“6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”
She silently counted in her heart and sprinted to the finish line of the track. Tilting her head back, she took a controlled sip of water. Five more laps, she told herself. With a determined look, she continued to run. She was the only person on the field, with the moon already hanging high above the treetops, watching this stubborn child run lap after lap.
Tonight, she was going to run ten thousand meters for him.
She had gotten up while her roommates were still asleep. Quietly, she closed the door and went out to greet the most beautiful part of the day. At this time of day, it felt as if the entire campus belonged to her alone.
“Hi!” someone called out to her.
She turned around.
A boy her age, also wearing running gear, was smiling at her. The sunlight outlined his face and his beautiful eyelashes. In that moment, she knew he would be part of her life.
“Hi!” she replied with a smile.
“I’m Simon.”
“I’m Lily.”
Simon and Lily ran together, sharing their routes.
“There’s a pear tree behind the principal’s office, and it blossomed yesterday.”
“Then let’s go see it.”
“There’s a super fat cat behind the back door of the third canteen’s shop, fatter than Garfield!”
“Ha, then let’s go tease it!”
On days when it didn’t rain, they ran together. Without making plans, they would find themselves running the same route at the same time. On rainy days, they would miss each other from their windows and send text messages.
Was there something happening between them? The leaves were rustling as they grew, just like the natural and beautiful way they looked at each other.
But nothing really happened. They were just running together.
The last time they ran together was in winter. It was a day before the winter break, and they were running together, carving lines of white through the cold air.
“After the break, I’m going to Munich,” he said.
“Oh.” She didn’t look back.
“Sorry for not telling you earlier.”
“Why would you need to tell me?” she suddenly retorted, somewhat sulkily.
What were they? Just running partners. No promises, no agreements, no other relationship.
But she was still angry.
The next day, as if in agreement with the heavens, a heavy snow covered all the roads. They both busied themselves with exams and then lost touch.
Before they knew it, the winter break was over. When school resumed, she was running alone again on the shaded path. The pear tree behind the principal’s office had blossomed again. The super fat cat behind the third canteen’s shop had given birth to a litter of kittens.
She longed to tell him these things, but she had no way to do so. She could only take a photo and post it on her Weibo. Her classmates teased her for being so artsy, but she didn’t argue.
Until one day, she found a link in her email. She gently clicked on it.
“Lily, tonight, I’m running ten thousand meters for you.” It was a video he had sent.
Every morning, he still got up early and ran through the English Garden in the center of Munich. Every day, he filmed a segment and shared the world he saw with her. The video was blurry and jumpy; he was obviously holding the phone while running and filming at the same time.
“6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”
She silently counted in her heart and sprinted to the finish line of the track. Three more laps to go.
She knew he was running with her.
Nine thousand kilometers away, tonight, she was going to run ten thousand meters for him.
Just to run to you one day sooner.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
