The winter here is not long. After a few heavy snowfalls, the weather gradually warms up. The snow melts day by day, the streams gurgle day and night, and the rushing water flows everywhere beside the fields.
As the winter snow melts, the dormant wild grasses underneath can't wait to break out of the remaining snow, revealing their tender green buds.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the mountains and fields were once again filled with thriving green.
This green is particularly gentle, with a vibrant yellow.
The gorse flowers in the plum and chestnut garden have grown new buds and leaves, as have the azaleas. After a winter of silence, the garden is gearing up to bloom with a brilliant sea of flowers again this year.
Looking at these plants, Mei Li is always in a good mood.
However, compared to these plants that are growing towards the sun every day, the ghost of Mrs. Peg in the house seems to be withering.
Mary still remembers Mrs. Peg, whom she saw when she first came into this world. Although she was pale and thin, and looked like a complete patient, her bright red hair and emerald green eyes were enough to make people's hearts flutter at first sight.
But now, her emerald green eyes had become cloudy, and her bright red hair had faded without her noticing.
After delivering food to Mrs. Peg as usual, Mei Li left her room and saw that her once beautiful red hair had turned like straw.
On this beautiful spring day when everything is revived, Mrs. Peg seems unable to hold on any longer.
Is it because ghosts cannot stay here for a long time? Why does Mrs. Peg's ghost stay here and refuse to leave
Mei Li walked down the stairs with slightly heavy steps, feeling some unspeakable worries in her heart.
"Bang-bang-" the regular knocks on the door interrupted her thoughts.
The knock on the door did not come from the front door, but from the side door of the kitchen. As soon as Mei Li heard the knock on the door, she knew who was coming.
The previous worries were suddenly dispelled.
She opened the door and saw that the person blocking the door was indeed the swamp monster whose head was so tall that no one could see it at a glance.
He has now learned how to knock on the door. The sound of his knocking is different from others, slow and unique.
"You're here, wait for me." Mei Li said to the swamp monster outside the door, changed into a pair of shoes that were more suitable for going out, picked up the basket and took the umbrella, and by the way, took a shawl from the shelf on the side and put it on, then went out.
It is raining outside again today. The drizzle is warm and gentle, unique to spring, even hazy like smoke.
Mei Li walked beside the swamp monster holding an umbrella. After the winter, she had taken the shawl from the swamp monster back and washed it, and now she was putting it on herself.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but the shawl has been worn by the swamp monster for so long that she always feels there is a smell of grass on it that can’t be washed off.
In the spring, the swamp monster changes from his winter home and wanders in the wilderness whenever it rains, letting the spring rain soak his body.
If Mei Li didn't see him for a day or two, she would find that he was covered with grass, which grew faster than the grass in the fields.
Once, she went to the wilderness to look for a swamp monster, but she couldn't find him for a long time. Finally, he moved, and she discovered that he was squatting on the side of the road where she had just passed by, with his knees hugged. Because there were too many weeds growing on him, she didn't notice him and mistakenly thought it was a big rock covered by weeds on the side of the road.
"Can I pull out the grass on you?" Mei Li has been growing vegetables for a while and is used to weeding frequently. Seeing the grass growing on the swamp monster, he felt itchy to pull out the weeds.
I quietly pulled it out once and didn't see any discomfort from him, so from then on whenever I saw grass growing on his body, I would help weed it out.
It’s just that… the grass grows so fast in spring!
Walking in the misty drizzle, there was no one in the nearby fields or the distant woods, only the two of them. Mei Li often came out with an umbrella and walked in the rain with the swamp monster, picking some wild vegetables to take back.
Maybe she picked those wild vegetables too many times, and later she found that the swamp monsters started to grow those wild vegetables.
Looking at the swamp monster that grew wild vegetables and came to the door, Mei Li was silent.
She strongly suspected that the wild vegetables on the swamp monster were grown by him!
She had clearly restrained herself from growing vegetables on him, but he ended up doing it himself!
He had no idea how difficult it was to restrain the farming power in his blood. Because of love, she had reluctantly given up fertile fields and fertilizers, but he still took the initiative again and again.
... If I must plant something, I would like to plant some other vegetables. I can just eat these wild vegetables for their freshness, but they are actually not very tasty.
After her refusal, the swamp monster finally stopped growing wild vegetables on its body.
He used to be a natural swamp monster who was not picky about what grew on his body, but after spending a long time with Mei Li, he actually learned to be picky about what grew on his body.
When the weeds grow lush, Mei Li will pull them out without hesitation. It is obvious that he does not like them.
However, there was one time when wild flowers grew on his body. Mei Li looked at them twice but did not pull them out. The swamp monster discovered it and slowly recalled the past. Every time Mei Li saw him, she would deliberately throw a wild flower to him.
Now things are out of control.
The plants growing on the swamp monster changed from weeds to various wild flowers. In spring, the season when wild flowers bloom, a whole garden bloomed on the swamp monster in just a few days.
Wild flowers of all colors made their home on his body, red, yellow, white, purple, and colorful.
Mei Li was busy tending to his vegetable garden and hadn't seen the swamp monster for three days. When he saw him again, he was stunned by his "happy" look.
—Mei Li’s mobile garden, that’s great.
With flowers all over his body, he ran to give them to her.
The swamp monster couldn't speak, and most of the time his expressions were dull and slow, but Mei Li could always clearly feel his love in return.
The love of "monsters" seems to be simpler and more straightforward than that of humans.
Mei Li simply couldn't resist this human-shaped garden. She carefully trimmed the flowers on his body to make them look better, and made a wreath of the cut flowers for him to wear on his head.
Perhaps it was because of her wreath that caused the trouble. A few days later, Mei Li suddenly discovered that there was a new bird's nest in the middle of the wreath on the swamp monster's head.
Mei Li: “…” What an unlucky bird with bad eyesight, building a nest on someone’s head.
She had no choice but to take down the bird's nest and place it on a roadside tree. She didn't know whether the bird with poor eyesight could find its new home.
Hesha came to her house again to play with her. In winter, no one dared to go near the forest, and Meili had never been to the market. The two friends who had not seen each other for a whole winter chatted happily and made an appointment to go to the market to buy things.
Hesha walked briskly in front, hopping and calling Meili, "Hurry up!"
Mei Li walked slowly behind, and from time to time he would look behind him when Hesha wasn't paying attention.
The swamp monster followed her eagerly. He usually moved very slowly and couldn't keep up with the little girl. He kept following behind them, falling further and further behind, and the way he tried to catch up looked a little pitiful.
Passing by a quagmire, Mei Li pushed the swamp monster and asked him to stay inside, whispering to him: "Just wait here for me, I'll be back after I finish shopping."
The swamp monster just stood there in the mud, watching her go away.
Mei Li looked back and suddenly felt the reproach of her conscience.
But things still need to be bought, and many daily necessities need to be replenished after a winter of consumption.
The market was more lively than before. Many people were standing at their doorsteps chatting. Mei Li saw several young men running past her, talking about something with strange expressions on their faces.
"What's going on? Why are you running? What happened?" Hesha asked curiously.
She grabbed a young man who was watching the fun. The man looked at the two of them and explained casually, "Aunt Maggie who lives in the south woods seems to have disappeared."
"What? How could this happen!" Hesha exclaimed, dragging Meili and following a group of onlookers to Aunt Maggie's house.
Aunt Maggie and her family of three lived near the South Woods some distance from the market. Mei Li remembered that she had met her on the way to pick white mushrooms with Hesha. She could not remember what she looked like, but she remembered that she was an ordinary middle-aged aunt with a loud voice.
Aunt Maggie's husband came back from working outside for two days and didn't see his wife. He asked his little son who had been playing outside all day, but he didn't know where his mother had gone. The father and son couldn't find her anywhere. After another night, they were sure that she was missing. Now friends and neighbors are helping them look for Aunt Maggie everywhere.
After all, it was not something that happened to them, so apart from their relatives and friends, many people just came to watch the fun.
The crowd quickly dispersed, talked about this new thing for a while, and then quickly moved on to other topics.
Mei Li was carrying a lot of things back. When she passed by the quagmire, the swamp monster pulled itself out of the quagmire like a spring signpost full of flowers and followed her back.
There were small white and yellow butterflies flying around him.
Mei Li's mood, which had been affected in the market, gradually improved after seeing this scene. She smiled and stretched out her hand, brushing the wild flowers on his body.
In the quiet night, Mei Li was suddenly awakened by a nightmare about the basement. He sat up, wiping the cold sweat on his forehead.
I seemed to hear some subtle noises coming from downstairs, but when I listened carefully, it seemed like I was hallucinating.
The only sound I could hear was the patter of light rain.
She touched her rapid heartbeat, slowly lay back down, and soon fell asleep again.
"Aunt Maggie hasn't been found yet. We don't know where she went. We searched all the places she usually went, but couldn't find her." Hesha said dejectedly.
Because they hadn't found the person yet, her parents went to look for her in the afternoon, but still found nothing.
Mei Li could only comfort her: "Maybe she is trapped somewhere for the time being. Maybe she will be found tomorrow."
Hersha: "I really hope we can find Aunt Maggie soon."
Three days passed in a flash. Mei Li went to the market again and found that many people were praying in front of the chapel.
Aunt Maggie's husband and son were kneeling in the middle of the crowd, crying.
Seeing Hesha wiping tears outside the crowd, Mei Li quietly walked up to her and pulled her.
"Hersha, is there any news about Aunt Maggie? Have you found her?"
Hersa's eyes were red as she said, "We can't find her. Aunt Maggie was dragged into the swamp by a swamp monster, and even her body couldn't be salvaged."