A firefly landed on my finger, its faint light on the photo of him. I imagined his gentle smile and warm eyes. I lay my head against the stone, thinking of all the times he’d comforted me. “Our Dahlia is grown now. Why are you still crying?”
I slept there through the night. When I woke, sunlight was spilling across the ground. My future was waiting.
My phone buzzed. A wedding invitation from Celine. And a message from the Public Security Bureau: My case was being investigated.
I smiled for the first time in years. I deleted the wedding invitation and blocked every way Celine and Argus could contact me.
Half an hour later I was on a plane. Once we broke through the clouds, the tension in my body finally released. I whispered to myself, Never see you again. I made my wish.
Mountains and rivers might separate us, but from now on, I am free.
