The Helper’s Harmony EP1
Chapter 1: "Dancing in the Dark"
Sarah’s Rule #1: If the baby bottles aren’t sterilized by 5 PM, the universe collapses.
May Phyo pressed her ear to the nursery door, her heartbeat syncing with Noah’s wails. The microwave in the kitchen beeped three times—burnt again. She’d forgotten the frozen dumplings Sarah left for dinner. Again.
“May?” Sarah’s keys jingled in the front door. “Why does it smell like—”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Chen!” May scrambled toward the kitchen, nearly tripping over Lily’s discarded art project—a cardboard spaceship labeled TO MARS, FAR FROM MOM’S RULES. “I’ll remake dinner!”
Sarah stood frozen in the doorway, her work blazer still damp from the rain. Her eyes darted from the smoking microwave to Noah’s monitor. “His bottles—did you sterilize them after the 2 PM feeding?”
May’s throat tightened. She’d sterilized them at 1:45 PM. Or was it 1:30? The handwritten schedule taped to the fridge had three different times crossed out. “Yes, but…”
“But?”
“The… water took longer to boil today.” A half-truth. The truth was May had spent 20 minutes deciphering Sarah’s latest Post-it: STERLIZE BOTTLES AFTER 2PM (BUT BEFORE LILY’S SNACK). Lily’s snack time was 3 PM. Unless it was Tuesday. Or raining.
Sarah opened the dishwasher. Six pristine bottles sat inside. “These aren’t sterilized, May. Sterilized means using the electric boiler for 10 minutes. I wrote it down.”
“You did! But the note… fell.” May pointed to the fridge, where Sarah’s neon-green Post-it now clung to a magnet shaped like Laos—a souvenir from Tom’s “World Cuisines” phase. The boiler instruction had been buried under a newer note: LILY’S LUNCHBOX: NO PEANUTS (RED CONTAINER ONLY).
Sarah massaged her temples. “It’s okay. Just… please redo the bottles. After you fix dinner.”
8:07 PM: May scrubbed burnt dumpling residue off the microwave plate. Through the kitchen window, she watched Sarah bounce Noah in one arm while helping Lily spell “accommodate” for tomorrow’s test. A-C-C-O-M-M…
May’s own sister, Nu, was learning English too—or trying to, between dialysis sessions. “Sister, send more medical books,” Nu’s last message read. May’s nursing school notes were packed beneath her bed here, untouched since she’d left Yangon.
She reached for Sarah’s recipe binder, its tabs labeled LILY (NO PEANUTS), NOAH (STERILE EVERYTHING), and HOUSE (CLEAN BUT NOT STERILE???). Behind the Dinners section, she found her own scrawled translations:
- “Boil water until angry bubbles” = rolling boil
- “Baby cry-milk” = colic remedy
A photo slipped out—Sarah and Tom at a hospital, grinning beneath Congratulations New Parents! balloons. Noah’s tiny fist gripped Sarah’s finger.
The laundry room door creaked. May jumped, knocking over Lily’s goldfish bowl.
“No no no—” She lunged for the towel closet. The door clicked shut behind her.
Darkness.
“Mrs. Chen? Mrs. Chen!”
9:15 PM: Sarah stared at the laundry room door. “How did you even…?”
“The lock’s broken,” Tom said, wrenching it open with a screwdriver. “I’ve been meaning to fix it.”
May emerged, clutching a soggy copy of What to Expect the First Year. “I’m sorry about the goldfish—”
“They’re plastic fish, May.” Lily giggled from the stairs. “Dad bought them after Mom ‘accidentally’ flushed Mr. Bubbles.”
Sarah didn’t laugh. She’d found May’s notebook in the kitchen—a meticulous Burmese-English log:
April 12: Sterilize bottles (electric boiler) 10 min – DONE
April 13: Mrs. Chen say use stove instead – DONE
April 14: Back to electric???
“May,” Sarah said quietly, “why didn’t you tell me the schedule changes confused you?”
May wiped her hands on her apron. “You seemed… very busy. I didn’t want more stress.”
A notification chimed on Sarah’s phone: TOMORROW: Back to office. PumpING SCHEDULE → FRIDGE.
She looked at Noah’s bottles, now properly sterilized. At Tom mouthing “Be nice” over Lily’s head. At May’s notebook, its margins filled with gentle reminders: Lily scared of thunder – check closet during storms.
“Let’s… start fresh tomorrow.” Sarah forced a smile. “We’ll make a clearer schedule.”
But as May retreated to her room, Sarah added a new Post-it: FIND BETTER HELPER???
It slipped to the floor, landing beside May’s nursing textbook.