Jing Liuli's memory fragment: City Park, late summer afternoon
The late-summer breeze carried the scents of grass and sunshine, rustling the sycamore leaves throughout the park.
Little Liuli held up a cotton candy that was about to melt, running joyfully across the lawn like a little rabbit.
"Dad, look! My cotton candy looks like it's about to fly away!"
Her eyes curved into crescents with laughter. She did not even notice the sticky strands of sugar clinging to the corners of her mouth. She was clearly having the time of her life.
Not far from Little Liuli, a middle-aged man in a plaid shirt watched it all with helpless indulgence.
He carried the ice cream he had just bought in one hand, while Little Liuli's favorite light-purple Small Backpack hung from his shoulder.
Not letting Little Liuli run too far, the middle-aged man quickly came to her side, crouched down, and carefully wiped the sugar stains from her face with a tissue. "Liuli, slow down. Don't fall."
Hearing her father's words, Little Liuli, still full of childish mischief, acted as though she had not heard him at all. The moment he wiped her mouth clean, she immediately ran off again, chasing a butterfly among the distant flowers.
But her little short legs were running a bit too fast, so she failed to notice a watermelon rind someone had discarded on the grass.
Whoosh!
Little Liuli stepped on the watermelon rind, lost her balance in an instant, and pitched headfirst toward the grass before her.
She shut her eyes in fright, her little hand still tightly clutching the cotton candy, her heart filled with the panic of My cotton candy is finished.
Yet the pain she expected never came. Instead, it felt as if she had fallen into a soft cloud.