In the hot summer, there are not many pedestrians on the streets, and it seems a bit quiet. Only the chirping cicadas are still full of energy.
During this quiet time when everyone prefers to take a nap at home, a sound of footsteps passed through the shade of trees and the alleys, pushing open the fence and the yard covered by dense foxtail grass.
"Grandma Kafla, we're here to see you." Four children, aged seven or eight, walked into the yard with messy steps.
This yard in a corner of the city once belonged to an abandoned orphanage. Now an old woman lives there. Because she is kind and can tell many stories, children from the neighborhood like to come and play here.
In a corner of the small courtyard was a small house with walls made of white and grayish-yellow stones and a wooden beamed roof.
Because the old man is old, the yard is not taken care of much. Except for the soil and a few stone slabs on the path he often walks on, the rest of the yard is overgrown with foxtail grass, among which occasionally a few light yellow chrysanthemums and dandelions pop up. These small flowers are always tenacious.
After a few of them came in, they headed straight for the cottage, but when they reached the house, they became quiet again, quietly pushed open the door, and looked around curiously, looking for the familiar old lady.
Unfortunately, the familiar old man was not seen in the front room.
Just as they were scratching their heads and hesitating, a slight cat's meow attracted their attention.
Following the cat's meow, the few of them came to the back of the cabin and finally found the old lady sitting in a recliner under the eaves.
Because it is backlit here, and there is a big loquat tree in the afternoon, providing comfortable shade, and the breeze blowing is very comfortable.
"Grandma Kavla is asleep."
A few people looked at the old lady who was taking a nap with her eyes closed in the recliner, and found that the one who made the sound just now was a calico cat in the grandmother's arms.
Even in summer, this calico cat still refused to leave its familiar place. After seeing the children, it first looked up alertly, then lay down leisurely and stretched.
"Meow~"
"It's Huahua, she was the one who called just now." A little girl among the four wanted to hug the lazy cat, but the cat dodged her.
After jumping off the old man's knees, the cat stretched its body, jumped onto the loquat tree next to it, and then climbed over the wall along the branches. It looked familiar, and it was not the first time it had done this.
"Huahua has run out to play again. Grandma will be looking for her soon." Several children discussed.
"Why don't we catch Huahua and give her to Grandma Kafla so that she can tell us a story." A child suggested.
"It seems so."
"But it's very hot. I didn't want to move anymore after running here." A little fat man next to him panted and wiped the sweat from his head.
"It's all your fault for not exercising regularly. The teacher at the orphanage has told you about it several times."
"No, that's not it. Actually, I have exercised, but it doesn't work. I just gain weight easily. My mom said it's a physique that makes me prone to obesity and it can't be changed."
"Okay, okay, I won't listen to your weird excuses." The girl next to her waved her hand indifferently.
A few people started chattering again. Although they wanted to go find the cat, they couldn't move their feet because of the dazzling sunlight outside.
Amid the chirping of the sparrows, the old man next to him gradually woke up from his nap.
The old man with silver hair slowly sat up and looked at the children beside him with a kind smile. He didn't seem to be angry about being woken up.
"Grandma Kafla is awake."
Seeing the old man sitting up tremblingly, several children hurried over to support him, and then explained their purpose with a bit of shame.
"Sorry to bother grandma."
"Nothing, you guys are here to listen to stories today too."
Looking at these familiar children, the old man shook his head to show that he didn't care, and then guessed their purpose.
"Yes." Hearing the old woman speak on her own initiative, several children nodded happily and then gathered around the grandmother.
"Okay, okay, you can tell me a story, but first you have to sit on the stone slab under the eaves." Surrounded by several noisy children, the old man skillfully made them quiet down.
"Yeah." Several children obediently sat under the shady eaves, and the grandmother slowly turned the recliner over.
Her kind and soothing voice slowly opened.
"Where were we last talking about..."
"Speaking of the blue flowers of the witch in the woods."
"And the picture book. I remember the pictures in that book were very beautiful."
"Oh, yes, it's a picture book, um, a picture book." The grandma seemed to remember something.
"I remember putting it in the cabinet next to the bed. Can you help me get it down? Be careful not to damage other things."
"No problem, leave it to us." With that, several children ran into the house happily, and soon ran out holding the picture book with a yellowed cover.
The picture book was made of thick cardboard, and the edges had long been worn out, revealing the rough hard paper. The cover was also faded and dirty due to its age. It was obvious that the book was at least ten years old, perhaps even longer.
"Yes, this is the book." The old lady stroked the familiar book cover. Although she could no longer see the pictures in the picture book clearly without her glasses, she could distinguish the contents of each page even with the simple colors due to her years of familiarity.
"We continue with 'The Story of the Witch of the Woods and the Seven Flowers.'"
"Today is also the last of these seven stories, 'Forget Me Not's Sincere Apology.'"
"A long time ago, there was a girl who loved reading very much. She often stayed in her room reading and seldom went out."
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