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Hiding from Autumn

Wang Liang is a rural child, married before moving into the county with his wife, a decade or so has passed

By Judith HodkiewiczPublished about a year ago 6 min read
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Hiding from Autumn
Photo by Alex Geerts on Unsplash

Wang Liang is a rural child, married before moving into the county with his wife, a decade or so has passed.

In the spring of this year, Wang Liang's father had a fall. He lives alone in the countryside, no one is around to take care of him, and life is very inconvenient. Wang Liang thought: Why not take his father to live in the city before it's too late?

At the weekend, Wang Liang drove home and mentioned the matter, his father stared back: "Do you think I suffered from the fall a few days ago? No! At that time I a voice, left and right neighbors are coming, nothing!"

My father was hot-tempered when he was young, his eyes were naturally big, and when he was angry, he glared again, which was scary. Wang Liang took a look at his father's attitude, knowing that he could not argue, and can only give up.

In the summer, Wang Liang intended to use the "summer in the city" as a reason to talk to his father again, as usual, through a closed door.

The weather turned cooler in the autumn. This day Wang Liang is working, and received a phone call from his father: "Weekend pick me up, I want to go to the city."

Wang Liang could not believe his ears: "You ......"

The father knew his son had doubts: "I don't want to live in the countryside, not even for a day!"

Wang Liang was so happy that he went to pick up the driver on the weekend and found that his father had long packed his luggage. Without saying a word, the father went into town with Wang Liang. The room has long been vacated, once the father came, the family reunion.

However, Wang Liang had questions in his mind: Why did his father suddenly come to town?

One day not long after, Wang Liang just entered the house after work and heard his father on the bedroom phone, the voice is quite loud: "There is no ...... still ah!" Not long after, the father came out of the bedroom, full of regret. Wang Liang curiously asked his father what was going on, his father, as usual, was a big-eyed glare: "Nothing." So on and so forth, there is no more.
After a period of time, Wang Liang now and then heard his father calling in the bedroom, still the same two sentences: "There is no ...... there ah!" Every time you hang up the phone, your father's face is not happy.

The father must be something, who is he talking to on the phone? What "there is no"? Wang Liang's head is full of question marks. He took advantage of his father's defencelessness and went into his bedroom to open his father's cell phone, and found that there was a string of numbers in his father's call log that he had dialed the most times.

Wang Liang wrote down the phone number and dialed it the next day. The person who answered the phone was an old man, Wang Liang introduced himself and learned that the other party is a distant grandfather of the old family. Wang Liang opened the door and asked him what he and his father were talking about on the phone, but he didn't expect the grandfather to pull no punches: "Oh, your father is asking me if there are any midges back home."

Wang Liang cried and laughed, his father did not plant crops for many years, why do you care about midges?

Just want to hang up the phone, the distant grandfather stammered: "This person ah ...... old, can not late."

What does this mean? Wang Liang just wants to ask, the distant house grandfather hung up the phone.

Pondering a few days, Wang Liang also did not figure it out and decided to simply go back home to investigate the situation. This weekend, Wang Liang left his old man at home, and his wife drove back to the countryside together. The two of them split up, to visit the door as a reason to explore the father's "details.

In the evening, on the way home, Wang Liang straight sighed and said: "village east aunt told me that my father and his older siblings extraordinary relationship. Once, someone saw Da Xiu's sibling run out of my father's house, cheeks scarlet."

Wang Liang's wife also sighed: "I also heard. That's the way it is in the countryside, you can't hide even the smallest thing, it spreads fast."

Back home, a few days later, Wang Liang heard his father calling in the bedroom again: "Is there ...... no more ...... great!" Then the father came out of the bedroom and said loudly, "Make two more dishes and have a drink today."

Father said to Wang Liang: "I've been here for more than two months, and I want to go back home to see. In the future, I will come to live in the city every year in the third autumn."

Wang Liang was puzzled: "It's winter, the weather is getting cold!"

My father said, "Let's not talk about it, I'll leave tomorrow." The same day, the father loaded the luggage. Wang Liang saw that his father, which is "back home to see", is clearly to return home.

Wang Liang and his wife listened to his father's words "every year three autumn to live in the city", that his father into the city, must be related to the "three autumns". But what is the secret of the three autumns? And what is the meaning of the phrase "the late season is not safe" for the grandfather?

When my father did not return home, this evening at dinner, Wang Liang plucked up the courage to ask his father: "You said every year three autumn into the city, in the end, because of what?"

Father froze for a moment, "huh" laughed twice, and stared and said: "Every year three autumn what most? Midges."

My wife said, "What does that have to do with you going to the city?"

My father said, "A small midge is not a simple thing. Think about what you were most afraid of as a child."

Wang Liang couldn't help but rub his eyes: "When I was a child, I was most annoyed by the midges in my eyes." Still not knowing his father's intention, he asked, "Can't we just rub it out or blow it out?"

"What if you can't rub it out?" Father asked.

Short Story
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About the Creator

Judith Hodkiewicz

I am enthusiastic and cheerful, friendly, honest, and modest. I can bear hardships and work hard, do my duty and have patience. I am affable, easy-going, and good at communicating with people.

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