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Little Mimi and Her Big Belly
Awkward as it seemed, a little girl walking clumsily toward her bedroom, hiding from the incoming guests that roamed the living room. The intention was not to go to bed in her bedroom, although the room meant a place to bed. But, as the living room didn’t mean the place to live, the bedroom could also be used for non-bed related purpose.
This particular little girl was special. Mimi was her name. Special as it sounded, could mean good or bad. It might have a meaning that this little girl was unusual, or in a more elaborately clear word, weird. The other probable case of being special was that this little girl had in her the unique aspect that others did not possess. We certainly did not like the first meaning as it didn’t sound like a nice definition for a little girl like Mimi. The second definition was better. We certainly didn’t want bad thing happened to Mimi.
Now, let us add the word ‘Little’ to Mimi as she was in fact a little girl. Why did we need to add the word ‘Little’ you ask? Well, to make the story perhapsly more interesting. She was only 5 at the time this story was written, so she must be little. Or perhaps, she was as big as you are. But, she was a little one for me, as probably you were. A cute little one.
Returning to our main story, Little Mimi walked clumsily toward her bedroom. Her beautiful little bedroom was decorated with all pink-colored stuffs. The wall was pink. The bed was pink. The cupboard was pink. Even the knob of her bedroom’s door was pink. The pinkiest of the pink.
Inside her bedroom, she placed herself in front of a mirror where she could see herself from the top of her head plus two inches to the tip of her toe plus some image of the floor. Yes was the answer – as you might be wondered – the frame of the mirror was also pink. The mirror itself was of course not pink. If it was painted pink, there would be no reflection shown, and it would lose its purpose as a mirror. But, the pinkish of Little Mimi’s bedroom could be seen inside the mirror. It was like the world inside the mirror agreed with Little Mimi that pink was a nice color.
Little Mimi was looking at herself in the mirror. She was looking at a particular spot. A particular spot that made her hide herself from the guests. Not only these particular guests, but also all other guests. In fact, from as much as people as she could hide herself from. But, of course, she couldn’t hide from them all, et gratia, her parents or her older sister.
She was looking at her own belly. Actually, there was nothing wrong with her belly. It might look a little bit bigger than probably any other kids, but it was okay.
She didn’t quite remember when she became so embarrassed with her own belly, her own big belly she said. Maybe, it was when she was in a small play group on one of her neighbour’s birthday. There was a clown there, with its mandatory red tomato nose and a blond afro hair. She was asked to come forward for a game. The clown cherishly looked at Little Mimi and it seemed to be attracted to the protruding little thing showing up on Little Mimi’s body. The interested clown touched gently the protuberance and giggled. It touched it again and giggled again. Little Mimi’s friend, who had her birthday, followed the clown’s act and touch Little Mimi’s belly. She giggled and touched it again, and giggled again.
Little Mimi was so upset after that birthday party, telling the story that she called an incident with loud voices and her limited vocabularies to her parents and older sister. They were amazed at how Little Mimi knew how to use the word ‘incident’. She was quite smart for her age. Her parents and her older sister did the same thing as what the red-nosed clown and her birthday friend did at the party, they touched Little Mimi’s belly gently. And they giggled. Oh, how frustating it was for Little Mimi. She felt embarassed and ashamed of her belly. People giggled after touching it.
“Yes,” she said to herself. It was that moment that made her realized her big belly and how shameful it was to the point of people giggled when touching it. “Oh, how miserable I am”,” she said to herself again. “Oh, how misfortunate I am,” she said again. “Oh, how mis-,”, and before she finished her other mis-word she heard a loud crying coming from the outside of her bedroom. She stopped and listened, and there was the cry again.
“Ow, there is a baby crying outside. I think it is coming from the living room”
Attracted by the sound, she forgot about her miserableness and misfortune and had a peek at the living room. There was her mom, another woman, and a little baby crying. Her mom and the other woman was shoo-shoo-ing the baby. Little Mimi knew that they were trying to calm the baby, since her mom and the other woman also produced the other weird supposed to be funny sounds, like wa-wa, and kuci-kuci. They also made weird supposed to be funny expressions. But, it seemed that the baby preferred to cry than to pay attention to the sounds and expressions.
“Maybe, the baby cries so loud that it cannot hear the funny sounds. And maybe, the baby closes its eyes when crying that it cannot see the funny expressions”, said Little Mimi to herself. “But, the baby can still feel with its little hands”. It seemed to her that she had outsmarted her mom and the other woman. She felt proud. Suddenly, she looked at her belly and remembered. “Will the baby giggle when it touches my belly?”
Little Mimi thought for a while and decided to step forward. She tip-toed to the direction of the baby that was on the other woman’s hand. The two women sitting on the couch looked at the tip-toeing Little Mimi confused. A small little girl with a pink skirt and a cute funny t-shirt with a picture of bear on it was tip-toeing toward their direction. Her long black beautiful hair seemed to be undisturbed by the tip-toeing act. They were silent with a jaw-dropping expression.
Close to the baby who was smaller than she was, Little Mimi gently took the left hand of the baby and put it on her belly. Not for long, the fingers of the baby seemed to try to grasp Little Mimi’s belly. The baby stopped crying and started to show a crescent shaped on its face and giggled. A giggling sound of a little baby that melted the heart of anyone who heard it. The little baby giggled joyousfully. Little Mimi had succeeded in making the baby’s crying stopped. Her mom and the other woman, who was now clear to Little Mimi to be the baby’s mom were smiling with the baby and Little Mimi. It seemed that the happiness had descended upon them with a great delight.
Later that night, Little Mimi was reminiscing about the event. She was smiling on her bed, on her pink bed, the pinkiest of the pink. She was happy. She now realized that she needed not be embarrassed by her belly. The clown was giggling because it was happy, and so did her birthday friend, her parents, and her older sister. It was not because her belly was embarrassing but rather contrary, it was extraordinary. “It was a belly of happiness,” she said. “It brings joy to people”. She was smiling as she closed her eyes, warming under her pink blanket, and traveled to the marvelous world of a pink and happy dream.