“Miss, here’s your boarding pass.” Shirley was still thinking about Vinson when the groundskeeper handed her boarding pass to Shirley.
Shirley felt lonely, even sitting in the middle of a row of seats, watching others hugging each other goodbye, someone’s family going on a trip together, laughing and joking, a student on vacation, holding a cell phone without lifting his head, life is full of different flavors. Shirley felt lonely, even sitting in the crowd can not get solace, cell phone address book is long, there are customers, family and friends, but when the sudden departure, not even a person who wants to tell.
The roar of the plane was deafening, Shirley looked back at the not-so-warm city and resolutely embarked on a journey into the unknown.
Leanne is helping Daniel with his drawing, their kindergarten assignment, when she suddenly gets a call from Hill.
“Hey Hill, what’s up?”
Hill’s anxious voice came over the receiver: “Sister, usually at this time brother-in-law would have arrived home by now, why haven’t you come back today, sister are you with brother-in-law?”
Leanne looked at her watch, it was indeed very late, Vinson always worked overtime but rarely worked too late since Hill had lived in the house, “Hill take it easy, did you call your brother-in-law?”
“Brother-in-law, he’s turned off his phone.” Hill’s voice was tinged with tears.
“Hill you take it easy for a moment, is Aunt Zhang still there?”
“Aunt Zhang is still with me.”
“Wait a little longer Hill, your brother-in-law he is very busy lately, probably working overtime, wait until nine o’clock if your brother-in-law is still not home I will go out to find him.”
Putting down the phone, Leanne was startled by Daniel, who was staring at her.
“Mom, what’s wrong with Dad, let’s go out and find him!”
Leanne, who had just finished reassuring Hill, had to reassure Daniel again, “Your dad, he’s fine, he’ll be home in a little while.”
Daniel’s eyes were full of worry and he half-heartedly turned his attention back to the drawing paper.
At nine o’clock Vinson just arrived at home, the main road near the company had a serious rear-end accident, to visit the press and police to maintain order to the road surrounded by a blockade, Vinson dilemma, finally had to leave the car where it was, walk through the area where the accident occurred to take a taxi, the usual 30-minute journey today tossed an hour and 40 minutes, want to call Hill but found that the cell phone at some point the battery was turned off.
“Hill, it’s me.” Vinson had just knocked on the door when he heard the sound of running through the house.
“You’re back, brother-in-law.” Hill cried out as she threw herself into Vinson’s arms.
“Scared the hell out of me brother-in-law, what happened to you?”
“Traffic jam, it’s okay Hill, don’t cry, I’m not fine, let’s go inside.”
Vinson finally realized how Hill had been spending all this time, with the untouched food on the table and the TV that hadn’t been turned on when it was time for the cartoons.
Squatting down and wiping away the tears on Hill’s face, “Hill is not afraid, my phone is dead, I swear to you, I will never let my phone go completely dead again, lest Hill not be able to find me.”
Leanne and Daniel were distracted, Leanne kept looking at her watch, hesitantly picked up her cell phone and dialed Shirley’s number, which was not in service. A hanging heart became more nervous.
Vinson home.
“Brother-in-law, give your sister a call, I just couldn’t find you so I called her.”
“What did she say about your sister?” Vinson was desperate to find all the evidence he could to prove that Leanne was still in love with him.
“My sister said to me to wait a little longer, and if you wouldn’t come yet to go out and get you.”
Vinson picked up his home phone and dialed the number he knew so well.
“Hill ah, sister is about to go out, any news of your brother-in-law?”
“Brother-in-law said that he arrived home safely.”
The voice that people miss day and night came over the receiver, and Leanne dropped her bag on the floor, scaring Daniel, who was brushing his teeth, to come running out of the house.
“What’s wrong mom, has dad arrived home yet?”
“Hmm.” Vinson heard Leanne say to Daniel.
“I’m stuck in traffic, my phone is still dead, now I’m home you guys should stop worrying and go to bed early with Little Ann!”
“Good.” Leanne answered and hung up.
Miller’s words flashed through his mind again, “Vinson hasn’t been looking for another woman much since he’s been with you.”
It’s as if all the tenderness and care that Vinson showed her belonged to the former Leanne, and the current Leanne is just stealing everything that belonged to the former Leanne through this identical skin.
After washing up and getting ready for bed, Daniel just came out of the bathroom and saw Leanne squatting in front of the house in tears, “Mom what’s wrong with you, or what’s wrong with dad?”
“Your dad he’s fine, he’s home and he’s eating, Little On, mommy asked you a question, if, I mean if, I wasn’t your mommy, I was just the person who helped your mommy raise you, would you still love me?”
Daniel, though he didn’t quite understand what Leanne meant, simply replied, “I guess I’ll still love you for helping my mom.”
Listening to Daniel’s childish reply, Leanne’s tears welled up even more.
“Mom I said wrong? I only love mommy, even if mommy is not mommy Little Leanne.” Fleshy little hands wipe away the tears on Leanne’s face.
Leanne held him in her arms, tears slipping silently down her face as she mentally said to the former Leanne, “I will raise Daniel well to make up for the deep guilt I feel for you.”
It took twenty-two hours to take off, change planes, and then take off again, but Shirley finally stepped into the romantic land of Melbourne, from East 8 into East 10, and the mechanical watch on her wrist was set two hours faster, as if she had caught up with the sun. Vinson had wanted to go backpacking here when he was in college, but there were too many things that went wrong, so he had to give up. Shirley had imagined that one day she and Vinson would step into this land together, but in the end, she was alone.
The houses on both sides of the street here are just like the ones in fairy tale books, not too high but very delicate, with hot air balloons of all colors floating in the light blue sky. Everything is as beautiful as imagined, but the only thing missing is the man.
Take out your phone and take a picture of the sky, and change your avatar on social networks to this picture.
Miller just worked late and Daniel didn’t need him to pick up today, so fortunately he didn’t go home, drinking alone at the bar, remembering the girl who gets funny when she’s drunk and changes her avatar to a picture of the sky, where she can vaguely see a lot of hot air balloons. Slightly drunk Miller murmured, “Like hot air balloons, we can go together when we have time.”