Mom, Trust Me One Last Time

The morning sun finally broke through the clouds. Mom had set the table for breakfast for the three of us and opened my door, only to find me still in the attic. Her temper flared immediately. "How can you be this dumb? The door wasn't even locked, and you still haven't come back to your room?"

If I had heard this in the past, I might have believed Mom was strict on the outside but gentle at heart, that she cared for me. However, after a night of heavy rain, with my body getting soaked and then drying, that thought had vanished.

Ryan ran upstairs and opened the attic door. "Jessie, come out and eat!" he called.

Then, he turned to Mom. "She's still sleeping!"

Mom frowned deeply. "Is she a pig? How can she sleep this long?"

She hurried upstairs, and when she saw me still in the same position from the night before, she froze. "Jessie, you stayed like this all night?"

She snapped, "Are you sulking at me? What did I say that was wrong? Even now, your signal is all devil! Was I born to suffer because of you? Aren't you getting up? Who taught you to throw tantrums like this? I've treated you and Ryan exactly the same from the start, so why do you always come up short?"

Mom walked toward me. Just as her hand was about to reach me, Ryan suddenly called out, "Mom, can we go now? I can't wait to ride the pirate ship with you!"

Mom glared at me for a moment, then clenched her teeth in anger. "Fine. If you won't talk, you won't get breakfast or go to the amusement park. Walk out of that door on your own, or don't expect me to care about you!"

This time, she left so quickly that I didn't even notice which cute cartoon doll Ryan had pinned on her. I didn't even manage to finish saying, "Mom, don't ignore me."

I tried to chase after her, but I soon realized I was trapped in the house like a ghost. Mom had only taken me to an amusement park once, when I was six. The moment we walked in, I needed the bathroom. The devil signal convinced her I was lying, and I was locked in the restroom all day.

By the time the fireworks were finished, Mom finally came to get me.

After that, she never took me to an amusement park again. Ryan, however, went every year.

I stared at the spot on my scalp where the chip had been implanted. For the first time, a thought crossed my mind. Was my chip really the same as Ryan's? It couldn't be. It had to be different.

Mom's invention had made her famous nationwide for scientific parenting, so the problem had to be me. I was the useless one, just like the father I had never even met.

Mom and Ryan didn't return until late that evening. She glanced into my room, snorted coldly, and walked away. After a while, she left some snacks and a blanket outside the attic door.

For the next three days, she never climbed the narrow stairs again. The fireplace kept the house warm, and with the rain falling again and again, my body was soaked and dried repeatedly until a sour smell began to spread.

Ryan nearly gagged when he passed the stairs. "Mom, it smells horrible. What's that smell?"

Mom let out a cold sneer. "Your lying sister probably hasn't showered. Of course it smells."

She pulled a curtain across the stairway and sprayed some perfume. "There. Come on, Ryan. I'm taking you to the zoo!"

By the seventh day after my death, the perfume and curtain could no longer hide the smell of my decaying body. Mom frowned as she climbed the stairs, gagging again and again until she finally put on a mask.

The snacks and blanket outside the attic door hadn't been touched. Her hand trembled slightly on the doorknob.

I couldn't contain my excitement. "Mom, open the door! Please notice me!"

The lock slowly turned. Mom muttered under her breath, "It can't be anything serious, right?"