Monument of Life and Death

  Chapter 5 Old Photos

   Xiaolan looked up at the sky.

  The storm has stopped.

  The ground is full of mud that turned up after the heavy rain, and every step I took, I felt as if I stretched out a hand from the ground to grab my ankle.

  The moon appeared, but there were no stars. The air was filled with the smell of mulch excavated by the heavy rain. She walked in the fresh smell of rotting in the moonlight.

After    was rejected, Xiaolan became a person again.

   Still going home, she thought, after all, she only knows that these two places are related to her. Although the house is clean and tidy, there might be clues left behind.

  She didn't think too much, she didn't even deliberately recall the way she came, as if being led by some kind of force, walking on the road that she shouldn't be familiar enough.

  I don’t know the current time, and no pedestrians were seen along the way.

It turns out that the dark night here is so long. Reminiscent of the inexplicable look in the eyes of the aunt who said hello in the morning, and Uncle Song’s eagerness to get rid of herself, she felt that it was actually good to walk on such a night, at least without feeling other people. A strange look.

  In a blink of an eye, Xiaolan came to the gate of the community. She didn't remember which door and building her home was, but she seemed to remember the steps and went straight to the depths of the community.

  It is dark everywhere, and the trees, bushes on both sides, and even the street lamps that emit a faint light, give the impression that they are all dark.

  She step by step, as proficiently as she had walked countless times, but this familiarity did not bring her anything related to memories.

  She looked at the street trees, the old bricks on the ground, and the low-rise buildings with similar appearance. She did not feel the tension of being impacted by memories. If she had to say any emotions, she was mostly at a loss.

   Entering the building, it is even darker.

   When passing by the door of the aunt's house in the morning, she stopped.

Although Auntie    is also guarding herself, she is very kind. Thinking like this, she leaned forward to sneak a peek at the cat's eye, and it turned out to be a black hole. She turned around and quickly walked up the steps, and decided to go down and ask again after dawn.

   saw the closed door.

  The door looks locked, she doesn't have the key.

  Is it locked when she came out in the morning, she thought as she stepped up the last few steps.

Putting his hand on the rough handle covered with floating dust, Xiaolan twisted slightly, accompanied by the harsh noise produced by the friction of the rusty metal. The sound of "creaking" was amplified in this dead silence, Xiaolan twisted slightly. Lan paused for a few seconds with a guilty conscience, feeling as if he had awakened the entire building.

   "Cack!"

  Considering that opening the door slowly would be noisy, she quickly opened the door a small slit this time, leaned over and got in, and closed the door agilely with her hand back.

  Before the noise filled the air, Xiaolan closed the door and walked to the middle of the room.

  The light in the room was dim, and Xiaolan realized that the sky had gradually turned white. The faint light of the early morning passed through the window, revealing everything in the room to her.

  Said everything, but in fact there is only flying dust in the living room, and there is at least one wooden bed in the attic.

   Xiaolan looked around by the dim sky before the sun rose. Except for the small stairs leading to the attic, there are four doors in the house, which are all open now, and the door panels have been removed.

  My room, mom and dad’s room...

  She recalled the contents behind the four door frames, her small body wandering among the floating dust.

  Empty...empty...all empty.

  She looked at the room full of pipes, which was suspected to be a bathroom, and wondered in surprise, even the toilet was removed?

  What happened?

  If this continues, she can't even say with certainty that this is her home.

  The downstairs was so thoroughly cleaned up, the wooden bed in the attic, which looked good, was left there.

   Xiaolan was taken aback, and was prompted by her own thoughts.

  The remaining wooden bed in the attic may be a clue left by parents or other people. After all, the downstairs is empty, so you don't really want to pry the floor.

  Thinking so, she stepped up the stairs below the attic again.

  The little head gradually came out of the stairs. The sky was much brighter than before. The skylights in the attic were also well lit. Although there was no feeling of being awakened by the sun, the light still illuminates all corners here.

  Sure enough, there is still only one bed.

  She hoped that she had missed something important yesterday, but the attic was too small, and it seemed that there was only this empty rigid bed.

  The hardboard bed has no headboard, and naturally there are no bedding sheets, only the metal bed frame with clean lines and the neatly arranged wooden boards on the bed frame.

  She leaned over and looked into the four legs of the hollow bed frame. The light hadn't come in completely, but she could vaguely see what was wrapped in the narrow column.

  Xiao Lan was excited and anxious, stretched out her finger to hook the thing hidden in the pillar.

bumped into!

  The touch is fragile and thin. Xiaolan uses the friction of her fingers to drive it up a little bit. As more parts appear under Xiaolan's fingers, the smooth and slightly greasy feel makes her feel a little bit cool.

  This familiar cheap touch...

  Sure enough, she looked at the wrapped snack wrapper in her hand and fell into deep thought. If she insists on saying that this is a clue, she can explain it, but... it's just that it is difficult for her to understand what is hidden behind the wrapper.

  Even so, Xiaolan carefully folded it up and put it in his pocket.

  She changed her target, crouched down and put her head under the bed.

The wooden boards were arranged neatly and tightly. Xiaolan reached out and knocked on each board. The dust raised her eyes so that she couldn't open her eyes. In addition, the early morning sunlight was not enough to shine under the bed, except for the dust on one end. And wood chips, she found nothing.

   While sneezing, she patted the old surprise on her head and shoulders. She felt that she had only made herself more embarrassed so far. Could this bed really be forgotten when she moved?

  A double bed that is neither big nor small, and the quilt and mattress are gone, there is no reason to leave a removable bed frame, not to mention even the toilet has been removed.

She sneezed again and sat directly on the bed. She wanted to sleep first. Her thoughts were messy and complicated, and she was even a little angry. She attributed this emotion to lack of sleep, even though she was not sleepy or sleepy. Tired, but she needs a rest.

  The simple little bed "creaked" loudly, and she was so frightened that she immediately bounced off the bed.

  Or... Lie down on the ground for a while?

  Thinking about this, Xiaolan squatted down and was about to sit on the ground. His wandering gaze swept across. With the light from the skylight, he suddenly saw something under the bed, lying on the ground that was still blank just now.

  Is it an illusion of light? She moved her body to the left.

  The small flaky thing is still lying quietly under the bed.

  She almost pierced through it like a fierce boy, ignoring the crumbs and dust under the bed, leaning over and taking a closer look.

  With her hands around, wanting to touch but not daring to touch, Xiaolan stared at the object in front of her curiously.

  At this time, the sun has already risen, and the dazzling and warm sunlight in the morning shines through the skylight. The light has washed away the haze and the storm of the previous night, and it has also illuminated the picture in front of Xiaolan.

  A small old photo.

  The picture shows a timid little boy in overalls. He is about seven or eight years old. His eyebrows are lowered. The boy's right hand seems to be held by someone, with a smile on his mouth.

   Xiaolan gently squeezed the photo and placed it on the palm of her hand. When her head hit the bed, she remembered that she was still lying under the bed. She grabbed the photo and got out, and sat on the bed to observe the sun carefully.

  The photo only reaches the palm of the boy, and it looks like there is another half.

  The sun is shining on Xiaolan and it is warm.

Xiaolan held up the photo and placed it under the sun. The light coated the photo with a circle of golden frames. The whole body of the boy seemed to be glowing. Looking at the golden old photos with fringed edges, Xiaolan's mouth was unconscious. Up.

  Ah, the sun is so warm.

  At this moment, Xiaolan believes for no reason that the other half of the photo is herself, her childhood self.

  So, it’s no secret to find out who the boy is and who he is.

   "Boom boom boom!"

While    was thinking hopefully, the door was knocked suddenly.

  Xiao Lan was startled, but for a moment he didn't realize where the sound was.

  When she realized that someone was knocking on the door, before she had time to wonder who had knocked on the house, which was said to have been empty for a long time, a woman's soft call sounded outside the door.

   "Xiaolan, are you inside?"

  　Thank you for reading, thank you for your recommendation, thank you all for accompany me and Xiaolan to find ourselves, thank you, thank you very much!

  (End of this chapter)