Gone are the days when I strolled along the Shin-jie River. Gone are my cute rabbit and cat. Gone are my kind and affectionate grandparents. Everlasting are my love and reminiscence for the Shin-jie Riverside.
When I was a child, I lived in a huge old house beside the Shin-jie River, which is one of the main rivers in Jungli. It is a little polluted but still beautiful. I often saw buffaloes and egrets in it. The green riverside inspired my curiosity and led me to explore the mystery and beauty of nature. I always enjoyed observing the various plants, the diligent ants, and the singing birds of the riverside. I especially loved the two tall guavas in our backyard. In summer the aromatic flavor of the guavas always made me drool. I loved the flowing river, too. I always wondered why the river flowed so rapidly and never came back. Was the river also searching for something? If only it could tell, what an exciting adventure it would tell!
At first, I raised a cute rabbit called Snow. She always enjoyed eating the delicious vegetables from my grandparents’ garden. She was my best friend at that time. After she died, my grandfather buried her right by the river. I wrote a letter and threw it into the river, hoping Snow might have known how much I missed her. Three years later, I met a playful cat. I kept it to have a pal. I called the independent cat “Kite”. Kite and I both loved discovery, freedom, and searching for the unknown world. We spent much time together going after butterflies or viewing the scenery of the riverside. I often picked some leaves of grass to tease Kite, and Kite often acted like a spoiled child wanting me to touch her or play with her. Those days were the happiest time in my life of the riverside.
In the summer of 1994, my grandmother died in a car accident. After the heart-breaking thing happened, my grandfather decided to sell the house to leave the sad place. Kite suddenly disappeared at that time, seeming she knew our decision. I looked for her several times. I called her name loudly but there was no answer. I have never seen Kite again since then.
Now I’ve left the Shin-jie Riverside. I can only glance it while passing by. The plants and river look the same as usual, but our old house has been torn down to be a new hospital site. Natural beauty never changes. Only unexpected human life changes. All my beautiful memories of the riverside is but a reverie ending up with a sigh: Difficult it was for us to meet, and difficult to part. The river never stops going forward and the grass turns green every spring. These thoughts are not the stuff of our recollection, but what elude our grasp as life itself unfolds.
(1998.8.23)
