Mulan: The Untold Story

Chapter Two

That night, no one had suspected anything at supper. Mulan's mother ate in silence and had a blank facial expression, so no one could suspect a thing. Mulan, however, did not hide her emotions as well as her mother did. She nibbled ungraciously at her food and kept her head down, never looking up from the table once. Her hair was ruffled and she had a smudge of dirt on her face. She did not even bother getting freshened up when she got home.

“Mulan my beautiful grandchild, what is the matter with you?” her wise grandmother asked. She was a very old woman. Her hair was once a long, silky, jet black wave, but now it was just a  short and ratty ball of lint. But that did not prevent her from keeping her youth. Although her appearance reflected her old age, that did not reflect her young-at-heart personality.  She was youthful;  she was more youthful than her sixteen year old granddaughter.

“Mulan,” she called. “Mulan, dear. Tell me what is the matter.” she demanded to know what was wrong with her. Though she was not forceful with it, she expected an answer. Mulan sat there, ignoring her grandmother's questions. Mulan's father grew impatient because he too wanted to know what was wrong with his daughter.

“Mulan, answer your grandmother!” he shouted. He was a forceful man and he was quick to anger. But, he was also quiet and he had a kind side to him that involved the arts and agriculture. He loved to garden. Why, most of the plants that were in the family's garden were planted and tended to by him.

After a brief silence, Mulan's mother had spoken in place of her daughter. “Do not worry about her.” she said. “She is only upset because of what happened in the town earlier today. She has a learned her lesson.”

“What did she do?” asked her grandmother.

“She disrespected me, that is what she did!” shouted her mother.

“Well, she should not be upset. She should be thankful that she had you there to discipline her.” her father said.

“Exactly.” Her mother added. “Mulan, hold your head up so we can see your face.” commanded her mother. Mulan did as she was told. 

“There is my beautiful daughter.” he brushed the dirt off her face with his hand. When he got back to eating, Mulan's mother locked eyes with Mulan. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Mulan's was taken aback and her eyes grew large with fear. She did not want her mother to hit her again. She did not want to feel that painful sting across her face. She didn't want to hear the yelling. She wanted peace and harmony. And what she most of all wanted was freedom. She wanted freedom from this world of perfection and  correctness. She wanted to have the ability to be herself and not have anyone tell her how to conduct herself or tell her she had poor posture. She wanted to be free.