Old Wall Chalk Drawings: Fantastic Memories Across Time
The roar of the bulldozers was deafening, and the dust they kicked up filled the air, as if draping a thick veil of mourning over this vanishing old scene. Ayu stood quietly to one side, her gaze drawn to a glimpse of color peeking through the cracks in the old wall bricks. It was half a chalk drawing, stubbornly retaining its unique, mysterious aura despite the erosion of time and dust.
In the painting, a girl with pigtails is depicted with lifelike realism, holding a kite high in her hand. Her focused expression seems to transcend time and space, pulling Ayu into a world full of childlike wonder and fantasy. The kite string is slender yet strong, stretching towards the sky, but the direction it points to startles Ayu. The kite string has actually passed through the top of a sycamore tree that doesn't exist in reality, pointing towards the sunset on the horizon. The sunset is fiery, as brilliant as the one Zhong Hua once photographed in Dunhuang.
Ayu's thoughts drifted back to Dunhuang. There, she and Zhong Hua had set foot on that mysterious land. The vast desert, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, resembled a golden sea, while the distant Singing Sand Dunes possessed both gentle and magnificent lines. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the entire sky was dyed orange-red, the sunset a flowing, ever-changing scroll. Zhong Hua excitedly raised his camera, capturing that breathtaking moment. Now, the sunset in the chalk drawing before her eyes overlapped with the scene in her memory, as if time and space had intertwined at this moment.
When Ayu's gaze shifted downwards and landed on the puddle at the girl's feet, she was utterly astonished. Though small, the puddle acted like a mirror, reflecting the same star trails they had seen at Namtso. Namtso, that sacred lake on the Tibetan Plateau, was like a giant sapphire set between heaven and earth. At night, they had lay quietly by the lake, gazing at the vast starry sky. The stars twinkled, the Milky Way stretched across the heavens, and the dreamlike star trails seemed like a mysterious poem written by the universe. Now, the star trails in this puddle were exactly the same as the Namtso starry sky in her memory. Ayu seemed to feel again the cool tranquility of that night, and the awe she felt in the face of the universe.
Just as Ayu was immersed in this wondrous discovery, a glimmer of icy blue light in the corner caught her attention. Embedded in the still-damp mud was a pebble, its icy blue color perfectly matching that of the glacial lake in Yubeng Village. Yubeng Village was a hidden paradise deep within the Meili Snow Mountain, and the glacial lake was the jewel within this paradise. When they finally stood before the glacial lake after their arduous journey, the pure, icy blue water astonished them. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and forests, the glacial lake seemed like a secluded fairyland. This pebble, it seemed, had traveled from the glacial lake through time, carrying its purity and mystery.
Ayu gently crouched down and carefully removed the pebble from the mud, cradling it in her palm. The coolness of the pebble seeped through her hand and spread throughout her body, causing her to shiver involuntarily. She examined the pebble closely; its texture was clearly visible, as if it were a work of art meticulously sculpted by nature. Those lines resembled ripples on a frozen lake, or the marks of time.
"Ayu, what are you looking at?" Zhong Hua appeared beside Ayu without her noticing, and his voice woke her from her reverie.
Ayu looked up, her eyes sparkling with excitement and confusion. She handed the pebbles in her hand to Zhong Hua and pointed to the chalk drawing on the wall. "Look, everything in this chalk drawing is related to the places we've been. It's incredible!"
Zhong Hua took the rubble, his expression also showing surprise. He looked at the chalk drawing, lost in thought. After a moment, he slowly said, "Perhaps this old wall carries our unknown memories, or perhaps it's a mysterious force that presents our experiences in this way."
They decided to explore the secrets behind the chalk drawing as much as possible before the bulldozers completely demolished the old wall. Ayu took out her phone and photographed every detail of the chalk drawing, hoping to find more clues in the photos. Zhong Hua carefully observed the surrounding environment, trying to find other traces related to the chalk drawing.
As they delved deeper into the chalk drawing, they discovered that the pattern on the girl's clothes was strikingly similar to a floral dress Ayu had worn as a child. It was hand-sewn by Ayu's grandmother, embroidered with delicate little flowers, every stitch imbued with her grandmother's love. Ayu remembered always wearing that dress as a child, playing in the yard, her laughter echoing throughout the yard. Could this chalk drawing be connected to Ayu's childhood in some way?
Meanwhile, Zhong Hua discovered some blurred writing on the other side of the old wall. He carefully cleaned away the dust from the writing, trying hard to decipher its contents. It seemed to be a poem; although some of the writing was blurred, some clues could still be made: "The brush of time outlines the contours of memory; in the corner of the years, stars and lakes are hidden." This poem seemed to be an interpretation of the chalk drawing, suggesting that a memory spanning time and space was hidden behind it.
To find out the origin of the chalk drawing, Ayu and Zhonghua decided to visit nearby residents, hoping to get some clues from them. They first found Grandpa Li, who lived near the old wall. Grandpa Li had lived there for decades and knew the area's past very well.
When Mr. Li saw the photo of the chalk drawing, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes, followed by a wave of reminiscence. "This chalk drawing seems to have been drawn by a little girl decades ago. Back then, this place was a playground for children, and they often drew on the walls. However, I do have some impression of this girl with pigtails. Her name was Xiaoyan, and she was a very lively child. Unfortunately, she moved away later, and I don't know where she went."
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