Torn
Torn, seems to be the main theme of his life, Su thought.
Like dumplings dropped into a pot, a line of boys dive into the river, their ear-splitting noise of fun and frolic stilling ringing in his ears.? His feet found the familiar soil underneath, wet and slimy.? Never ventured to open his eyes underwater, he wasn’t sure if it was moss.? Walking in mud, he sauntered at the bottom of the river as if he were taking a stroll on the cloud in a dream.
Years later, a couple of rural businesses opened in Chouzhou, including a cement factory and a hotspot seasoning factory, turning the green in the river to grey.? Su’s childhood was torn in a flash, his friends quickly disappearing from his life while his memory still clinging to the old poplar tree, entrapped in the euphoria from a slingshot war with cypress tree cones attacking in all directions.?
He bid farewell to classmates in elementary school, a girl named Hua he met at the side of a small bridge, and many girls he played with when he was little.? On that day, he talked with Hua for a long time, their conversation long forgotten.? He can only recall the girl’s plump, bouncy cheeks, her voice crisp as the gurgle of a creek, its stream running down to the bottom of his heart.
To be continued
斷。
蘇運燮覺得自己的人生總是在“斷”。
一隊男孩像下餃子一樣躍入河中，沸天的打鬧聲猶在耳畔轟鳴。他的雙足熟悉了河底的泥土，濕濕滑滑的感覺，眼睛在水底下從不敢睜開，因此不知道是否為青苔，踩在泥土上，在河里悄悄地彳亍，像踩在夢的云朵上。
后來，常州農村辦了幾家鄉鎮企業，包括水泥廠和火鍋調料工廠，小河的綠色變成了灰色，他的童年被急速拉扯，小伙伴們都沒了影，他的記憶還攀爬在那顆老楊樹上，從空中四面八方射來的“柏樹子”，陷于那場戰爭的狂喜之中。
他告別了小學時候的同學。在小橋旁邊結識的女同學阿華，還有幼年很多一起玩的女孩。那天，他和阿華聊了很久，說了什么早已忘了，只記得女孩的臉頰圓潤可彈，言語像清澈小溪，從他的心頭汩汩流向彼此。
