2. A New Era. 

I was now walking with my grandma for quite a while. I had an old t-shirt attached to my head so I can’t see. How far has it been ? Way too long for my own pleasurable taste. I sighed. “ Are we there soon? I don’t like not seeing anything. “ I said and my grandma laughed.

“ We are soon arrived my dear. Don’t overreact you have been blind for only 5 minutes so for. “ She laughed . I doubted it big time but I still kept quiet on the subject.

 “ I don’t even know where you are taking me. “ I said laughing. She pinched my arm playfully like she used to do whenever I did something wrong when I was younger

. “ Don’t be silly, Meiying, you know we bring you to the party. We are just not sure if everyone arrives yet. We worked so hard on this that we want to surprise you. “ She added as we finally stopped which made me smiled.

 “ Have we arrived ? “ I asked waiting for someone to give me a sign of life but there was no sound. The black t-shirt put in front of my eyes was the only thing I could see. “ Can I take that off? “ I asked once more. I was about to undo the knock when a pair of hands grabbed mine and undid the knock at my place. Soft hands.

I slowly opened my eyes as the t-shirt was taken away from my face. There was a big campfire where around twenty to thirty persons were regrouped. I smiled to all those familiar faces. “ Welcome back Meiying!” They all shouted at the same time. I smiled and put my hands in front of my now open mouth.

“ Guys….” I tried to say full of emotions. I turned around to look for my grandparents but fell directly on the arm of someone else.

 “ Don’t be too harsh, you have been blind for some time… “ I heard a feminine voice say as I tried to get my balance back. The young woman looked at me and I smiled. I remember now.

 “ Daiyi ? Cho Daiyi? “ I asked speechlessly. She smiled and took my hand in hers.

 “ The one and only. “ She smiled at me as the light from the campfire illuminated her face. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 “ Damn … you changed so much… you became a … lady. “ I said smiling. She laughed and looked at me.

Cho Daiyi. My childhood friend. I grew up with her. I know her since I was a baby. I missed her but we lost contact years ago. Her face , that was so childlike and cute was ,now, way more mature and defined. Her smile with her cute dimples stayed the same and to be honest I think that’s how I recognized her. Apart from that, she was totally different.

 “ And you… Your grandma didn’t lied when she said you looked like a model!” She said smiling. She took a bit of my hair and passed her fingers through it. “ So flawless.” She added , fascinated by my hair. I laughed.

 “ It’s simply called conditioner. I will show you. “ I mocked her and winked. She pouted and punched my arm.

 “ Don’t make fun of me.” She said and I hugged her.

“ I missed you crazy head.” I added as I hugged her. 

“ I did too butterfly. “ Crazy head and butterfly were our nicknames when we were still just some young and innocent kids. I was actually really happy she remembered. Even after all these years.

She put her arm around my shoulder and dragged me near the campfire. “Come with me , there are many persons who would like to see you again. “She said smiling. I followed her near her parents.

“ Mr. and Madame Cho, so nice to see you again. “ I said bowing in front of them as they smiled.

 “You changed into a really beautiful lady, Meiying ! “ Madame Cho said hugging me. I stayed a bit surprised by her action but I remembered how touchy and lovely she was. That was just her. Her personality. That was okay with me , I was there to finally be myself also so I hugged her back and smiled.

We all reunited around the campfire, like it was the tradition of our village. For some time , it felt like if I never left. We all listened to Mr. Ying as he told us the old legends of our village. We heard them thousands of times but I couldn’t help but smile. At this very right moment I was happy, with the people I belonged with. I looked at Daiyi and she made me a sign to follow her. I nodded and discreetly raised as everyone were still focusing on Mr. Ying’s stories.

I followed her and we went walking along the village’s river. The moon was reflecting on the clear water and provided us with enough light to see. “ So , tell me everything about your life there? Do you have a lot of clothes? Do you drive a fancy car? Are you dating a hot city guy? “ She asked exited. I laughed as I put both my hands in my back.

 “ Well yeah… I guess I have fancy clothes and car .. “I said smiling. She smile spontaneously like a child.

 “ Could I borrow some? I don’t have many clothes that are pretty you know. “ She looked to the ground.

“ I will give them all to you once I’ll go back. “ I said laughing. You will need them so much more than me, I thought. She looked at me surprised.

“ Really? I couldn’t accept that, Meiying! “ She said shocked and embarrassed. I smiled to her and put my hands on both her shoulder to stop her.

 “ Don’t worry , my mother don’t like when I wear the same clothes twice anyway. “ I sighed. That was true. My mother was really superficial.

She smiled and hugged me. “ I really missed you. “ She said happily. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the time spent with my old best friend as we were finally reunited. She slowly broke the hug. “ You still haven’t answered to one of my questions. “ She added while smirking. I didn’t, indeed. By choice to be more specific. “ Don’t you have a y boyfriend? “ She asked smirking. I sighed and looked to the ground.

“ I guess I kind of … but that’s not important. Let’s just walk back to the campfire. They must worry a lot. “ I said heading back to our initial position. She stopped me by grabbing my arm.

“ Are you okay , Meiying? Did something happened? “ She asked worried. I looked at her. There was no point of lying to her. She knew me like a book no matter how long it has been since the last confession I did to her. She indeed knew me like an old book that she read again and again to the point to know each word on each page. I sighed and walked closer.

“ I have a boyfriend. He is just…  hard to deal with. “ I said frowning. She frowned as well.

“ Hard to live with? Come on … it’s just a man. “ She laughed. I smiled sadly.

 “ As you say. He is just a man, with all the temptations that come with it.“ I said smiling sadly at her. She opened in shock.

“ Did he cheated on you? “ She asked surprised. I kept the silence at first but she continued in disbelief. “ Did he really? “ Then I finally opened to her.

“ I guess I won’t ever know. I came here to spend some time alone without him. I want this whole relationship thing  to work but sometimes it just seems impossible. “I said looking to the river. She smiled sweetly.

 “ Don’t be sad, little butterfly. “ She said lovingly. “ If it’s meant to happen it will. “ She said winking.

I sighed sadly. “ I start to actually doubt it. “ I said honestly. She seemed to be in deep thoughts when she suddenly smiled.

 “ I have an idea, then! “ She said grabbing my hand. She dragged me further on the river side to a point where the river was now transforming into rapids.  Some rocks were sticking out and she stepped on them to walk to the other side. I stopped on the spot.

 “ Woah.. what are you doing? “I asked her curious. She was now on the other side.

“ Come on! I