Despite his young age and lack of family care, Knova still hated going to boarding school, believing he could take care of himself, just like today.
At King's Cross station in London, Nova, carrying his small backpack, walked with the flow of people, head down, occasionally glancing up to see if he had reached his platform.
Inside the bag were two ham sandwiches, a bottle of water, and several banknotes ranging from 10 to 50 pounds.
He had planned his entire route and even pre-ordered a bouquet of white calla lilies from a suitable florist by phone.
King's Cross Station is a historic station that has been in good working order for over 150 years.
Along the way, the adults around Nova seemed to be always in a hurry, constantly passing by.
Ironically, in a country that prides itself on its gentlemanly conduct, people are becoming increasingly indifferent, with no one paying much attention to a child who is unrelated to them.
Platform 8...
Despite having checked it many times, Little Nova still took out the slightly crumpled ticket from her pocket one last time to confirm it.
Several men in overcoats were already chatting and waiting by the brick platform.
Today, the old but relatively clean platform area wasn't too crowded. The weather, still not warm, brought occasional gusts of cold wind, making the sky seem somewhat gloomy.
Little Nova tightened his jacket, took out a chocolate from his pocket, took a bite, then resealed the wrapper and put it back.
In a little while, the train bound for Edinburgh will be arriving at the station.
Nova prefers to choose trains that stop at the final destination because that way she doesn't have to constantly worry about missing her stop and can relax on the train, enjoying the scenery or taking a nap.
The faint voices of several adults seemed to be discussing some adult topics. Nova already knew about these things, but he didn't quite understand the "fun" behind them.
Over the loudspeaker, a standard London accent announced: "Dear passengers, train U8826 is about to arrive at the station. Please prepare to board in an orderly manner..."
Upon hearing the announcement, Nova instinctively pulled out his ticket to check his platform and seat number.
But suddenly, a cold wind blew by, and the slightly cold and stiff little hand didn't hold the ticket tightly for a moment, letting it fly out of its grasp.
"My ticket!!"
Little Nova quickly chased after the "escaped" ticket; he dared not evade the fare, and he certainly didn't want to miss the train.
The cold wind seemed to be deliberately working against Nova; his ticket fluttered in the air and refused to come down.
"My ticket!! Don't go~~~"
Nova charged recklessly after him, not caring that he was bumping into the passengers on the side.
The tickets kept flying high and low, sometimes falling to the ground. Nova could have picked them up in just a few more steps, but then the hateful cold wind would blow again, sounding the marathon whistle once more.
The adults around just looked at the little kid but didn't offer any help.
The train was about to arrive at the station, and the orderly British people lined up to board, with no one wanting to leave the queue.
With a "bang~" sound.
Nova knocked over a large suitcase, which also knocked over a bag that was originally placed on top of the suitcase, causing items such as lipsticks and cosmetic boxes to fall out.
"Hey kid, watch where you're going!"
A pretty girl grabbed Nova.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, but I need to catch my train ticket! It's about to fly away!"
Even as Nova apologized, he still looked anxiously at the train ticket, which was not high off the ground and kept flying and stopping.
The girl looked in the direction Nova was pointing and saw a train ticket sliding in the wind.
Just as I was about to help Nova chase after it, a stronger gust of wind blew up, sending the ticket flying high towards the King's Cross station platform.
"No, my ticket!"
Nova broke free from the girl's hand and rushed in that direction.
"Come back quickly, it's dangerous!"
The drop outside the platform was more than a meter. If a child were to step into the gap and run out, he would definitely get hurt. The girl didn't have time to pick up the broken pieces on the ground before chasing after him.
But before she could catch up, she noticed the little boy had suddenly stopped in front of her.
She walked up to him, puzzled, only to find him staring in one direction at something.
Subconsciously, following Nova's gaze, the girl saw a bird perched on a corner of the wall outside the platform.
This is a crow with glossy black feathers, and it looks a size larger than a normal crow. It tilts its head to one side, facing them, and opens its beak to let out a "caw~~" sound.
The crow was definitely watching them! The girl sensed it strongly.
Her gaze sharpened again, and she noticed the train ticket under the crow's claws, causing her heart to skip a beat.
Is this a coincidence?
With a "toot" of the electric whistle, the train pulled into the station.
Ah~~
Another crow cawed, still clearly audible in the already noisy environment.
"Give me back my ticket!"
Nova shouted at the crow.
"Silly child, how could the crow... uh..."
The girl couldn't finish her sentence; her eyes widened as she stared at the crow in disbelief.
After Nova shouted those words, the large, black bird stretched out its head and caught the ticket with its beak.
Could it be...? Could it really be that they're going to return the ticket?
This absurd idea became a reality as soon as it arose.
The crow, carrying the train ticket in its beak, flew down from the corner of the wall not far away and landed at Nova's feet.
Nova himself was stunned, but children's understanding is simpler than adults', and he immediately bent down and took the ticket from the crow's beak.
And they didn't forget to say "thank you".
But the crow didn't fly away. It tilted its neck to one side and stared at Nova without fear. Its dark eyes, without a trace of blemish, were devoid of light.
But while it is not afraid of people, some people have begun to fear it.
The interaction between animals and children should have been a heartwarming and harmonious scene, but the girl now felt her hair stand on end.
That crow is so eerie...
She patted Nova on the shoulder, feigning composure.
"Child, hurry! The train is coming to the station! We're going to miss it! Quick, my bag and suitcase are still there!"
"Ah, right, right, let's go!"
Nova immediately realized that he needed to catch his train, so he and the kind lady jogged back towards the suitcase lying on the ground not far away.
...
Ten minutes later, the train slowly started moving. Karina, who was sitting in the carriage, could no longer see the platform at King's Cross Station, and then she breathed a long sigh of relief.
She and Nova happened to be in the same carriage. There were plenty of empty seats in the carriage today, so she sat down next to Nova.
While curiously asking Nova for his name and other information, she was also typing with her boyfriend on her phone.
'Jeremy, you won't believe what I just saw!'
Jeremy, far away in Ireland, took out his vibrating phone from his pocket, saw it was his beloved girlfriend, thought of her beautiful appearance and equally beautiful heart, and smiled as he typed a reply.
'Oh? What did you see?'
Then the colleague on the same side continued the previous topic.
"Have the detection results come out yet?"
"We're out. It took us several months, but we couldn't find any super vines under Dublin. They're either deeper down or they don't exist at all."
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