"Dong—" move the cupboard away.
"Creaky—" the wooden door embedded in the floor was opened.
A damp and moldy smell hit me in the face, like a spider web stuck on my face, lingering. In addition to the musty smell of wood, there seems to be a special smell, is it rust? Or a faint smell of decay
The flavors were so mixed that it was hard to tell them apart.
Mei Li saw herself holding a lamp and walking step by step into the dark basement. The wooden stairs made a slight sound as she walked, the flames flickered, and the shadows under her feet bared their fangs and claws.
In the dark basement, nothing could be seen clearly. There was only a dim candlelight, which complemented her lantern. The candlelight emitted an old light that seemed to not exist in this time and space.
The light was still, and the person it illuminated was also still. Under the light, there lay a girl with her eyes closed.
The girl's face was pale and she was soundless. She was dead.
That's - Mary!
Mei Li suddenly opened her eyes and felt a headache. After a while, she realized that her body wrapped in the quilt was sweaty. When she raised her hand to her forehead, she felt cold sweat on her hand.
She turned her head to look out the window. It was a little later than the time she usually got up. The warm sun had already shone into the house, casting a bright light on the desk and floor in front of the window.
She got up, changed her clothes, and walked downstairs while tying her hair. When she reached the first floor, Mei Li paused and looked at the small cupboard in the corner, then quickly looked away and opened the side door and main door of the kitchen.
The sunshine in late autumn is very rare. The warm sunshine dispelled the trance brought by the nightmare. Mei Li stretched lazily in the sunshine.
Today she was going to wash the quilt. From Hesha, she learned that the winter here was cold and damp, and there were few opportunities to air the quilt, so she had to take advantage of the good sunshine these few days to repeatedly air the quilt so that it would be soft and fluffy when used in winter.
The gorse flowers that had flourished for several months had withered, and the garden had lost much of its color. But in Mei Li's eyes, there was something more curious on those withered gorse branches.
There were things that looked like flower buds on the branches of the gorse. Hesha couldn't see them, but she was the only one who could see them, so they were probably those strange things again.
Today she took the quilt down to dry in the sun, and with a casual glance, she unexpectedly saw that the "buds" on the branches of the broom had bloomed.
She walked over and looked carefully, and saw golden little figures the size of fingers curled up inside the blooming flower buds.
Mei Li: “…”
She ignored him and went about her own business. When she came back after a while, the flower buds were empty, and the little figures as bright as the sunlight were rolling and giggling on the quilt she had hung out to dry.
When Mei Li walked over, they didn't run away, but stretched their bodies to bask in the sun.
Out of curiosity, she reached out and touched the belly of the nearest little man. In an instant, her fingers were burned red, as if she had touched a piece of hot charcoal.
…What is this!
"Hersha, I suddenly remembered a story I heard before, about a thumb-sized golden elf that grew on a gorse branch... I can't remember exactly, but it seems to be like this. Have you heard of it?"
"Hmm? It seems not. I'll go back and ask grandma. She knows everything!"
Grandma is worthy of being grandma, and Hesha got the complete answer from her.
"Grandma said that it was a daylight fairy. When the golden broom flowers bloom, they absorb a lot of sunlight. Occasionally, glowing buds will grow on the branches. When winter is approaching, the daylight fairies will come out of the buds. They like sunlight and fire. In winter, they will hide in people's houses and hide in the flames of the fireplace."
"If you offend them, they will burn holes in your skirt by the stove in winter! Some daylight fairies may even deliberately set your house on fire!"
Mei Li: “…burn the house?” Is he such a grumpy old man
Hersha: "Yes, the Lauren family in town always said that their previous house was burned down by the sunlight fairy. However, they love to lie. Everyone knows that it was actually their youngest son who played with fire and burned it down."
There are all kinds of legends about fairies and monsters, some of which may be true, but for some of them, people just can't explain what happened, or want to shirk responsibility, so they all attribute it to non-human creatures.
"Ah, I also want to see a daylight fairy. The older generation said that we have all kinds of fairies here, so why can't we see them?" Hesha said while patting the quilt that was hung out to dry, not realizing that where her palms were landing, several daylight fairies laughed quietly and dodged.
Mei Li looked away, holding up her middle finger which had a small blister from being scalded, and pretended that she couldn't see these little guys.
The blisters grew on the fingertips, making it inconvenient to do things.
After the weather turned cold, Mei Li no longer went to the small lake to swim, but she would often go to the edge of the forest. The swamp monster would disappear occasionally, but would stay there most of the time.
Mei Li took a walk over and encountered the swamp monster again.
"Look, there's a blister on your finger." Mei Li stretched out her finger and shook it in front of her gray eyes.
The swamp creature slowly moved closer to her finger.
Mei Li thought he was cute and placed her finger on his cheek.
It’s cool and can relieve pain.
After returning home, Mei Li realized that her previous behavior was simply acting like a spoiled child.
"… What am I doing!" She muttered to herself and tapped her brow.
Even if you act coquettishly to him, the silly mud angel won't react at all, so it's all in vain.
That afternoon, the sky was filled with rosy clouds. Mei Li was pruning branches in her garden when she saw the swamp monster walking out of the forest in the light of sunset clouds.
The silhouette of his lanky body is separated from the forest, framed by a warm orange rim.
It was not night, it was not raining, and he did not appear in a mud puddle. He just walked in the grass normally, leaving muddy water all over the ground.
Mei Li sensed something and ran out of the garden to meet him, still holding the scissors.
I was startled by a bunch of fragrant daffodils coming towards me.
He had no idea where he had plucked the daffodils from, but they were still hanging miserably with their leaves and a little bit of their roots.
She had just taken care of a minor injury at noon and unconsciously acted coquettishly with him. In the afternoon, he suddenly came to her and gave her a bunch of daffodils, contrary to his usual habit.
She had been in this world for a few months and had never seen daffodils growing nearby.
Although they couldn't communicate verbally, Mei Li had no doubt at this moment that he had brought the gift specifically to comfort her.
Just with this guess, Mei Li felt like she was about to be overwhelmed by the sweetness of this mud man that exuded the scent of earth and grass.
A heart-wrenching blow.
She had never felt this way before.
This makes people feel a little uncomfortable and inexplicably excited, like a flower that wants to bloom before the season has even arrived.
The daffodils were kept in a glass vase on the desk. While writing, Mei Li could not help looking up to take a look, touching them with her hands, or taking them to smell.
The fragrance is long-lasting and lasting. Even after falling asleep, you can still smell it in bed.
This night, she would probably have a dream as fragrant as daffodils... Wrong guess!
Not long after falling asleep, before she had time to dream, Mei Li was awakened by the sound of a sad sobbing. The sound was soft and gentle, and it seemed to come from the desk. Mei Li almost thought she had another nightmare.
A little bird-sized figure wearing a white skirt and a yellow collar and garland sat crying under the daffodils.
“My home… This is my home…”
"Give me back my home..."
Mei Li: “…” Looking at its appearance, even if she hadn’t heard her friends talk about it, she could guess that it must be a daffodil fairy.
It kept hugging those daffodils, crying that that was its home. Perhaps it was resting on the daffodils.
For two consecutive nights, the daffodil fairy came to mourn its home, and Mei Li couldn't sleep well for two days.
With dark circles under her eyes, she went to the forest and cut down a small tree. She used the bark, branches and trunk to make a simple and small bird house - the kind she had made in elementary school handicraft class.
Pick a daffodil and put it in front of the bird house, and the little house will look more delicate and beautiful.
That night, the Narcissus fairy came again, and was naturally attracted to the little house.
Mei Li reasoned with her, "Can I trade this little house with you?"
The daffodil fairy happily carried the little house away, giving her a quiet night.
Unfortunately, this was not the end. The next night, Mei Li was awakened by the rich fragrance of flowers. When she opened her eyes, she saw four daffodil fairies in white dresses beside her pillow, each holding several daffodils.
No wonder there is such a strong floral scent.
Mei Li: “A-choo—”
"Ah!" A daffodil fairy who was almost blown away quickly hid behind another fairy.
The leading fairy straightened her yellow scarf and said, "We are the daffodil fairies in the deep forest. We want to trade our flowers for your house!"
Mei Li never dreamed that she would become a craftsman. She built ten small houses one after another, and only then could she sleep without being disturbed by anyone.
Fortunately, there was only a daffodil fairy, and no other wild flower fairies or iris fairies, otherwise she would never pick flowers casually again.
As winter approaches, there is thick fog in the mountains and forests every morning, which will not completely dissipate until around noon.
Mei Li saw the tall and thin shadow of the swamp monster in the mist.
He no longer stayed by the water, but went to a swamp farther in the wilderness, where she had first met him.
Perhaps because the weather was too cold, the swamp and the nearby mud puddle that had some water in it were frozen.
He might not like frozen water.
When the weather gets cold, water will freeze. The swamp monster will also freeze. His body is full of mud and water, so it should freeze as well.
What if it freezes? Frozen into a solid block
Mei Li made herself laugh.
Having not seen the swamp monster return here for several days, she felt bored sitting in the house, so she put on thick clothes, wrapped herself in a scarf, wrapped her head and shoulders with a shawl, and went to the wilderness to look for the swamp monster who might have been frozen into a statue.
White frost froze on the yellow grass leaves, making a crunching sound under the soles of shoes.
The white steam exhaled from the nose and mouth quickly dissipated and disappeared against the dark background of the sky.
Near the forest, the wind was blocked by the forest, but in the wilderness, the strong wind raged unhindered and many grass leaves were blown into the sky.
In the cold wind, Mei Li saw the lonely swamp monster with its face buried in the mud.