To Be Continued (by Tony)

It is a typical cool winter afternoon with weak sunshine of southern China when a young adult stepped back to his high school from which he had left for one year. He silently wandering around the quiet campus.

This school looks brand new with well designed teaching buildings and neat paths, so you might feel amazed to hear that she has been 81 years old. Actually, the body is young and pretty but the soul inside it is mature and intelligent. However, few outsiders know that the small lovely lake inside the campus is smelly in summer and the swimming pool has never opened for students. ‘Never judge a book by its cover’, the young man smiled when he walked through a familiar hallway. Anyway, it is good to be back.

He kept walking. It seems surprising that in every corridor he went through and every corner he turned into, there was an old friend suddenly, carelessly bumping into him and said, ‘Oh, sorry!! I didn’t mean to… Ah, see who is this! Long time no see, Tony!’ Once and once again the young man ran across the same friend, but in different clothes, and with different appearances. Sounds scaring, isn’t it? By the way, this friend is called Mr. Memory.

Then, just say hello to the old days. When Mr. Tony looked into a classroom, he thought of a troublesome exam he had taken two years ago. The nearby linking corridor reminded him of the morning when he got up late and stormed into the classroom. He also remembered how delicious the first dinner he took in the campus canteen is. Everything around carries some story, even the blue sky and the wind with the smell of the sea.

Finally Mr. Tony arrived at the ground track field. This time he did not come across Mr. Memory. Well, maybe he did, but tired of saying hello again. He met with a football, who is standing alone on the football field, bathed in golden, warm sunshine. Suddenly Mr. Tony felt like crying without obvious reasons when he saw this scene. ‘Perhaps, it is because I came back alone and met no more friends but Mr. Memory’, he told himself. Then he decided to leave. When he came to the main gate where the school motto was carved on a big stone, he understood all at once after reading those four words –‘diligence, fortitude, trustiness, cordiality’.

How do you feel on the day when you look back? The worst answer is that you regret for the time you have wasted. Sometimes when the environment has changed and more freedom is given, people tend to gradually lose their dreams and escape from the truth of life. After a long time, when they get a chance to calm down and dive into their memories, not only will they feel regretful, but also, amazingly, they may be touched by the life they used to live, which is tough, challenging but meaningful. However, being regretful also may be the best answer because, unfortunately, some people never wake up.

On the way home, the seed fell and the weather became colder. After experiencing a whole year of summer, Mr. Tony felt a bit uncomfortable about such coldness. He tightened his coat and looked out of the car window.

Is this the end of the story? No, it is the beginning of a story.