i am my mother's daughter

i am my mother's daughter. my mother was both the general and the enemy. i faced her down across the battlefield and had her instructions in my ear. all the guilt and fury that built when i couldn't swing back or fight fair spoiled in my veins. by the time i was old enough to, the war was over and it left me simmering and trigger-happy. my mother taught me to fight, to not pull my punches, by using me as the target.