"Mom, I hate my little brother."
"Why...? Was I not good?"
"Why do Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Grandpa on Mom's side, and Grandma on Mom's side always make me take care of my little brother?"
"They say I'm his big sister..."
"But my little brother already has so many people taking care of him."
"It should be fine if I don't take care of him, right?"
"But I promised Mom I would take care of my little brother."
"...I don't want to take care of my little brother..."
The girl was caught in a terrible dilemma.
She reached up and forcefully wiped the tears from her face.
They had been scalding hot when they welled up from the corners of her eyes, nearly making her feel as though she had been burned, but now they were icy cold.
"Mom, after you left, nobody wanted me anymore."
"Mom..."
Unlike her earlier wailing, the girl now cried in a repressed yet stubborn manner.
She struggled to open her eyes wide, even as tears blurred her vision.
Everything before her was hazy.
She still stared at the woman's photograph on the gravestone with almost stubborn persistence.
"Mom, now that you know I don't want to take care of my little brother, will you stop liking me too?"
"At home, when my little brother cried, I pretended not to hear him."
"But he was too noisy."
"Are all little babies this noisy?"
"Was I this noisy too?"
"Then Grandma came."
"Grandpa came too."
"Everyone came."
"It's so unfair."
The girl's tears never stopped. "I stood there, but nobody looked at me."
"When I lost my temper, they said I didn't act like a big sister."
"They said I was immature and spoiled..."
"I was very angry."
"And very sad."
"Mom said I was