strong green light. I stared in wonder and placed my hand on the land. This is the land where my
glowing stone came from, and this place was basically a glowing stone.
The green light echoes the dark blue sky perfectly, like polar lights on the ground. I wasn’t
sure if it was the ground or me, but my whole body felt a surge of warmth. Suddenly, I thought
of all the days I spent in exploring the desert. I remembered all the days in surviving alone. I
thought of my dad, and I swear I could see him.
No, I actually did see him.
There he was in his dark green shirt, facing me. His face was the same like the last time I saw
him, just older. He had this expression on his face that seemed like he could see what’s coming
next. Although his feet were masked with green waves of light, I could imagine him wearing his
trustworthy combat boots. He was my father.
I thought about how I couldn’t manage to survive. Then I thought about what people say when
they told me my father sacrificed for his teammate, and how he patted my head when he said I
could go to the desert one day every time I begged to come with him.
“I’m sorry, I failed you,” I said, my voice broken.
Father smiled and shook his head, which I didn’t expect him to. Then he spoke, “No, you
didn’t, my girl.”
“I didn’t manage to survive.”
“You did, you just didn’t manage to live,” Father explained, though it didn’t explain much to
me. He waved his hand like he was waving away my disbelief and said, “Live on.”
And he turned away. I wanted to yell for him to come back, but my voice wasn’t working.
Live on. It echoed in my brain.
Before I could do anything, I was blinded by bright white light.
Scorching sun, aching ankle.
Is this reality?
I look around me. I was lying on the ground in the exact position I was before I went
unconscious.
Almost without a second thought, I took out some bandages from my backpack and wrapped
around my ankle. I tried standing up. My ankle hurt so much that my whole leg could feel the pain.
When I tried to straighten my clothes, my right pocket of my jacket felt heavier than before. I
put my hand inside. Something hard fit perfectly in my hand.
I gritted my teeth.
And I went on.
* * *
