Modern Mulan

Chapter 3

^Dedication cause she seems like a lovely person :D

After spending hours in my room trying to decide what to say to my parents about my sudden disappearance I decided that I’d write a letter explaining why I had left but I still couldn't figure out what to tell them. If they knew where I was really going they would tell the army officials and I'd be pulled out and my dad would be sent in, so all in all a pointless exercise.

 I decided to work on my new look, I was far too feminine to pass for a man without any alterations. Thankfully my eyebrows were thick enough to not look ridiculous on a male face and my features were quite androgynous.  My hair would have to go, so I decided that would be a good enough place to start. Pulling open the drawers under my vanity I gripped a pair of sharp silver scissors and turned them over in my hand before placing them down on the table. Reaching for a hair tie I bundled my hair into a loose ponytail and brought the scissors to just underneath the band before sharply cutting the whole thing off. As I pulled the scissors back down the band fell to the floor, unable to stay put in such a small amount of hair. As it fell back around my face I raised the scissors again and started to chop off more and more of my once long dark locks. By the time I finished, my face was no longer framed by tendrils of black silk but a short choppy style that rested just above my eyebrows in a surfer style.

My body was a different matter; I couldn’t exactly shrink my hips or bulk my shoulders up. I decided to not only bandage my chest but also wrap the material around my waist to try and get rid of my curves. I then put on a loose shirt to check for any evidence, I smiled at the stranger in the mirror. I still looked like me but so …alien, I was amazed by how much difference a few small changes could make.  This was my new look and it had to stay this way. I looked like a feminine man and that would have to do. After making sure I remembered how to do my bandages up the exact same way, I unwrapped them and set them neatly on my drawer before changing and climbing into bed with a pen and pad of paper. My hand hovered over the page, the pen poised to write out all my emotions but I couldn’t put the way I felt into words, couldn’t think of a reason for my sudden disappearance.

After hours of a blank mind I decided to keep it short, sweet and to lie.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I can’t stand to be here anymore. Not when so many people I know have gone. It won’t feel like home anymore and I can’t handle that. Don’t worry about me I will be fine and just know that I love you. I will be back after this whole mess is over. I know I don’t have the right to tell you what to do right now, but please be strong for each other and forget about me for now.

Love always,

Carly

 

After ripping it off the pad I folded it and addressed it to my parents again before placing it on my bedside table ready to replace my dad’s summons notification with it in the morning before he woke up.  Hours passed without sleep approaching me and lying still was just agitating me and my mind would not rest, imaging the worst possibilities; being killed by invaders, being found out and humiliating my family, my dad being sent in my place.

With that thought I was out of bed and out of the house after grabbing a jacket, slipping it on and putting up the hood. I went straight to the back garden and to the tree house, a place so full of memories that it would hopefully distract me.  As my hand grabbed the top rung and my head breached the trap door I froze, startled by the figure of someone sitting on the old mattress against the wall.

“I didn’t expect to see you here” I spoke quietly whilst pulling myself into the tree house and joining him on the floor.

James sighed “I guess you couldn’t sleep either, hey?” I shook my head in response before resting it on his shoulder.