The House Said, “Go Out”
In the middle of the night, the house said, “Go out!”
There was no reason for it, no explanation.
His house said, “Go out!”
At that moment, Luo Luo had already changed into his pajamas, ready to go to bed. The house said, “Go out!”
Luo Luo glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. The second hand ticked, saying, “Go out!”
It was already past midnight.
The bed said, “Go out!”
Luo Luo stepped away from the bed.
The table said, “Go out!”
The chair followed suit and said, “Go out!”
Luo Luo took a step back, distancing himself from them.
“Go out! Go out! Go out!” The table shouted, the chair shouted, the cabinet shouted, and in the kitchen, the stove and the pots, bowls, and spoons shouted, “Go out! Go out! Go out!”
The whole house was screaming, “Go out!”
Luo Luo struck a match, lit a candle. Holding the candle, he opened the door and stepped outside.
The door closed behind him, and the house fell silent, no longer making a sound. Before him was the dark night.
The night was as solid and heavy as iron; except for the small circle of light from the candle, he could see nothing else. The darkness was like a black cloth covering his eyes. The candle’s light couldn’t even illuminate the path beneath his feet. Luo Luo gripped the candle and walked along the path he remembered.
Soon, he strayed off course, walking down the slope toward Iron Mountain. The candlelight couldn’t illuminate the ground; he couldn’t see the path, only felt the sloping, smooth, hard surface beneath him. It grew steeper, and he began to slip, thinking he might fall. Just as he was about to slide down, Luo Luo reached the edge of the Iron Forest at the top of Iron Mountain. He reached out, grasping the trunk of an iron tree. With one hand holding the cold iron trunk tightly, he held the candle with the other and slowly sat down on the sloping ground.
The candlelight flickered, and the candle gradually shortened. Eventually, it burned out, leaving him in darkness, hugging the tree.
Slowly, slowly, the settled darkness began to shift, flowing away and returning. Unbeknownst to him, in the farthest distance, the darkness on the horizon thinned, like a blindfold tearing at the edges. The darkness flowed away from the tear, and morning light filtered in.
From the horizon, the sky gradually brightened, pushing the darkness underground. It was an overcast day, everything was gray. Luo Luo climbed down from Iron Mountain, found the original path, and walked down it.
The path wound through Iron Mountain, Rocky Mountain, and Glass Mountain, passing by iron trees, rocky trees, and glass trees, leading to a beach of gray sand, beyond which lay the gray sea. Like all oceans, the gray waves futilely crashed in and receded, producing hollow sounds.
By the shore, there was a small boat swaying in the waves. Luo Luo walked over, stepped into the boat, and lay down inside. Lying on his back, facing the sky, the waves gently rocked the boat. The sky was a blank gray sheet, devoid of words or images. The small boat carried Luo Luo across the entire gray sea, where he beheld the vast sky, eventually stopping at the mouth of a river.
Luo Luo crawled out of the boat. Besides the scent of seawater, he could also smell moss, decaying leaves, soil, and rain. On the shore was a forest—not the Iron Forest, not the Rocky Forest, not the Glass Forest, but a real forest, filled with green leaves rich in sap, damp brown trunks, and a ground covered with leaves ranging from yellow to brown, with moss hiding beneath them. The forest stretched upstream from the river, its trees shading the river’s surface.
Luo Luo walked upstream along the river, taking deep breaths, inhaling the forest’s fragrance, his feet sinking into the soft, decaying leaves. He continued walking along the river.
As night fell, the branches and leaves revealed stars shining in white and blue.
He kept moving forward as the night thickened, darkness settling down, about to cover his eyes. A night bird called out in a series of notes.
At that moment, Luo Luo reached a clearing in the woods, and in the center stood a house—his house. Soft yellow light spilled from the windows.
Luo Luo approached, pushed open the door, and stepped inside. Everything was as he had left it; the clock on the wall was ticking, the second hand making the familiar ticking sound. Aside from that, everything was quiet.
“Good evening,” Luo Luo said, unsure if he was speaking to the house or to himself.
He went to the kitchen, heated a cup of milk, added a spoonful of honey, stirred it, and drank it all in one go. After brushing his teeth, he climbed into bed, sinking into the warm, soft covers and fell asleep.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
