. Mrs. Kang was like a grandmother to Mingyue, she took care of the girl when her father passed away almost a decade ago.

"Mom, you came here before me, did Mrs. Kang show up earlier than normal?"

"No..." Jingjing said cautiously, "Would you mind running the bakery for an hour, I'll go see if she's alright."

"Here take this." Mingyue wrapped up two slices of pumpkin bread, one for Mrs. Kang and the other for her grandson.

Jingjing nodded towards her daughter, leaving her alone in the bakery.

Not even fifteen minutes later did Mrs. Kang walk in with her little grandson. He had to be no older than six.

"And I was worried that you wouldn't show up," Mingyue joked with the woman, "and this must be little Seojun?"

The boy smiled up at her, one of his front teeth had fallen out, "Look! Grandma said that we could get a treat because I lost my first baby tooth!"

Mingyue laughed at his cuteness, "What would you like?"

"Go on, you can get anything you'd like." Mrs. Kang said, "On one condition, you can't tell you father that we were here~"

Seojun giggled, "Can I have pie?" His grandmother nodded, "Could I have a slice of apply pie, Ms...?"

"Ms. Mingyue," Mrs. Kang told her grandson, "did you know that before her and her family moved here there wasn't a stable bakery?"

"Really? Are you from one of the other villages?"

"Actually we used to live in a completely different kingdom, have you ever heard of the Kingdom of Kasmira?"

"It sounds familiar.... was there a song about it?"

"Yeah, it's often regarded as a waring folktale." Mingyue informed him.

"Is that why you have an accent?" Seojun asked. Mrs. Kang looked very apologetic towards the girl.

"Yeah, I actually speak the predominant language for Kasmira too, cool right?"

"Defiantly!"

Mingyue couldn't help but find the kid adorable. She got him a slice of apple pie and Mrs. Kang her usual order or pumpkin bread.

Mrs. Kang went to pay, but the girl stopped her, "Don't worry about it, it's a special day for Seojun."

"I can't just do that." Mrs. Kang stubbornly tried handing her the money, but Mingyue refused to take it. Eventually she gave up on the stubborn girl, repeatedly thanking her.

"Thank you, Ms. Mingyue," Seojun said.

"I caught up with Mrs. Kang, she said that she was sorry she couldn't make it." Jingjing told her daughter.

Mingyue raised an eyebrow, "did you give her the pumpkin bread?"

"Yup! I was defiantly surprised that she wanted two because she usually only asks for one."

"Are you sure it was Mrs. Kang?"

"Yes, now let's start cleaning up for the day, alright Mingyue?"

The girl nodded, grabbing a wet cloth to wipe every surface down whilst her mother did the dishes. Mingyue couldn't help but notice the obvious lie, but the question is, why did her mother lie?

Regardless, Mingyue kept her mouth shut about Mrs. Kang coming in later with Seojun. Her curiosity was too overwhelming and it didn't seem like Jingjing would tell her the honest truth even if she asked. This only left Mingyue to try and find out on her own.

"How about you leave early, you've been here all day." Jingjing offered.

Mingyue saw the perfect opportunity and she took it.

"Thank you Mom!"

She quickly left to investigate the letter. If Jingjing didn't move it from before, everything would work out perfectly.