You know, Ting-Ting was always the funny one.
No, really, she was fawned over all the time. People 'oohed' and 'aahed' over her precociousness. She was brilliant--she could come up with silly jokes and tricks off the top of her head. Making people laugh came naturally to her. That's how it always was--I was the baby, Mei was the romantic, and Ting-Ting was the comedienne.
Not that I minded. She was good at it.
Like I remember one time when we were younger, playing around in the dining hall like we weren't supposed to, and out of the blue Ting-Ting twitched her nose.
I couldn't resist. "Wow! How'd you do that?"
"What, this?" she said, doing it again.
Mei and I both giggled. What a silly thing for a princess to do!
"Can you do any other tricks?" Mei piped up.
Ting-Ting faltered. "Well, I..." Suddenly, she got this spark and we knew some stroke of random genius was coming. "I wonder if I could move things with it..." And before either of us could get a word in edgewise, our eldest sister had shoved a pair of chopsticks up her nose--and sure enough, they moved when she twitched.
As it happened, a nursemaid yelled at us for rolling around on the floor in our good clothes. I would have told her all our clothes were good, but I was too busy laughing. But Ting-Ting didn't get in trouble for having chopsticks up her nose. She just got some giggles and a friendly suggestion not to use a nice pair next time.
Ting-Ting had that effect on people.
Humour became her crutch, I think. It was her ticket out anytime she had a stressful--or social--situation to face. Being a princess, there was lots of both, of course. It sort of comes with the territory. It didn't matter to her, though. She thrived on it. She would just dazzle everyone by pulling the proverbial coloured scarves from her sleeve.
But as we all got older, it really wasn't acceptable anymore, though nobody would tell her that to her face. You see, she had been referred to playfully as 'sow-girl,' for her brashness and her distinctive snorting laugh. Since I was the idolising little sister, I earned the title of 'piglet.' Now, 'piglet' was cute when it started, and it stayed cute. It was probably going to be cute as long as I was.
'Sow-girl,' on the other hand, had started to change tone.
People talked about her. She was the eldest, and she was to set an example, for us and for all the girls in the kingdom. 'Childish antics' and 'meaningless comedy' would not get her a suitor, was not a good influence on us, and was just not ladylike besides. She needed to grow up and act like the young lady she was, and humour just didn't fit into that anymore.
They would say that a sow for a princess brought shame and dishonour upon the Imperial Family, and upon the entire kingdom.
She was never quite the same once she found out.
Like a porcelain doll, her face and disposition became cold and hard and perfect. Not only did she stop telling jokes and pulling silly stunts and sticking chopsticks up her nose, but she stopped laughing at all. Nobody could mock her sow-laugh if they never heard it. One was lucky to get a smile out of her.
The spark was gone.
She handled responsibility very well, and became the perfect role-model sister. One could easily envision her as Empress someday. She guided us and kept us safe and comforted us. But staid and sober didn't suit Ting-Ting, and it didn't sit well with us either. Mei insisted that she wanted a sister, not a mother. She constantly asked, "Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?"
I understand what she means. I understand what both of them mean to do. And I don't want dishonour upon the family. But I do want my big sister to be happy. She has become hollow, like an eggshell after the sparrow's hatched. I miss her spark.
But I have hope that it can be rekindled. Among the guards, there is one--his name escapes me, but he is tall and built like a beanpole. He's always smiling. He is brilliant--he can come up with silly jokes and tricks off the top of his head. Making people laugh comes naturally to him.
He's the funny one.
He has that effect on people.
He's got the spark.
And I think he can bring my sister back.