Memories

  Some memories are abandoned but a spark of light from seven years ago is something that I can never forget. A life lesson that always lingers around every day. 

  That time, I stared at the same full moon as today. The cobalt plate hung up on top of my head a couple of years ago...

  “Mom,” my young self called that night. “Why is the moon blue today?” I was curious about everything and I would always make older kids and adults go crazy. However, my mother was never bothered by it. Instead, she seemed to like it.

  “The goddess in the sky was adorning the moon for the new year!” My mother explained as she taped ‘fu’ (fortune) symbols all over the house. 

  “No,” my father wiped his glasses against his shirt and put them onto his nose. “Blue moons… are caused by smoke or other particles in the air. Also, what your mom said is wrong, the moon has no oxygen to support life so there can’t be-”

  “Really,” my mother rolled her eyes and had to interrupt. “Teaching your son science now? C'mon! Wear some clothes and let’s go outside to make a snowman!”

  With that, I wore a red-striped shirt over my plain sweater. Then, my mother placed a blue winter coat on me. Compared to the thick three-layered cloth I wore, my pants were less awkward. It was completely made out of fur that could sustain the coldness. The dazzling white stripes shone on my pants like a gem among rocks. Why do I walk like a penguin? My clothes were too snug so I didn’t have much room to move in. My mother single-kneed and tied my shoelace as I extended my arm to reach the handle.

  Woosh!*

  The second I opened the door, I felt a formidable force that completely overpowered and undermined my strength. Driven by the blow, the door slammed into the wall with a cacophonous sound. A magical path stretched in front of my minute but bright eyes. With the blades slashing at my cheeks, they turned scarlet but I didn’t notice the pain at all. I was astonished by the scene I viewed.

  The spiritual light from the heavens resembled the reflection of the silver world. I assumed that the gods were showing me how marvelous the world was. Everything was like being painted by a master. I narrowed my eyes to focus on a few snowflakes. Each had their own shape, unique was not enough to describe them. I took my first step. I felt a pity that such a perfect euphoria will be destroyed by me but I enjoyed it. I stretched out my tongue and the flakes that landed on it sublimed.

  Crack!*

  I looked down as I moved my feet from their original position, discovering a miniature branch that’s split into halves. The naked branch left a black trace in the thick and elegant coat of white as it moved lifelessly without any will. The starry endless sky whispered to me and the winter lady embraced me with her soft touch. I whirled around and found the source of water crashing against stones. The lake was posthaste descending downstream. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but ask my parents another question.

  “Mom, why is the water not freezing?”

  “Who knows, why don’t you try to find out?” 

  My father inhaled and exhaled deeply in the air. “Your mom doesn’t know,” he began. “it’s because the water can contain the heat that it contains in the summer.”

  “Why can the water contain the heat?”

  “So…”

  I asked my father questions after questions and he proficiently answered every question until he noticed the sullen expression of my mother. 

  “Let’s play, you can save those questions for later.”

  I twirled and rolled in the snow and when I finally reached down the slope, I was already a snow-’boy’ because they were all sticking on my clothes. I flopped my hands up and down, forming an angel on the white cover. My father held onto a handful of snow and rubbed them in his hands. The snow fell on piles and I saw my father closing his eyes and unfolded his arm.

  “What are you doing dad?”

  “Oh, I was just thinking about the memory of my youth. I remember that a long time ago, your dad once licked on a piece of metal in a park in the winter. When I tried to pull it off, I couldn’t, so I was stuck there struggling to move for a long time. Hahaha.” Great booming laughter billowed from his mouth. I like my father’s laugh, tears streaming down his face and his shoulders shaking. His laugh was like a morning-bird singing, like a bell ringing. It brought hope and light in the tranquility. I joined in as well. My mother commenced describing her old events too.

  After hearing the stories, I felt hesitant if I really knew my parents or not. They were both so wild, they climbed trees, ran on walls, and always trolled their brothers and friends. I wondered if one day I would tell my story to my kid. About a distinctive and lost world to them. 

  I formed a city with my fire dragon winter gloves that I brought myself. I am the creator of all things! I soon constructed bases, temples, houses, mountains, and people. If another person was to see this, they would just see massive piles of snow gathering around me. However, my imagination was greater than the vision of my eyes. I made a nuke to destroy my city and had a war between soldiers. I led heroes to fight against evil elementals, to go against snow demons. I was eager to continue but I had to relinquish my project for World War because I was going to have some snowball fights with my neighbors. 

  In my memory, someone short but bossy came out. I remembered that he was my friend and his surname was Bai. I forgot his first name. Then, another tall boy came out. He was one year older than me and could be considered handsome. His surname was Gao.

  “Bai, Brother Gao!” I hopped away from my creation to greet them. 

  “Hello.”

  “Hi! Do you want to play some snowball fights?”

   The up curve on my mouth broadened and I instantly agreed. It was Bai and me going against Brother Gao. We built a barricade to guard ourselves. The snowballs were easy to form. I produced all the snowballs and Bai threw them at Brother Gao. To make the best snowball, I first gathered a mass of snow until I could dig up the yellow grass. Then I would slowly brush my fingers against the base to form a perfect and large sphere. Once in the game, I made a large one that Bai could barely hold. We managed to hit Brother Gao and he was defeated. Their parents called them home after a few more rounds of snowball fights. Only footsteps were left in the pure surface of drifted new snow. My parents approached me later and challenged me as well as taught me something.

  “Son, I want you to make the largest snowball possible. Not using your method, but to roll it from scratch. The snow is very good, so you should make one easy,” My mother announced and my father grinned peculiarly.

  What is the use of doing this? With a bit of procrastination, I finally gave in and started to make the oversized snowball. I had to go down all the way to roll it. I felt helpless because it felt like it would take forever, but quickly, the snowball reached my knees, then my waist -- until I had to use all my force to move it. The more I rolled, the more arduous it became. I sat beside the unfinished snowball.

  “This is the largest snowball I can make! What now?”

  “No, you can do better,” my father responded.

  I sighed and continued to push against the snowball with my entire body. I was embittered. How do I do this? Can it be that I need another way? I gazed toward my chin and rested my shoulders on the snowball. Another way… Ah! I was suddenly enlightened and I beamed.

  “Help me!” When I exclaimed, my parents shared an approving look and rolled the snowball with me. In the end, the finished product was even higher than mine! We produced a small ball to lay on top of the larger ball. My mother prepared some buttons, sticks, carrots, and an abandoned pan. We built a snowman!

  I stretched my body and I looked at my parents to seek further instructions. 

  “As you can see, everything started with being a grain of rice. You have to be diligent to succeed. In the process of success, you also need help from friends and family to insert your full strength. There will be things that will try to stymie your efforts but a road is not meant to be walked alone. Promise me no matter what, remember what I said today. You will be the backbone of this family’s future. Son, be strong, have strength,” My father concluded as he hugged me. 

  I tried to apprehend the sentences that my father just threw at me and I recognized what he mostly meant. “I will live up to your expectation and promise to remember what you said today!” I promised and I felt exultant.

  My parents sat down under the bright moon. It brought an entirely different view in the dark. I took a seat beside them, looking upon the sky. My father taught me his knowledge of the stars. I was interested but my mother just put her palm on her face. Sitting there, my family felt united. Layers and layers of snow fell on us overnight. This was a fantasy. There were no other moons, no other days like this. The World surrounded and orbited me. I glanced up with my parents. The blue moon faded in color but the lesson I learned never did.

  I longed for another winter like this.

FIN

*Note: This is a short story for a competition from last year and I decide to share this story because I find it fitting the topic. Please leave a like and comment!*