My Sleeping Beauty

My daughter is very sleepy. When she was in junior high and high school, I had to wake her up many times every morning. Sometimes she missed the bus or stayed home, which was hard for me. I worried it might be because of lack of sleep, her phone, or a health problem, but there was no clear answer. I tried to stay calm, avoid harsh words, and support her step by step toward her goals.

I often thought of the story of Sleeping Beauty. I feel more like the parent who waits while the princess keeps sleeping than the prince who wakes her. At home, I sometimes felt it was unfair when I did all the chores while watching her cute sleeping face.

My parents live nearby, and my daughter loves visiting them. My mother treats her with home-cooked meals, but my daughter often falls asleep on the sofa without helping. Even so, my daughter is kind and helpful. On her way to high school, she often helped lost elderly people, as if they were drawn to her.

Eventually, my daughter chose a school and started living on her own. I felt relieved knowing she would learn from her own mistakes.

One day, my 90-year-old mother bought a huge 60-centimeter winter melon at the farmers’ market. I decided to cut it into three pieces to share with my mother, my sister, and myself. I asked my daughter, who was visiting during summer vacation, to deliver it to my mother and sister. She happily agreed.

In the evening, I cooked the winter melon. It was big, heavy, and hard to handle. I peeled it, removed the soft pulp, and cooked half with soy sauce and meat, and the other half with sugar and lemon. When I called my daughter to eat, she was already asleep. I saw two pieces of winter melon lying near her bed. She had hidden them, thinking I would be angry. I couldn’t help laughing.

I no longer get angry like I did in high school. If she oversleeps or forgets things at university, that is her own responsibility. I have already moved past that stage. In her bed, I simply feel a deep love for my daughter. Life is long. My 90-year-old mother is still full of energy and curiosity. There is no need to rush through life, but the time that is pure and fresh, like a winter melon, does not last long. Eventually, it will fade and become hard.

My daughter is like a fresh winter melon. But are you really okay, sleeping so much? My kind, good-natured daughter, are you really all right? I want to turn this strange feeling into a story someday, just like in Sleeping Beauty—the feelings of a parent who finds their sleeping daughter both precious and mysterious.

A story with a daughter with an adorable sleeping face, a grandmother who is good at cooking vegetables, and two pieces of winter melon in bed. Soon, my daughter hurried off to deliver the winter melon to Grandma and her aunt. I can picture my mother’s happy face. Or maybe my daughter will meet someone lost on the way and help them, so it will take her a while to arrive.

The End.

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