1 A bad dream

中国語の絵文字

The dim lights were flickering in a corner stall in the night market area of Shenzhen city.

Pitter patter ..

Pitter patter ..

Pitter patter ..

Song Yue lazily sipped her steaming hot cup of lemon tea and watched the heavy rain pouring down.

"Hmm... Looks like that's it for customers tonight." She slowly stood up and started cleaning the stove area. Luckily not many leftovers remained today.

She closed up the spice rack, cleaned the pans, removed the trash, and closed her stall.

Stretching her back and arms, Song Yue collected the day's tally, locked the stall, and started walking towards her apartment.

She lived in a small studio apartment in the subsidized housing complex near the central night market.

Her mother recently passed away from a serious illness and she had huge hospital bills as a constant reminder of that. She had lost her father at a much younger age.

Thinking about today's balances, Song Yue was getting more and more worried... She was not sure if she could make this month's payment...

Song Yue usually closed her stall at about 2 am in the night when the business dulled out and walked back home alone by herself. She found herself most calm and serene in these late deserted nights.

Lost in her thoughts, she was blankly walking on the pavement next to the road.

Suddenly, a black Maserati drove past her splashing dirty rain puddle water all over her. Her umbrella was not big enough to protect her from this.

Startled Song Yue jumped back to reality completely drenched. But before she could start cursing at the evil car, she noticed two small chubbies in the back seat looking at her cutely with their small round eyes.

Unfortunately, she couldn't take a proper look and the car disappeared from her sight.

Smiling slightly she continued walking to her home with water dripping from her clothes. What hasn't she seen in life... This is nothing at all.

"Sup Yue... How was business today ?" Song Yue's friendly neighbor Shen Zi brightly greeted her. Shen Zi was a night owl and was fully energetic even at this time.

"Heh... What do you think... Same as every other day... "

"mmhmm"

Rustling through today's newspaper, Shen Zi was lounging lazily, sitting in her armchair near the door.

"Wow look at that! You are drenched completely. You go ahead, girl. We can chat tomorrow. Have a good night"

"Good night Zi. And here is your night snacks. Wouldn't forget that! Haha"

"You are the best love !"

Waving that enthusiastic girl good night, Song Yue closed her doors and started freshening up. She worked every day for almost 12 hours and was completely tired.

She quickly undressed and took a long hot shower. mmm... That was refreshing.

She then brushed her hair and went to bed.

The silent night was slowly crawling by... The gentle rain sounded metallic on the roof... Song Yue was sound asleep...

.....

It was a bright sunny afternoon. Two small kids, one a boy, the other a girl, were playing on the lawn. With colorful fresh clothes and beautiful smiles, they were sparkling in the sunlight.

They were passing a rainbow-colored ball to each other and giggling happily.

A middle-aged woman sitting next to them was fast asleep on her chair, with a book over her face, covering her closed eyes.

Song Yue smiled gently enjoying the beautiful scene unfolding in front of her.

Funny ?! or weirdly surprising ?!... The two kids even resembled the ones she had seen earlier that night in the car that had splashed her.

Chuckling to herself, she continued taking in the pleasant atmosphere. Would she ever have this in her life...

But before long, out of nowhere, 5 masked men dressed in black clothes surrounded the 2 kids and the middle-aged woman.

They directly shot the woman dead instantaneously and then proceeded to heartlessly kill one of the two little buns.

Looking at his sister falling on the ground suddenly, all covered in blood, the small boy started screaming and calling for help.

But the men did not pay any attention. They didn't seem to care and they didn't stop what they were doing. They swiftly gagged his mouth and carried him away struggling.

All of this happened in an instant and the entire area was dead silent. Recovering from her shock, Song Yue started screaming.

"NO... NO... Don't hurt them... Please don't hurt them... Someone help... Please... " Song Yue yelled and shouted at the top of her lungs... But no one was listening... She tried to rush to the wounded child who had fallen down ...

But, the next moment, she jolted up awake, panicked, and out of breath... And all she saw was the endlessly rotating dull blades of her apartment's ceiling fan.

She slowly realized what had happened. "Shit... That dream was a bit too realistic for me... "

She got up, drank a glass of water to calm her nerves, wiped her sweat off, washed her face, and went back to bed... "It's just a random bad dream... Let's forget about it" .. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep quietly...