Mabel was a little sad. She slowly knelt down by the bedside and held her grandmother’s hand, while her grandmother smiled and comforted her in a weak voice: “Don’t be sad, Mabel, death isn’t something to be afraid of, it’s just that…”

　　“Just what, Grandma?”

　　“It’s just such a pity, I really want to see my younger brother, whom I’ve been separated from since childhood.” Her grandmother’s voice was gentle and frail. “Mabel, can you lend your body to Grandma for a day? I want to go see him.”

　　Mabel was startled, instinctively feeling something was wrong, and hesitated as she shook her head: “No, I can’t!”

　　“But I really want to see him, I don’t want to leave this world with regrets. Please, Mabel, help Grandma, will you?”

　　“No, no…” Mabel became even more frightened, slowly moved away from the bedside, retreated outside the curtain, and turned to look for her parents. But her grandmother’s voice still echoed in her ears: “Is it not possible, Mabel? What a pity, I really want to see him, really want to know if he’s doing well, really want to talk to him one more time…”

　　“But it’s okay, it’s okay. Mabel, I won’t be able to see you again in the future, so you must take good care of yourself.”

　　“Goodbye, Mabel…”

　　Mabel stopped in her tracks, her pure big eyes full of hesitation, but gradually, the expression on her little face became resolute. She slowly walked back inside the curtain and softly said, “Alright, Grandma, I’ll help you, but you must come back on time.”

　　The comatose grandmother seemed to move a little, and said in a weak but gratified voice, “Thank you, Mabel, I’ll definitely come back by five o’clock tomorrow afternoon!”

　　“I believe you, because you’re my grandma!”

　　……

　　The Hamiltons finished talking with the doctor and didn’t plan to stay here to accompany the mother to her last moment. They came in directly to call Mabel to leave, but found Mabel lying asleep by the bedside.

　　The two woke Mabel up. Mabel glanced at the “grandma” still unconscious on the bed, and heard a child’s voice full of pain in her ear: “It hurts, it hurts, Grandma, I feel so bad, Grandma, I feel so bad…”

　　The Hamiltons gave Mabel a push: “Say goodbye to Grandma, we’re going home.”

　　“Don’t go, Dad, Mom, don’t go, it hurts, it hurts…” The child’s voice continued to echo, but unfortunately The Hamiltons couldn’t hear it. They just urged their “daughter” to leave quickly, or else they’d miss the bus.

　　In her heart, Mabel silently said: “Mabel, hang in there, I’ll definitely come back by five o’clock tomorrow afternoon!”

　　She left with The Hamiltons, and the door to the hospital room slowly closed, leaving only the child’s voice echoing where no one else could hear: “Don’t go, don’t go, it hurts, Dad, Mom, don’t go, I’m so scared, so scared, please, don’t go…”

　　……

　　The next day, Mabel packed a bento, put on her backpack, and left for school, but on the way she turned a corner and headed straight for the station. Her classmates were puzzled and called out from afar: “Mabel-chan, where are you going?”

　　Mabel didn’t answer and just ran off.

　　Her young body felt no pain at all, which made her very happy. When she passed a stone bridge, she saw some hopscotch squares drawn by children on the bridge and couldn’t help but start hopping. Her ten-year-old body was soft and light, full of endless energy. After finishing, she ran quickly, and when she passed a small park, she smelled the unique fragrance of grass, and a pure smile slowly bloomed on her lovely child’s face.

　　She sat down on a big rock, wrapped a few small stones in a handkerchief to make a beanbag, and started playing the beanbag tossing game from her childhood, softly humming an old nursery rhyme: “One, two, three, wrap them in cloth, the seventeen or eighteen-year-old sister, holding flowers and incense in her hands, where is sister going…”

　　When she got to this part, she suddenly remembered something, looked up at the sun, her expression became serious, and she started running toward the station.

　　She took the train for a long time, finally arriving at a remote town. After searching for a while, she slipped into the yard of a house.

　　The sliding door of the house was open. A middle-aged woman was feeding porridge to an elderly man lying in bed, but the old man refused to swallow, letting it dribble all over his neck and bedding. The woman was very angry, loudly scolding the old man. Then the phone rang, and the woman cursed a few more times, calling him “old bastard,” before going to answer the phone.

　　Mabel slowly approached the veranda, took off her shoes, entered the room, and knelt gently by the old man’s side. After carefully studying him for a while, she held his hand and softly said, “Matthew, it’s me, I’m Samantha. I came to tell you that I was never angry with you. Your parents decided your marriage partner, there was nothing you could do, I understand, I was never angry with you…”

　　The old man stared at her blankly, first confused, then tears slowly welled up in the corners of his cloudy eyes.

　　Mabel gently wiped his eyes for him, her expression even more tender. She gently picked up the bowl, scooped a spoonful of porridge, blew it cool, and fed it to him. The old man slowly opened his mouth and swallowed, then tried hard to say something, but couldn’t get any words out.

　　Mabel gently stroked his face with her small hand, then continued to feed him porridge tenderly, her little face full of peace and joy.

　　At this moment, the woman who had gone to answer the phone returned, and was shocked to see Mabel. She then asked angrily, “Whose child are you?”