One night in late spring and early summer, all is quiet. In a daze of sleep, I vaguely heard knocking on the door. "Who is it?" I inquired in a whisper, and no one answered. A moment later, the knocking resumed and I sat up violently from my bed, "Who is it!" I inquired, my voice twice as loud as it had been a moment before. "Me, Nur." A low and slightly raspy boy's voice.
I hurriedly got up and opened the door to my room, and outside, in the moonlight, a boy of about eleven or twelve years old stood there, his whole body enveloped in moonlight, his skin a date-red color, and his long, brown hair streaked down to his shoulders. I was puzzled, for searching all my memories, I had never seen him before. Where had this stranger appeared from?
He seemed to see my puzzlement, raised his head in the moonlight, he said slowly and almost word for word: "My name is Naoer, can I talk to you about your heart?" Said, this self-proclaimed Naoer child and lowered his head, perhaps afraid of me to reject him, in the moonlight can be clearly seen, he looked very anxious.
A kind of inexplicable power makes me unable to refuse him. Naoer and I went to the river outside the village. This is how the story of our relationship began.
[II]
"My name is Naoer." Sitting on a rock by the creek, Naoir repeated his name again.
"You're from out of town, aren't you." I asked tentatively. "From a very faraway place, right?" On a hunch, I was sure that Naoir's hometown was not nearby.
Naoer nodded. He lifted his gaze toward the northwest. "There is the prairie."
His low voice drifted under the still night sky, and his gaze suddenly became confused, as if a milky fog had slowly risen from somewhere in his body and, then, filled his pupils.
Ah, the prairie! Nur's reply nearly made me scream.
The distant prairie is several thousand miles away from this small mountain village. I feel infinitely surprised, I do not know in front of this small body named Naoer boy, is how to long-distance travel to our small mountain village. I carefully measured Naoer in the moonlight, I and his age, but he is obviously much thinner than me.
"Are you alone?" I asked Naoer.
Such a question is obviously superfluous. If there is a reliable acquaintance around Naoer, he naturally will not look for me to talk to a stranger.
Next, Naoer recounted his experiences along the way. First of all, walked a long, long way, and then, sat a few days and nights inside a dark canned train. Specifically how many days Naoer can not remember, in short, from home is farther and farther away from home, home familiar scenery can no longer be seen, and even breathe the air can not smell a trace of home familiar breath.
In the moonlight, I found that Naoer has a pair of large unusual eyes, this pair of eyes almost occupy most of his face, eyelashes are exceptionally long. Beneath the long eyelashes, a liquid called tears could be vaguely seen glistening.
I couldn't help but hold Naoer's hands. Those hands were unexpectedly cold.
[Three]
The next morning, I was awakened by a clamor. The sky outside the window was not completely bright and gray, but the whole village woke up early. In front of Shi Saeko's house, a lot of people were gathered in front of the house, and everyone was there to see what was going on.
It turns out that yesterday, one of my cousins, Shi Saeko, bought a horse from a livestock *** market more than a hundred miles away. The news spread, and the whole village was abuzz with excitement. For this small mountain village on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, a cow is a common sight, but a horse is definitely something new. （
No one knew what Shi Saeko was doing buying a horse. His wife kept complaining. Shi Saeko took the complaints as a whisper, his heart was happy, and he was intoxicated by the praises of the people watching.
"This is a very expensive horse." Shi Saeko liked to bite his tongue. He bragged and held out a finger, waving it in front of the crowd's eyes, "This number." The people gathered on the side all stuck their tongues out in unison, tsk, a thousand dollars is not a small amount!
"This is a pure jujube red horse, not bad! Not bad!" Shi Saeko exclaimed to himself, while stroking it back and forth with his hand, looking like he couldn't get enough of it. I suddenly remembered that Saeko Shi once told us a story about the Sui and Tang dynasties, and one of the episodes was called "Qin Qiong Sells His Horse". The one that Qin Qiong sold was the date-red horse.
The crowd was clamoring. Jujube red horse looks restless, constantly with hooves digging the ground, strewn with brown hair head sometimes down, as if to find a gap in the ground to drill in, hide. At other times, the head will be raised high, the gaze over the crowd of onlookers, fell in the distance somewhere.
The confused gaze of the red date horse made me stunned, and there was a sense of déjà vu. However, I can't recall where I've seen this gaze before.
[Four]
That night, Naoer again appeared in my room door. He knocked softly on the door. I got up from the bed in a hurry and walked outside while getting dressed, as if we had already made an appointment.
There was no sense of strangeness between me and Naoer, just one night's interaction, but it was as if we had been together for a long time as a pair of good friends. I and Naoer hand in hand, together through the quiet village, to the river. The moon is big and round, hanging in the blue sky. Naoer's big, confused eyes glittered in the moonlight.
Suddenly, the daytime scene came to my mind. I remembered the date-red horse that Shi Saeko had just bought back, and the date-red horse with the same big confused eyes, could it be Naoer? My heart was suddenly filled with doubts.
The cool, boundless air of the night is filled with wordless silence.
Naoer pondered for a long time, and finally summoned the courage, he told me bluntly: "Yes, I am the date red horse." In his low voice, there is an undisguised excitement and sadness.
The reason he was happy was that he finally let me know his true identity, and the reason he was sad was perhaps because he was worried that I would refuse to be his friend because of it.
Strangely enough, I wasn't surprised or scared at all. I gripped his hands more tightly, as if I was afraid that I would lose my good friend if I let go. I realized that his cold hands were trembling unceasingly. Ah, his entire body in this spring night shivering constantly.
Naoer told me the story of his father and mother, who were both steeds galloping across the grassland.
"I miss my dad and mom so much, and after being away for so long, my dad and mom must miss me so much too." Nur muttered.
"Are you homesick?" I didn't know how to comfort him. My ill-timed remark seemed like a thorn that pierced y into a hidden pain somewhere in his body. Nur whimpered and cried.
"Dad and mom are probably looking around for me?" Naoar's expression became trance-like. "Mom and Dad will search the entire grassland, they will search day after day, will search one piece of grass after another to find ...... Finally, they will come to the edge of a lake, standing for a long time, waiting for my figure to appear in the vision of their outlook."
After a long time, Nao slowly stopped crying.
That night, Naoer told me, walking in the grassland depths, often unexpectedly met a very small size of the lake. Lakes as if a child as quietly lying in the embrace of the grassland, without a trace of impurities in the lake than the sky is more blue, he and his siblings often play in the lake, play. (Word Bank)
"Naoer, means lake." Naoer's voice was soft. "This is the name my mom and dad gave me, you can see how much they love me, and I like it very much." Next, he recited his name softly, over and over, and over again.
[v]
I had a dream that I was running through the meadow with Naole.
How blue was the sky of the prairie, with white clouds, framed by the sun with a golden edge. An eagle soared above our heads.
Naoer had a happy smile on his face. As he ran, he gushed to me about the grassland he knew and loved so well.
...... I was nudged awake from a dream. When I woke up, the sun was already climbing high on the roof. The village was noisy, and the adults were busy trying to figure out how to make the mundane work.
I walked towards school with my backpack. I saw Naoer - a date-red horse tied with a halter, and his master, Saeko Ishi, was feeding him some coarse straw, and waving a whip in his hand, as if to warn Naoer to be obedient.
Naoer also found me. Naoer's eyes and my eyes met together. We gazed at each other like friends who have met after a long time.
I saw Naoer's big eyes, swept a touch of heartfelt smile.
Behind Naoer, facing the morning breeze, a pomegranate tree will be in full bloom gently swaying.
[VI]
I finally realized what Saeki Ishi was doing spending a thousand dollars on a horse back.
In his heart has always lurked the dream of being a hero.
In his heart, he has always dreamed of being a hero. Yes, riding on a date-red horse is really awesome, isn't it like a Qin Qiong-style ancient hero?
The news of Shi Saeko learning to ride a horse attracted people from half the village. People gathered in unison, and were as noisy as when they first met Naoer.
Naoer was held by a thick rein, and on the date-red smooth fur, there were several whip marks. My heart was violently gripped by a sad force. I imagined how that fierce whip fell again and again on Naoer's tender skin.
Shi Saeko stood by Naoer's side. Compared to Saeko's thick and bulky body, Naoer looked even thinner.
I saw a look of hopelessness in Naoer's big eyes.
"He's still a child, you can't ride him!!!" I don't know where I got the courage to push the crowd out of the way and stand in front of the tall Ishi Saeki.
"He's a kid? Haha ......" Saeko Ishi laughed almost maniacally. The people around me also pointed at me. How could a horse be a child? In their eyes, I was probably crazy.
"He is a child! His name is Nur!" I argued loudly. The argument was drowned out in the laughter that erupted from the people.
Saeko Ishi rolled over and rode on Naoer's back. Naoer's single skinny four legs were trembling.
"Chant--" The whip fell. The long whip tore through the spring dusk warm air, heavy fall on Naoer's body. Naoer trembling four legs slowly raised. One step, another step, Naoer trembling walk on the narrow road.
Ishi Saeki waved his hand in the cheers of the people, as if he were a real hero.
After running a round trip on the narrow road, Naoer was already panting, and a fine bead of sweat seeped out of his date-red skin.
Ishi Saeko over a handful of hidden, he generously yelled loudly, "Everyone take turns, all ride my date-red horse." People swarmed to the horse as if it were a raging tide.
I quietly pushed my way through the tidal wave. I would not ride on my own friends, never!
The sun was setting, the clouds darkening in the west. In the blurred light of dusk, the exhausted Naoer ran over and over again on the narrow road. Several times, Naoer stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
I looked at Naoer from afar, how I can not help. I could only say in my heart over and over again, "Naoer, hold on!!!"
[seven]
Naoer said, "Thank you!" Nur's words left me speechless. When my own good friend suffered, I could only watch, but could not go to help him, I feel that my heart is still hidden pain.
Naoer was filled with gratitude. "No! You have helped me!" Nur told me that if I hadn't been there to give him encouragement, he really wouldn't have lasted.
Naoer and I sat by the creek. Together we recalled the unforgettable scene that had just passed.
The sky overhead is still so blue, as if spread out a brand new blue velvet; the moon hangs high, melting moonlight pouring down from the sky.
For a moment, I felt as if the light moonlight shone all the way into my heart, as if a pair of gentle hands were caressing it, and gradually, the hidden pain in my heart disappeared. I looked up at Naoer, and the look on his face also returned to calm.
All around a silence. You can clearly hear my heartbeat and Naoer's heartbeat.
In this quiet midnight hour, without the interference of humans, some long-budding flowers scrambled to bloom.
"Listen, the sound of flowers blooming!" Nur listened with sideways ears and a look of concentration.
Like Nur, I bent my body down, almost to the dirt. I heard the sound of flowers blooming, what a wonderful sound! Unfortunately, I had never listened to it before I met Naoer.
Naoer told me, in the grassland, he often buried himself in the grass, listening. In the sound of blossoms fell asleep, then, and woke up in the sound of blossoms ......
"When you grow up, I must invite you to my hometown." Nao said. "At that time, I also grew up and became a veritable steed, I will carry you to run all over the grassland."
Naoer's words reminded me once again of the scene at dusk, and I shook my hands in unison. (Safe and sound)
Beneath the moonlight, Naoer stretched out his skinny arms in a gesture of strength. A smile covered his face, as if to say, Trust me!
[Eight]
Time passes unknowingly.
I don't know how many nights, Naoer always appeared at my door on time, and then, together, we walked through the slumbering quiet village to the small river.
We became friends without words.
One night, Nur asked me, "Do you have a favorite girl of your own?"
In the cool night breeze, I felt a sudden fever on my face and neck. In front of my eyes, a familiar figure appeared, she was my classmate, a girl with a very sweet voice.
"Yes." I was not willing to lie in front of Naoer. "I can't say I like it though, I just have a bit of a good feeling about it." I realized I was surprisingly a little too worldly to say what I really meant in front of my friends.
Naoer said unabashedly, "I like Ki, she's a month younger than me, she's a little white horse."
Naoer recounts how he and Ki, along with some other ponies, spend a lot of time together.
You can imagine what a happy time it was.
This happiness was soon broken. One day, Nur, Ki, and some of the other ponies got together as usual. They were discussing together. They felt that this life was too monotonous, and they decided to go out into the world.
So, one gray morning, they quietly left the meadow.
"That's just the way it is." Nur's voice seemed hoarser, lower. "We parted one by one afterward, and I came to your little mountain village, and Ki went to a circus."
Nur stopped talking. He sat still, as if he were a statue.
[IX]
Then there was a long period of time when Naoer was not seen.
Every day on my way to and from school, I would go around to the yard behind Saeko Ishi's house. The flowers of the pomegranate tree have changed two or three batches, and the straw under the tree is already moldy, but so many days have passed without seeing Naoer's shadow.
In addition to Shi Saeko, no one knows where Naoer went.
When you see Naoer, it has already happened. Tired of dreaming of being a hero, Ishi-Saeko led Naoer to the quarry to drag stones. Climbing a steep slope, the strength of the Naoer will not be able to break a leg.
Now, Naoer is standing under the pomegranate tree, not moving. Because of the pain, its big eyes full of crystal tears. But no one cares about its pain. In the yard, only Shi Saeko and his wife were heard accusing and complaining.
"A thousand dollars, not a small amount ah!" The voice sounded torn.
[Ten]
In my memory, the nights with Naoer, the sky was always blue as a wash, the moon was always big and round.
This night was no exception. It was already the height of summer, and the cool air of the night was filled with the sweet scent emanating from the fruits of the irrigation. This scent of fresh fruit, however, now smells like a bitter taste.
Nur and I came to the river. Along the way, Naoer limped. From his look, you can see that every step, he is how painful. However, when I assisted him, he refused every time.
Along the way, there were so many times that Naoer accelerated his pace and tried to run, but, because the pain was unbearable, he finally had to give up.
Naoer asked in a low voice, "Do you know what a horse is most afraid of?" I shook my head. Really, I didn't know.
Is it the prairie wolf? I speculated in my mind.
"Prairie rats!" Nur said. Such an answer was greatly unexpected.
Naoer told me, a horse is afraid of small prairie rats, because the prairie rats in the ground to make holes, when a galloping steed accidentally stepped on the grass hidden rat holes, will be caught off guard and fell, will break the leg.
"A steed with a broken leg can never gallop across the grassland again." Naoer's childish voice was filled with sadness.
"No! You will definitely get better! You will definitely return to the grassland and gallop like your father!" I comforted Nur. My voice became hysterical because I couldn't accept this.
"Maybe I'll get better, I believe in miracles!" After a while, confidence returned to Nur's voice.
"And I'm going to take you all over the grasslands! I would hate to be a friend who goes back on his word." Nur gazed at me and smiled.
The soft evening breeze blew gently from the distant hillside, and the sweet scent of fruit was stronger in the air.
The night is deeper. Breathing in the wine-like sweet scent of fruit, the whole person is a little confused.
I was drowsy. In my sleep, Nur's voice became indistinct, growing farther and farther away from me ......
[XI]
When I woke up, I found myself lying in the hospital. My mom and dad were bent over the bed, motionless, watching me, anxiety and trepidation written all over their faces.
"Finally woke up." Dad let out a long breath.
"Why aren't you sleeping at home? Running out alone to sleep by the creek." Mom's tone was full of pity and reproach. "The dew has wet your clothes and hair, and one catches a cold."
I touched my hair, and sure enough it was wet and smelled strongly of grass.
"This child has a severe case of nocturnal wanderlust." The doctor in the white coat said in a firm tone after examining me.
People in the village kept confirming that I don't know how many nights they saw me walking alone through the village to the creek, sitting on a rock by the river and talking to myself.
"So, where is Nur?" I didn't believe what they were saying. How could I be alone when I was clearly with Naoir? (Sick to death)
"Naoir? Who is Nur?" Dad asked. The people gathered on one side of the room looked at each other in disbelief.
[xii]
When I came back from the hospital I realized that Naoor was gone.
The backyard of Ish Saeki was empty. The pomegranate tree stood there alone, its fire-like flowers withered at some point, leaving only some dark green leaves that looked breathless.
Where did Naoer go? I looked around.
Naoer once said, after growing up must take me to the prairie, but suddenly disappeared, I began to complain.
A date-red horse called Naoer disappeared, even the air can not find a trace of it.
Some people say, Shi Saeki will Naoer resold, the new buyer will Naoer's leg injury healed, they even saw it running on the road ...... Others say, Shi Saeki will Naoer sold to a butcher in the village, yes, a broken leg of the horse will still have what use it?
I felt a tearing pain in my heart.
"Nur! Nur!" I called softly within me a name that no one knew.
Late at night, I waited silently for the familiar knock on the door. One night passed. Another night passed. But the soft knock never sounded again so far.
[Afterword]
This is a true story. It happened in a small mountain village where I live. A not-yet-adult date-red horse was trafficked from the grasslands to our place; it was ridden and dragged to drag a stone, and in the end, its leg was broken by a stone.
A horse smashed broken legs, its fate can be imagined.
In fact, people and horses have a lot of similarities, which is what prompted me to write the story above.
Moonlight Greedy Skywork