Uneasy

Chen Xiuying bit her cuticles as her mother put the finishing stitches on the hem of her red dress. It has been passed throughout the Chen family, and it was her turn to adorn the dress and walk down the aisle. Her grandmother walked past and smacked her fingers from her mouth. The old woman got a comb and brushed strands of hair from her granddaughter's face.

"There is no reason to be nervous. The family is very respectable and you will be just fine."

"The dress's luck will help you," her mother, Hua, chimed in. "As soon as I finish this stubborn stitch, you will be ready and feel better."

"No stitch takes that long," the older woman protested. "Move. I'll be able to stitch the hem."

Though she was clearly annoyed, Xiuying's mother obliged and her mother-in-law bent down to take a look. But, when her hand accidentally grazed her granddaughter's feet, she froze. she looked up at Xiuying and made a face.

"Where did you sleep last night," the woman demanded.

"She was at home with me," Chen Hua said defensively.

"Where did she sleep?"

"She slept in her room. What's the matter?"

"Her feet. They are cold."

Chen Hua paled. She turned to her daughter in awe. "You did not cover your feet last night?"

"It was warm, Mama. I couldn't sleep with it on."

"Btu the pores in your feet should have opened years ago. The healer said everything worked."

Chen Hua sat on the sofa with her head in her hands. Her mother-in-law comforted her, while her daughter stood nonplussed at the mirror.

"What does this mean?"

Her grandmother pulled a small green packet from her bosom and went to the teapot that sat forgotten on a side table. She poured the water out and put the leaves in. Quickly stirring it with her fingers, she pressed the cup into her granddaughter's hands.

"Drink this. Quickly."

"What is it?"

Her grandmother's stern face and deep worry lines silenced Chen Xiuying. She drank quickly. Her grandmother flung herself to the floor and pressed a wrinkled hand on her granddaughter's feet. The woman made a disappointed tsking sound with her tongue. Her daughter-in-law looked on with unease.

"Are we too late?"

"It's hard to say. They are lukewarm, but not room temperature. Luckily, they weren't discolored. The stitch is taking now though, so we must have a chance."

The old woman took the jade necklace from around her neck and placed it on the neck of her granddaughter, who was now shaking from fear instead of unease. She kissed her head and put the last hair in place.

"We have done all we could. The rest will be up to the ancestors."