Chapter 26 short story homecoming

Speaking of which, I am very familiar with this area. For a while, I came here every day.But because the sky was too dark and the moon refused to come out, I had no choice but to move forward based on my instinctive judgment.After a while, I smelled a scent. It was a small chestnut tree. After passing the chestnut tree, my shoes were on the crackling dry grass, so I was relieved.This is a vast grassland. No matter which direction you go in front, you have to walk for more than half an hour to reach the end of the grassland. The ground is very flat without a single pothole.My little brother and I did an experiment like this: we closed our eyes and walked forward for ten minutes.The result of the test is that we are safe and sound.

When I got to the grass, I wandered aimlessly.I knew I was going to see a house before long, and I didn't have to think about it too much, but I got there eventually.In the past, this method has always brought me unexpected pleasure.Just enter the house, sit down with the owner (a white-faced man with no beard and hair) and have a cup of tea, and then you can walk down the winding mountain path and into the banana forest.The owner of the house is quite amiable, and he always reluctantly sends me to the corner and says some blessings.The most comfortable thing is that there are slight slopes downhill along the road, and it takes no effort to walk.Soon a monkey would come to greet me, each time I would give him a slight nod, and he would lead the way in front of me.When I arrived at the banana grove, I lay down under the tree and ate my fill, so I set off to go home.There were no monkeys when I went back, of course I would not take the wrong way, everything is too familiar.The strange thing is that the way back is also downhill, without any effort. What's going on?I never understood the logic of this.

As I strolled like this, the house came, because my forehead hit the brick wall with a jerk.The host did not light the lamp tonight, nor did he sit on the steps to greet me as usual. "Are you here so late?" He said from the window, sounding a bit unhappy.After fumbling for a long time, I opened the door creakingly. "I can't light a lamp," he said, "it's too dangerous. Don't you know that there is a deep abyss behind our house. This house has always been built on a cliff. I used to hide this from you, but I can't hide it now." Go down. Do you remember that I always send you around the corner and talk to you about interesting things? I'm afraid you'll look back and see where this house is!"

I sat down at the table. "It's not too difficult," said the host again, passing a cup of warm water into my hand in the dark, "it comes out sometimes, I mean the moon, you can see it. I must not light a lamp, please forgive me .This house is dying. Please listen to it, and it will all be clear." What he said was obviously nonsense.Obviously the house is located at the end of the flat grassland, with a mountain behind it, I remember it clearly.Once, I went around the back of the house to feed the pigeons!But now that he's acting so creepy, I have no choice but to be more vigilant.

Although the moon did not come out, there was no sound outside.It was a silent, dreary night.Perhaps after all these years of separation, the house owner's nerves have gone out of order. He sat quietly in front of him, smoking a cigarette. "Maybe you won't believe it, then try to stand up and see!" I supported the table and stood up. Suddenly, no one pulled me, so I fell forward and fell to the ground. "Now you know." I guess he smiled slightly, "It's scary, this kind of thing. The lights must never be lit. As for the banana forest, you can only walk through it if you don't look back. It was many years ago, and you may not be interested now."

"I'll have to wait until morning." I sighed, and said the first words, "As soon as the day breaks, you can see everything outside, and it's easy to walk." "You're totally mistaken," he said thoughtfully, smoking a cigarette, "the problem of daylight has long since ceased to exist. I told you, a house like this has reached the end of its life, can't you imagine the rest? ?Since you've broken in, I'm going to arrange a room for you. Of course, the lights can't be turned on. You'd better get yourself together and listen to how the waves crash on the cliffs."

Of course I heard nothing.There are some dark shadows outside the window, it may be a mountain, I remember that this house is located at the foot of the mountain.I listened carefully, but everything was still silent. "How can it be daylight?" The owner of the house guessed my thoughts, "you will understand, as time goes on, everything will understand. Once you break in, you will have to live here. Yes, you used to I have been here, every time I sent you away, but it was just passing by, not breaking in like now, at that time, this house was not so old." I wanted to justify and tell him that I didn't want to break in. This time, I was still just passing by. If I had known that my behavior was "break in", I wouldn't have come.But I opened my mouth and didn't say anything ashamed.

"The foundation of the house is very weak, and it is built on a cliff. Behind the house is an abyss. You should be aware of this situation. Since you have come, you can live in the small room on the right. Actually , I am not the owner of this house, the previous owner has already left. I also came here by accident, and I stayed here when I came. At that time, the previous owner was not too old. One day he went to the back of the house Feeding the pigeons, I also heard the sound and went to the back of the house, but I couldn’t find him. He disappeared. That’s the first time I found the cliff behind the house. Of course, the previous owner must have jumped from there, and I didn’t I have time to ask him why the house is built in such a place, and I am still confused, but I am used to it."

He led me to the small room he designated, and told me to lie on a wooden bed and not think about anything, saying that this way I could hear what was happening outside, and that I especially should not think about the dawn, because that kind of Things no longer exist, and I have to learn to adapt to this new environment of living by touch and hearing.He left as quietly as a fish.For a long time, I was still wondering: Is he exaggerating?For example, he referred to my coming here as "breaking in", and always emphasized the cliff and abyss. What kind of connection does this have with lighting?

I don't know how long I lay in the silence, I finally made up my mind, took out a lighter from my pocket and lit a flame.I took photos of the small room from top to bottom and found nothing.This is a very ordinary house, the ceiling is made of bamboo strips, the only thing in the room is the old wooden bed I used to lie on, with cotton pads on the bed and a cloth blanket.The surroundings were quiet, and the house didn't undergo any terrible changes just because I made the light up. It can be seen that the owner of the house is completely bragging, or maybe nervous.It's hard to say what's going on in the world, and there are all possibilities. For the sake of caution, it's better for me to stay where I am.Besides, there is not much gasoline in the lighter, so I should have some room.For example, the blind game I played with my younger brother can only be limited to ten minutes away.If you walk for an hour, things are completely different.So, what kind of structure is the human ear?For example, will my ears always be quiet like this?Besides, the owner of the house, couldn't he find a way to keep him quiet?How could he be so restless for a long time?

Hearing him come in, he groped around and said, "It turns out that a corner of the ceiling has fallen off! The explosions just now were terrible. You didn't make any light, did you? In the sea below, there is a fishing boat." Shipwrecked, I suspect the fisherman was the previous owner, this kind of thing is always connected. According to the analysis I heard, it was on the rocks. The whole boat was chopped to pieces, and the dead body was lying peacefully in the seaweed Among them, above him, is the small house he built with his own hands...Of course, this is all secular nonsense. Where can he see any house? Buried in the sand and slowly rotting... I went back to the room, as long as you settle down and stay, you will feel pretty good slowly, it's better than walking here and there." I try to get out of this house.The ground shook violently, so I crawled close to the ground and finally climbed out of the gate.There should be a flat and vast grassland ahead.I stood up and wanted to take a step, but suddenly felt that the grass under my feet was not grass, but a hard thing that was moving.I started to change direction, but no matter which direction I went, I couldn't reach the grass, and there was always a moving mass under my feet.The surrounding area was gray and black, except for the vague outline of the house, even the mountains could not be seen.Of course, you can't go behind the house. The owner of the house said that it is a cliff.Since I walked along the grass at will, I can walk back as long as I walk at will, and there is no need to be nervous at all.With that in mind, I walked in any direction.Nothing happened at first, so I became a little complacent.After walking about a hundred steps, one foot stepped into the void. Fortunately, it was caught by a small tree sticking out, and then climbed up the cliff.I remember that I walked towards the front of the house, why did I also reach the cliff?Could it be that "different paths lead to the same goal"?Where is the passage to the grass?I thought and thought, and it seems that there can only be one answer.Speaking of which, I have already vaguely felt the answer, but I just don't want to admit it. I crawled back into the house clinging to the ground.In the room, there is a kind of safe relaxation, and I feel that the darkness and the smell of lime are somewhat intimate.The owner of the house handed over another glass of water in the dark. It was lukewarm and smelled like raw water, but it was still drinkable. "I need to talk about something," said the owner of the house, and I smelled the cigarettes. "It was about him. He was dressed in black, with black hat and black gaiters. He appeared in the streets of the city like an ancient robber. Some people passed by him without seeing him, others People peeped at him from behind the closed windows. The street was lined with barbershops, and there were many customers sitting in the houses waiting for a haircut, some of them looking radiant. All the barbers had gone somewhere. The customers The man in black was not found, and all the passers-by were peeping at him from behind the window. Those who spotted him quickly went into the barbershop and hid themselves behind the curtains. The sun was very poisonous, and he was already sweating profusely He stretched out his arms as if trying to drive away something. The hidden people watched the performance of the man in black with pale faces. No one pushed him, and he fell down. A large number of people rushed out and surrounded him. "Ship him back!" cried one of the Hidden Ones. "Yes, transport him back! All the onlookers agreed. "As long as you don't think about the dawn, you will be in harmony with this house. The sky will not be bright, and you will feel at ease when you have this purpose. The previous owner was too depressed. He jumped into the sea from the cliff and became a fisherman. I listen here every day, and I always hear him struggling in the stormy waves. You and I do not belong to the sea below, both of us. You already know the answer. The previous owner’s boating skills It’s not that high, and he builds houses, so hitting the rocks is inevitable.” He quietly returned to his room. Ever since I heard the owner of the house talk about the fact that there is a sea under the cliff, I have had a longing for the imaginary world below for no reason.I don't know how long I've been in this house, I can't count it, because I didn't bring a watch, it was so dark, and the lighter was out of gas long ago.When bored, talk about the sea with the owner as usual.Every time he handed over a glass of warm water, smoked a cigarette by himself, and began with this sentence: "The previous owner's boat has arrived..." Every time I retorted him, "Isn't the previous owner dead? It hit the rocks." At this time, he smiled slightly, the red light of the cigarette flashed, and he didn't mind my refutation, and continued on his own: "I went to see the boat off when I set off. There was a fisherman on the boat. I heard that later When he died of old age, he became a fisherman himself. He never fished, but just caught some seaweed to satisfy his hunger, and then his face gradually turned blue." I said with some comprehension: "The two of us live above. If we don't light the lights, we almost don't exist. Isn't that true? Even if the previous owner passed by below, he wouldn't notice the house above. It is probable that at one time he mistook the black shadow for a tree. He glanced at it calmly, and immediately turned his eyes away." Then, without knowing it, I joined the conversation.We both became overly attentive in our portrayal, as if we felt sorry for not saying anything.As soon as I said it, I felt that I was too talkative.Time passed like this.Of course there was no clock, and the sky never dawned.said the homeowner.It won't be long before I'm satisfied that there are no seasons, and that we can't use the content of the conversation as a basis for dividing the year, month and day, because every time we talk, we forget it by the next day .Besides, the boat itself is fictitious, so it doesn't have any meaning, it's just to relieve boredom. Tired of talking, we each fell asleep.Woke up once.I occasionally think about the past.I remember finding the passage at the beginning, the only path leading to the meadow.Although that road has been walked hundreds of times, I still have to look for it every time, and it doesn't take much effort to find it.Afterwards, things were muddled.It seemed that there was a tropical flamingo chasing after me desperately. I was not afraid of it, but it just couldn't reach me.It runs in place as if attracted by a magnet.I'm always skeptical.Is the path I've walked hundreds of times really the only way to get here?Since, in my old recollection, the house stood at the end of a large meadow, with mountains behind it, it must have been possible to reach it from several directions.For example, go around from the mountain, or from the south and west of the grassland.Who can say that those places will not work?Once, in the twilight to the west, I did see a figure, and I'm sure I couldn't be mistaken.Will the flamingos come? Now, the owner of the house categorically ruled out all possibilities.He said that there was an abyss behind the house, and there was no grass in front of the house, only rolling sand and gravel.So how did I get here?He said it was purely an accident, the meadow and the banana forest were all illusions created by my mind.It turned out that there was indeed a road behind this house, which was the road he sent me out, but after several big explosions, it was sealed by mud and sand. The previous owner of the house had estimated this and chose this location house.It is not uncommon to pass by this place by chance. Many people have passed by by chance like I did before. He received them politely and sent them to the corner. No one felt anything strange.Only my intrusion this time was accidental, so he was a little offended at first, but now he's fine. I insisted on going to the back of the house to have a look at the pigeons, and I said we should feed the little creatures.The owner of the house sneered and reluctantly agreed, but he said that only the tunnel from the kitchen can lead to the cliff behind the house. In that kind of place, it is enough to poke your head out and take a look. Where are the pigeons.Besides, I couldn't get to the kitchen at all, and I had this fantasy in my mind that if I started, I would fall to the ground. Although I live in two separate rooms from the owner, his presence is a kind of comfort to me.The doubtful heart gradually calmed down.When I wake up, I often hear the greeting from the owner: "Wake up." I got dressed in the dark, and sat in the living room with the owner as usual.When I have nothing to say, I just sit blankly, not particularly irritable, just a little boring. year 1991