2021 Hope Event

Mom and dad called me 囡囡 (Nan nan) before they left.

The name doesn't seem to belong to this place. My parents said that they were from the East, where people have black hair, as 'black as coal' they used to say.

I've never seen that country. I was born here, and I have no other friends within my species. My parents said that our family is called the ‘Selaginella,’ mainly distributed in the East. Our nickname is cool too, it's "Return-from-the-Grave"

I like this park. About one year ago, I made two friends here, Greenfield and Mia.

Greenfield always came here at night, pecking the ground with his wives. They liked sleeping in the branches of the big tree beside me. Sometimes they gave me snails as gifts.

As for Mia, she stayed with me every Saturday, sitting in a shiny metal chair with two wheels. Her hands were so warm that when she touched me it felt like the summer sun.

When Greenfield met Mia, which happened very occasionally, he would fly to Mia's shiny chair and perch on the armrest. With Mia's giggling, Greenfield would raise his head and whisper, "Don't tell my wives about this.”

Mia told me that Greenfield was a handsome male pheasant and that they were polygamous, which I knew all too well.

I'll never forget that winter day when Mia held out her palm, in which there were a few round, colorful items. Mia said they were sweets, sweeter than nectar.

While she was talking to me, I smelled something I didn't like -- the smell of axes. I'd seen many people die in front of my very eyes. That smell got stronger and stronger...

Hordes carrying that smell came towards to us. The air was filled with their stench.

They jumped on Mia... biting, tearing, screaming...

It got dark. Mia lay on the ground, blood smeared all over her body. Her eyes opened, but she didn’t answer me no matter how loudly I cried her name.

That night Greenfield came. He said his wives had also changed. They had become ugly, violent, and fierce. So, he fled. Now he was single again. He told me that the streets were full of those stinking hordes. They liked biting, and those who were bitten turned into corpses just like Mia.

Corpses? Greenfield said that a corpse could neither talk nor move--suddenly I was filled with hope, that’s like me! So, Mia was becoming a 'Selaginella' like me?

But from then on, I wasn't happy anymore. Mia eventually managed to stagger to her feet--she didn’t need that metal chair anymore. But she didn’t talk to me. She just stumbled away.

So did Greenfield. He never came back. I don’t know what happened to him.

It’s been a year. I am extremely thirsty, and hungry... I don't know how long I'll be able to make it.

And then I met a girl whose smile was just like Mia's. She didn’t smell like axes. Oh, no, that smell isn't axes, that's 'blood.' Greenfield told me that.

She dug me up carefully and took me to a place where there was a big dog, Frank, who's always sniffing at me and drooling on me.

The girl's name is Candy. She has black hair, 'black as coal'... just like the people from my hometown!

She gave all her water to me. I was so thankful to drink again. But all her friends called her a fool. She didn’t respond, just kept giving her water to me. I liked her more and more!

At first, only Frank and Candy would talk to me, until one night...

The guy with paint all over his body and the guy with a straight face all the time came back. The smell of axes... no, the smell of blood, it was everywhere. Their bodies were hot and their eyes were closed, and the others were crowding around them. They cried.

They were talking about ‘fever’, ‘wounds’, and again and again about ‘blood'...

Candy stroked me with her warm hands then she picked a lot of my leaves. It was painful. I don’t know what she needed them for... but I would give her all of my leaves if she needed them.

Strangely, the next day, everyone surrounded me, their eyes were bright. They smiled at me and said I was the hope of survival, a lifesaving medicine.

But I’m not. I am a 'Selaginella’. My name is Nan nan, 'Return-from-the-Grave.' I’m not very happy about the name they've given me. But, Candy stood with them, smiled to me, and gave me a thumbs up.

Okay, fine, since she's my best friend... I guess I'll add the 'hope of survival' to my list of names.

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