My father, still fuming, refused to believe me. Instead, he stormed into my room and snatched the plaster dolls I'd painstakingly sculpted.
He raced straight to the balcony and smashed them to pieces right before my eyes. "Since you enjoy breaking things, why not smash these ugly things of yours, too?"
I quickly retorted, "But you said my drawings were beautiful! These aren't ugly things."
I tried to pick up the plaster dolls from the floor, only to meet the same fate as those plates. I couldn't touch them.
I cried and screamed, begging them to stop, but they acted as if they couldn't see me at all.
"Mom and Dad, I didn't break the bowl. Please believe me," I begged.
Just as I was about to cry again, I witnessed an unbelievable sight.
Inside the cardboard box where I had lain earlier, there was now a person who looked exactly like me, except her face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
I backed away in panic, pleading for help, "Mom and Dad, look at me! Please look at me!"
After smashing them and seeing that I didn't move, my father became even angrier. He yelled at me, "If you're going to be this stubborn, then you'd better stay right there and never move!"
Back in the living room, he complained to my mother, "She's pretending not to hear us now. I think she needs to spend another night outside. Let's just leave her be. She'll come back in once she realizes her mistake."
That night, the whole family went to sleep without a single thought for me.
I sat in the cardboard box, staring at myself for a long while and finally understood.
I had died, I was really gone.
The next day, my uncle and aunt from my father's side came over with their daughter.
When my cousin wanted to go into my room, my mother opened the door without saying a word.
I directly stood in the doorway, trying to stop them. "Mom, you can't let her in! Last time, she broke all my things!"
Sadly, my mother couldn't hear me. She was chatting in the living room with my uncle and aunt.
"Brother, regarding my husband's job transfer, do you think there's any hope of moving him to a better-paying position? He's been with the company for so many years. If there's anything that needs to be arranged, just let me know. I'll make sure it's taken care of."
Before my uncle could even respond, my cousin had already run out of my room holding a small gold locket she'd taken from my jewelry box.
It was one of the matching swan lockets my parents had made for my brother and me.
She had tried to take it once before, but I caught her and my parents managed to get it back for me. I never thought she would try again.
I thought my mother would stop her like before. Unexpectedly, this time, my mother smiled broadly and praised my cousin, "Oh dear, does Anna like this lock? You have such good taste! It's pure gold. If you like it, take it."
I was stunned. Last time, when my mother stopped her, she had told me, "Taking without asking is stealing. A girl must protect what is rightfully hers."
So why had everything changed now?
My aunt overheard and remarked with a hint of sarcasm, "Huh? Last time you accused Anna of stealing. Now you're just letting her have it?"
My mother kept smiling apologetically. "That girl, Stella, never tells the truth. I asked her later and she said she'd lent it to her cousin to play with. She made a mistake and unfairly blamed Anna. So let Anna take it home this time, consider it making it up to her."
That answer made my aunt smile smugly. "That's more like it. Since you've been so generous, then our Anna will accept it."
