Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
It was a sunny day.
Becky basked in the sunlight on the meadow in the farmland, surrounded by sheep which kept jumping
and bleating merrily.
The wind, bringing with it the sweet smell of grass, gently touched Becky's cheeks as it blew lightly
across the farmland. Everything about that afternoon added to her bright mood.
Becky lazily ran her hand over the surface of the table. She did it with her cell phone in her hand. A
feeling of thirst possessed her and her hand reached for the glass of juice on the table. She slowly took
a sip. Contrary to the sweetness of the juice, she felt bitter.
Becky was waiting for Brian's message. Time ticked by, one minute after another. But the cell phone
stayed silent. Five minutes had passed. But still nothing from Brian.
"Cindy," said Becky while looking towards Cindy's direction. She felt the table with her hands and tried
her best to place the glass on it as steadily as possible. She was almost blind and was only capable of
seeing blurry shadows which she could just barely distinguish from the darkness that surrounded her. It
was impossible for her to recognize anybody even if someone stood right in front of her. "Brian hasn't
texted in quite a while. He has never done this before."
Cindy looked at Becky with sympathy, feeling sorry for her helplessness. Enraged by Brian's ignorant
behavior, Cindy got up from the deck chair immediately. "Becky, I'll book the air ticket. Let's go back as
soon as possible."
Becky lowered her head after hearing Cindy's words. Her lusterless eyes indicated the blankness of
her mind. Her nose twitched and she softly uttered in a weeping tone,"Where should we go?"
"Where..." Cindy stopped mid-sentence. Brian's whereabouts was always a mystery. Where could they
find him?
Becky closed her eyes in helplessness, biting her lips hard to subdue the mounting sadness in her
heart. Then she swallowed to dismiss the lump in her throat. "I called daddy. He told me that Brian is
not in A City now."
"What about Dragon Island?" asked Cindy.
Becky shook her head with a bitter smile before saying,"Cindy, Brian seldom stays in Dragon Island.
Did you forget?"
Cindy knew that, of course. She only mentioned it to give Becky some hope.
Becky bit her lips harder as she grew more anxious. She was in low spirits as she looked across the
meadow solemnly, although she could see nothing. Her fingers ran over the cell phone once again. In
the span of the past month, she had gradually gotten accustomed to the blurry world governed by
darkness. At least she did not require any assistance from others as long as she stayed in places she
was familiar with. And also, she could send messages by feeling and pressing the keys on her cell
phone.
Her need for independence even as a blind woman brought a mocking smile on Becky's lips. Taking a
deep breath, she put her trembling fingers on the cell phone again and slowly typed several words. She
had to feel each letter and took more than two minutes to finish typing the few words.
Becky's eyelashes flickered as some bad memories crawled into her mind. With her hands trembling,
she pressed the key to send the text.
'Ding!' Brian's cell phone chimed again as he and Molly strolled, hand in hand, along the trail in the
small park. It was after dark and snow had coated everything in white. Brian stayed silent all the way.
His face had turned dark ever since he had received the first text from Becky. Soon, his cell phone
chimed again, to notify him about a new message. He held the cell phone so tight that the bandaged
wound in his hand opened up. It bled to dye the white bandage scarlet red.
Molly was half a step behind Brian, following him at a measured pace. Keeping that close distance, she
could tread easily on Brian's footprints. Sensing the change in Brian's mood, she cast him a swift,
secret glance. She had a hunch that the text must have been from someone important. 'Who is texting
him?' Molly wondered.
The silence between them turned the air oppressive. Molly was almost breathless. Suddenly, she
stopped to take a deep breath. She halted so unexpectedly that Brian almost stumbled because he
was still holding Molly's hand.
He turned around to check with a frown. "What's wrong, Molly?" asked Brian.
Molly pouted and took out her cell phone to type a sentence.
"Why won't you check your messages ?"
Brian's frown deepened as he read the words on Molly's cell phone. His handsome face became
gloomier as well. In a cold manner, he asked,"Don't you think you are being too nosy, Molly?"
That coldness, however, didn't affect Molly at all. Maybe she had gotten accustomed to it. Instead of
yielding to Brian, she returned a challenging stare before typing out another sentence. "Your
expression suggests that you want to check the messages. But you are refraining from doing so. Are
you finding it difficult to make a decision? In that case, let me delete them for you. Then you won't have
to go through the trouble of making a choice!"
Brian read Molly's message with a frown. To his surprise, Molly moved to grab his cell phone before he
could respond to her text. But she stopped as soon as she noticed the blood on Brian's bandage. Like
a magnet, that red stain attracted her attention. She stared at it with widened eyes. Forgetting her
original purpose, she hurriedly approached to check his wound.
However, no sooner had she touched Brian than he quickly responded by hitting her hand away and
shoved her back. He thought that Molly was rushing to snatch his phone. Due to Brian's brute strength,
Molly fell backwards and tripped. She went crushing down to the ground with a loud noise.
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