Free Waxing Moon by H.S. Kim Page B

asleep. She lay next to him, awake, until deep into the night, sorting through her thoughts and calming her agitated mind. A few minutes before she fell asleep, she smiled, her eyes almost closed, remembering a scene from her childhood. A farrier had dipped a piece of metal into a furnace and a few minutes later he took it out to show how red, how hot, how powerful it was. “Don’t you dare come near me, or you will be fatally hurt,” he warned the children around him, smiling mischievously at the seven-year-old Mistress Yee.

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    By the time Nani was so itchy that she woke up, she already had six mosquito bites on her legs. They always bit her, no one else in the room. It was just before dawn. She lifted her left leg in midair and scratched until her skin bled.
    She sat up. Even though it was midsummer, the heat had temporarily abated after the pounding rain.
    The little maid, Soonyi, barely fourteen but appearing younger because of her small physique, lay diagonally with her limbs stretched out in four directions. She had joined the household only a year before to assist the kitchen maid. But since last spring the kitchen maid had taken time off to take care of her dying mother in the neighboring village.
    In the corner was a lump of Mirae in a pathetic fetal position, bobbing up and down as she breathed rapidly. That was strange because she usually slept on her back, with her nose arrogantly tilted up and her long legs stretched straight out. Curious, Nani crawled on her knees over to Mirae. Even before she got close to her, she could feel the heat radiating from Mirae’s body. She was hot. They were not on speaking terms, but Nani shook her shoulder, reluctantly. Mirae moaned and jerked.
    “What’s the matter?” Nani asked grimly. It was too early to start a new day.
    “I think I am dying,” Mirae barely managed to say.
    Nani thought quickly. Her late mother had administered every domestic disaster. After she had passed away, Nani rushed to Mistress Kim with every little anomaly in the house. But now she was alone. She had to use her own head, and it wasn’t always easy.
    Fever. What did Mother do about a fever? What did Mistress Kim say about a fever?
    Nani gaped at Mirae. She was drenched in sweat. Her hair was loose and a few strands were stuck on the side of her face. Even when she was sick, Nani thought, she was pretty.
    Min never seemed to want to touch her. On the way back from Mrs. Wang’s place the day before, he could have done whatever he pleased, but he hadn’t. Was he simply a nincompoop? Or was she simply not attractive? Mirae moaned again, and Nani collected herself.
    Her instinct told her that she needed to dry Mirae first and change her clothes. So she pulled out a new undergarment from the chest and began to undress her. It was almost impossible and she was also uncomfortable, considering the kind of relationship she had with Mirae: they were more or less enemies. But why? Nani rummaged through her memory to remember what event had turned them into hating each other. But there was really nothing. Mirae was just too pretty. She behaved like no maid. Supercilious she was. Mistress Yee’s shadow. A shameless parasite. Nani began to untie the knot at her chest. She got nervous, noticing her fingers becoming clumsy.
    Nudging at the little kitchen maid with her foot, Nani called out, “Soonyi!” She was sleeping with her mouth open. Nani hated to wake her up from her dream, but she needed someone else to assist her or at least witness what she was doing.
    “Soonyi!” she called once again, in a louder voice.
    To her surprise, Soonyi quickly sat up, gibbered for a few moments, and then rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Looking about, she whined, “What is it?”
    “Light the candle, will you?” Nani asked, with annoyed urgency in her voice.
    “What’s going on?” Soonyi asked.
    Nani didn’t answer. She removed Mirae’s top garment and began to pat her dry.
    Soonyi rubbed her eyes, lit the