I stood in the middle of the dusty street and watched from afar. There was no chubby coachman, transformed by the legendary gecko, who was supposed to be smiling as he drove his carriage toward me. I was left alone to shyly lower my head and shake my skirts. On either side of the road were vast turquoise estates, and they were surrounded by noble lattices of carved iron age that stretched long into the sky. The gorgeous oleanders in full bloom grew outside the railings, and they hid their dark little spires. The two walls of oleanders under the azure May sky were like two flush pink lines, the marks left by the May Witch's wagon, the faces of smiling oleanders. They cried out sweetly toward me in the voice of the May Witch, "Come, come, Jaja, surrender your voice, and I will give you the sap of wild roses and cornflowers, who soak the transparent wings of insects." The sound of the oleander made me dizzy, and I hesitantly wondered if I should go any further; before long the June Prince's ball would begin, but I was lost.
A black cat ran past me with a meow, and for a moment my dress filled with wind, like a bulging sail held open. "Ah, please wait." I called this running towards him. The black cat looked back at me for a moment and ran himself forward along the long wall of oleander flowers. I panted after him, lifting my skirt.
There was a red brick house at the end of the road, and the black cat ran into it and disappeared. I sat alone and tired on the stone steps of the red house, holding my cheeks and beaming in aggravation. The pearl necklace had long since fallen apart on the way, and the red satin dancing shoes had fallen off somewhere; how was I going to meet Prince June in this state?
It was like this, a few days ago I received an invitation from Prince June, who was going to hold a ball, just like the stories my mother told me when I was a child: the prince invites young girls to the ball and then chooses his bride. I went crazy with joy, dropped my sewing and took my mom's hand and danced. We turned past the tiny well, past the tiny field of peas behind the house, past the white stone steps and finally back into the house to stop in front of the shiny mirror. When I saw Jiajia in the mirror, I suddenly couldn't be happy anymore. Yesterday at this time I was sitting by the fence fretting and thinking about my disheveled hair, the little freckles scattered on my cheeks, my big incisors and my thin, skinny body. It was so hard to imagine what I would look like in a beautiful gown, and I sighed in frustration. Prince June's carriage always passed through my garden, and his handsome sideways face was like a shining sun. It would be wonderful to be able to look pretty and dance with Prince June.
"Jia Jia," a voice called to me, a sweet voice from a little girl, she said, "I know you want to be pretty, let me help you." With that the May Witch came to me, she stood outside the white picket fence holding her cheeks and smiling as she scrutinized me. She said slowly, "My brother is going to choose his beloved girl to be his bride at the ball tomorrow, Jia Jia, don't you want to go and try?"
The May Witch, a spunky little girl, nimbly crossed the fence, her embroidered oleander-patterned selvedge flipping up gently with the wind.
When I was a child, the May Witch was always lost, and when I met her on the road, I brought her home and fed her strawberries dipped in milk. I can't help but laugh when I think of how naughty she was at that time, turning milk into milky white bubbles. So when Prince June came to say thank you, I always hid and peeked at him - how embarrassing it would be for him to see my big front teeth and messy hair.
"Of course I want to go to the ball, but I'm so ugly." I let out a heavy sigh.
The May Witch put on a grown-up face and paced seriously in front of me. "Well," she nodded, "that wasn't hard, but 。。。。。。" She looked at me with bright eyes, "Jia Jia, you must take one thing in exchange for me." The May Witch dug around in her pocket for a long time, finally pulling out a small, cute bottle. The clear liquid in the bottle shimmered crystal-like in the sunlight.
"This is make-up, apply it carefully to your body before you go to bed and you can wake up tomorrow looking like you want to."
"What do you want in exchange for you?"
"Sound. A witch's favorite thing to trade is voices. Between the time the ball starts and the time it ends, you're not allowed to talk or sing. Jia, after the ball is over everything is back to the way it was anyway and your voice will come back."
I thought about it, what about me, I'm just a little florist's daughter, I'd be happy with just being pretty for one June Prince's ball. "Okay, I agree." Just as I said that I felt my voice fly away all of a sudden.
"Excellent." The May Witch smiled sweetly as she bounced and whistled, her golden pumpkin carriage suddenly appearing in the air. She waved at me and got into the wagon. Two walls of crepe myrtle blossoms wound their way up the road as they cried out, "Come on come on, Jaja, trade your voice." With the magical bottle of make-up resting in my hand, I watched as the oleanders let out a gradual sigh of sadness and then disappeared all at once.
"Well, it's decided, tomorrow I'm going to go to the June Prince's ball looking pretty." I said to myself mentally, and gave a firm nod.
The door to the red brick house opened with a creak and I couldn't help but turn around. The black cat walked out gracefully, he bowed respectfully towards me, he put his right hand in front of his chest and said: "Honorable Princess, let you wait for a long time, the carriage is ready, I will drive for you. The June prince's ball is about to begin." It was really a gorgeous carriage, sitting inside and gently lifting the pink curtain, it felt as if you were really becoming a princess.