The Art Of Sword

Grace throws the head of the windbreaker onto its body and taunts Sunz.

“Ready to go home empty-handed!”

Sunz saw his windbreaker being decapitated and thrown onto the floor like a piece of rag. Suddenly trigger all of his memories attached to it.

FlashBack

Mom: Ok Sunz! High school is about to start in a month so we need to get you some new clothes.

Sunz: But I thought my old clothes were still wearable?

Mom: Sunz! Let this mother do her job, Please. It’s been four years since I last bought you anything to wear.

Sunz: Mom, don’t you think you are exaggerating the situation a bit. You still bought me clothes from time to time.

Mom: I know… I just want you to have something nice to wear when hanging out with friends or trying to impress girls.

“Are kids your age still interested in real people?”

Sunz: I think most are still in the “Look” phase and some are in the “Personality” phase.

Mom: And you're still in the middle of it, aren’t you? Fantasizing about your preferences “Look” and “Personality”.

Sunz franticly answers:… I still have a few more years to answer that!

Mom laugh “Ok ok, calm down!” and said, “ Oh looks we are here.”

Sunz and his Mom stop at a clothing store name ‘Black and Blue’ and both walk inside it.

Just like the name, the store only has clothes, accessories, shoes, and hats in the colors of black or blue. With a variety of lighter and darker of that colors.

Sunz: This doesn’t feel like the places you usually buy clothes for me, Mom.

Mom: Of course! I now know what color you prefer to wear so it is best to choose what fits.

Then a woman who is the owner of the store walks up to Sunz and his Mom and asks “Hello! Welcome to my store. It looks like this is you two first time here. Do you need any help?”

Mom: Oh, thank you very much! Yes, this is our first time here and I want to pick out some new clothes for my boy.

The owner looks at Sunz for a sec and pulls out a note, a pen, and starts scribbling on it.

Then she said, “You can have a look around the store while I talk with your mother a bit.”

Mom pat on Sunz’s back and said “Just go look and see what catches your eye and I’ll buy it for you if the price is reasonable.”

Sunz nod and slowly walk toward the section where they have a huge variety of jacket.

Walking through the hallways of jackets, Sunz was amazed by the sheer amount of different types of jackets. And they all being organized in order from small to large, light to dark color.

Then he stumbles upon a section called ‘Windbreaker’. After living for 15 years Sunz only knows two types of jackets “The detective Trench Coat”, and “The Russian Big Coat”.

Sunz takes a look at all of the ‘Windbreaker’, most of them didn’t interest him at all until one catches his eye.

Sunz: Hmm…I don’t know why I choose you over the other. (Even though you all look identical!)

Then he makes an amazing discovery. The ‘Windbreaker’ has 4 pockets, 2 zipper pockets outside, and 2 normal pockets inside it.

Sunz thinks to himself (You’re perfect). Then run back to his Mom and the Owner. (Both still talking about what to choose for Sunz)

Mom: Do you think I’m a bad mother?

Owner: Why would you say that? I see that you raised a well-behaved son.

Mom: It’s just my son, he is indecisive and doesn’t understand himself. Most of his important life decisions are chosen by his Mother and Father. Am I setting him up for failure?

Owner: Are these negative thoughts of yours caused by seeing how other people's kids act?

Mom: Kinda, I guess!

Owner: If that is then you don’t need to focus on any of that. Every kid develops at all kinds of ages. Your kid might be slow to understand himself, but he is mature in other aspects.

Mom: I guess I worry too much about him. How did you know so much about kids?

Owner: Well, like you I was also in the same situation with my Daughter, but instead of not understanding herself. She knows what she wants and always aiming for it.

“My Daughter developed an interest in fashion at an early age because my Husband is a fashion designer so she looks up to him a lot. So instead of buying new clothes, we would buy material for her and she would make her own clothes.”

“But soon enough she started to neglect her health to pursue her own passion. And as her Mother, I need to put a stop to it. But the more I tried to help the more broken my relationship with my Daughter become.”

Owner: Then one day she just unleashed her anger on me, with tears flowing down saying that “You are the WORST MOTHER!”, “Why can’t you be like Dad and support me!”.

“That moment my Husband heard everything. He tells our daughter to go back to her room and lock the door to her room. He then pulls me aside and asks if I’m doing ok. I couldn’t even process what I just heard, and all I did was crying on his shoulder until I fainted.”

“ Hours gone by and I wake up on my bed, unable to move or said anything… Laying there I feel useless because I fail to be a good mother and a few words from my daughter cause me to become that weak.”

“Then I heard my Husband talking to our Daughter.”

Husband: Today I’m very disappointed about you, from the way you act to the word you said about Mom.

Daughter:…

Husband: First I want to know why. Why are you so obsessed with fashion?

Daughter:… It’s because of you, Dad! The clothes you made look beautiful and they bring people happiness. So I want to do the same.

Husband: “Bring people happiness” you said, then why are you trying to push away the person who loves you most, your Mother?

Daughter: But Mom was trying to pull me away from my passion!

Husband: I want you to compare my hands and yours. Do you see anything different between them?

Daughter: Uhmm… my hands have bandages and your hands have lots of scars and you only have 9 fingers.

Husband: That's right! And do you remember who was the person that bandaged you?

Daughter: It was Mother, wasn’t it?

Husband: It was! Different from you, my passion for fashion come in when I was older and had no one beside me. Which caused me to have all these scars and lost a finger. But all of it was worth it because I now have this happy family.

“You on the other hand have us to guide you on the correct path. We all want you to succeed with your passion but we don’t want you to risk your health to achieve it. Do you understand?”

Daughter: Yes, Dad! I understand. Can I go apologize to Mom?

Husband: Of course! Your mother will be very happy when she knows you learn your mistake.

Owner “After hearing their conversation my body suddenly move on its own. I walk up to the door, open it but that day wasn’t my day. I quickly lost consciousness after opening the door and fall to the floor.”

“Everything was blurry, and in my last moment I can hear my Husband and my Daughter calling me.”

“But luckily I didn’t go to heaven, instead I woke up in the hospital. When I woke up I saw my Daughter sleeping on the chair. And my Husband was wearing a bracelet to keep a check on his blood pressure because he was worrying so much about me.”

“Then we all reconcile. My daughter promises to be more well behaved and my Husband keeps telling me that he will do a better job in raising our Daughter in the future.”

“I then tell each of them that (to the Daughter: You have learned your lesson so stop crying), (to the Husband: Honey stop sorrying! It's not really your fault. But you should really stop, your blood pressure is rising.)”

“Then we just wait until I got discharged from the hospital”

Mom: I guess everyone has their own problem when it comes to raising kid.

Owner: And you can tell me your stories some other time. For now, let’s find your Son and pick clothes for him.

Both hear running in the distance.

Owner: Speak of the devil!

Sunz: Mom I want to buy this “Windbreaker”!

Mom: Don’t you think, it is a bit big for you? Why don’t we try a size smaller?

Sunz: I already did but none feel good like this one.

Owner whispers to Mom: Is your son’s skin sensitive?

Mom whispers back: It’s is, more sensitive than normal people.

Owner said to Sunz: Your Mother agree to let you buy that “Windbreaker”.

Sunz: Nice!

Mom whisper back to the Owner: Why would you do that?

Owner: Trust me! Customers like him had a hard time choosing clothes to fit their skin. But they know what clothes they want once they touch them. So it is best to let him buy it.

Mom: Well since you’re the expert here, I’ll truth you. I shouldn’t worry too much since he still growing after all.

Owner: Well then, shall we go pick more clothes for him?

Mom: I’ll leave it in your hand!