The Love Stories Of Two Sisters (Flash Fiction Part 2)

Image by Jess Foami from Pixabay

Flash Fiction #160

This is the 2nd part of the story. The 1st part is here.

From the first day we met, Cia was always the one who wanted us to be more intimate. In a girl’s dorm, such friendly girl “couples” are everywhere. However I balked at the idea and kept her at arms length, for the simple reason that she seemed to be recruiting, seemed to have a secret agenda. Growing up under my narcissistic parents, I had already had plenty of experiences of being recruited by one parent to fight against the other, or being persuaded to do something only to realize later that I was an unwitting cat’s paw. So I played a grey rock to Cia, just like what I had always been to my parents. I had very little response other than listening…

Cia’s sister Shermei visited her once during our first semester, but the two sisters were so formal with each other that I practically imagined two acquaintances or two colleagues were sitting there talking. They never even once lowered their voice to share some private information. Their relationship reminded me of my relationship with my parents–not even one piece of secret existed between us and everything was formal, nonsentimental, and public.

As soon as her sister left, Cia talked with me about her sister’s beauty and achievement in a very proud way. After that, she started to tell me her sister’s indifference towards her family and her mother’s bitter disappointment in her sister, who had grown so distant from the very people who loved and raised her.

Actually sibling rivalry is normal. Actually even the beauty contest between two sisters are normal since many parents and relatives can’t stop comparing one sister with the other. However, the comparison in Cia’s family had impressed on Cia a little too much. Her rivalry with a cold beauty of a sister was really blown out of proportion, which influenced all her decision making.

Looking back, I guessed and pieced together her family dynamic. It’s partly my imagination, but it can certainly explain the confused relationship Cia had with her family, her own way of conducting her love affair, and the incident that happened right before our graduation.

According to what Cia told me, her father, grandfather, and forefathers were all educators and teachers, highly respected for hundreds of years in her province. Her parents were both teachers. I can just imagine that marrying into such a respectable family, her mother might have had a little pressure being put on her to produce a male heir. Unfortunately she didn’t produce an heir. She was especially disappointed when Cia turned out to be a girl, which explains her favoritism towards Shermei. Anyway, without a boy, Cia’s mother probably wanted to be more competitive and had to push her two girls to perform better, to compensate for the lack of boy in the family.

Shermei is very outgoing, an extrovert obviously, while Cia is a little more introverted. Shermei was probably the favorite among the extended family. For example, the grandfather, an old scholar, might have showered Shermei with attention and sweets and other amenities. Consequently Shermei bonded well with her other relatives and didn’t bond so well with her own family. When Shermei became a teenager, her popularity grew in school, which prompted her to bond more with her friends. Actually, she grew up as a normal girl despite the fact that she had a narcissistic family environment. Some children do turn out to be normal and unscathed despite of their parents’ narcissism.

However Cia was hammered by her family, especially by her mother’s narcissism. Her mother didn’t have much attention for Cia when she was little. When she asked for attention, her mother often told her that she was busy doing something for her sister Shermei, which could be just an excuse. But Cia didn’t have the maturity or sophistication to know whether it was a fact or an excuse. From what Cia told me, this was the case. The mother would often knit a sweater for Shermei for hours. When Cia asked for some attention, she was told to be quiet since her mother was busy.

When Shermei became a teenager and showed her outgoing rebellious traits, her mother was very upset. There might be certain conflicts and episodes, which I could just imagine an outgoing girl would run into with her own family. Cia’s mother realized that Shermei was too independent and too indomitable.

So Cia’s mother started to groom her younger daughter to be more obedient. Cia’s mother was not showering Cia with love. That’s not the case since Cia always complained that her mother loved her sister and ignored her. Obviously Cia’s mother didn’t love Cia, but this was a fact she couldn’t admit to Cia. Instead she tried to tell Cia that her motherly love were all wasted on Shermei who turned out to be heartless; it was Shermei who absorbed the love and squandered it; it was for the purpose of serving Shermei that Cia was ignored and unloved.

Cia listened to all of these complaints and believed in all of them. She tried hard to be a better daughter for her mother, but was disappointed to find that she could never gain her mother’s love. So she tried harder. Being loyal to her mother, she tried to be more filial to her mother and more antagonizing towards her sister Shermei. And whatever her sister did, Cia wanted to do better.

And this brings us to the love affairs of the two sisters.

(To Be Continued Here)