During the social distancing period back in March and April. I always heard children talking or playing wherever I was. Their conversation was my amusement as I walked by and accidentally heard it. A boy behind the hedge raised his voice to call his friend at may be two houses away. “Paul! Do you want …
“A glutton for punishment” means someone who seems to enjoy doing something that you consider unpleasant, according to Cambridge Dictionary. “A glutton for punishment” is also a title of Richard Yates’ short story in his “Eleven Kinds of Loneliness” short stories collection. In this story, he described the day when Walter Henderson has been fired. It …
The dirtiest house Sophie has ever seen was Howl’s moving castle. Sophie was the cleaning granny in this castle. She was actually 17 years old, but she was under a spell that made her a 80 years old granny. Even if she was not under the spell, she was an old woman inside, who confined …
Come on, jump on the skiff. We go rowing on the Caribbean Sea now. Do not be panic, when I tell you I do not really know how to steer the skiff and I have no sense of direction. But I have a book with me, the book written by Ernest Hemingway. That is to say, …
If one thing from all the stories I read could be true, what would I wish for? Somehow, as I was reading “Mio, my son”, I discovered one wish …
“Rapunzel, let down your hair!” a six years old girl talked to this tower. The tower stay silent, she knocked on the wooden door, “hey, faster, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” I was thinking, if there is a door, it could not be the Rapunzel’s tower. “I guess Rapunzel lives in another tower, this tower …
Roses could be found in many stories: Alice in Wonderland, Mio my Son, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, you name it. Days ago, as I entered the rose garden nearby, I think of the little prince. The little prince was overwhelmed by thousands of roses. The reason was, this rose garden …
“How old are you?” A 6 years old boy asked me years ago. “You guess.” I replied. “12 ?” I tried to control myself not to laugh out loud. With a decent smile, I said: “Wrong. Keep guessing.” “O, you must be as old as my cousin, 16?” According to the given answers, I think …
The Sun Singer in Millesgården is overlooking Stockholm across the blue water and facing the sun. He does not have arm to wave to the passing ships. Since waving to ships is not his purpose of life, not having arms is not as sorrowful as not having head and so no mouth to sing. This …
This line sounds familiar? It is taken from an old Chinese movie 20 years ago, called “Xin Dong”《心动》. I could not recall most of it anymore, but two elements are still impressive after 20 years. One is the lyrics of the movie theme song. Another one is this dialog. The couple parted because of fate, …