Preparation
About a week before school was scheduled to start, Shizuka brought her
younger brother to the town’s shopping district to purchase all his supplies.
As uniforms were also mandatory when he was a student of the Chinese school
system, he was not phased by the rather lengthy process of buying his new
school set. ShengJi was, as the tailor would repeat, a frail boy.
“Much too small for an eight-years-old…” the professional muttered with
his measuring between his teeth, while both his hands were directing the boys’
arms to open. “You need to eat more, boy.”
He scribbled notes on the boy’s size and typed in a few numbers on the
computer. A printed copy of the order came out with buzzing sound, which the
tailor handed to Shizuka. She paid the deposit and was instructed to come back
in about three days, to retrieve the goods. She smiled and thanked the tailor
with a grateful bow, placed her hands softly on her brother’s back, and walked
out while checking an item of a paper piece from her pocket.
It was still early when they arrive at the stationery store. Shizuka was
following a strict order in amassing all the required elements, while ShengJi
was exploring the aisles. He wandered into the library section, where he
spotted almost instantly the reference and encyclopedia section. He left an
invisible trail behind him, as he felt the brand new glossy book covers with
his hand. After a few minutes, he located a large illustrated book on wild
plants that he pulled out of the shelf almost instantly. He rushed back to his
sister, his hands full with only that huge brick, and begged her to keep it.
Shizuka was no stranger to her sibling’s passion for plants, after all, it ran
in the family. Her mother instructed her on all the grounds keeping there was
to their home garden, and she obliged happily. She smiled and picked up the
heavy package from ShengJi. His eyes gleamed with eagerness.
It was nearing noon when they finished their business in town. Shizuka
drove them back to the house, where the nurse was concluding her visit. They
met on the doorstep. Shizuka inquired, as usual, about her mother’s health. The
nurse looked down a few seconds, and she finally declared:
“I’m afraid her state has deteriorated. I would not know how to explain
this… it is as if she was losing parts of her spirit every day… The illness isn’t
spreading, as far as I can see, but she is not bettering either.”
ShengJi had heard most of the conversation, but did not quite grasp its urgency.
He could only tell his mother was unwell. He threw his shoes behind him and quickly
ran upstairs to see her. A light breeze was coming through a cracked window; the
rose silky curtains were floating in mid air. Nadeshiko stared blankly at the
azure noon sky. Her face seemed whiter than he remembered. ShengJi approached
his mother’s bedside and placed his hand on her forehead.
Nadeshiko shivered as a melancholic smile showed. “Shuji-chan. My boy…”
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