Such a Strange Person - Short story for Redamancy contest ( Khanh Hoa )
It was really strange, other than strange I don’t know how else to describe her. No normal person would sit on the terrace on a rainy day like that. No normal person would proactively give up their umbrella to let someone else get wet instead of offering to share. And no one would bring the warm, fresh scent of lemon in the cold rain that made the tip of the nose ache.
Actually, maybe it's not strange, but just too gentle.
That girl, on the day I thought there was nothing left in this world for me, came and helped me realize that I actually still have a lot of things left.
That day was really a bad day.
Fired, betrayed by lover, broken phone, broken car, even my handbag was robbed, the little cash left was not enough to buy a bun in the prosperous and luxurious capital. Unlucky things kept coming in just one day, leaving me exhausted. Actually, those were just trivial matters, the thing that made me most desperate was that my mother had passed away, the only person in the world who loved me was gone.
I have nothing left, a beautiful exterior but an empty interior. Like a compass that has lost its direction and doesn't know where to go, wandering aimlessly and stopping in front of the apartment building that was once very familiar to me, where my lover and I laughed, talked, ate, and hugged each other to watch a very sweet romantic movie. What happened just yesterday now only leaves behind memories that make people feel miserable when they remember.
I smiled bitterly, greeted the familiar security guard, went inside, pressed the number to the top floor, then took the stairs to the terrace.
The rooftop has a small garden, normally everyone in the apartment building likes to come here to walk and enjoy the breeze. Today, because of the rain, no one comes up. It's deserted, desolate to the point of desolation.
I took a deep breath and went to sit on the edge of the familiar terrace, watching the city through the pouring rain.
The usual hustle and bustle has disappeared, instead the prosperous and warm scene is even more evident. The clouds cover the sun, the buildings are lit up. The apartment buildings show the scene of families gathering together warmly and sweetly.
I looked down again, the usual traffic jam was gone, sparsely populated. The sudden change of season rain made the lonely person even more desolate, the person with warm love spread across the horizon.
A sudden vibration, as if possessed by a demon, made me stand up, wanting to stretch my legs out into that empty space.
"Want to jump?".
In the pouring rain, this clear and somewhat indifferent voice clearly hit my ears.
I calmly turned my head back towards the voice: "No."
The girl holding a transparent umbrella, wearing a white dress, and wearing cotton slippers, slowly and quickly walked towards me step by step, mercilessly exposing me: "Lies".
"It's none of your business."
"Yeah?", the girl smiled and nodded, sitting down right next to me. "But kid, you're taking up the spot I've already marked out."
Nerve!
I cursed in my heart, then walked a distance away: "Is this satisfactory?".
"Hmmm…", the girl seemed to be thinking, turning her head to look down, instead of looking far away at the tall buildings before. "It's okay if I fall on that person? I can tell he's still in his prime, full of enthusiasm, and loves life."
I looked down, the height made me dizzy, my vision was blurry but one thing I was sure of was that in this place I couldn't see clearly the figures of people below, because everyone was holding an umbrella in their hands.
I was speechless, looking at the girl fiercely: "Are you crazy?".
The girl slowly replied: "Who would be crazy enough to wear cotton slippers out in this pouring rain?"
At first, I didn't feel anything, but now that I think about it carefully, I realize that she must have been in such a hurry to run up to stop me from jumping down that she didn't have time to change her shoes. Even her dress was pitifully thin, not at all suitable for walking on such a cold day, especially when she looked so fragile that it could fly away with a single gust of wind.
The girl smiled at me, patting the spot next to her: "They say crazy people are good at keeping secrets. Sit down here and tell me, why did you want to come up here?".
"Then why did you take the seat first?" I did not answer, nor did I sit down despite the wind and rain.
The girl looked at me, slightly pouting and annoyed: "Because I'm still very upset."
What a strange person.
Frustration?
Isn't it resentment that makes people feel forced to the point of no return? It is the cause of all the wear and tear on patience, step by step, taking away trust, causing the way out and the originally intact heart to gradually shatter into pieces. Because resentment that cannot be expressed, accumulated over time will develop into a black hole that can only be sucked in but not released.
Something so small, something as small as a stroke of ink on a painting, can be so arrogant and domineering, trampling on all hope, destroying an otherwise beautiful and radiant painting.
"Have you seen the movie Going Where the Wind Blows with Liu Yifei?", the girl stood up, walked over and grabbed my hand: "Xia Xia told Na Na this: "Don't go on an empty stomach, don't go with resentment, don't go with tears", so, I'm just taking the initiative, wait until the resentment is gone then we'll talk about it".
Can we continue to calculate…
I felt annoyed and wanted to push her hand away, but found that I had been pulled down without knowing when. I also didn't know when, but the umbrella had been pointed at me.
In the cold late summer rain, the wind on the rooftop seemed to want to blow us both away, but it couldn't shake the determination to pull me away from the edge of the rooftop. She forced me to hold the umbrella, then forced me to sit down.
We sat next to each other, in the rain, without saying a word.
The rain was very heavy, the air was very cold, if I accidentally took a breath, the tip of my nose would ache, my throat would itch, and my lungs would feel uncomfortable, forcing me to cough a few times. On the contrary, the girl who looked fragile was completely unharmed, she even raised her head to enjoy the rain falling on her.
I was a little upset and couldn't help but ask her: "Why are you stopping me?".
The girl seemed not to hear and did not respond to me.
We were silent again, until the rain had washed everything away, I heard a clear voice coming from beside me: "Because you're crying, I won't let you go, little friend."
"I'm not crying."
"What a strong little friend," she nodded and smiled, the pouring rain now starting to lighten up, the clouds were gradually clearing, the wind was starting to gently brush past her cheeks.
I turned my head away, avoiding her gaze.
"Don't you regret anything?"
"I have nothing left."
Seeming surprised by my words, the girl hesitated a bit: "But you're still alive. As long as you're alive, anything can change."
"Everyone says that. But if it worked, it wouldn't be so tiring."
"How tired?".
I said, "I have never drunk alcohol."
She replied, "That's not very tasty, but if you're old enough and want to, you can have a drink with me."
I said again: "No matter how hard I try, I can't compare to someone who has a backer behind me, and I even get fired."
"Um… If the person you're backed by is worse than you, shouldn't you be happy? Because that person is about to ruin the company."
"No matter how good I am, no one likes me…".
"You don't need to pay attention to people who don't like you, just care about people who like you. It's just that you don't remember, actually there are many, many people who love you."
"My mother is dead."
"But your mother didn't tell you to follow her." Saying this, she stood up and walked in front of me, pushed the umbrella over her head, and smiled brightly: "She definitely wants you to continue to see the sights you haven't seen, eat food she didn't cook, and go to places she hasn't been able to go to. I'm sure, she hopes your future will be brighter and more peaceful than now, little friend."
The rain stopped, the clouds dispersed, and now the wind was just the cold remnants of the sudden downpour.
"For the love and hope your mother left behind, keep living."
The sun rose, right behind her, gentle yet strong. An existence that could not be denied.
"The sky is still beautiful, so don't give up so quickly."
I don't remember how I responded to her, the only thing I remember is that after leaving the rooftop of the apartment building, I was greeted by warm hugs from my best friends, along with angry words that scared the hell out of them.
Indeed…
There are still many people who love me, I just forgot.
A stranger, wet and cold, ran up to the high terrace just to say some "innocuous" words to me.
She wanted me to see the sun, and she wanted me to be able to receive warm hugs. Using decisive actions to pull me from the abyss back to the sky.
Like the changing rain that day, she suddenly came, rushing into someone else's world, letting me feel that this world is actually still very warm.
I believe, no matter how much you fall, someone will come and tell you: actually this world still loves you very much, don't give up so quickly; this world still has many things that make life more meaningful.
It's like…
There are many delicious dishes.
The scenery is still very far away.
The future is promising.
Sunshine in February, flowers in April, clouds in August and rain in October.
All those seemingly small things are still very much worth looking forward to.
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