I'll give you the moon
Author | Liu Yucun
I'm sitting on the edge of the sill, staring at the road leading to the village committee and the primary school. It's getting dark, my hands are getting tighter and my heart is beating faster and faster.
as the last ray of light in the sky disappeared, I mobilized my whole body's nerves, opened my eyes hard and watched the wind and grass around me. The land where I am sitting is planted with sweet potatoes. Now the vines have not covered the ground, and the soil between the ridges is slightly white. As long as I concentrate, I can see most things in the dark, but if I am a little distracted, I will re-capture those vague shadows.
in the dark, I tried to remember, where have they all gone? Mother seems to have gone to the sewing shop to make clothes; Father went to the village for a meeting; Second sister and brother go to the processing factory to grind noodles; Big sister goes to school to prepare lessons; Third sister, where did third sister go? She must have gone to the dam of the public house to find her friends to play with. Every one of them said to me when they left, "You are at home, and we will be back soon." Even rhubarb dog at home ran away with them.
however, it was dark and none of them came back.
I took a look at my home in the mountain bay. At this time, I was surrounded by dense branches and bamboo forests of Toona sinensis, Sophora japonica and Catalpa bungeana, and it was even darker. I was sure that I had closed the door and locked it with a lock. I felt in my pocket and found the key.
As soon as it was dark, the frogs in the rice field suddenly became very courageous. First, one of them made a few tentative calls, which sounded like a string of candied haws. When the safety is confirmed, the rest can't wait to start singing, and the "croak" sounds come and go, and each one tries to make his voice sound more distinctive and attractive. "Goo goo-goo-",the crake also cried, which was gentle at first, and then became louder and louder. They always flew around in the rice fields, making the sound of flapping their wings against the seedlings. The fish in the basement began to fidget, and some of them didn't know if they wanted to fly too much. They jumped up from the water and fell heavily, making a "splash, splash" sound.
These sounds broke the oppressive night, and made me not only hear my own heartbeat, but also open my hands. The sweat in my hands was blown by the night wind, which made me feel cold.
at this time, I gradually saw everything around me. Clusters of sweet potato vines in the field, tall wild pepper trees on the edge of the ridge, lush wild peach trees, and the shadows of two or three hairy peaches hidden among the branches and leaves. The water surface in the reservoir is slightly sparkling, and the curved dike near the water is lush with grass leaves, like a soft carpet. The streamlined outline of the opposite mountain beam is very beautiful, covered with tall Qinggang Tree. Just as my eyes looked up, there was a gentle orange light behind the treetops of Cyclobalanopsis glauca.
the moon is out.
At that moment, I felt that the moon was coming for me. It heard my call and felt my heartbeat. It came in a hurry to disperse the darkness and hang a light for the night. I looked at it, and it looked at me, kind and gentle. I believe that as long as I can catch it, we can look at each other for life.
The village in the moonlight is hazy and beautiful, like the world in a fairy tale.
Two or three people appeared on the winding path that I have been watching in the distance, and their mother came back.
I tugged at her skirt and said, "Mom, I'll give you the moon." She took my hand and said, "Let's go back and cook noodles."
when the sun was still half-faced on the western hills, I ran to school with the tuition I had just borrowed. Today is the last day of registration. I have to pay my tuition tonight before I can sit in the classroom with my classmates tomorrow morning.
from home to school, you have to turn over three beams, and between each beam is a layer of rice fields. We have to walk from the tail of a big reservoir to the end. This road is not a problem for me at ordinary times. Tall people and long legs are not white. On the way to and from school, I am the fastest one. Walking, I heard the gasps of my friends behind me. They had to keep up with my speed and always kept trotting.
but today, it feels like this road is 18, miles. It wasn't long before the sun went down. Why is that small mountain ridge twenty or thirty meters high so high? How long is that curved field stalk! The rice in the field has been harvested, and I can feel the peace and comfort in this short rest after a hard season of land. I dare not stop to enjoy the birds looking for food in the field and the wild chrysanthemums blooming on the basement. The school will close after dark, and I may be locked out of the school gate forever.
the clothes on my back are wet with sweat, and the hair roots are also soaked with sweat, which flows down my forehead. It was completely dark when I finally set foot on the path around the dam by the reservoir. With a little light reflected from the water, I ran forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow, keeping my eyes fixed on the increasingly dark road under my feet, for fear of stepping on the air and falling into the water. There is a large graveyard on the side of the reservoir, just beside the path. None of those tombs have tombstones, but mounds of grass, which have become a part of the earth. We have passed through here countless times, and we have not found anything strange and have no fear. Even in such a dark night, my steps have not hesitated at all.
However, when I heard the school bell from a distance, I couldn't help crying. At that time, I was only a village away from the school, but I suddenly felt that I would never get there.
When I came to the school gate in despair, I saw a thin figure, which was my deskmate Deng Lan. She flew over and grabbed my arm and shouted, "Why did you come here? A little later, I will turn over the gate and come in. " I bowed my head and said nothing. She shook me and said, "The class teacher said that students who come to school should attend classes first, and the tuition fees should be paid within one week."
There is a faint scent of cereal grass in the air at night, and people in the village are cooking dinner with newly harvested straw. Deng Lan and I walked hand in hand to the dormitory and saw the faint shadow under our feet. As soon as I looked up, a crescent moon had reached my head, and the tiny curved moon fell into my eyes and became two. I said to Deng Lan, "I will give you the moon." She giggled twice and said, "Go to sleep quickly, because the third grade course is very heavy."
in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a hum. I reached out and touched my daughter's forehead, which was very hot. Turn over and find a thermometer to take her temperature, 38.6 degrees Celsius. Find a cooling medicine to take for her, cover the quilt, and measure it after half an hour, 39 degrees Celsius. Must be taken to the hospital. At this time, I found that there was lightning and thunder outside the window, and it was raining heavily. I dressed her as fast as I could. Because of the fever, she staggered and stood unsteadily. My husband has gone to work in the forest farm, and the mountain is high and the road is far, so I can't rely on it. I found a cloth belt, tied my daughter on my back, grabbed an umbrella and rushed into the rain.
It's only two kilometers from the county hospital, but I think it's twenty kilometers.
I slapped the window of the duty room hard to wake the doorman and let him open the door of the family home and let me out. It was a long time before I heard the people inside shouting "Who is it?" I give my name. The light in the room was on, but he still lingered for a while before coming out. He vaguely saw me carrying the child and quickly took the key to open the door. After I went out, he hung the lock on the handle of the door and told me to open it myself when I came back.
There are no taxis in the empty street. The rolling thunder was deafening, and the heavy rain splashed a mist on the road. My daughter's hands hold my neck tightly and her feet are close to my waist. I put my umbrella on my shoulder with one hand and reached behind my back with the other, patting her ass and telling her not to be afraid.
When I arrived at the hospital, the emergency doctor gave me a surprised look and quickly helped me catch the child on my back. Only then did I find that the clothes and trousers in front of me were all wet. The examination results show that the child has acute tonsillitis. After an injection and medicine, after observing for half an hour, the temperature finally dropped. I was going to carry her home, but she insisted on walking home by herself. Children don't pretend to be sick, and they chirp and tell me about kindergarten all the way.
I wonder when the rain has stopped. The white rain in summer comes violently and disappears quickly. After several gusts, the clouds in the sky were blown open and then widened. We turned a few more corners, and the clouds in the sky actually all dispersed, and the moon emerged from behind the clouds, so clear and clean.
I said to my daughter, "I'll give you the moon."
She looked up at the night sky, and the moonlight shone into her eyes, which was very bright.
in the following years, as soon as she saw the moon, she proudly said that it was hers. However, no one believes it except me. When she grew up again, she stopped talking about it.
in recent years, we have always bowed our heads and hurried on, without even having time to look up at the sky. Some people don't know where they went when they walked. Some people walk all their lives.
but the moon is always waiting for you in the sky.
—END—
Liu Yucun, a columnist, has published a variety of essays and novels in newspapers and online, and now lives in Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province.