To Live Monologue

Joey Detmer

Mr. Rumley

16 April 16, 2016

Global 9 per:1

        Hello my name is Youqing. A few days ago I noticed a paper framed on the wall. So I asked daddy and mommy about it. They said that daddy got this certificate to prove he served in the communist army and was a revolutionary. Daddy started telling stories about how he and his friend Chungsung survived while fighting for the nationalists by surrendering to the communists. Daddy told me that he became the entertainment for the communist troops by putting on puppet shows for them. I think that he is very brave. Today as I was walking to school I heard my sister Fengxia being bullied by some kids. So I ran back towards the house where she was and defended her by tackling and wrestling the mean bully who was shooting rocks at my sister. I had to defend her since my sister can’t speak because of a fever she had when she was younger which ruined her voice. Later that day I went to the communal kitchen with Daddy, Mommy, and Fengxia for dinner. They let me get my own food from the cooks. So I went up and got noodles and kept on asking for more and more for my plan. When I had enough noodles I put in loads of chili sauce to make it really spicy, so I then continued to walk by my family, and mommy said something about having too many noodles and to come back if I didn’t finish so they could eat it. My plan was still in effect. I found a chair right behind the person who was being mean to my sister, and then I stood up and dumped the whole bowl of noodles and chili sauce on him!! It was so funny when the chili sauce started to cover his face. But then his father started to get mad and called me a “counter revolutionary”, whatever that is. Then the room got silent, until daddy started yelling at me and told me to come over. That’s when daddy made me scared and upset when he started to hit me with his shoe. When we got home I stayed outside until mommy called me in with daddy. I was afraid he was going to hit me again but he came close to but didn’t, I was still mad at him and wouldn’t go to see his stupid puppet show for the iron making workers. Later that night mommy told me that daddy really wanted me to come to his show, but I just shook my head and said no. I still didn’t want to go until mommy asked me if I wanted to play a prank on daddy for hitting me. That’s what got my attention. So we made him a cup of tea containing vinegar and chili sauce to bring to him at the show. So I went down to the show and waited for when mommy said I could. When the time came I walked up to the curtain and gave daddy the tea and waited. Then spit of the tea went all over the curtain and daddy started to chase me through the street trying to catch me. It was really fun. After that night of very little sleep which has been like that for the last couple days I was very tired. But daddy woke me up and told me that I had to go to school to make iron since the city inspector was coming to the school.  Mommy didn’t want me to go and wanted to let me sleep. But daddy told her that I had to. So mommy packed me twenty dumplings to eat at school for lunch. I was very tired, so daddy carried me on his back to school and told me a saying. He said that “an egg becomes a chicken, which then become a goose, which becomes something else that I can’t remember, which then turns into an Ox”. I asked him what came next and he replied “communism”. So when he dropped me off at school I went inside and started to make steel like the people did in the village. After a little bit I became very tired and tried to find a place to take a nap before the chief inspector arrived. It was very hard to find a spot since everybody was working. So I found a decent spot in front of a wall and decided to take a break and go to sleep. I was just thinking about daddy’s old war stories: and I thought to myself will I ever meet his friend Chungsung?  Something became very loud to me. I looked up in terror and screamed hel… What happened, where am I? I’ve awakened but in an un-recognizable place. As I saw nothing but whiteness and myself, I knew; that I’m dead! A couple years came to pass, and I’ve seen much progress throughout China, and my sister get married. I’ve also seen the radical teenagers and young adults take over power who call themselves “The Red Guard”. I’m not overly pleased with this since Chairman Mao has ordered them to take down anyone who was a “reactionary”. Mao also has ordered teachers and even doctors to leave and be reeducated in the country side. I’m worried about this since Fengxia has now become pregnant with her first child. For I do not like this Cultural Revolution or Chairman Mao. I don’t like him because he puts everyone at risk just for his own gain in power like he’s doing right now. He’s only sending the highly educated away to get “re-educated” so no one will oppose him. Instead of getting re-educated most of them will die. At this moment I felt a terrible pain. So I looked down to my family and I saw something horrific. After giving birth to her son, Fengxia started bleeding. The nurses did not know what to do and started to panic and ask for Dr. Wang who was brought back from the rural area. Unfortunately my father had fed him seven buns and then gave him water which was a recipe for disaster to happen. I had to watch my sister suffer for what felt like eternity and I wanted to help so badly, but I knew I couldn’t. However, in her final breathes I told her “this is your brother, and I love you, and that these next few moments are scary but I will be there to help you through it”. So in those next few moments I comforted her until she passed into the spiritual world and joined me. As her child Little Bun started growing up, I asked her if there was anything she wanted to do that I would try to make that happen. And she simply responded “ To Live”.

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