Romantic stories of perseverance: Reach You One Day Sooner
“6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”
She silently counted in her heart as she dashed to the finish line on the track. She tilted her head back, restraining herself to just a sip of water. Five more laps to go, she told herself. With determined eyes, she continued to run. She was the only person on the field, and the moon had long since risen above the treetops, watching this stubborn child as she ran lap after lap.
Tonight, she was running 10,000 meters for him.
She had gotten up while her roommates were still asleep. Moving quietly, she closed the door and went out to greet the most beautiful morning of the day. At that time, it seemed as if the entire campus belonged to her alone.
“Hi!” someone called out to her.
She turned around.
It was a tall boy about her age, also wearing running gear, smiling at her. The sunlight outlined the contours of his face and his beautiful eyelashes. In that moment, she knew that he would have some connection to her life.
“Hi!” she smiled back.
“I’m Simon.”
“I’m Lily.”
Simon and Lily began running together, sharing their routes.
“There’s a pear tree behind the principal’s office that bloomed yesterday.”
“Then let’s go see it.”
“Behind the back door of the small shop at the third dining hall, there’s an incredibly fat cat, even fatter than Garfield!”
“Ha, then let’s go tease it!”
On days when it didn’t rain, they ran together. There was no need to arrange it—they would just happen to be running the same route at the same time. On rainy days, they would miss each other from their windows and send a text.
Was there something happening between them? The leaves were growing rapidly, just like the natural and beautiful way they looked at each other.
But then again, nothing was really happening. They were just running together.
The last time they ran together was in the winter. It was some day before the winter break. He was running with her, carving line after line in the cold air.
“I’ll be going to Munich after the winter break,” he said.
“Oh,” she replied without turning her head.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“Why should you have told me?” she suddenly retorted in a huff.
What were they, after all? Just running partners. No promises, no commitments, no other kind of relationship.
But she was still angry.
The next day, as if in sync with the weather, a heavy snowfall covered all the roads. Both were busy with exams. And then they lost touch with each other.
Before they knew it, the winter break arrived. When the new semester began, she was once again running alone on the tree-lined path. The pear tree behind the principal’s office was blooming again. The incredibly fat cat behind the small shop at the third dining hall had given birth to a litter of kittens.
These were things she desperately wanted to tell him, but she didn’t know how to start. She could only take pictures and post them on her Weibo account. Her classmates teased her for being so artistic, but she didn’t argue.
Until one day, there was a link in her inbox. She clicked on it gently.
“Lily, tonight, I’m running 10,000 meters for you.” It was a video from him.
Every morning, he still woke up early, running along the English Garden in the center of Munich. Every day, he recorded a video, sharing with her the world he was seeing. The video was blurry, the images jumping around—he was obviously holding the phone, filming as he ran.
“6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”
She silently counted in her heart, racing to the finish line. Three more laps to go.
She knew he was running with her.
9,000 kilometers away, but tonight, she was running 10,000 meters for him.
Just to reach him one day sooner.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
