Maybe my best anime description is...*nothing* like *any* anime 
character.  Thank god.  And who I want to be?  Just like I am now, except 
with more money and a college diploma behind me ^_^

Anyway, here's this, for those who appreciate a little Melodrama.


Mother
by: Jeff Rutsch

"BWWWWWWWOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"
The sound permeated through the walls of the temple and to the street,
bathing pedestrians in a distinctly ominous tone.
"What was that?" asked Akane.
"I don't..."
"BWWWWWWWOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"
"Maybe it's a gong or something?" inquired Ranma.  "Whatever it is, it
sure is loud..."
"I don't know what it is, I just wish it would stop!"
"Relax, Akane.  It's probably just some old kook trying to drive away
evil spirits or somethin'."
"That's stupid, Ranma!  Nobody really believes in that anymore.  And
it's Mother's Day, not New Year's."
"BWWWWWWWOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"

**

"...and so this is kinda my first mother's day," explained Ranma.
"That's nice." Akane stared at the ground a few feet in front of her.
"Akane?"
"Yeah?"
"Is...something wrong?"
"No."
"Oh."
"I was just thinking of something my mother once said."
"What?"
"'The reason the world is round,' my mother said, 'is so we can't see
too far ahead of ourselves.'" Akane smiled and looked up at Ranma.
Ranma smirked.
"Your mom sounds like Forrest Gump."
Akane glared at Ranma, but didn't respond.  They walked in silence for
a few minutes.
"I'm...I'm sorry, Akane.  I shouldn't have said that." Akane kept
looking forward, obviously peeved.
"Even for you...while we're going to visit her grave!"
"I know...I wasn't thinking.  I was just trying to make a joke."
"Now's not the time for joking, Ranma."
"Yeah..."  There was another pause in their conversation.
"So," continued Ranma, "how did your mother die, anyway?" Akane didn't
answer.  After a while, Ranma continued.
"I mean, if you don't mind my asking.  I keep on hearing about it, but
nobody's ever actually said.  If you don't mind..."
"No, I don't mind."
"Then...what is it?  You seem..." Ranma stopped.
"It's just...it's not something I like to talk about."
"Well, it's funny that you never talk about it.  I mean..."
"We all know what happened, and so we don't like to talk about
it..."
"It's understandable.  I just mean...well...I've lived at your house
for a while..."
"Yes.  Well...we don't need to talk about it, so why?"
"I don't know..."
"I've gotten over it by now.  It was a long time ago, you know."
"Then why don't you?  Ever?  It's weird that this is the first time
it's come up..."
"Well...you know.  Dad still hasn't gotten over it.  I doubt he ever
will.  I don't...I don't think he's even talked to a woman since
then."
"I don't know.  Maybe he enjoys his life too much as it is to get
married..."
"No.  I mean, you can see how much it pains him!  I can't bring it up
around the house!"
"I guess..." answered Ranma, uncomfortably.  "So..."
"So what?!"
"What happened?"
"Oh.  Yeah.  Well, when I was...I guess, six years old, mom went to
the doctor.  It was no big deal...just a normal checkup."
"Like a physical?"
"Yeah.  Like any old hospital checkup.  This was with the doctor
before Dr.  Tofu..." Akane paused, and looked down.
"He was...well, he was a really nice old doctor.  He had a beard, and
he was a little overweight.  He kept the pictures kids gave him on the
wall of his entrance room.  One of my proudest moments in second grade
was when he put up the picture I gave him, with me and my friend
sliding down a rainbow, in a prominent position in the room.  To the
left of the window where you rang the bell to get helped.  Of course
it was just luck, but I was convinced it was because I had the best
picture."
"Not likely..." quipped Ranma, quickly flinching.  Akane apparently
didn't catch the comment, or else she ignored it altogether.
"Well, anyway, mom went to the doctor, and they did all the normal
tests.  You know..."
"Yeah..." answered Ranma, blushing.  "I was put through a physical
once...as a girl..."
"The doctor thought he found something wrong with mom, so he had to
send some tests to the bigger hospitals...I was pretty young, so I
didn't understand everything that happened, really.  I just
remember...mom and dad didn't say anything was wrong, but they didn't
need to."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh...you know.  There was like...the whole aura.  Like when you've
done something wrong, but your father doesn't want to say anything
about it.  But he'll let you know...he'll send you the vibes."
"Usually he just yells at me..."
"What about the time we refused to go on the date?  They didn't say
anything during dinner, but don't tell me you didn't feel anything,
didn't know that they were mad."
"Oh.  Yeah..."
"That's what it was like.  And after a week or two of this, we finally
get back the letter from the hospital.  I remember that I got it, and
as soon as I got it I ran to give it to daddy...I smiled, but daddy
didn't say 'thanks', so I was upset." Akane frowned, remembering
forgotten sorrows.
"And then the dinner...god, the dinner!"  Akane paused and looked at
the ground.  "Sorry...painful memory.  Mommy didn't say anything, but
just looked at us.  It was so uncomfortable.  And daddy wasn't even
there."  Akane came to a stop and stared intently at the ground.  It
took a while for Ranma to interrupt her.
"Where was he?" asked Ranma curiously.
"I don't know.  I asked mommy where dad was, but she didn't answer.  I
asked her if he was taking a bath...I don't know why a bath...and
mommy cried.  I just looked at her.  I didn't even ask her why she was
crying, although I thought it had something to do with the letter.
Mommy kept on crying, and eventually left the table..."
"Oh," said Ranma, filling in the void.
"I guess dad went down to the bar.  I don't know.  Every once in a
while I think back, and that's what I envisage.  Because I saw him the
next day, and he smelled like when he drinks sake."
"It was a week later until they finally told me.  The letter I had
given daddy confirmed the worst: that mommy had breast cancer, and
that it had spread too far, and that she was gonna die." Akane stopped
trying to hold back her tears and burst out crying.  Ranma put his
hand on her arm to comfort her.  In response, she hugged him.  He
uncomfortably returned the embrace.
"You don't have to go on if you don't want to..." he said.
"So I remember tucking myself in to bed that night.  And then life was
supposed to get back to normal!  Like nothing had happened!"  Akane
started to yell.  "Nobody even told me for a week!  It took her a week
to say anything!  I went a week knowing something was wrong, but not
knowing what! " Ranma noticed Akane's hands were clenched into fists.
"She only had a few months to live!!!  She didn't know exactly...so
she goes around like some goddamn guru telling me everything she
thought I'd ever want to know..."  Akane was starting to shriek semi-
hysterically, and started hitting Ranma repeatedly even as she hugged
him.  Ranma took the blows.
"Oh god...I was just a kid...she tried to tell me everything she
could.  I didn't understand.  I couldn't have understood.  I didn't
even try to...oh god..." Akane started crying harder.
"You were...just a kid," answered Ranma.
"A stupid, stupid kid!"
"You weren't stupid, Akane.  That's just...I could never have handled
that as a kid.  Nobody could've."  Akane didn't respond, and Ranma
didn't know what to say.  It took a long time before either spoke
again.
"I'm sorry you had to see this."
"What?"
"You know, Ranma.  Crying."
"There's nothing to apologize about.  Really."
"This is the first time I've talked about it.  To anyone," she
eventually got out.
"It's good to talk about things."
"Yeah."  Akane didn't respond.  After a few seconds she released her
hold on Ranma and continued walking to the cemetery.

**

my mommys dead i cant get it through my head though its been so many
years my mommys dead i can't explain so much pain i could never show
it my mommys dead

**

Hello!

Hoped you like this story!  Sorry if it was a bit unhappy.  If you liked
it, I'd appreciate a reply.

It's a fill-out of a sketch I wrote a while ago.  Listening to
Lennon/Ono's "Plastic Ono Band" (objectively the best music made in
the last 50 years ^_^), and with Mother's day coming up, I decided to
release it.

The "Bwwwonnng" thing and the last section were both taken from the
album.

Very Freud.

Have fun!

Jeff

****jdrutsch@ucdavis.edu***********************Jeff Rutsch************* 
"Ranma's not a boy...he's a girl!"
"Akane is MY fiancee!  You TOUCH her, and I'll KILL you!"
"Ranma, change back into a boy while I buy you some time."
"But if I seem to act unkind/it's only me, it's not my mind."
"Ranma [sic],/give your heart to Akane [sic]. /Soon,/right away."
**^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^**