AURELIA

The low zephyr made its way towards her, she blinked away the dust rushing into her eyes. The smell of lavender, jasmine and sunflower was wrapping itself around her. ‘Yue'er.’ She turned, a faint smile playing on her lips, ‘..Here.’

An old woman, probably in her 70s, shouted out, ‘Come on, get out of that mud, you are going to be, ahu, ahu..’Her cough made her throat ache, her voice no longer audible. Lin yue rushed to her, ‘Grandma, don't scream, see, I'm not that dirty.’ Her grandma stops to look at her for a moment, her pink dress was now ruined by the mud, ‘And the flowers are planted too.’ That was their promise: To plant tree every birthday.

‘Yes, but look at your dress, your father does not send me millions, so think twice before ruining anything.’ Saying so she started walking, Lin yue grabbed her arm and walked alongside, grabbing her grandma’s hand to support her.

Lin yue was a teen, therefore just like every other teen she too was driven by anxiety of future, depression and embarassment of past and overthinking of present.

They arrived at the house, it was big, better than any other house around and more than sufficient for two people. Removing the shoes, they walked in, Lin yue liked walking barefoot, therefore she never wore slipper inside the house and never bought one for herself.

‘Yue’er, your father called.’That was not something new, he'd always call, and grandma would always inform her. ‘Oh, alright.’ She went straight to her room to fresh up. Grandma sighed, unable to word her thoughts.

After freshening up, she started to prepare for dinner, it was a warm sunday of june, the weather was gloomy, the clouds had been weighed down by water filled inside of them. The bats were soaring in the sky, and men and women were returning from work. ‘Aiyi, where is the salt box?’ Yue'er was wiping her face, her hands steadfastly working on cooking.

‘It's on the left.’

‘Okay.’

That was how Yue'er spend her life with her grandma during every summer, but this summer had planned something else for her.

‘Aiyi, the schools will start on 2nd, make sure your son knows it, and tell him I'm busy studying if he ever asks for me.’ Not that he ever will.Sighing, she ate in silence which was broken by grandma, ‘Xiao yue, do you want to live with them?’ Yue'er raised her head, ‘No.’ She didn't have any reason to ruin her now peaceful life just for the sake of people who share her blood. ‘Yue'er, child, I'm getting old, and I don't have much time left, but you have a whole future, if you stay here, you will not be able to fulfill your dreams, this place is quite remote, there are no universities here, and this is your last year, how will you continue your studies?’ Her grandma couldn't come up with words to make her understand, yet her broken sentences were understood by her granddaughter.

Yue'er wished she had something, or some pathetic excuse which could back up her reason to stay, ‘I know that you can't stay with them, I know it will hurt you, but my dear, life will make a lot of twists and turns to get you to the right destination, and you must turn, if not you will be lost behind.’ Her grandma laughed, ‘My, my, Aren't I talking like those old ladies’ Lin yue smiled at her, ‘Grandma, you are 72 year old, so yeah you are an old lady.’ Saying so she got up, and ran upstairs, by the completion of their conversation, they had also finished their dinner.

Yue'er sat on her bed, books spread all over the bed, and her phone kept on the middle, she was watching a video, trying her best to understand chemistry that went just above her head. Many say math is the hardest subject but have they ever tried chemistry?

That's how she spent her holidays. Scratching her head, yawning, trying to concentrate, stretching her body and then falling asleep while studying, that was her routine, not because she was a smart person, but she was a dim-witted person with no sense of life, so she had to always strive to be better.

The morning came like no other, she as always woke up early, her eyes covered with dark circles, she used to have a few white hairs too,acne on her face, pores that seems to be her life partner that'd never leave her behind, yet she was admired by many, both the men and women.

Her messy hair fell on her face as she pushed it away, getting off the bed, she opened her windows, letting the air in, ‘Good morning, everyone.’ She'd say this everyday to the people of her village, who'd also greet her, ‘Good morning.’ That was the only English word they all knew, and it was taught by her.

After getting ready, she ran downstairs, wondering whether or not did she make the right decision, should she really give up her peace for her dreams? Is it worth it? The answer was yes. It was now-or-never situation. ‘Grandma, you can tell father that only a week is left,if he is not here by then, I will not be going.’ Her grandma smiled. Cupping her face, ‘He is already here, he will soon return from his morning walk, do prepare breakfast for him too.’That shocked her to the core. So it wasn't up to her, her elders had already made the decision, she was not being asked but rather being told. That's how it has always been, she had never been asked if she was uncomfortable living with all the boys; she had never been asked if she wanted to live with her maternal grandma.

‘I'm kidding.’ Her grandma said, watching her granddaughter's face lose its colours. ‘My dear, do forgive this old one for not being able to stand up for you. And also for not treating you right.’ Her old and weary voice twisted a knife inside yue'er’s stomach. She hugged her like her life depended on it, and being the anti- hugger her grandma was, she pushed her away. ‘Now, pack up, your flight and tickets are kept there on the dining table.’

'Now?'

'Yeah, you are leaving now!'

Her grandma told her that her father and his sons couldn't come to pick her up, as one of them had broken leg, so as always she was the one who need to go to them. She used to visit them along with her relatives who lived here, and once she had also gone along with strangers, it wasn't weird to her anymore, despite her being a minor she was never stopped which indeed made her feel weird. But she had already stopped going from almost 3 and half years, so it was an awkward trip for her.

The airport had changed, be it the interior design or the way, she had already forgotten where the exit was. It had been almost 10 mins since she landed and cherry on top, her phone had died. She thought of asking for a phone, but she didn't know any of their numbers.

She had already started panicking, as she started to pace around, trying to look for the exit, that's when she bumped into a man, ‘My apologies.’ She had never spoken to an american before, so she was never sure as to how she should behave, as she started bowing in respect. ‘It's okay.’ The man had a deep, gravelly voice that was well-seated in her mind. ‘Yea, I am walking towards the exit now’ the man kept talking on the phone, not knowing he had just solved on of Lin yue biggest problem, not thinking much she started to follow him.

The distance towards the exit was quite long, with Lin yue behind a strange man, who kept looking back, sometimes at her,sometimes at her luggage, whenever he turned back she'd scratch her neck, or look at her phone which was dead.

She kept walking until the man decided to stop, he had taken out a phone and was dialing maybe as he started walking towards her, that's when panic hit her in the head, her anxiety was clear as dhe started to look around, she did suspect that that man could be a serial killer, or something worse, she took out her phone and started to run in opposite direction.

Her pacing was very fast, as she ended up hitting someone, ‘What the heck!’ The man exclaimed. ‘My apologies.’ She said and started to walk away as the same man grabbed her arm, ‘kids nowadays, can't you see where you are going?’ The man was yelling, still havinga hold of her arm. Yue'er was about to burst out, when suddenly, someone had punched that man right across his face.

‘Zilan?’ Yue'er exclaimed out loud.

‘Are you okay?’ Zilan grabbed her hand and was searching for injuries, just then, the man he hit had a gun pointed on his head, yue'er almost screamed at his gun, ‘What you thought you can get away with punching me?’ The man screamed.

And yet again, someone had hit him on his head very hard, he fell back, and it was the same guy, Yue'er was following before, in search of exit. He suddenly grabbed her hand and exclaimed, ‘Run!!’

They all started, the guy took Yue'er and Zilan grabbed her luggage. Only after a long hectic run, they stopped and hid behind a car, breathing heavily, they tried to calm their nerves, ‘Are you okay?’ Yue'er asked the guy, ‘I'm fine' His weary, out of breath voice made her turn towards him. ‘What's your name btw?’ He asked. ‘Btw means?’ She asked instead, yea having no friends does affect you a lot. 'By the way, right?'

He looked at her perplexed, wanting to know if she was playing with him, but no boy, she truly did not know no nothing about it. ‘It does mean by the way.’ He tried to be subtle, making sure that she did not see his judging face, but she did catch it.

What the hell is btw? Can't you just say by the way, and don't scoff like that, I knew what it meant!

Her inner cursing went on until she realized that her luggage was missing.

‘One min, where is Zilan?’ Yue'er yelled, getting out of the space they had been hiding in.

‘Zilan who?’ The guy asked.

‘My brother, you know the guy who punched that man in the face.’

‘OOhh, yea, you mean, Joshua!where is he?’

'Not Joshua, Zilan.' She explained. 'His english name is Joshua.' They knew each other? But where was Zilan indeed?

'What if that gun guy had gotten him?'

Sharing a look, they both ran back to the airport.