Chapter 16: Hope Rekindled

The last golden light of sunset fell across his young, resolute face, across that shimmering bouquet of a thousand paper cranes, across the crabapple tree strung with loving reminders. The breeze passed, and the tree's red "blessing ribbons" danced, rustling with a faint sound, like whispering.

"Nian-Nian... don't be afraid..."

"Nian-Nian... take good care..."

"Nian-Nian... Grandma is watching..."

Those silent ribbons seemed truly to become Grandma's kindly voice, crossing the boundary between life and death, gently soothing, over and over, my wounded, ragged heart.

The hollow, anxious places inside me were slowly, little by little, refilled and soothed by the boy's burning vow and this hillside of wordless messages.

Tears surged again, blurring my sight. But this time they were not the sobs of despair. Mixed into those tears, along with the unspeakable grief, surged a warmth—hope being kindled anew.

My body reacted before my mind did.

I lunged forward, threw both arms around the boy in front of me, and held him with every ounce of strength I had! As if I could pour all my fragility, all my dependence, all my gratitude into that one embrace. My face buried in the hollow of his sunlit neck, my tears soaked his collar in an instant.

His body stiffened visibly—then a pair of arms just as strong, with matchless care and certainty, closed firmly around me, gathering me wholly into his warm, solid embrace.

Warmth passed through the thin fabric, dispelling the cold buried deep in my bones. In my ear was the steady, strong beat of his heart—thump, thump—like the most comforting drumbeat. The paper cranes' wings brushed my cheek, feather-light and faintly ticklish.

The breeze stirred; the crabapple's leaves rustled; the tree's red "blessing ribbons" spread and streamed in the wind like countless waving arms, speaking soundless blessing and everlasting companionship.

The tears still would not stop.

But I knew: in this abyss of utter abandonment, after becoming an "orphan" for the second time in my life, having lost everything to hold on to—I had, at last, caught hold of a new reliance, one bright enough to light the road ahead.