The Melody

"If even your mom doesn't want you anymore..." "Then you'll be an orphan." An orphan... The boy instinctively felt afraid of that word. He didn't want to become an orphan. He wanted to stay with his mom. ... "Then don't lose it." The gray-haired girl only half understood what the boy meant. But that didn't stop her from reaching that conclusion. ... The boy smiled bitterly. "I won't lose the test paper..." "Mom will get angry when she sees my score, too..." ... "Why?" The gray-haired girl tilted her head. "Your mom gets angry so easily." Why did she get angry no matter what he did? ... "She doesn't." The boy didn't like the gray-haired girl talking about his mom that way. "Mom doesn't get angry easily at all." "Mom's really nice..." Back when Dad was still around, as far as he could remember, Mom had hardly ever lost her temper. When he occasionally got into mischief or carelessly did something wrong, Mom would pretend to be angry, tap his forehead, and lecture him with a stern face. But as soon as she saw his eyes redden or watched him obediently admit his mistake, she would break into a smile. He liked the way Mom used to be. He liked her very much. He hoped Mom would go back to being the way she was soon. Because Mom had become so unlike herself, he'd even begun to resent Dad a little. It was all Dad's fault Mom had become like this... Mom hadn't been like this before... He wanted the old Mom back... ... The boy sniffled. "...I didn't do well..." His voice came out a little hoarse. ... "So Mom gets angry because you didn't do well?" The gray-haired girl summed up what the boy had said. ... "Yeah."