Rebbi sat at her desk, coloring in the illustration for her latest comic book. She had been making these since she was 5, and every year at Christmas she'd show them to her extended family and they'd praise her work, or if she was lucky they'd pay her to make copies and take one home with them. It was the reason she kept drawing them even though she was 9 now--she loved watching their faces light up when they read her work. She was experimenting with manga, adding more complex faces and bodies than she usually did, to improve over her cartoony style. She made 2 copies of her latest book and put it in a ziploc bag for safe keeping, while she took the copies and went upstairs, where her aunt and uncles and cousins and grandparents were all waiting for her. "There you are! Don't you know we've been waiting for you?!" her mother scolded, glancing at her grandparents.375Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdN7oUoeEVb
Rebbi didn't care, holding out her comic book. "Sorry, I was busy finishing my comic book. I wanted to finish it for you all."
One of her cousins sneered. "Are you still doing those?"
Rebbi blinked twice. "Well...yeah. I love doing it, and I thought you all would like to see it?"
Everyone went back to their conversations. Rebbi deflated a bit, but saw one of her aunts beckoning her closer. "Tell me what you have here, Rebbi," she said, taking a copy of the comic book.
"It's about a time-travelling student, who goes back in time to learn about history for her exams, but in the process she changes history! I've been experimenting with manga for a little while now, and I finally got it good enough to use in a full comic book!"
"Oh," her aunt said, looking everything over. "Oh."
Rebbi looked at her aunt expectantly. "Do you...like it?" she asked hopefully.
Her aunt frowned. "It sounds like you just took the plot of some cartoon you watch."
Rebbi frowned. "What do you mean? I got the idea from one of my classes, when this boy said he'd love to be able to go back in time so history wouldnf't be history anymore!"
"But still...it's a fluff piece! Those never do anything for you!"
Rebbi took her comic book back and gave it a hard look. "I thought it was good...thanks though..." she walked away.
Her uncle picked her up and tickled her, grabbing her comic book. "Your drawing hasn't improved much from last year," he noted.
Rebbi winced at that, coming from her uncle, that stung, a lot. "Well, I'm trying a new style...expanding my horizons!" she justified.
"I was just expecting something better, is all," her uncle said, putting her down and handing the comic back.
She went over to her grandma, tears pricking her eyes. "Grand-ma..." she said hesitantly. "What do you think...of my comic book?"
Her grandma took it and read it from beginning to end, smiling at her. Rebbi tearfully smiled back, and her grandma tore the comic in two. "I thought you would have grown out of this phase already."
Her cousins laughed at her. Rebbi frantically picked up the pieces of her comic, and ran to her room. She sat next to the bed, taking a roll of tape and trying to fix what had been torn in two. But tape couldn't repair her heart, or her dreams.
No one knew, but she was going to submit this to a scholarship contest. She still would, that's what the second copy was for...but she wondered if she should, considering her family's reaction. Did they really think of her like that? Was she really that bad?
Could she continue what she loved after this mortal blow to her self-esteem?
ns 15.158.61.48da2
