This piece was first published in Quarto’s 2021 Spring Print Edition.
Illustration by Bella Aldrete
1. State your zodiac sign to a normally mild-mannered aunt who demands that things be
done “the right way” today and so it is paramount that you know your zodiac sign.
2. Tell your aunt proudly that you are a Taurus, Cancer Ascendant, with a moon in Aries.
3. Recover as your aunt slaps you on the arm, realizing that she meant the Chinese zodiac,
with the twelve animals and the obvious connection to your newly dead grandmother.
4. Apologize for your stupidity and tell your aunt you were born in the Year of the Dragon -
you are a Gold Dragon, representing wisdom. You do not currently feel wise.
5. Watch as your aunt reaches into her coat pocket and offers you a neat, thick, square
bundle of grass - normal grass, as if your aunt had discreetly walked into a public park
and robbed the ground of some of its green.
6. Protest when your aunt explains: “Your nana was a Gold Dragon. You are a Gold
Dragon. You must eat grass for her so that she can move on peacefully.”
7. Respond by saying:
“no-I-don’t-wanna-that’s-gross-nana-has-already-moved-on-I-don’t-wanna.”
8. Hold back when your aunt forcefully presses the grass bundle - green and dewy with
flecks of manure on the sides - into the palm of your hand, and when she stares at you
through tired angry eyes and says: “You must always do things for your family.”
9. Quietly acquiesce and close your fingers around the bundle.
10. Put the bundle close to your nose and sniff. Note that it smells like sadness and
acceptance and love all at once. Wonder how you know what those things smell like.
11. Begin to chew. Slowly at first. Then forcefully, with a familial purpose.
Mel (she/her/hers) is a second-year Barnard student who has no idea what she wants to study as a major, so please stop asking, because college is very confusing for her. Mel is originally from Cebu, Philippines (represent!), but she is currently busy scaring dog-walkers around Central Park. Instagram