Chapter 29 Elf's Swing Stand

It was dark and it was snowing, and the small snowflakes fluttered gently outside the window of the old gatekeeper of the Central Primary School. They were dyed orange by the warm light, like a group of elves dancing from the sky, and the quiet rhythm of the violin came from the depths of the snowflakes. , beautiful, peaceful and clean. The old man walked round and round along the school road. The road was so short, but the winter vacation was so long!The empty campus is deserted and silent, and the wind blows on the bare tree forks, playing the lonely flute of the old man. "Gegege...hahaha..."

The children's laughter came from the playground. The laughter was full of carefree joy, just like the first warm spring and the first bloom of flowers. Listening to it, the old man's heart warmed up like the spring sun. However, isn't this too strange?It stands to reason that no one's children would come to the school playground to play on a night as dark as ink and as cold as ice. The old man walked over following the sound and came to the swing frame on the edge of the playground. A warm breeze blows head-on, blowing away those lovely voices, where are the children?The surroundings were as quiet as before, except for the empty swing frame swinging back and forth in the snow, and the old man felt empty in his heart.How could there be such an illusion?Maybe it's because I miss those little children too much!Before his eyes, the scene of children standing in line on the playground doing radio gymnastics, how cute they are stretching their hands and bending over!He also thought of the children chasing and fighting between classes, their laughter was as clear and joyful as birds returning to their nests.Children always make people feel happy and warm. As long as the children go to school, the old man feels warm in his heart.

When the old man returned to the hut by the school gate, a lonely and desolate song lingered in his heart, making him unable to fall asleep. The cold penetrated his cotton-padded coat, and snowflakes drifted into his heart. "It's been so cold this winter!" he murmured. "Maybe I'm too old to keep out the cold." After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door. Could it be that his nephew came to pick him up for the New Year?In this world, the only family member of the elderly is his nephew, but they have not seen each other for many years. The old man got up and opened the door. Outside the door stood two kitten-like children. They were shivering and dragging long noses. Their four poor eyes were blinking like stars in the night sky.

"Grandpa, please open the school gate!" "We lost our wings!" "I can't go home anymore!" "Yes, yes, we are extremely cold!" They yelled and rubbed their little hands that were red from the cold. "You mean...lost wings?..." "Yeah, if we lose our wings, we won't be able to enter the playground to play on the swings, and if we can't enter the playground to play on the swings, we won't be able to go home." "It turned out to be like this. Stop talking, come in and enjoy the fire." The old man found out the key, unlocked the school gate, took them into the house, and let them sit by the warm stove.

"It's so warm here, it's like home." "I'd say it's not as good, it's much warmer at home." The old man had boiled hot water in the kitchen, and he wanted them to wash their faces. He thought they were so dirty, they looked like stray cats on the street.However, when he walked back to the house with hot water, the two children were gone. The old man lit a lantern and went out to look for them, only to see two rows of small footprints on the snow-covered school road. The old man followed along the footprints until he came to the little swing set.The footprints disappeared under the swing set, and so did the child.The campus is empty and quiet, where are the children?

There wasn't even a single bird in the surrounding area. What's going on here?Are my eyes dazzled? The next morning, when the old man woke up, the snow had stopped and the sun shone warmly on the snow. The old man recalled what happened last night, it was really like a dream!But it must not be a dream, because on the school road, the two rows of kitten-like footprints are still clearly there. Several days passed, and the weather became colder. Rain and snow fell from the sky. It was only noon, and the sky was as dark as dusk.Dumplings were cooking in the old man’s pot. He closed the doors and windows, and the smell of dumplings permeated the hut, which made him feel uplifted. He remembered when he was a child (all old people were once children!), and the whole family gathered around Mom making dumplings—even though so many years have passed, those lively and warm days are very clear in my memory, just like yesterday.

Eating dumplings alone is really lonely, it would be great if someone came over to eat together. At this time, there was a knock on the door. "Grandpa, please open the school gate!" "Let's go in, we're freezing cold!" "Very hungry!" The old man opened the door, and there were three kitten-like children standing outside the door. They were all soaked, curled up and yelling, as if they had walked a long way and were too tired to move, with dirty little faces On the chest, flashing three pairs of little star-like eyes.The old man recognized it, haha, it must be them, they are with the two elves from last time!

"Poor child, come in and eat dumplings in such a cold day!" The old man let the child into the room, and put three bowls of delicious dumplings in front of them. The children must have been very hungry. They devoured the food, and the old man filled them with three more bowls. "Eat, eat, eat well, the stomach is warm, and the body is warm." "The fragrant dumplings are as delicious as the fragrant dumplings at home!" "How can it be compared? The food at our house is much more delicious." "Yes, yes, let's go back quickly, and we can catch up to eat the fragrant dumplings on New Year's Eve."

The old man looked at them with a smile and listened to them chatting and laughing. He felt warm in his heart. He really wished he had such a little grandson. The old man took the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen. "Today is really good luck. I met these three gluttonous cats. If they hadn't come, my meal would have been deserted and desolate!" After washing the dishes, he went back to the house. Just like last time, the three children in the house were gone. On the school road, three rows of small footprints stretched all the way to the swing next to the playground. These children and that swing must have a strange secret.What is the secret?The old man couldn't figure it out after much deliberation.Day after day, the old man waited for those little children to knock on the door again, waiting and waiting, he seemed to feel that this winter was not as lonely and cold as before.

It's New Year's Eve in a blink of an eye.All the streets in the city are filled with lanterns, the shops are closed, and there are very few pedestrians. Everyone is going home to eat the New Year’s Eve dinner.The north wind was blowing, and the old man's lonely flute played again. He thought of those strange children, where did they go? "Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa, open the school gate!" "Let's go in, we're going home." "The New Year's Eve dinner at home is almost ready!" Many children were yelling at the school gate, each of them was frozen like a kitten, and their eyes were shining like stars.

The old man opened the school gate. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Go home. Go home to celebrate the New Year!" "Where is your home? Does it have anything to do with the swing in the playground?" the old man asked. "You can't tell him, he's alone!" a child said loudly. "I am a poor old man without a home!" said the old man sadly. "Then, you come home with us too!" said the youngest child, "Come with us back to the Elven Castle for the New Year." "Come back to the elf castle with us for the New Year! There is the warmest stove in the castle! The most fragrant dumplings! The cutest elves!" All the elves shouted together. "Okay!" The old man cheerfully took the hand of the youngest child. The old man followed them to the swing, and a child climbed on it, singing while swinging: "Beautiful Lightweight Swing Stand swing, fly Swing twice, fly home" The children on the swing flew away like birds. The children climbed onto the swing one by one, and flew away singing songs one by one.On New Year's Eve, all the elves who ran to the world went home on swings. Finally, the old man also climbed up and swung gently... When the central primary school started, people found that the old man who guarded the gate had disappeared. "You can't let such an old man guard the door again," said the headmaster ruefully. "I'll contact the security company immediately and ask them to send a young security guard," the director suggested. "Also, the parents must not know that the old man is missing. Just say that he has gone back to the countryside!" The principal picked up the speech script and went to the opening ceremony to speak. No one thought that the old man flew to the elf castle on a swing, where there was the warmest stove, the most fragrant dumplings, and the cutest elves.