Distant Sunflower Fields by Juan Li & Payne Christopher

Author:Juan, Li & Payne, Christopher [Juan, Li & Payne, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838905088
Publisher: Sinoist Books
Published: 2021-02-12T06:00:00+00:00

25

Rabbits

The rabbits we had were like the dogs, always clinging to people, circling about them, and never straying too far, especially one particular one in the warren… it never ventured more than a hop or two away. Even when Mum went out into the fields to work, sometimes at quite a distance, this one rabbit would invariably tag along. Mum would discourage the creature, of course, urge it to turn around. She nearly always had farther to go, but the rabbit would simply spin its head around, look in each direction, and then refuse to follow her orders, or even to acknowledge her suggestion.

“But look at yourself,” Mum would continue. “You haven’t a pair of shoes on your feet, and you’ve already come a rather long way… Surely your little feet must be hurting, hmm…”

The rabbit’s ears would twitch calmly, seemingly unbothered by her words. Mum would set off again, and before she took more than a few steps, the rabbit would be hopping contentedly behind her. Independent. Full of life. Unmistakably proud. (One might even say haughty.) When the creature shut its small, reddish eyes, it was as though the world between heaven and earth had been shorn of its most precious pearls. Mum loved having the rabbit follow her, truth be told. She was grateful for its company. Its presence seemed to push aside, if only temporarily, all of the toil, strife and hardship of life out on the plains. There were even times when she couldn’t help herself – she just had to mimic the rabbit’s hop and experience the land from its unique perspective.

This single rabbit really was quite fond of Mum, but I couldn’t quite say why. Perhaps it was the loneliness between them, like the moon and the earth, tied together in this limitless galaxy until time itself stopped, one rabbit and one old lady, my mum, here in this corner of existence, at sea in a boundless sunflower field that rolled on and on. Who could abandon the other?

Saihu loved Mum, too. But her fondness was of a different order. Saihu loved the sense of security Mum brought. That’s why she was always on the edge of panic – terror, really – that one day Mum might no longer be there, just as Granny had disappeared without warning.

Saihu also loved the rabbits. Not long after one of the first little critters was born, Mum, cupping the infant kit in her hands, showed the creature to Saihu, who reacted as though she’d been shown something out of a dream world. She was slow and cautious around the tiny thing, initially confused as to what it was, before growing more comfortable and then leaning in to give it a tender kiss. This new life, or so it seemed, was soon no stranger to Saihu at all, but rather a part of herself. Her canine heart appeared to swell with love for the little animal Mum held in her hands. It was as though she was accepting responsibility for its fate.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.