But just as he was about to fall asleep, his phone rang, ringing again and again as if the caller wouldn’t give up until he answered.
He knew who was calling; it was that little girl. He hadn’t contacted her for so many days since he was injured, and she must have accumulated a lot to say to him.
He thought of her singing. It would be nice to hear her sing before he died.
So he painfully moved his finger to answer the call and put it on speaker.
Every movement felt like being torn apart with pain, but after completing the simple action, he felt as if he might faint.
On the other end of the line, her anxious voice came through, “Uncle, why haven’t you replied to my messages these past few days?”
After a long silence, she continued, “Uncle, are you okay? Why aren’t you speaking?”
“I… I’m dying…” He used a lot of effort to say this. He originally wanted to say, “I’m dying; can you sing me another song?” but he simply didn’t have the strength to say the second half.
“Uncle…” He didn’t know if the little girl was scared, but after a brief silence, her voice became choked with tears, “Uncle, you can’t be in trouble. Don’t die! I just learned to make a delicious snack, and I plan to send it to you.”
He didn’t have the strength to respond to her.
“Uncle, please don’t die, okay?” She started to sob, “Uncle, do you remember I told you about a delicious snack in Brackenfield? I used to go eat it with my sister when I was little. Can I take you there in the future? And Snow Mountain, I want to go skiing. I want to take you with me when you get better.”
“Can you hear me, Uncle? If not, I’ll sing for you, okay?”
Her tearful singing soon came through the phone.
He found it quite ridiculous. The people closest to him, the ones he trusted the most, all thought he was dying and had given up on him, leaving him alone in the hospital room. Yet, a stranger girl thousands of miles away was constantly cheering him on to live.
She cried for him, sang for him, and begged him not to die.
But he was really so tired.
She said she would take him to eat delicious food, a snack from Brackenfield, crispy and fragrant, with a sauce that made one’s scalp tingle. What kind of feeling could it be to have one’s scalp tingle?
She also said she would take him skiing, sliding down the mountain, unable to help but scream in excitement.
Her singing was truly beautiful, even if she was singing while crying.
She was practically dying of anxiety, afraid he would really die. She kept talking to him, constantly telling him about all the fun places she knew.
There was a place far away, but it was filled with blooming flowers and fluttering butterflies.
Could there really be such a beautiful place?
He seemed to see that in that place, on a meadow filled with white flowers, a little girl was singing. Her voice was as beautiful as a yellow oriole.
At that moment, exhausted and despairing of life, having given up on himself from the bottom of his heart, wanting to end his remaining days, he suddenly had a longing to see that place filled with blooming flowers, to meet that girl with the beautiful voice.
He didn’t want to see her sad for him anymore; he didn’t want to hear her cry.
He wanted to live, to live to see that beautiful world he had never experienced, to meet that wonderful person who wouldn’t appear in his world.
Except for that little girl, everyone thought he would die that night, even including himself. But even he didn’t expect that he would pull through; he didn’t die and survived the most dangerous period.
Breaking out of the cocoon and becoming a butterfly, when he woke up again, he had only one strong desire in his heart: he wanted to become strong. Only by becoming strong could he protect himself. Only by becoming strong could he, when the day came, stand before her without feeling inferior because she was too beautiful.
He wanted to live, to live strongly, for that little girl who begged him to live when he was on the brink of death.
When he saw her hugging a boy, he felt that his mood was probably just like this sentence.
He couldn’t guarantee that she would be safe with him; after all, he couldn’t even protect himself. So he gave himself time to grow, hoping to find her only after everything was in place.
Long ago, he had heard a saying about a person who fell in love with a flower, but the flower was too expensive for him to buy. He thought he would wait until he had money to buy it, but when he finally had the money and rushed to buy the flower, he found it had already been taken.
