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<p class="title_name">Fly Away</p>
<p class="author">Tim Jia</p>
<p class="start">[[start]]</p>
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</style>On an endless meadow under a bright blue sky, you happily run after your father. You are a little boy. Looking up at your father as you run, you see he is holding a string of a kite.
The kite is high up in the sky and it looks like a butterfly. You laugh and you run, as if the air is filled with joy.
Your father runs in front of you. Gradually his feet leave the ground, as if the kite is pulling him up into the air. As he rises, he turns around to look at you, still smiling, without a word.
You keep running and jumping, trying to reach him, but he is too high for your grasp. As he flies higher and higher, he looks smaller and smaller. His eyes keep looking at you, until he disappears into the sky.
You look around the endless meadow. There is no one else, as if nothing but yourself exists between the sky and the earth.
"Beep beep!"
The car behind honks, taking you back to [[reality]].It is the dream you woke up from this morning.
While you are waiting for the traffic light, a kite shop by the street draws your eyes and refreshes your dream, the dream you shed tears for.
Your father just passed away last week.
You are back to your hometown to attend his funeral, which happened yesterday. Now you still need to sell your father's house, because you no longer live here and you don't know anyone here anymore. You are actually driving to see a potential buyer for the house now.
The traffic light turns white, and the car behind you honks again. You take a one last look at [[the kite shop]] before you start your car.This is an old kite shop, the same one that your father bought you the butterfly kite when you were little. Actually, you just saw a butterfly kite hanging behind the window.
Is it the same one you had? You actually don't remember since it's been too long. Is it the one you just dreamt about? You wouldn't know because dreams are always blurry.
"But it definitely could be." You think to yourself.
You don't have much time before your meeting, but after selling the house, you don't know when you will come back to this town again. For old times sake, do you want to go to the kite shop?
[[Yes. I had the dream and then I saw this, is it my father telling me something through these signs?|go to kite shop]]
[[No. If I want to get through this, I need to stop making up stories.|keep driving]]You quickly park your car by the street and run into the kite shop. Holding the butterfly kite, you are hoping for some magical experiences, maybe some connection with your past or your father, but all you feel is numbness. Also the kite feels much smaller comparing to when you held it as a child.
For no obvious reason, you buy the kite anyway.
You exit the shop and go back to your car, only finding the car is gone and the "No Parking" sign standing behind you.
It's 10:27 A.M, 3 minutes before your meeting. There is no way you can be there on time, so you [[call]] the person you are meeting.
<<set $kiteShop to true>>You arrive at the coffee shop for your meeting at 10:27 A.M, 3 minutes before the meeting time. You take a table by the window.
Right after you sit down, a woman wearing all blacks inside out but a glaring red hat comes in. She looks around the place. As you are the only person sitting by yourself, she walks to you.
You stands up and shakes her hand, and you both [[sit down]].
<<set $kiteShop to false>>"Hello?" A woman's voice.
You explain the situation, saying you will be late for a bit but you are running as fast as you can. You are actually running while speaking.
"Nevermind then. I will look for other places. Bye." Then the woman hangs up.
What's wrong with this woman? You complain, and stop running.
A drop of water falls on your forehead. It starts raining.
Tender water drops turn into a shower in a few seconds. You move to a [[shelter by the street]], with the kite in your hand. One benefit of numbness is that frustration does not make things much worse, because you almost don't feel it.
Standing quietly and staring at the rain, your mind wanders. It wanders back to [[another rainy day]] when you were little.
She carefully takes off her red hat and gently puts it on the table. Her face looks pale and cold.
You directly get to the business and explains why you are selling the house.
Hearing what you said, she looks at you attentively, paused for a few seconds, and says, "I'm buying a house for the same reason..."
She lifts her right hand and gently put it on the red hat. "My husband just passed away, last month. I'm moving here hoping to start a new life, if that's possible at all..."
Her eyes turn to the window. You are baffled.
A few [[rain drops fall on the window]], and they turn to a shower in just a few seconds.You both remain silent for a while.
"This hat looks nice." You try to break the silence.
"My husband gave it to me, for our last anniversary."
"Oh. That's ..." You don't know what to say "...nice."
"By the way, thanks for being on time today. My husband always says, never do business with the poeple who cannot keep time. They are not trustworthy."
"No problem." In your head, you wonder what if you go to the kite shop.
"Can I see the house today? Everything looks good on paper, but I just want to see it in person." The woman gets back to the business.
"Yeah of course. My car is parked a few blocks away. Do you mind if we get on our way after the rain?"
"Sure."
As the rain furiously hits the window from outside, your memories are stirred up inside. You mind starts wandering in your memories, and it brings you back to [[another rainy day]] when you were little.
On that day, you couldn't go out because of the rain, so you bugged your father to play with you. You ended up watch a film together, The Lion King, in the house that you are about to sell.
A few images immediately occupy your mind -- the image of Mufasa falling off the cliff, and the one that the cloud in the sky turns into him and talks to Simba.
(Sky, Cloud, Kite, Dream...)
You ask yourself, "did I ask my father about death, like Simba did? I wish I did because I wish I know what he would have said."
You look up the sky, trying to see if the cloud takes his shape. Obviously it does not.
"What would he have said then?"
<<if $kiteShop == true>>
[["We all will die, sooner or later. After we die, we still live in our loved ones' lives."|give kite]]
[["No one knows much about death yet. But if someone dies, the people who love them will never see them again, so we should love people while they are around."|ruin kite]]
<<else>>
[["We all will die, sooner or later. After we die, we still live in our loved ones' lives."|warm]]
[["No one knows much about death yet. But if someone dies, the people who love them will never see them again, so we should love people while they are around."|guilty]]
<</if>>"He still lives in me." You think to yourself.
You take a look at the kite in your hand, and hold it closer to your body, as if it represented something. You almost [[feel warm]] even if it is raining.
The moment this thought occurs to you, you realize what you have missed.
You feel guilty. There are so many things you could have done for him when he was alive. You could have been a better son, spending more time with him, like he did for you when you were little. Now you will never see him again...
As your regret creeps up, the rain does not matter anymore. Maybe a little bit of rain can even make you feel better.
You leave the shelter and [[walk into the rain]]."Is that what he would say?" The woman asks.
With her by your side, you naturally speak out all your internal thoughts, and she was listening quietly until now.
"Yeah... I think so. He probably actually said this. Maybe I just didn't understand as such a little child, so I don't remember for sure."
You can see tears shining in her eyes.
"Thank you." The woman says, "This is very comforting, to believe my husband still lives in my life. I feel warm."
"No problem. I feel the same."
[[The rain stops.|go together]]"Is that what he would say?" The woman asks.
With her by your side, you naturally speak out all your internal thoughts, and she was listening quietly until now.
"Yeah... I think so. He probably actually said this. Maybe I just didn't understand as such a little child, so I don't remember for sure."
You can see tears shining in her eyes. She covers her face with her hands and her shoulders starts shaking.
"I feel so guilty. There are so many things I could have done for him when he was alive. I could have been a much better wife. Now I will never have the chance to make up to him again."
Every word of hers stabs into your heart, because it is true for you too. You could have been a better son, spending more time with your father, like he did for you when you were little. Now you will never see him again...
[[The rain stops.|go separate]]"Shall we go to see the house?" You ask the woman.
"Yes!" She puts on her hat as she speaks.
"Actually, would you like to join my ride? I can tell you about this town on the way..."
She hesitates.
"Don't worry. I will drive you back here no matter we make a deal or not."
"Okay!" She smiles.
[[You get on the way.|pass by kite shop]]As you pass by the kite shop again on your way back, a father and a son just come out from it. The son holds the butterfly kite in his hand, and the father kindly looks at the son. The kite looks big compared to the size of the boy. Both of them are smiling.
You cannot help but smiling too.
You know they will have a great time flying the kite after the rain, because that's what you and your father did on that rainy day.
END.She gradually stops crying as the rain gets quiet.
"Thank you for your time today, but I need to rethink about moving here."
She pauses.
"What if there are still things I can do for him? I cannot just leave those behind and restart my life. I cannot."
"I understand." You even start to question if you should sell the house.
Without another word, you each exit the coffee shop and turn to [[different directions]].As you pass by the kite shop again, you see the butterfly kite is gone. It was still there in the morning, but it's gone now.
The voice of your father speaks in your mind, "if someone dies, the people who love them will never see them again, so we should love people while they are around."
It sounds so real as if he actually said it.
"Why can't I grasp anything when they are still around? Not even a kite!" You think to yourself, as your tears drop down your face, and you drive away.
END.As you pass by the kite shop again, you notice there is trash can right in front of it. You leave the ruined kite there and keep walking.
You hear people come out of the kite shop behind you. A boy's voice is speaking,
"We should have come here earlier! Now the butterfly kite is gone!"
He is almost crying.
"Hey look, there is the butterfly kite right there!" This is probably his father pointing at the kite you left by the trash can.
"It's ruined!" The boy cries even harder.
You never turn around, just keep walking away, and their voices can no longer reach you.
As you walk, your internal voice says, "Hey boy, this is to teach you a lesson -- grasp what you love and waste no time. When you are late, things get ruined and you neven get them back."
END.A car quickly drives by and splashes the dirty water by the curbside. The splash ruins the kite. You see the driver is a woman with a red hat.
You feel more bitter than angry. "Maybe that woman is as desparate as I am." You think to yourself.
The rain gradually stops as you walk, but you are already drenched. Rain or not, what difference does it make?
You just [[keep on walking|throw away kite]].As you walk close to the "No Parking" sign, you see a father and a son come out of the kite shop.
The boy is crying to his dad, "We should have come here earlier! Now the butterfly kite is gone!"
"I'm sorry son, but the only butterfly kite left is gone. There is nothing we can do about that. Would you like a different one?" The father tries to console the boy.
You take a look at the butterfly kite in your hand, and you walk to them.
"Hey boy, do you want to have this?" You crouch down in front of the boy and hand the butterfly kite to him.
The boy immediately yells "Yes"! He then turns to his father, "Can I have it?"
The father looks at you thankfully. "Hey man I really appreciate it! I should pay you." He reaches to his wallet.
"It's okay. Your boy should have it more than I do." You give the boy a smile.
"Thank you so much!"
They happily walk away, and the warmth of the kite remains in your heart.
END.A car quickly drives by the street and makes a splash. You stand far enough from the curbside, so the splash does not reach you. You notice the driver is a woman with a red hat.
When you look again at where the splash was made, you see a small rainbow standing right there by the street. The rainbow looks particularly bright and colorful under the gloomy weather.
Soon, the rain stops. You exit the shelter and [[walk back]] to "No Parking" sign by the kite shop. Hopefully it will tell you where is your car.