Hopeland in the south received a rare light snowfall. In this warm seaside city, snow is really a novel thing.
White snowflakes slowly drifted down from the sky and fell in the courtyard. The air became colder than before. Some children wore cotton-padded jackets and played happily in the snow, throwing snowballs and making snowmen. It was a perfect day for growing up by the sea.
For the older ones, this was almost their first time in their lives, so they were extremely excited.
The large glass windows covered with thin frost separate the cold outdoors from the warm indoors. The fire in the indoor fireplace burns quietly, and the ticking sound comes from the mahogany bronze pendulum clock against the wall.
Mei Lu sat quietly on the small sofa next to the fireplace. The armrest on the left was slightly heated by the fire and felt very warm. She had a blanket wrapped around her body. The blanket was made of wool and looked a little old.
There were also tiny hair balls appearing in some places.
Logically speaking, the eldest lady of the Helis family and the current head of the family cannot afford a good blanket, but this one has a special meaning to her.
Although she was relatively well-behaved as a child, there were times when she was playful. When she was about 8 years old, it also snowed in Hopelaner, which was a little older than this time. She, Fengano, and some other girls of the same age were there.
Playing in the snow, we also tried to make various things out of snowflakes, such as little people, kittens, puppies, etc.
But due to their lack of experience, their piles always looked different and uglier. A few boys, Adeley and Wick, laughed at them. Fengano was so angry that he picked up a snowball and threw it at it.
Fortunately, the boys and girls on the snow started having snowball fights with each other, throwing snowballs back and forth.
While fighting and running, the small animals that were originally piled up were stepped on by others. At that time, she was so angry that she cried loudly, and her heart was full of grievances. Feng Nai comforted her, but she still didn't stop. Later Feng Nai went
We found Brother Fenton. Fenton was almost an adult at that time. He was the oldest among their generation and also very prestigious.
He quickly found Adley and Wick, who were about 9 years old, and asked them to apologize to him. Although Adley was naughty at the time, he did not dare to disobey brother Fenton, so he had to be quite reluctant.
I apologized to her and then she stopped crying.
Later, Brother Fenton found a few more shovels and shoveled the snow on the ground together, which was much faster than them using their hands. Then he asked Adeley and other boys to help pile the snow. They were a little disdainful at first and did not want to be with the girl.
The children played house games together. But they also became interested in making piles. Wick suggested that everyone build a castle together, which was agreed by many children.
So a dozen children worked together to build a castle on the snow. Brother Fenton watched from the sidelines. Sometimes he would find some tools to help flatten the snow piles into large squares, and also gave them some small wooden boards.
It was easy to shape the snowdrift into angular shapes, which made them more interested.
It lasted a whole day, and they didn't even want to eat lunch. All they could think about was how to build a beautiful castle. A dozen children were running around in the snow, constantly collecting the snow in the middle.
They first roughly built a hill, and then Fenton helped them plan the general shape, such as walls, the main body of the castle, towers, etc. Then one person took charge of a small part and started taking action.
Adeli wanted to build the tallest fortress in the castle, Feng Nai wanted to build a high tower, and Wick wanted to build the main body of the castle. Since they were from the best families and were usually the leaders, other children couldn't earn it either.
So I had to let them choose first. Brother Fenton saw that she didn't choose, so he came over curiously and asked if she was too shy to say anything.
She actually didn't know what to choose at that time, so she had to say that I would build the city wall with the other children, which was relatively simple. In this way, Fengano waited for 5-6 children to build the main body of the castle in the middle, and the other 8-9 children were on the outside.
Build a city wall.
It was not until the afternoon that the castle was completed. During this period, Brother Fenton looked at it several times and revised it several times before it was finally completed.
The white ice and snow castle has walls that are a bit twisted and uneven. The main body of the castle in the middle is not very symmetrical. The tall tower is really thick and does not look pretty. But overall, it can be seen that it is a castle.
.
Although it was not perfect, everyone was still very happy, and then began to assign where they would live in the castle in the future.
Adli was the first to speak. He said that he wanted to live in the fortress rotunda in the middle of the castle, because that was where the king lived. Then Fengano said that she wanted to live in the high tower and be with the princess.
Same. Wick looked at it and said that he lived in the middle of the castle. He wanted to be a general. Then the other children also expressed their ideas about where to live and who they wanted to be. There were ministers, heroes, and queens.
There are bishops, poets, etc.
Finally, Fenton asked her where she wanted to live. She thought for a while and replied that she wanted to live with her family and that everyone could be happy together. After saying this, Adeley smiled and said this wish
It was so boring, what was there to think about? Seeing that she was about to cry again, Brother Fenton gave Adley a few more words to tell him not to judge other people's dreams, and she felt a little better.
After playing in the snow all day, she was relatively weak at that time. When she came back, she caught a cold, had a headache, and had a fever. She curled up in bed all day. Her father went to ask the church pastor to treat her every day.
She was a little better with the spell, but she was still a little depressed. She felt a little uncomfortable after sleeping in bed too much.
Aunt Lige, the head maid, saw that she was in a bad mood all day, so she stayed by her bedside to talk to her, and was busy knitting a blanket.
At that time, she lay on the bed and listened to Aunt Lige telling some past events, such as the scenes of Lige's life in the mountain village when she was young, the wild boars, warcraft, foxes, etc. in the mountains, as well as Aunt Lige's own childhood and her brothers and sisters.
Stories, what they would play, etc., made Meilu listen with gusto, and she was no longer bored lying in bed.
The cold lasted for a week or two, during which Feng Nai visited her several times, but for fear of infecting her, the parents of both parties did not allow them to meet. They only left some gifts, not only for Feng Nai, but also for other children.
Even Adley and Wick asked Feng Na to bring her a beautiful little dagger.
When the cold got better, Aunt Lige also finished knitting the blanket, letting Meilu wear it when she got cold, so as to be careful not to catch a cold again in the future.
Time passes slowly. The blanket that once could cover the whole body is now only suitable for draping on the shoulders. The person who knitted the blanket is no longer there, and the children who played together also went their separate ways and disappeared from life. Some even no longer exist.
Won't see it either.
The fire burns quietly, and the past time seems to emerge in the flames. Mei Lu is immersed in memories, sometimes smiling, sometimes sad. When the blanket on her shoulders slips, she wakes up inadvertently, pulls the blanket back on, and then
Flick the firewood in the fireplace to get it burning again.
Meilu looked at the orange-red flames, her eyes no longer had the worries and uneasiness of the past, and a calm and peaceful firelight was reflected in them.
Even if the past is gone and the familiar people are gone one by one, she will still move on, just like she dreamed of when she was a child, she will make the Helis family a warm family again.