The child looked up.
All she could see was a sky full of fiery red "butterflies."
The child unconsciously held her breath.
"Little friend."
"Little friend!"
The child suddenly came to her senses.
She turned around, nearly in a panic.
The old woman was a little startled by the child's expression.
A look of astonishment appeared on her face.
A few seconds later, the gorgeous red images lingering in the child's eyes faded, and she finally saw clearly...
The person standing before her...
was an old woman.
The child pressed her lips together.
She had finally found someone...
but she wasn't as happy as she had imagined.
She even felt a little resentful that Old Grandmother had interrupted her while she was looking at the maple leaves.
The child's expression returned to normal, and the old woman's face relaxed, too.
She gave a slight shake of her head.
A smile lifted her face.
"Little friend, did this old woman scare you just now?"
"I'm sorry."
The child immediately shook her head in a fluster.
She mumbled, unsure what to say.
Because of her condition, she rarely interacted with strangers on her own.
She wasn't very good at getting along with them.
And besides...
She remembered her mom and dad telling her many times not to talk to strangers.
Her mom and dad had also told her...
if she ever got separated from them, she shouldn't wander off, but wait where she was for them to find her.
She should have waited for them outside the school gates.
Maybe her mom and dad were just late...
Could it be that they couldn't find her...
The child grew more and more uneasy.
Seeing this, the old woman bent down slightly, her expression kind.