Shimmer Forest

Liu Xiaozhou walked in a trance on the small road shrouded in the setting sun, the oncoming wind stirred up his thin clothes and echoed repeatedly in his ears.At the other end of the forest, the sun spared no effort to radiate its last rays.The sun was shining, and the fiery red was burning in the sky, scorching the thick clouds.Pedestrians on the street are in twos and threes, and the dark shadows are drawn long.

He wandered in the unfamiliar streets, watching the sunset slowly dissolve into the earth like a blood-red sleeping pill, feeling more and more cold and lonely.

He didn't know why he said that, why he ran out in a hurry, and he didn't know where he should go.

Countless times, when I was about to touch my heart, I chose to run away.

Occasionally, people on the street projected strange sights, which could not be described as sympathy, disgust or ridicule.He blankly shuttled through these sights, as if he had returned to the place he tried to forget a long time ago.

why?He worked hard to fulfill his parents' expectations and blended in with the crowd, but because of the emotions he accidentally showed, he became a stranger in people's eyes.

He came to a new world, learned to disguise, and worked hard to make himself look like a "normal person".However, even here, no one is willing to accept him.

He lowered his head to avoid the glare of the oncoming light.That dazzling light, like the sight of others, spreads in every corner, and cannot be escaped or avoided.No matter where it goes, it can sting him severely.

Ears gradually became noisy.The sound of rustling, walking, books turning, leaves rubbing against each other.The sound of laughter in the distance.Reddish light penetrated the glass, illuminating the curse words on the desk.

Nausea.

A nightmare-like subtle sound pierced through the noisy classroom and rang in his ears.The voice was extremely small at first, and then more and more people said the same words over and over again, getting louder and louder, filling his brain.

Big drops of tears fell on the ground, dizzying circles of water stains, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, they were as bright red as blood.

"Xiao Zhou, come here." Someone's voice tore away all the crazy illusions and came slowly.Clear as a song, gentle as water.

The originally noisy classroom was empty at some point.He raised his head and saw his teacher, standing at the door of the classroom, calling him softly.

Slightly curly hair, slightly wrinkled white shirt, bright and clean smile.It was an all-too-familiar look.

As if attracted by those eyes, he raised his footsteps and walked over step by step. The wind was blowing and ruffled his hair.Shrouded in gentle light, the surroundings were silent, as if completing a solemn ceremony.

"Xiaozhou." A familiar call sounded behind him, he paused and turned his head away.Seeing Su Jin holding Wu Hao's hand, standing at the other end of the road, he anxiously stopped him: "Don't go there!"

"It's really enough." The tears had gradually dried up, Liu Xiaozhou looked at their tightly held hands, and there was no emotion in his eyes: "I'm tired of this place."

After finishing his speech, facing the bright light, he firmly walked towards the person he had been thinking about day and night.

"Bookworm." The figure shrouded in the light was extraordinarily blurred, which made people feel uneasy.Wu Hao shook Su Jin's hand subconsciously, and asked in a low voice, "Is that guy someone Xiao Zhou knows?"

"No." Su Jin stared at the open homework book, and refocused his eyes on the blurred figure in the distance: "That is the most important image that stays deep in his heart."

"Anxiety, fear, depression, sadness, all negative emotions are suppressed deep in the heart. In order to get salvation, false illusions appear."

"That illusion absorbed all his negative feelings, but finally because of the accumulated pain, it began to expand and release."

"Don't allow others to be happier than yourself, spread the pain on your body to everyone you meet, and hope everyone is as unfortunate as him—"

Following his whispered words, the teacher's shadow stretched by the setting sun began to change.Spikes emerged from the slightly curly hair, and sharp teeth protruded from the open mouth.Then the huge wings bloomed behind it, shaking off feathers as black as the shadow.

Su Jin clenched his fists, stared closely at the direction Liu Xiaozhou was leaving, and whispered, "That's the real devil."

Liu Xiaozhou seemed to have never heard of it, his consciousness was gradually swallowed up, leaving only a fake skin, and he followed his instinct to move forward.

The teacher in front of him smiled gently and reached out to hug him.He smiled back in a trance and hugged that person back.

Black smoke emanated from the teacher and gradually merged into Liu Xiaozhou's body.He was surrounded by that black breath, although he was also afraid, but the warm feeling made him not want to escape.

Just when he was about to abandon his consciousness, someone suddenly grabbed his wrist. The palm was soft and cool, but it seemed to possess some kind of magic, successfully calling his mind back.

"Xiao Zhou, don't let it occupy you." Su Jin grasped his wrist tightly, his eyes were extremely firm: "It is always false, once you are swallowed, you will never see it again."

Su Jin opened the homework book in front of his eyes, and each of the pictures in it was the figure of the teacher: "The person you really want to see"

"I don't want to see him at all." The black mist spread over him, trying to swallow him up.Tears covered his cheeks, and his sobs were mixed with intermittent words: "He has seen this book, and I can't face him again. He will definitely... look at me with the same eyes as others."

"That's right, except for me, no one will accept you." Hei Ying touched his cheek and whispered in his ear, his dull voice was like a spell.

"That's right, I'm...distorted...shouldn't exist..." He closed his eyes, letting the black smoke swallow him up bit by bit.

"Xiaozhou! You are not wrong!" Su Jin rushed up, hugged him tightly, and said word by word: "It is not you who are twisted, but those who wantonly hurt you in the name of being normal."

The body in his arms froze instantly, and the black mist still lingered, but it did not continue to engulf it.Su Jin closed her eyes and said softly, "Is there somewhere you want to go back?"

"Want...to go back to...the place?" His empty eyes were gradually shrouded in black mist, as if he didn't know what he was talking about anymore, he was just repeating the words of others mechanically.

"The office that always smells of smoke has old wooden desks and messy books. When the sun goes down, orange light will fall on a certain desk." I feel my stiff body slowly relax , Su Jin hugged him, whispered in a gentle tone: "The person you care about the most always sits at that desk with his chin propped up, with a little layer of golden light shining on his slightly curly hair. "

The smoke wrapped around his body gradually faded, and there was a flicker of light in his empty eyes.He opened his eyes wide and looked at the swaying poplar trees above his head, and returned to the small and warm office in a daze.The teacher was sitting beside him, holding a delicate white porcelain cup in his hand, drinking coffee while beating something.He was lying on the table listening to the song, and the corner illuminated by the light was like orange-flavored hard candy, exuding a sweet breath.

"Yeah, how could I forget? I still want to go back so much." The black smoke dissipated, and he hugged Su Jin back, tears dripping slowly: "Thank you for reminding me, thank you. "

The setting sun stretched out the embracing figures of the teenagers, and the deep purple gradually spread, extinguishing the fiery red color that was originally burning.

After a long dark night, light gradually came.

Before the sun rose, Liu Xiaozhou packed his schoolbag and followed Su Jin and Wu Hao back to the cave where they first came.

Seeing him hesitating at the entrance of the cave, he must have had a serious psychological shadow.Su Jin couldn't help laughing out loud, and asked a little worriedly: "Is it really all right?"

"Well, I know where I should go, so I won't get lost again." Liu Xiaozhou's face was free of haze, and he looked at him with clear and firm eyes: "Thank you, goodbye."

Saying his last goodbye, he took a deep breath and walked straight into the cave.

It wasn't until his figure was completely submerged in the deep darkness that Wu Hao took Su Jin's hand and asked worriedly: "Study, do you think he can go home smoothly?"

"Who knows." Su Jinhui held his hand, his gaze was groping in the bottomless darkness, but the smile on his face still did not fade away.

"Even if he went back smoothly, he still has to face the real life. I'm really worried..." Wu Hao stared at the cave with a little anxiety in his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, he is not someone who will give up easily." Su Jin stretched his waist and walked slowly towards the direction opposite to the cave: "He tried to make the phantom disappear again and again, and failed again and again. Transformation is complete."

Su Jin turned his head, and the warm light shone on his smiling face, which was very soft: "He is no longer a demon."

Wu Hao stared at him blankly for a while, then nodded with a smile, and followed his pace.

In the dense sea of ​​clouds, a red light slowly lit up, diluting the rich and deep dark green.Then the light burst out, tearing apart the thick clouds, and turning the starry sky into a warm red.

Its daybreak.