Forever Bright ~ Part Five

Chang Ming lingered as summer drifted to a close; hanging on to each moment.  His grandmother tried to awaken him, but sleep was a stronger calling in his current depressed state.  His time in China was ending and he did not want to move despite the many things that needed done before his departure for America.  His grandfather forced him out of bed to make sure his student visa and travel documents were in order.  Chang Ming went through the motions, sleepily reviewing the documents, secretly hoping there was an error to delay the inevitable.

Zemin had already said his farewells, one week prior, as he boarded a northbound train.   Chang Ming and Zemin had known each other since age seven when Zemin’s family moved into the district and they were both placed in the same school.  Zemin’s mother only wanted for her son to take a traditional path remaining in China to attend a top university.  Like Chang Ming, Zemin scored in the top percentile on the Chinese National Higher Education Exam.  Such an achievement secured Zemin a place at Renmin People’s University of Beijing; one of the nation’s top three universities.  Chang Ming felt only animosity when he should have felt proud of his friend.  He too could have attended this university.  The honor would be Zemin’s; never Chang Ming’s own accomplishment; never his own mother’s goal for him. 

As Zemin’s train departed, Mei Ling grasped Chang Ming’s hand; her tears streaming. Together, they walked toward the bus station.  Boarding an overcrowded bus, she sat on his lap out of necessity and buried her face in Chang Ming’s shoulder.  Still crying, Mei Ling fell asleep; Cheng Ming now daydreaming of their possibilities together, with only one another: their first kiss; long embraces; visions of the children they would someday make together.  Reality awakened them as, forty minutes later, the bus arrived in Mei Ling’s district.  Before departing, Mei Ling sweetly kissed Chang Ming on the cheek, tapping him gently on the nose, while giggling and telling him she would meet him at the café in the morning.          

Chang Ming eagerly awakened the next morning, dressing in his best casual clothes, borrowing his father’s after shave, preparing to look and smell his best for Mei Ling.  He could not summon an appetite to eat the usual breakfast his grandmother prepared for him.  He shot out the door without explanation. His grandparents shouted after him, miffed by his behavior.  He didn’t have time to pay proper respects this morning and would remedy things with his grandparents later.  Today was his day to finally be alone with Mei Ling and nothing would delay him from meeting with her.       

He boarded the bus to the café, now sitting alone, remembering the feeling of Mei Ling on his lap yesterday.  Against his will, time slowed for Chang Ming as he thought of what he would say to Mei Ling now that he finally would be alone with her.     The bus weaved through an endless stream of stop lights and traffic finally arriving at the cafe.  The cafe was in the central part of the city and a line of people waited on the sidewalk outside.  He proceeded to the end of the line, anxious to see Mei Ling at any moment...

To Be Continued...