Winter solstice
By eight o'clock in the afternoon, even though the office lights were dutifully camouflaging daylight, the real sky outside had completely darkened.
The city is not willing to fall silent at night, and the street lights and blocked car headlights merge together to form a stable strip of light. If you look up from the light and shadow, you can see the outlines of the buildings outlined by the rainbow neon, and there are many windows on each floor reflecting the busy figures.
The bad news is that I'm also part of the overtime army; The good news is that I'm almost done with my work for today.
I finally wrote the last word of the email and clicked send before I let out a long breath.
By this time, my brain had already been tangled into a mess by the fatigue and irritability brought by a week's work, and I didn't want to worry about how to write a weekly report, so I resolutely turned off the computer and left the company with my own things.
The city never seems to care about the time or season, and even on a late winter night, there is still a long line at the security checkpoint at the subway station. I followed ** into the subway car and found a corner to set myself up.
The emptiness in my stomach prompted me to take out my phone and prepare to look at the dinner menu, and my eyes swept the labels on the calendar, only to realize that it was the winter solstice.
That said, today will be the longest night of the year.
I randomly swiped a few times on the food delivery app, turned my head to open the social software, and clicked on the "Nearby" page.
The winter solstice is as big as a year, so eat a good meal today [**].
Wow, I didn't expect my teammates to pick me up from work, and the flowers are so beautiful
Originally, I was very happy to get off work on Friday, but I thought about eating rice balls at home, and suddenly I didn't want to go home [bitter smile]. Addendum: It's not that it's bad to eat glutinous rice balls, it's just that I don't like to eat sticky [embarrassment].
If I'm in my hometown today, I'll definitely have dumplings to eat at night, my mother's fennel stuffing yyds, but unfortunately I won't wrap it, order a takeout [**
It's snowing, and it's quite cold [**It's really cold.]
By the time I got there, I had just stepped out of the subway station, and the green belt outside was trimmed with furry white edges, the ground was covered with a layer of snow, and the pedestrian-heavy areas had been trodden out of the dark paths.
I looked up with great pleasure, and sure enough, a little bit of silvery white snow fell lightly on my face.
Most of the days that can be called festivals give the impression of being lively. It's just that I live alone in a different place, and I only have one or two opportunities a year to spend the holidays with my family.
The winter solstice is nothing but an ordinary Friday and is not a little different than any other Friday.
I put on my coat and hat and walked unhurriedly in the direction of home.
The first floor of this community has a small yard, and the house I rented is also on the first floor, so you can go home directly through the yard without going through the crowded unit door, as if you have realized one door and one household in the steel forest. This house is comfortable to live in** and cost-effective, I haven't changed my place in years.
I walked through a long row of tight high fences to the gate of my yard, and took out the key to open the fence gate by the light of a nearby street lamp, and the snow in the yard appeared in front of me, as smooth and smooth as silver streamer brocade.
I exhaled, locked the courtyard door, and walked the shortest distance to the entrance door, leaving a clear line of footprints on the silver brocade behind me.
I changed the key to open the door, and the moment I opened the door, the warm breath of the living room and the voices of men and women poured out, and the warm yellow light illuminated my surprised face.
Parents? How did you guys get here? ”
My mother smiled and put a plate of dumplings on the table, wiped her hands on her apron, and didn't forget to call me: "You are back, come in and close the door, how cold it is outside, hurry up and change your clothes, and you will be able to eat immediately." ”
My dad also came out of the kitchen with my favorite big soup bowl: "The soup is good, it has been stewed all afternoon, this rib is really good, hey, fragrant." ”
I looked at a table of hot dishes, so happy that tears came out, and while untying my scarf, I stepped on each other with my feet to change my shoes: "When did you arrive, why don't you say a word, I will take half a day off to pick you up?" I don't have anything in the fridge, so you can still buy groceries. ”
My mom sat down and took off her apron: "What's the matter, how convenient it is for your dad to drive over." It's your apron, why do you have so many bells and whistles. You go wash your hands, set the dishes and chopsticks, I'm tired, rest for a while. ”
My dad had already put the soup bowl in place at this time, and went to the kitchen to bring the rice cooker: "You can get it, I drove the car all the way when I came, and I also cooked the dishes when I arrived, and the dumplings were all wrapped at home, why are you tired of cooking dumplings?" That apron isn't something you have to wear ...... if you look good”
My mom didn't even do anything, my dad closed his mouth with an eye knife, I had already washed my hands, snickered and walked between the two of them to get the dishes and chopsticks, picked up a dumpling and stuffed it in his mouth, but was scalded straight, and was ridiculed by the old couple of men and women.
I handed the bowl to my parents, and the three of us sat at the same table for the first time in a long time.
My dad first put a bowl of soup in front of my mom, and then picked up another bowl for me. I had just eaten a piece of garlic clove from a fish, scooped up a large lump of rice and stuffed it into my mouth, chewed a few bites before I realized that it was different from the usual meal: "Rice can't be brought from home too, right?" ”
My mom nodded proudly, "Yes, the tongue is pretty good." He turned his head and said to my father: "I'll just say that I won't have a vaginal discharge, I don't know how hungry our children are?" You can definitely eat differently. My dad made an admiring look and gave my mom a thumbs up: "You are wise." ”
There are not many dishes, but they are fresh and hot, they are all the taste of home, we finished the meal with a smile, and when my dad stood up to clean up the table, my mother and I had already arranged where to play tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
My mother waved her hand and said to my dad as if she was extrajudicial: "Okay, don't clean up, let's go back to the hotel now, everyone goes to bed early today, and tomorrow's task is still very heavy." ”
My dad smiled and shook his head, said to me, "Then we'll leave it alone", turned around and went to get the clothes and put them on with my mom before leaving. I was still holding chopsticks in my hand, and I asked a little worriedly, "Do you still stay in the hotel outside the community?" Will I come with you? ”
My mom and dad were already dressed, and my mom waved her hand: "How many times have you been there, I don't need you." It's snowing outside, so don't run out and look for us tomorrow morning." ”
My dad had already opened the door at this time, and the cold wind blew in with scattered snowflakes, and he reached out to take my mom by the hand, and urged him in a rare way: "Let's go, the heat in the house is running away." ”
He turned back to me and said, "See you tomorrow, but don't get up too late to make your mother anxious." ”
The husband and wife walked into the courtyard holding hands, and the door closed behind them.
With a smile on my face, I looked out the window and found that I couldn't see the courtyard clearly against the light.
I simply stood up and walked to the window, until I was close to the windowsill, and reached out to wipe the moisture from the window glass, so that I could finally see the courtyard clearly.
The courtyard was only lit by the street lamps in the distance, and it was still as empty as when I came back, and there was no one left. Only the line of footprints I left behind when I returned home was stamped alone on the silver glittering brocade.
I suddenly felt very cold.
It turned out that the heating in the room was not on, there were no lights and no food, there was no laughter, and there were no miracles.
It turned out that I didn't want to remember that I had lost them.
The night of the winter solstice is really long. It's long.
end •Content from:
Dufur 2023 Essay Competition
Shortlisted Articles
Source: Internet.
Editor: Nana Ming.
Reviewer: Rose.
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