My Mother Devours My Brother

By Huina Zheng

 

​       When my father stays out all night, my mother holds my brother and kisses his
forehead. Her teeth sink deep into his skin. Day after day, the dent on his forehead
grows larger.

​

       She has been devouring my brother. Bit by bit. Her kisses fall on his cheeks,
shoulders, arms, hands, stomach, thighs, and legs.

       When my father and mother argue in the living room, the sound of a teacup
crashing to the floor, followed by her crying and pleas for mercy, echoes through the
house. My brother wails, and I clutch him, covering his ears, trembling in the room.
After my father storms into their bedroom and slams the door shut, my mother
stumbles into the room. Her face swollen and red, her eyes bloodshot, her hair a
tangled mess. She engulfs my brother, burying her face in his shoulder. Her sharp
teeth gnaw at his shoulder, tearing through both flesh and bone.

      Outside, on the small path before our house, we play hopscotch with the other
children. Everyone stares at my brother’s shadow, missing half his head, half his body,
one hand, and one leg. They ask me, “Where’s the rest of his shadow?” I turn to look
at our mother, standing by the window, smiling at us with her fangs bared.

 

 

 

 

​​​Huina Zheng, a Distinction M.A. in English Studies holder, works as a college essay coach. Her stories have been published in Baltimore Review, Variant Literature, Midway Journal, and others. Her work has received nominations three times for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She resides in Guangzhou, China with her family.