[Comprehensive British and American Drama] Vibrant Soul

On the same day, at nine o'clock in the evening, in a suburb outside Evanston, Illinois.

In front of a forest cabin used for vacation, there are dense forests around it, and the cold moonlight at night shines on the open space in front of the cabin through the leaves.

The surrounding area was quiet and the air was extremely fresh.

In front of the set up field tent, a strong bonfire was lit. Delicious slices of meat were placed on the barbecue grill with "sizzling" oil foaming. Colorful green peppers and vegetables were skewered into a string mixed with fresh beef brisket. Constantly exudes an attractive aroma.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who came to the forest cabin for vacation, brought their newly born daughter Bertha Smith here to celebrate.

"Cheers." The three raised their glasses high and clinked vigorously, each with a happy smile on their faces.

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Smith touched her daughter's hair: "You are so beautiful tonight, my lovely little angel. Happy birthday to you."

"Thank you, Mom." Bertha Smith showed a happy and pure smile, stepped forward and kissed Mrs. Smith on the face.

"Of course, our little sweetheart is not only full today, but at the same time, she was admitted to Northwestern University with excellent grades." Hanton Smith's eyes, which were not too big, were almost cracked with laughter, and he showed a proud smile. With an exaggerated expression, he announced loudly: "Baby, I have always been proud of you!"

"Thank you, Dad." Bertha got up happily and kissed her father again.

"Hurry up, dear." Mrs. Smith picked up the cooked veal brisket from the grill and put it on Bertha's plate: "Oh, it smells so good, it's your favorite veal brisket, baby, you You must eat more, you must know that your father bought a lot for you."

Bertha showed a happy smile, lowered her head and ate it: "Well, it tastes really delicious. Mrs. Smith's craftsmanship has always been so good. Also, thank you Mr. Smith for buying the brisket."

"You're welcome, daughter." Hanton Smith rolled his eyes again.

Seeing Bertha gobbling it up, Mrs. Smith couldn't help expressing emotion: "I think you were so big when we first adopted you." Mrs. Smith compared the length and showed a sweet expression: "You have grown up in a blink of an eye, but so fast!"

"Was I so young back then?" Bertha showed a curious expression.

"Yes," Mrs. Smith showed an affirmative expression: "You were not yet a year old at that time." Then she showed an indignant look: "That pervert is really hateful, just throwing you at a stranger's door, What if you have an accident before you are discovered by that family?"

"Oh, my God!" Mrs. Smith rubbed her chest vigorously: "Every time I think of this, I feel horrible."

"It's okay, Mom, I'm fine now." Bertha comforted in turn.

"Oh, yes, it's a good thing you came to our family. I've always felt lucky for that." Mrs. Smith scratched her chest with a pious expression: "I can hardly imagine that if you are adopted by a bad family What abuse!"

"I feel lucky too, Mom."

"Everything is over, don't always be trembling." Hanton Smith hugged his wife's shoulders comfortingly: "You see, our little Bertha has grown up, and besides, that murderer will be locked up in prison for the rest of his life. It's never going to come out, is it?"

"Yes, so mom, don't worry all the time." Bertha thoughtfully put the roasted beef on Mrs. Smith's plate: "Taste my grilled steak."

"OK, now is the moment of happiness." Mrs. Smith wiped the tears of happiness from the corners of her eyes after eating the grilled steak that Bertha handed over, she turned around and took out two big packing boxes from the tent behind her: "Honey, Here's your birthday present, the green one is your dad's and the pink one is mine."

"Wow," cried Bertha.

"But you can't dismantle it now." Hanton Smith interrupted Bertha's cheers: "Wouldn't it be more pleasant to dismantle it alone in the cabin before going to bed at night?"

"Oh, Dad, you can't be so disappointing." Bertha said helplessly.

"But honey, you have to eat well now, let's finish our happy bonfire party, shall we?" Hanton Smith smiled triumphantly.

"Oh, okay, Dad." Bertha put the two big gift boxes aside with great care, and then smiled happily: "I love you, Mom and Dad."

The bonfire party ended soon. According to the prior arrangement, Bertha took her gift and went to sleep in the cabin, while Mr. and Mrs. Smith slept in the marching tent set up in the open space in front of the cabin.

Bertha lit an oil lamp in the cabin, and excitedly unwrapped her presents by the oil lamp in front of the simple bed.

The pink box was opened, and it was a pink dress that I had dreamed of. The exquisite card read Mrs. Smith's blessing: To my dear daughter, isn't the dress beautiful?I knew you would like it, you can try it on, but don't wear it out, because my lovely princess will amaze everyone's eyes at the school opening party, that's the shock!Yes or no.I love you forever, sweetheart.

"Thank you, Mom, and I will always love you too." Bertha touched the skirt with a smile, then carefully unfolded it and flung herself on the bed before unwrapping another box of presents.

The green box is smaller than the pink one, but when you take it apart carefully, it turns out to be a silver laptop.The white card reads: It is impossible to go to college without a cool computer. As a reward for my daughter to go to college, Dad cleaned out his already shriveled pockets, so Dad loves you very much, doesn’t he?However, you can't get too complacent!Always love you Mr. Hunton Smith.

"Thank you too, Mr. Hunton Smith, I'm already proud, what should I do!" Bertha smiled and said to the card, "I love you too, Dad."

She tried on the clothes first, then touched the computer for a while, and after a while, she changed into her pajamas and went to bed.

After sleeping until midnight, she was awakened by strange movements. She vaguely heard the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, and seemed to hear someone calling.

Bertha shivered, she felt a little chill for no reason.

She raised her voice and called out, "Dad? Mom?" No one answered.

So she tied her pajamas and sat up, picked up the flashlight, and walked out of the cabin with her shoes on.

The light of the flashlight was very weak, and it was almost out of power. I stretched out my hand and opened the wooden door with a "creak". It was very quiet outside, and I could hear birds chirping in the woods late at night.

Except for the faint light source in her hand, the surroundings were almost pitch black. Through the sparse moonlight in the jungle, she could vaguely see that the bonfire in front of the marching tent had been extinguished at some point, and a few sporadic pieces of wood were still emitting thin smoke.

A gust of cool wind blew, and Bertha felt a little cold. She tightened the neckline of her pajamas, clutched the flashlight in one hand, and the collar on her chest with the other, and called again: "Dad? Mom?"

Still no one answered.

Bertha felt a little frightened.

She swallowed hard, forcing herself to calm down, she told herself that she had to go, maybe mom and dad were just asleep, and her cry was too low, so they didn't hear it.

She took another deep breath, and the cool wind poured into her lungs, making her shiver uncontrollably.

She still couldn't control her fear.

However, she walked down the wooden stairs of the cabin step by step, and the old and disrepaired wood made a "creaking" sound.

When her feet finally touched the soft grass, Bertha swallowed again.

A gust of wind blew over, and the raised leaves rolled past his feet, brushing against his bare insteps, as if a black shadow "huh" flashed past.

Scrub felt as if ants were crawling across her back, which made her shiver involuntarily.She was a little annoyed that she hadn't prepared an extra bright flashlight in advance.So she had to keep her eyes on her feet.

I felt the coldness in my body getting stronger.

He could clearly hear the chattering of his teeth.

So he had to clench his teeth, but the sound of the collision of teeth became louder.

Be brave and continue to move forward.

The neat grill that had been put before fell to the ground for some reason, and the barbecue utensils were scattered in the grass.

Bertha forced herself to look away, and walked lightly to the side of the tent.

He called again tentatively: "Father, mother?" Only the sound of the wind could be heard in his ears.

The zipper on the door of the tent was not closed properly, and more than half of it was open.

With the faint light of the flashlight, two dark shadows could be seen inside, lying side by side.

My heart became a little more stable, and I slightly raised my voice: "Dad, Mom? Wake up."

The two black shadows were motionless, their postures were a little stiff, as if they couldn't see the ups and downs of their chests.

A strong smell of blood suddenly hit her nostrils, her heart skipped a beat instantly, driven by an urge to run, she couldn't help taking a step back in shock.

Clutching her chest, she took a deep breath: "Bertha, you coward." Bertha scolded herself bitterly, and she slapped the flashlight in her hand, which was getting weaker and weaker, until it was brighter.

Caring for her parents finally overcame her fear, and she mustered up the courage to take a few steps forward.

The flashlight was stuck into the tent, and the head was also poked into it...

The pupils contracted violently, and the heart stopped beating immediately. The great fear made Bertha stop breathing for a moment, and the sharp tightening of her chest made her clearly feel the pain.But she couldn't cry out, even if she opened her mouth wide, she couldn't make a sound, her voice seemed to be tightly bound, and the huge fear brought blackness to her eyes.

He took a few steps back in panic, but he no longer had the strength to hold on to his hands. The flashlight that was about to go out fell into the grass with a "click" and soon went out.It was immediately dark all around.My eyes couldn't adapt to the sudden darkness, and I couldn't see anything.

Suddenly, a powerful arm stretched out from her back and held her arm in an instant, her back slammed into a chest, and a piece of cloth with a pungent smell was pressed tightly in an instant above her nose and mouth.

She felt suffocated, and the other party locked her tightly in a grabbing position. She didn't have any room to struggle, she just felt the pungent smell rushing straight to her forehead, and her eyes couldn't help rolling up. Soon, overwhelming Darkness overwhelms all consciousness.