Pear Blossoms

◎ Xu Dishan

They continue playing in the garden, ignoring the drips of rain that fall onto their silk garments．The pear blossoms next to the pool have been washed whiter and cleaner in the rain, but each of their heads droops slackly.

The elder sister says, “Look at those flowers！They are tired and dozing off！”

“Let me shake them awake.”

Before the elder sister can open her mouth, the younger sister has grasped a pear tree and given it a few shakes．Flower petals and water drops start to fall, spreading all over the ground, looking like a large expanse of silver shards．Indeed, it is great fun to look at them.

The younger sister says, “Cool．Once they leave the twigs, the petals come alive.”

“Nonsense！Look, the flowers’ tears have fallen on me,”says the elder sister somewhat angrily．Giving the younger sister a push, she continues, “I don’t want to play with you anymore．You stay here by yourself.”

Watching her elder sister leave, the younger one stands dazed under the tree．After a long while, their nanny comes over．Taking one of her hands, she says to the younger sister while walking with her, “See, you are wet to the skin．Where can I find any sun to dry your clothes on such a rainy day, if you keep changing them？”

Some of the fallen petals are trodden into the mud; some get stuck on the younger sister’s clothes and are carried away by her; some fall onto the pool and are dragged into the water by the fish．And a swallow - a spontaneous volunteer - continuously picks, with its beak, at the petals and the mud left in the footprints and carries them onto the beams of the house, to build its cozy nest.