Arcadia Chronicles: The Story of Lien Hua

Lien Hua lived an average life: She attended an ordinary school, found a common job, and had a normal family.

She got married at the age of 25 and had a wonderful, obedient son soon after, but she divorced her husband not even three years later; their relationship had lost its flame. She ended up getting custody of her son and was delighted to have won sole custody.

She and her son were inseparable. Lien Hua adored her son more than anything in the world because he was the only person who took her away from her normal life.

Several months passed after she won sole custody, some disturbing news from her son's paediatrician destroyed her hopes.

'Why did this have to happen to me?' was the question Lien Hua kept asking herself when she saw that her life would never be the same again. Lien Tian, her son, was diagnosed with a serious illness at the young age of 8.

On the fateful date of December 23 of 2023, Lien Hua cried so much that she lost her voice; her angel left her to go to heaven.

After her son's funeral, she was no longer a mother. She no longer knew what to do now that she was completely alone.

When she returned home, she felt her surroundings were darker and duller than usual. Everything was dark and silent; the things around her all lost their color.

The woman fell to her knees and began crying with what few tears she had left. By now she had lost everything: there was no one waiting for her after a tiring day of work, no one she could talk to at night during dinner, there was no one left.

Lien Hua was exhausted, but that night she could not sleep because she was tormented by the memories of her precious Lien Tian.

Two years later, now 35 years old, depression was her only companion. One afternoon, she found a piece of paper left for her by her son that said not to worry once he had left.

She realised that she could not go on like this. She had to fight and drive herself away from the depression and emptiness that was lurking in her heart. She began to read every book she happened to have on hand, from light novels to fantasy books to science fiction.

The woman was so passionate about reading books about people who took back their lives with their own strength, that she wondered questions like, 'If I were as strong as they are in these stories, maybe I could have saved my sons' life?' questions that were thrown out of her mind when she remembered that these were fictions born from writers' imaginations.

One day, as Lien Hua crossed the street on her way home from work, her cell phone rang. She quickly made her way over to the sidewalk and accepted the call.

The name on the screen was Hua Meng, her work colleague and best friend.

Her voice came through the phone enthusiastically, "Hey, Hua Hua, my sweetheart, what are you doing? Why don't you go out with me for a drink?"

Lien Hua replied, "Sure, Meng Meng. The usual place?"

Hua Meng answered by simply ending the call. Lien Hua placed her cell phone in her pocket and set off to the predetermined location- an unknown bar along some dead-end street in their city.

Hua Meng and Lien Hua met when the Hua Meng was still married. They met at work, but neither remembered exactly how. Perhaps due to anxiety and stress, they started talking to each other to unload some of the tension with them being the only women there.

Hua Meng had initially requested to join another department, but ended up in the department Lien Hua was working. They instantly became friends and began hanging out together. After the news of the divorce and immediately after her son's death, the bond between them became even stronger.

As soon as Lien Hua arrived, she immediately noticed her friend Hua Meng in front of their usual bar. Meng was dressed in a long beige coat and grey trousers. Although they were the same age, she looked older than Lien Hua. Lien Hua raised her hand and began to wave to her friend. After a few seconds, Hua Meng noticed her and ran over in her direction.

"I missed you so much. How are you?"

Lien Hua looked at her perplexed. "But we met not even five minutes ago." Then she smiled and added, "Come on, it's freezing out here. Today is November 23rd, and not even a few days ago there was a blizzard."

Hua Meng pouted and accompanied Lien Hua to the entrance of the club. Above the door was an arched wooden board that read "The Drunken Lair", an appropriate name for the place with the city's best spirits.

The bar was quite small. It had just over three tables and a bar Inside. Many paintings depicted the various photos of the owner standing alongside famous people. At that time when the pair entered, the place was empty. There were four iron stools with red leather upholstery, and the lights in the room were very dim and warm creating a relaxing atmosphere.

As soon as they walked in, the club owner invited them to sit at the bar, and as soon as the owner sat them down, he turned to the girls. "Today is a day for wolves! Time to get drunk! I see you're cold. Seems you ladies need a Máotái, but one from the house!"

The girls laughed, and Hua Meng replied, "Old Huang Yao, you're always the same. I still wonder how your wife left you."

The old man had a perplexed look on his face. "I have no idea. I woke up one morning and that grumpy old woman was gone!... Alcohol is truly magical!"

And with a giant laugh, he filled two glasses. The girls immediately emptied their glass in one sip.

They all spent the entire evening laughing and smiling. At that moment, Lien Hua had forgotten all her troubles and worries. For one night, she felt alive.

As the evening drew to an end, the two friends said goodbye. Lien Hua, visibly drunk, began stumbling her way home.

She did not notice as she crossed the road that the traffic light was no longer working. It all happened so fast, Lien Hua got off the sidewalk at the exact moment a white vehicle moving at top speed appeared in the distance. It wasn't clear to her if it was a sports car or a minivan.

Halfway across the street, noticing the two headlights of a car on her, she froze in her tracks.

But unexpectedly the car swerved, almost bumping her legs, and hit the traffic light.

The rush of adrenaline made Lien Huas' buzz from the alcohol disappear.

She looked around and saw the car smoking and half-destroyed against the traffic light pole. Now it was clear that it was an SUV, and not too recent of a model either. The only noticeable things were the unusually shiny rims and a sticker stuck next to the car's plate representing a famous football team's logo. Incredibly, despite being dented and crumpled in several places, the rear window was still intact.

Lien Hua was caught up in a mixture of emotions. She began trembling and giggling, thinking how lucky she was.

However, she didn't notice the shadow that was hanging over her and widening slowly.

A metallic noise made her look up. The light, damaged by the strong impact, had suddenly collapsed on her.

Everything became dark...