Swing in Memory

Again I lie on the window-sill, watching the rain drizzling like fireworks exploding in the March night sky. This dream from my childhood is just an Iris in the water.

-----prelude

As I push the wooden gate open, the big old tree trunk at the backyard of my old house comes into view. Walking through this grand gate of time, I find my childhood full of sweetness mixed with melancholy.

The big tree is a longan tree. Every year when the time came for it to mature, it was dotted with lovely and seductive longan fruits among the green leaves. After picking fruits from the tree, we would deliver packages of longan to our neighbors. Most of the time we would relax together under the tree while eating the longan and chatting, not noticing the passing of time until we suddenly realized the table was a mass of cores.

Of course, most of the year, the longan tree just stood still with a big green umbrella of leaves. My young friends and I would joyfully create a swing by tying a strong piece of rope to a reliable trunk with a piece of bamboo and have fun together.

I loved playing on the swing. I especially loved swinging far up into the sky as high as possible. I sat on the bamboo while my friend vigorously pushed me from the back. One push, another push, and the third push. Again and again. The swing flew high up to the sky and higher and higher. I felt a stream of warm blood coursing through my veins that pushed towards my throat as if it were trying to get out of my body. I heard sharp screams come out of my mouth inspired by thrills. The screams broke the icy silence of the lonely alley, right under the umbrella of leaves. Shortly after the thrilling period, calmness returned to me. My heart had gotten used to the excitement of hanging in the air. I felt no fear, only the enjoyment of flying.

The swing was always with me, swaying up and down, back and forth. I could hear the wind whistling past my ears. No, it was not whistling; It was the Wind Goddess gently telling me the story of the seasons. It was the Wind Goddess singing a song about the legend of the Sun God far away; about the ancient countryside folklores. I could also hear birds between the fresh leaves singing happily.

My heart flew too, joyfully. Just let me fly to the remote unknown place. I could see that my body drew arcs through the air beneath the umbrella leaves. Closing my eyes, I clearly sensed the warmth leaking secretly from the leaves, from the sky, from the remote sun. Opening my eyes, I looked up and saw that the crystal blue sky was shaped into pieces of irregular patterns by the leaves. Lowering my head, I found spots of bright golden sunshine leaping on the alley stones. All these pictures were mixed with faint sunshine that all appeared during the speedy flying which led me into faintness. It seemed to me that time had frozen and I would merely be a speck of dust in the vast universe until the end of time.

Days and nights passed away while the swing swayed and swayed. The swing moved forward and backward, left to right; It swayed in the rising sun and the setting sun. It swayed on rainy days and sunny days. Then the day came when the old longan tree was cut down in flashes of axes in the warm sunset. The day came when the giant gates of old houses were all shut down by the rusty iron locks. The the day came when all neighbors left one by one, without a word. The alley has kept silent ever since that day. All the joy was gone. Also gone was the na飗e childish heart.

As I stepped on the once familiar alley stones I noticed the houses on both sides of the alley were standing quietly with rusted gates that were tightly shut. All the flourishing scenes were gone, leaving behind nothing but loneliness. At the far end of the alley lay an old brick wall. A wondering dog lay in the grass watching me with cold and aggressive eyes as if I were an invader. It was not until that moment that I realized the alley was no longer familiar to me.

My childhood was lost in the remote unknown place called long ago. That swing from my childhood is only a faded scenery picture in my memory now.

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