Poem from Myu Myu to Sookie: What I thought would last forever was broken down by the unknown

memory, my past... born in the worst of days and the worst the worst of ways You hidden darkness, Mother, why didn't you want me with you? I'm not ashamed of who you are or what you did I wrote you a letter, to tell you I'm doing fine and don't mind that you left me... I lied. What did I do to make you hate me? Why did you sell me? Do you love me yet? I think of the endless rivers of questions that grows immense everyday, that tie me up, and burn me in the inside, not knowing the answers, trapped inside bright little bottles... Your sister's love is beautiful, even though we may not have much, she treats me like a queen, but in this forsaken dream I wonder how it would be if we never separated. Mom says I look a lot like you and yet I can't find it. Every time I look in the mirror, there I am, a creature, stiff and cold with green pools for eyes, in a dress so beautiful it's almost a disguise. Reminds me of your sister's lullaby that speaks of a jewel... that one day I will find. Retelling of a folktale:

Ninety Nine Gu-Ship Gu stepped quietly out of his familys Seoul apartment, closing the door carefully so as not to wake his baby brother. Crisp morning air filled his lungs and all grogginess left him as he exhaled. Stuffing his hands in his pockets for warmth, he crossed the road and headed left down a side street towards school. He took in another deep breath, exhaling swirling ghosts into the air as he released it. Gu loved this time of year, the misty mornings and the snow crunching beneath his boots. As he turned onto the next street, a familiar sight caught his attention. A girl was leaning against a wall dressed in the clothing and makeup a G.I. girl. She was staring directly at him. Gu quickly averted his eyes as his mother had warned him, she had said that these women were trash and to stay well away. Just as he passed, eyes stubbornly on the ground in front of him, she called out to him. Hey! as if she herself was surprised to see him. Gu sped up, cursing himself for walking this way, when all of a sudden he heard his name. Gu its me! come back!. Bewildered, he spun around and there, in the half light,he saw her face. It was none other than the girl whom he had always loved at his school. He froze in the cold morning mist. How can that be you!? I must be dreaming! he excaimed, shocked. No Gu, it is me. Im trapped here, like this. You must help me! she pleaded. But what can I possibly do? cried Gu, taking a step back. Just a kiss she whispered, a tear rolling down her rosy cheek. Overwhelmed by confusion and fear, Gu turned to run, but all at once, he felt her arms around him, her hot breath on enveloping his lips. Suddenly her fingernails dug sharply into his skin, her face grew rough against his and her skin turned to silky fur. Gu jolted awake violently, just in time to see the black glint of a foxes eyes pulling away from his own. His vision blurred and his head fell lifeless to the dark schoolroom floor. Sookie's first-person perspective at Hyun Jin's birth: She's lying on the ground screaming as if someone smacked her. A few minutes ago it was my mother in this situation, except she had a reason to be screaming unlike this baby. Her face is getting redder by the second and she looks just plain ugly with that stain on her face. I thought that no one could be more ugly than me, but here is this baby with a huge, dark birthmark on her face as bright red as a radish. My mother is too exhausted to do anything about her, and she won't stop screaming. I should kill her for causing my mother so much pain. I can't think of any reason not to. I raise my hand above her face, preparing to slap her face to stop her from crying, but as my hand gets closer to her face, I freeze as I realize something. I gently place my hand on top of the stain on her face. She sniffles as she looks up at me with her teary, brown eyes. I look at my hand on her cheek, the birthmark completely covered by my dark hand. Its a perfect match. Finally all is quiet. Her lips begin to turn up as I smile. She doesnt seem so bad after all. Shes mine. My ugly, little sister. Perspective from a character without a voice in the novel:

"Forgive me Father for I have sinned." "Go on son" "I'm forty seven years old now and I ain't never been able to get this demon out of me. I raped a girl. I have a beautiful wife now and two little girls, girls who someday will grow up and learn to live and love. But this girl, how can she. My buddies dont talk about it, we met up for the twenty year reunion and talked about our families, our missed opportunities, our lives. But when that war came up there were no words. We went quiet, we went back into that day. The heat that would enclose you, make your fatigues melt on your skin, drown you in fire. We went out for beers at the Foxa, and sat around drinking and fondling a few women, when in an instant some girl came screaming at my buddy Chazu and ripped his whore off his lap. Chazu was a good guy, kept his girls well paid and stuck to the rubbers, but this piece of trash and her half-mooned friend laid on him like animals. Chazu ripped her away and dragged the trash home, signaling for us follow. We followed him, keeping behind the half-mooned girl lurking in the shadows, then headed in. When we entered she was staring the static of the test screen on the TV and didn't even notice us. Chazu yelled for us to come into his room. 'I want to teach her a lesson' And so we did. When I look at my girls I dont see them, I see the pain I have caused. I see the lives we ruined, the seeds of life that we gave to this girl, knowing she didn't want them and they would rot away in her. Father please, please, forgive me." "Son, you've lived with this inside you for a long time. You've paid with your pain, your heart, your soul. I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Go in peace into this world at last" Private First Class Smith Rogers went free, bleeding out from the wrists, razor blades clenched tight in cold hands, sitting alone, in the dark, sinking, finally at peace, drowning, without a sound, gone. Perspective of an inanimate object: I watch as Lobetto sleeps, and I comfort him as he tosses and turns. But what I can't stop is the people he brings into his life. I can'th elp in anyway the fact that he has a relationship with Sookie. She comes into his room, about once a week, and they roll around on top of me, while I just watch. I dont like her, but Lobetto can't get enough. When they were young, I thought it was disgusting. They didnt even know what love was, they just wanted to be like their parents. They didnt have feelings for each other, but they wanted someone to want them. I wouldnt know how it feels to not be wanted, Ive been Lobettos bed since his dad bought me. Hes always relied on me for a place to sleep, and now a place of privacy. I'm not sure I want him to be using me for this, but theres nothing I can do about it. The only thing I can do is support him, and Sookie if I

have to. I dont think anyone knows about them except me and Lobettos mom, and I dont think his mom cares very much about what he does. Hes her only child, and she lets him do anything. I think he should have boundaries, like every other kid, but he doesnt. When he does something bad, his mom just turns the other way. Lobetto doesnt have the conventional relationships normal people have. He has more of understandings between himself and others. Retelling of a folktale: Suddenly a fox with nine long tails, and dressed in womans clothes, ran out of the cave beneath the rock. The villagers chased it, throwing spears and arrows. As they ran, one spear grazed the animal and cut off one of its nine tails. The fox kept running, and ran down from the mountain graveyard, chased by the whole village. It ran past the school, through the countryside, all with a mob chasing after it. It ran all the way to the ocean, and then it ran into the sea. The villagers lined up on the shore and watched as the fox in womans clothes began to swim into the open ocean. Not wanting it to escape, they shot arrows at it across the vast expanse of water, but the fox was just out of reach. Eventually, they could no longer see it in the churning waves. Meanwhile, the fox itself swam and swam. After nine days and nine nights, it reached a small island. The fox saw lights inland, and it trod heavily to a small ocean-side village just looking for a place to live and start over. In this strange place, the fox curled itself into a ball, turned the jewel around in its mouth, and remembered how it had only been one child away from making it to heaven.