Annie Xiyang Xu Edited by Jiaqi (Julia) Peng Designed by Hannah Hu
[00:00:00] “Let me tell you a story,” The afternoon sun falls through the crack of the old dirty curtain, as though to split her face in half. “Once upon a time in the Ming Dynasty, two men met each other on their way to take the national exam that could change their life. The young one fell sick and had to stop. The other took care of him. They made a promise that in one year, they will meet each other at the sick man’s house. On the day of reunion, the younger guy waited expectantly. But the other man still had not arrived. ‘It’s been such a long time. He must have forgotten.’ said the sick man’s wife. ‘No, he won’t.’ In the middle of the night, the older one arrived, shirt torn and hair messy, with a single yellow chrysanthemum on his placket. The two friends talked and talked. When the morning sun hit the door, the older friend disappeared. He told his younger companion that last night before arriving, he was sick and weak and far away, so he took his own life thinking that a ghost could travel thousands of miles a night without constraint. The younger man watched the ghost of his friend fade away, and cried for seven days and seven nights straight.”
[3:00:00-3:30:59]
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It is 3 am and I just woke up from a dream reminding me of her. I don’t dream about her often. But whenever I did, she always told the same story. Two men, one promise. One waited, the other arrived as a ghost. Is that a threat? I stand up to pour myself a glass of water, a promise fizzing on my tongue. I did make a promise with her a long time ago. We were in high school and had just become close friends. I switched next to her after the girl who previously sat next to me went on sick leave and she just came back from her last year abroad in Japan. I suppose we hit it off immediately, or else why would I promise to meet her in ten years on the school playground? Ten years, I remember that, but not the year to add on from, like an equation with no left side, like an equation with nothing left. I take a sip of water and try hard to recall her face. She was about my height, short hair, tanned and sporty. When she was amused, the air around her vibrated like they were also moved. When I told her a joke, she used to laugh so hard that everyone in class turned around to look at us. 52 pairs of inquiring eyes.
