Polaris Fall
Here comes the opening of a ceremony when obscure streetlights scatter the dense night.
We are not able to see the feast in heaven, but we can imagine the pure and grand fireworks set by the angels, so beautiful yet refreshing the snow. Those snowflakes, nurtured by the cloud and thorn by the wind, must be petals of the fireworks.
And this is the blessing sent from heaven.
I was granted with such blessing as well.
After lunch, I went out with a single layer and a scarf around my neck.
Pushing open the gate of my building, I was greeted with such unabashed snow. The streets, the spinney and wherever I lay my eyes were dusted with dazzling white. It was like I was the one who had intruded into their world—— a world that should have been colorful, but now muted into different shades of white.
Somehow, I was the first one to step into this new world. My visit was so abrupt that it could compete with the bark after “the monk knocks the door in the moonlight” in Jia Dao’s eyes. The little bumps and hollows along the road, the tiny cracks hidden in the grass, the fragile petals peeping through the fallen leaves and the footsteps printed in the sand. All these were molded into one stillness. Was it a trace of shyness from the first-time visit, or was it because I didn’t have the heart to step on the perfect carpet? Anyway, I stopped myself from moving my feet. I just stood there at the gate, unmoving.
Then I looked up. I saw fairies.
It was the fairy of winter. It was the fairy of snow. It was purity in the form of its own. Just a silhouette, it was you.
It was just a shadow, from across the street, out of the corner of my eyes. I wiped the snowflakes on my glasses and looked again.
You were just a silhouette. But you must be as interesting because you were an earlier bird than I was and knew how to appreciate snow. Even though you just flashed across my eyes and were gone when I blinked, I still believed that you, you must be a fairy.
So two chains of footprints appeared in the carpet of snow.
On crossing the street, I started looking for you. There you are, under a roof at the corner.
You curled up and wrapped yourself in a small blanket covered with snow. Beside you stood a dustbin. All the litter was scattered here and there. I started to think what’s wrong when you looked up.
Below your lifeless eyebrows, red veins colored your black eyes. Some strands of hair covered your face. But I could still see your lips, dry and white. In your eyes, there was no guard to be found, just fatigue. The tiredness was like a war that was bound to be won. Your eyes were waiting and looking. I suddenly felt so arrogant looking down at you. So I slowly squatted down to level with your eyes.
At this point, the wind was shouting through the woods.
Suddenly, you stood up. The snowflakes fled from the sudden movement. I looked up. My glasses were fogged by my breath. When I could see you clearly again, you were shaking, even your eyes.
Were you afraid?
Or, were you cold?
When I occupied myself guessing, you fell down on the ground. I was shocked. But soon the shock was replaced by sympathy.
I was scared, I stood up and decided to leave. When I looked back, the small blanket could no longer cover your weak body. But here you lay quietly beside the dustbin. Your body lay parallel with the fallen dustbin, the narrow street and the snow blown by the wind. And I ran back in a hurry, leaving footprints all around you. All these footprints, together with the footprints I left when I came, looked just like the big dipper. The place you were lying, was the North Star, Polaris.