Long ago, when the famous story of Mulan was born, there was another story that had not been discovered: that of Moonlight, Mulan’s older sister. Before Mulan was born, her dad went to war. Their dad was captured by the Hun army. At that time, his wife had just had their first baby, Moonlight. She thought her husband would never come back, so she left the crying baby on a table and left without a word.
Moonlight was a very lively kid, and craved attention. Everyone hated her because of that. Nevertheless, she still went out to play. Everyone in the small town hated it. She opened the door so loudly that everyone could hear.
Today the people of the town weren’t able to go to sleep, because there was no ruckus outside. They all thought to themselves, “Why did Moonlight not come out today?” She was in the house making her own cake for her 11th birthday. She lit a tooth pick on fire and made a wish: “I wish I could be normal.” Just then, someone knocked on the door. She opened it. The woman looked just like the blurry memories of her mom. She slammed the door shut right in her face. With a sigh, the woman put the crying baby on the front step.
Years pass, and Mulan is ten, the perfect age for mischief.
“Moonlight!”
“Moonlight!!!”
“Moonlight, your sister was stealing all the wine in the storage!! Help!!”
She elegantly walks into the storage room. She blocks Mulan with her sleeve. Mulan spills the wine on her sleeve and keeps running. Moonlight tries to block her, but elegantly trips over Mulan’s foot. Mulan then happily skips out of the storage room.
—6 years later—
“Hey Mulan, can we adopt a boy? The next time there’s a war it’ll be the age for him to go! Aish, sister, look, isn’t that the king’s army?”
“There’s never going to be a next time.” Mulan stole some money from Moonlight’s sleeve* and ran off into the distance. Mulan was gone before Moonlight could turn around. She used the last of her money to adopt a boy, Yao’er.
—After the war—
She quickly ran to her house to put on makeup, which she hates to do. Meanwhile Yao’er is making delicious food. The whole town can smell the aroma. Mulan let her hair down so that her fellow soldiers could see that she is a girl. Everyone is crowding around Mulan. Moonlight’s joy has disappeared. She was jealous.
“Mulan this Mulan that, why can’t anyone see me?” Yao’er has his food to show off. Me? Ha! I only clean.”
Jealousy bubbled within her as she climbed to the top of a cliff. All her common had jumped off a cliff, so she did too, yelling “HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE, MULAN!”
She realizes her mistake. She thought Mulan only tried to make her life worse, but she sees her younger sister standing at the cliff with a lantern. Her younger sister jumps in and tries to save her older sister. Jealousy once again wraps around her tight, as she hears everyone yell for Mulan, even her Father and her Ex-mom, even Yao’er, who she adopted. She lets go of her younger sister, and accepts that it is her fate to be in the hands of jealousy. It hugs her close, and becomes tighter, and tighter, and tighter, until death carries her across the bridge of rebirth.*
*In ancient China, when people wore han fu, your sleeves were your pockets
*In ancient China, people believe that once you die, you must cross a bridge and drink a special soup to be reincarnated. If you were a bad person in your past life you will become something along the lines of a pig.
Moonlight was a very lively kid, and craved attention. Everyone hated her because of that. Nevertheless, she still went out to play. Everyone in the small town hated it. She opened the door so loudly that everyone could hear.
Today the people of the town weren’t able to go to sleep, because there was no ruckus outside. They all thought to themselves, “Why did Moonlight not come out today?” She was in the house making her own cake for her 11th birthday. She lit a tooth pick on fire and made a wish: “I wish I could be normal.” Just then, someone knocked on the door. She opened it. The woman looked just like the blurry memories of her mom. She slammed the door shut right in her face. With a sigh, the woman put the crying baby on the front step.
Years pass, and Mulan is ten, the perfect age for mischief.
“Moonlight!”
“Moonlight!!!”
“Moonlight, your sister was stealing all the wine in the storage!! Help!!”
She elegantly walks into the storage room. She blocks Mulan with her sleeve. Mulan spills the wine on her sleeve and keeps running. Moonlight tries to block her, but elegantly trips over Mulan’s foot. Mulan then happily skips out of the storage room.
—6 years later—
“Hey Mulan, can we adopt a boy? The next time there’s a war it’ll be the age for him to go! Aish, sister, look, isn’t that the king’s army?”
“There’s never going to be a next time.” Mulan stole some money from Moonlight’s sleeve* and ran off into the distance. Mulan was gone before Moonlight could turn around. She used the last of her money to adopt a boy, Yao’er.
—After the war—
She quickly ran to her house to put on makeup, which she hates to do. Meanwhile Yao’er is making delicious food. The whole town can smell the aroma. Mulan let her hair down so that her fellow soldiers could see that she is a girl. Everyone is crowding around Mulan. Moonlight’s joy has disappeared. She was jealous.
“Mulan this Mulan that, why can’t anyone see me?” Yao’er has his food to show off. Me? Ha! I only clean.”
Jealousy bubbled within her as she climbed to the top of a cliff. All her common had jumped off a cliff, so she did too, yelling “HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE, MULAN!”
She realizes her mistake. She thought Mulan only tried to make her life worse, but she sees her younger sister standing at the cliff with a lantern. Her younger sister jumps in and tries to save her older sister. Jealousy once again wraps around her tight, as she hears everyone yell for Mulan, even her Father and her Ex-mom, even Yao’er, who she adopted. She lets go of her younger sister, and accepts that it is her fate to be in the hands of jealousy. It hugs her close, and becomes tighter, and tighter, and tighter, until death carries her across the bridge of rebirth.*
*In ancient China, when people wore han fu, your sleeves were your pockets
*In ancient China, people believe that once you die, you must cross a bridge and drink a special soup to be reincarnated. If you were a bad person in your past life you will become something along the lines of a pig.
