A friend far away (Final)

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Last night, I had a dream. I often hear people talking about their dreams. One of the common dreams that my college classmates had was to take the college entrance exams. In their dreams, there were always something bad that had happened and prevented them from performing well. Some of them had that kind of dreams even long after they graduated from college. After they awake, they would say: I wish I could be a child again. Children’s world is so simple. I never felt the same way. I always remembered how confused I was when I was a little kid. Until recently, I often dreamed about my dissertation defense. In my dreams, there were all kinds of things that prevented me from doing my defense. I truly hoped that I can be a child again.

Yesterday, I told LD about these dreams. I told him that I started to understand my college classmates.

LD suddenly told me that Ye had nightmares almost every night even 5 years after he killed two people. Ye would scream in his dreams and LD would hold his hands and call his name.

“What did he scream about?”

“Something like: come, come, I am not afraid of you.”

“Maybe Xia left him was because it was impossible to share a bed with him.”

“No, it was not like that.”

“Like what?”

I guess the story about Ye was brewed in LD’s brain like a good tea. It tasted so good even after one sip.

“They were dated for three years. Xia moved to City B to stay with Ye.”

I can imagine how Fe would see to Xia’s comfort. I would imagine how Fe would bring Xia to some fancy restaurants. I would imagine how Fe would bring some fragrant roses to wake Xia up. There must be a lot of roses and candles.

“Why didn’t Fe leave City B? Xia’s family was in City A.” I finally asked the questions that I cannot find an answer.

“Fe used to have a shop manager in City B. He found out that Fe was on the run. He blackmailed Fe. He became Fe’s partner and later, he wanted to Fe to give him all his money. Fe had to deal with him.”

Oh, I see. That was why he cannot return to City A. Now all the sadness I saw in his eyes started to make sense.

“How did Fe start the business? Didn't you tell me his parents were poor?”

“Yes. When Fe was on the run, he had no place to go. He became a thief in a train station. He slept in the station during nights and stole things during days.”

I began to image how Fe walked around in a station. A girl whose husband just abandoned her walked in a slow pace. She was crying. Fe approached her and silently put his finger into her pocket. There could be a college freshman who got lost in the station. He walked around with a frightened look on his face. Fe managed to walk near to him and pulled his wallet out silently. When nights come, he crawled in one of the small seats and screamed out in one of his nightmares.

“When he got enough money, he opened a phone booth.”

On the wall of his phone booth, there must be some cigarette boxes. There must be some instance noodle boxes. Fe wouldn’t let any business opportunities go. I can imagine how he counted coins carefully.

“Then he started his business in City A. He missed his old classmates. He then started his business in City B.”

That was when I first met Fe. He was entirely off the guard when he was with us.

“Did he tell Xia that he was on the run?”

“Yes. Fe told Xia about himself after the first week when they met. It was actually Xia who told his manager that he was on the run.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Xia was just a college student. She didn’t know the real world. She told his manager that she want to write a novel about Fe.”

I knew all about those who are addicted to writing. They were hungry for inspirations and they were eager to share.

“That was why Xia was crying? I once saw she was crying.”

“No. Fe didn’t tell Xia that the manager blackmailed him. He didn’t want her to feel guilty.”

“I swear I did see Xia crying.”

“She was crying since her family didn’t want her to marry Ye. They wanted her to marry someone with a college degree.”

FAMILY. It is family again. Isn’t family supposed to supportive. Why did family constantly become the final obstacle for love?

“After they stayed together for about two years, they had a big fight. Xia went back to City B. After a month, Ye drove to City B to find her. He found that Xia got married within that month.”

“Only a month?” My eyeballs nearly popped out.

“Ye drove back to City A and got into an accident.”

I could vividly imagine how Ye as wrapped in white bondages and was wishing himself to die…………….I could feel the moisture in my eyes.

LD looked at me and tried to comfort me: “It is Ok. Ye is now married and he has a daughter.”

“What!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Yes. I can open my email box to show you his pictures. His daughter looked just like him.” LD run to his computer and was afraid that I could cry if he opened his emailbox one minute late.

I froze there. I looked out of windows. It was really windy. Trees was shaking really hard, as if they were trying their best to leave their land. All of sudden, I lost my courage to look at Ye’s picture. He could just look like those shaking trees. He must have lived like those tree. They all had roots holding them staying in a nightmare. No matter how hard he tried, he cannot move. I started to wonder if he ever left that nightmare.

Last night, I didn't dream about my dissertation defense. I had no dreams at all.

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