C11 Strange Midnight Sounds

Suddenly, I heard a strange sound.

"Hiss — — Hiss — —"

It was particularly harsh in the dark, enclosed room.

"What is it?" Lina was also shocked awake, "Is there someone here?"

It was like using a steel wire to cut through metal, or the noise of chalk from a blackboard to scratch through walls. It made people feel uncomfortable all over.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, the sound of rain, the sound of water leaking, the wind blowing, and I couldn't quite hear where it came from.

"Who?"

No one answered.

I took out a handgun from my luggage. Before deciding to move to California, Shuyue advised me to buy a handgun for self-defense. Although I don't believe that California is so chaotic, I still took the exam to get a handgun certificate.

Outside in the corridor, there was no electricity. The light glass cracked and cracked in the rain, casting a faint light into it.

Lina refused to stay in the apartment and followed me with the candle.

"Is there anyone here?" I shouted.

Except for the sound of the rain, the corridor was silent.

With a flash of lightning, Lina screamed.

"What's wrong?!"

"Over there, there was …" It has a pair of eyes! "

I looked in the direction Lina pointed at. There was nothing in the darkness on the other side of the corridor.

607, 608, 609... Every apartment was locked. Only the unmarked storage room at the end of the corridor was slightly ajar.

Lina hid behind me, I opened the bolt on the spear and gently pushed it open.

Creak —

Suddenly a shadow darted in at my feet, and I nearly lost my temper.

A little boy in white pajamas was watching me from the corner of the utility room.

"It's okay, it's just a child."

I heaved a sigh of relief and put away my spear to let Lina in.

By candlelight, I could see the child's face. He was about seven or eight years old, with blond hair and long eyelashes like a doll's under large blue eyes. He was also frightened by us and curled up in the corner, trembling.

"Hey, baby, don't be scared. What's your name?"

Lina squatted down, and lightly comforted the frightened child: "Why are you here?"

"..." Alpha. " The child said timidly. His voice was very pleasant to hear.

Alpha pointed to a pile of broken cartons at the back of the storage room, inside them was a litter of newborn little kittens. A stray cat was watching us warily from outside the box. This was the shadow that opened the door. It was a false alarm.

"Someone has closed the door to the storage room. Mommy Miaomiao won't be able to come in." Alpha

As he spoke, he reached out to touch one of the kittens.

"Heh, darling, don't touch it," Lina said as she held onto Alpha's small hand. "If you smell human, Mommy Miaomiao won't recognize that it's her own child."

"You don't want it?"

Lina hesitated, I know she wasn't willing to say that to a child.

So I said to Alpha, "Mommy Miaomiao will think that it's here to hurt the other children, to protect its own children, Mommy Cat will bite it to death."

In fact, it's not just cats. Many animals have the instinct to "protect" themselves. They recognize their children by their smell, and once one or more of their cubs is contaminated with the smell of other animals, the two ways a mother usually "protects" her child is by biting the other way or biting the intruder.

Unexpectedly, Alpha lowered his eyes, there were tears flowing from his eyes.

"Alpha doesn't have a mother … Alpha touched Peter, will Peter die? " Alpha said softly, his eyes full of guilt.

Peter was probably the name he gave to one of the kittens.

"As long as you don't touch it next time. Auntie will take care of kittens with you until they grow up, okay? " Lina felt that my words were too harsh, and she comforted Alpha softly.

It had to be said that Lina's early childhood education had not been wasted.

"My name is Olina (Lina's English name is the same as Ou Lina's pronunciation), I live at 604. "If you're afraid of thunder again, come find auntie. Kids can't run around at night."

Alpha told Lina that he and his grandmother lived at 608. Since Alpha was young, he had always been afraid of thunder. Hearing the stray cat's voice, he sneaked out.

We sent Alpha back to Room 608 and watched him push open the door to enter.

"The sound we heard should also be that of this stray cat. The utility room is locked. The stray cat couldn't get in, so it desperately scratched the door. This kid is really kind. " Lina said with a smile.

When he got home, the door was gone.

6 February 1988

I had a strange dream last night.

In my dream, Lina and I seemed to have a child.

I sat in the rocking chair, while Lina and our children played by the window.

I don't seem to be wearing glasses. I can't see what they're playing with, I can only hear them talking in a low voice, and suddenly I'm having a good laugh.

I tried to squint, trying to see our child, but the sun was so bright.

When I opened my eyes, it was already noon. Lina was busy cooking in the kitchen.

"It's almost time for lunch," Lina turned her head to look at me, her face flushed red from excitement. "Lei, I need to tell you something.

"About what?"

"About us, I dreamed we left the city and had a big house in another city."

Lina spread open her hands in an exaggerated manner: "My Dreamhouse! The garden has all kinds of flowers, the living room is spacious, with my favorite bohemian rug and your big bookcase, the sun is shining through the glass floor, "he said.

"I was sitting in front of the window playing games with our kids. You were in the rocking chair watching me laugh." Lina stuck to my chest.

"Heavens, I too …"

I broke out in a cold sweat.

What was the probability of having two people having the same dream at the same time?

Was this a coincidence, or was it … A sign?

I thought of the strange babies born out of wedlock, and the lineages that couldn't be explained by science.

Lina once told me that her mother died of cervical cancer when she was very young. Cervical cancer is one of the easiest cancers to cure. But the price is never to give birth again.

Under this anxiety, Lina's desire for his child became more and more urgent. In the past year, she had mentioned her child more and more often.

"What's wrong with you?" Lina asked me.

"I also... and I've always wanted to buy you a house like this in the future. " I said quickly.

"Lei, I want to turn the secondary bedroom into a nursery for our children." Lina suddenly said to me very seriously.

That strong feeling of unease rushed up once again.

I tried not to think about it. I tried to force a smile on my face, but my face would be ugly.

"What do you think?" Lina asked me.

"... Isn't it a little too early to do that? " I said slowly.

"Pregnant? "How could that be? As long as you cooperate with me, I'll definitely be able to conceive something [I've read up to here, I seem to have learned something great. It's so embarrassing]." Lina's face reddened. "You've now found a stable job, so I'll peacefully prepare for pregnancy at home. After he's older, I'll still be able to work later."

"We haven't discussed this before." I looked down at her face. "It's not that I don't want to raise a family, but I feel that we don't have any money right now. If we can't even feed ourselves, how can we raise a child?"

"We all went through the worst days of the sixties and seventies, and we grew up without milk bread. Can you not be a happy person because you were a child without a toy car and doll? " Lina spread her hands.

"I'm reading about early childhood education. Women give birth before the age of 30 to the best for the development of the fetal brain -- I think my dream last night was a sign..."

"Most of the time the dream is the opposite." I interrupted her impatiently.

In the empty apartment, Lina suddenly went silent.

For the first time, I felt Lina's back was facing me, so far away.

"Lei, do you not want children?"

I turned my face away. "I'm not ready …" Do we have to argue about this? "

"Don't you like children?"

"…"

"Duk Duk Duk!" A sharp knock on the door interrupted our argument.

"Who is it?" Lina turned her body and ignored me, turning to open the door.

"Wait, don't move first." I also followed along, grabbing Lina with one hand and looked out from the peephole.

Outside was a pale, wrinkled face.

His face was expressionless.

My first thought was that this man, whoever he was, didn't look alive.

I picked up the gun that had been on the desk yesterday and stuck it in my belt. I opened the door a crack.

"May I know who you're looking for?"

There was an old lady at the door. Her face was so dry that it didn't have the slightest bit of fat on it. She looked to be at least 80 to 90 years old. Perhaps to hide the bloodless face, her cheeks were covered with a thick layer of rouge, but she looked like a little person who had been wrapped in paper during a Chinese funeral.

California is not as cold as the North in January, which is about a dozen degrees. But the old lady was still wearing a gold-embroidered velvet long-sleeved jacket, a long dress with a high collar, the cuffs of which were tied to the wrists, and a pair of lace gloves.

She was holding a cardboard box in her hand.

For nearly thirty seconds, her expressionless face slowly squeezed out a smile.

"Excuse me, I'm your neighbor."