Page 18 (2/2)

"Nai Nai--"

"Ah Yi is very clever now, har?" said Nai Nai "The des but when they saw her they i She didn’t say anything, but perhaps the dead understood these things Or perhaps it was just that Nai Nai, with 65 years ofbehind her, did not need to be told She reached out and patted Vivian’s hand

"You are always so guai," said Nai Nai "I’m not so worried about you"

This was a new idea to Vivian She was unused to thinking of herself--ood kid in the family

"But I went overseas," she said stupidly

"You’re always so clever to work hard You don’t make your mother and father worried," said Nai Nai "Ah Yi ah" Nai Nai shook her head "So stubborn! So naughty! If I don’t take care sekali she burn down the house That girl doesn’t use her head But she becouai already When she’s older she won’t be so free, won’t have time to cause so e did not seem to have stopped Nai Nai This would have been disrespectful Instead she said, "Nai Nai, were you really a va shi?"

"Hai, you think so fun to pretend to be a kuang shi?" said Nai Nai indignantly "When you are old, you will find out how suffering it is You think I have ti movies and learn how to be a vampire?"

So that was how she did it The pale vampirish skin had probably been beduk sejuk as well How Nai Nai obtained beduk sejuk in the afterlife was a question better left unasked Vivian had questions of more immediate interest

"If you stayed because you’re worried about Wei Yi, can I return the cheongsam to the shop?"

Nai Nai bridled "Oh, like that ah? Not proud of your culture, is it? If you want to wear the white dress, like a ghost, so ugly--"

"Ma wore a white dress on her wedding day Everyone does it"

"Nai Nai give you my beduk sejuk and red lipstick lah Then you can pretend to be kuang shi also!"

"I’ll get another cheongsasam I just don’t like this one so much It’s too expensive"

"How much?"

Vivian told her

"Wah, so et it tailored Don’t need to buy from shop Tailored is cheaper and nicer some more The seamstress’s phone number is in Nai Nai’s old phonebook Madaot up, stretching "Must go now Scared the de You must look after your sister, OK?"

Vivian, doubtful about how any attempt to look after Wei Yi was likely to be received, said, "Ah"

"Nai Nai already gave Ah Yi her legacy, but I’ll give you yours now," said Nai Nai "You’re a good girl, Ah Lin Nai Nai didn’t have chance to talk to you so much when you were small But I’e If you tell Madaive you discount"

"Thank you, Nai Nai," said Vivian, but she spoke to an empty room The curtains flapped in Nai Nai’s wake

On the floor lay a pile of clothes Moonlight-sheer chiffon, brown batik, lowing turquoise even in the pale light of the led, intricately embroidered Punjabi suit Vivian had ever seen

The Faery Handbag

Kelly Link

I used to go to thrift stores with o to The Gar warehouse Everything is arranged by color, and somehow that makes all of the clothes beautiful It’s kind of like if you went through the wardrobe in the Narnia books, only instead of finding Aslan and the White Witch and horrible Eustace, you found thisani shoes, and paisley shirts and Doc Martens and everything hung up on racks so that first you have black dresses, all together, like the world’s largest indoor funeral, and then blue dresses--all the blues you can iey reds and purple-reds and exit-light reds and candy reds Sometimes I would closeainst my hand "Guess what color this is"