Alina was always the perfect daughter in the eyes of her neighbors and her mother’s friends. She was an excellent student, went to music school and participated in all the Olympiads at school. Mom always said that Alina was her greatest pride. She insisted that Alina was perfect in everything and everywhere. No one doubted her: Alina was not only exemplary, she was not even friends with dubious companies. To be honest, she was not friends with anyone at all. In the city, the girl could be seen only with her violin on the way to music school or with a backpack on the way to school. After school, she hurried home, did not linger for a minute.
The neighbors were surprised – even as a small child, Alina never made noise. She did not even cry and was never naughty. Everyone envied her mother. After graduating from university, Alina packed her things and went to another city, writing a letter to her mother. There the girl wrote that she was offered a prestigious job, which it would be foolish to refuse. The mother often called her daughter. She said that she missed her terribly and was waiting for a visit. Alina wanted to tell her mother that she hated her and never wanted to see her again. But in response to her mother, the girl made excuses, saying that she had a lot of work, and she did not even have time to eat properly. No one could even think in what condition Alina was packing her things:
In tears she was throwing everything into her bag. Everyone saw only a perfect picture, and no one could imagine how painful it was for her when she was kneeling on buckwheat; stayed for 5 minutes after class, got a slap on the face; wrote a letter ugly – the same thing. Or listened to her mother’s ode that “it would be better if I strangled you in the cradle” – her mother was simply not in the mood. Her father left her with her mother when the child was 2. All the walls in their apartment were white. When even a single spot appeared on the walls, the mother immediately attacked Alina with her fists.
The girl endured all this. In the last year, the psychologist gave Alina’s group a task – to draw a picture “like a child” – as children do: imperfectly, without filling in completely, simply and honestly. For some reason, Alina burst into tears during the task. As a child, she was afraid to even draw with a pencil, because she knew that her mother reacted badly to all sounds; there had to be perfect silence in the house. The very next day after receiving her diplomas, Alina packed all her belongings and left for another city – unfamiliar, foreign, alien. At first it was difficult – Alina did not know anyone there, but she was sure that it would be better than at home. Now she is fine, but she does not want to have any relationship with her mother.
