Wang Chun looked at his watch over and over again. In his mind, nothing seemed to be right, as if he was a convicted criminal who was on the run, everyone was keeping an eye on him. “Am I wearing the right clothes? Does my hair look bad today? I hope this banquet of roses is the right choice for me”, he said to himself to ease his anxiety. Maybe for others, this Sunday was like any other Sunday at the beach during spring, where people spend their time with their beloved ones. For him, it was a big day.
It all happened during the summer of 1996, where he and her sister were enjoying themselves at the beach. It was a really refreshing vacation that they needed, after struggling with college entry examinations. The beach was beautiful, with the sands, white as the hot wax, warm yet giving calamity when stepped on it. While they were building sandcastles, along with their parents, they heard a voice in distress, calling for help. They looked around, searching for the voice when they saw a woman calling for help, begging to save his son from drowning.
Without any hesitation, his sister stormed off to the sea to help the boy. His family did not worry too much since she was an active swimmer in her school, and she was really good at it. While she was saving the boy, he realised something was wrong. Everyone looked at her sister with pity and guilt, as if saving the son was a bad idea. I tried to warn her, but she has already fallen into a trap that would cost her life.
When she reached the shore, the mother immediately accused Wang Chun’s sister of trying to kill her son and asking for compensation. She added that Wang Chun’s sister was the last person to make contact with her son, and therefore should be responsible. His sister denied the allegations, asking everyone on the beach to tell them what they saw, but to no avail. No one wanted to have any business with the incidents, as it would burden them in the future. They brought the case into court, and surprisingly, his sister lost the case and faced years of imprisonment without stating how long she will serve.
Thus, every year at the start of the spring, Wang Chun waited every single year at the same beach, hoping that his sister would return. At first, his family members joined him, but as the years went by, they started to lose faith and abandoned him alone with his annual mourning. Some even completely forgot that their family is in prison, with an unknown fate. Yet he is the only one waiting eagerly. Year after year, that miracle would happen at the start of every summer.
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