Sky

　　The scorching sun
　　I don’t know if Qiushou is still alive, it should be some years old. In the hot summer of that year, the scorching sun was in the sky, and the daughter-in-law of the autumn harvest died. We call the scorching sun a poison. The sun is too poisonous. Qiushou’s family lives in the place where the east of the village is close to the west, and the west of the village is close to the east, that is, next to the Wagouzi that divides the village into two halves when the water comes out. The family has little land, and when there is no work to do, Autumn Harvest and my son’s harvest seldom go out. When I go out, it is always very cold. I wear my coat sleeves in winter, and I want to copy my sleeves in summer. If I don’t have sleeves, I hug my arms. Their eye sockets are very deep, so deep that people can’t remember their real appearance.
　　In the morning, the sun had already started to be poisonous. Qiushou and his wife had a quarrel, and the daughter-in-law was so angry that she wanted to jump into the river. She went out and ran straight to Nandahe, and Qiushou chased after her. Qiushou is physically weak, runs slowly and shouts hard. The daughter-in-law didn’t want to really jump into the river, she just lost her temper and jumped into the passing water before she reached the Nanda River. She didn’t understand the bubble in front of the door, and underestimated the danger of the bubble, maybe jumping into the river would not kill her. Both sides of Shuipaozi are covered with fathead grass, and the bottom of the water is covered with silt. When the water rises in summer, people will disappear as soon as you go there. In fact, if the water paozi with a width of three or five steps is not stuck in the mud, it only takes a few thumps to reach the opposite bank. Unable to talk to the dead, I don’t know if she fell into it or suddenly lost patience with life. In short, Qiushou only saw the surface of the water turned over, and he fished on his head, but he didn’t catch anything.
　　My father was the best at water in the village, and he saved countless people in the river, but was yelled at by people, leaving his job and running from the west of the village to the east. Many people followed suit. The scorching sun is in the sky, and the speed of people running seems to be able to ignite the air. The water bubble that was not much bigger than the pit, my father went in and fished for a while before finding him. The water bubbles are bubbling, the mud is churning, and the bad things have just been done, and there is no time to hide, the scorching sun is pale, and it is pitch black.
　　It was the first time my father picked up a dead man. My father blamed the sun for being too poisonous, dazzled his eyes, or else he could hurry up, one step faster might save his life. Sometimes life and death are just one step away. Someone blamed Qiushou: why are you calling her to death? She only dances when she is in a hurry. Some people also said: When the life limit is reached, the sky will accept her, so the whole thing is in vain.
　　At noon, the scorching sun was in the sky, boiling the air, and the flowers were gurgling. The grass is lush, and the lush grass lies there, and the lush autumn harvest daughter-in-law can no longer be seen. Autumn Harvest and Harvest still hold their arms together, looking very cold. People talked about the cause of death, and the couple quarreled, so there was nothing wrong with it. Why else, because being poor is a hurdle that cannot be overcome. It is said that Qiushou’s daughter-in-law is too hot-tempered, and her temper is not good. She can kill people as well as herself. Just as the sun is too poisonous to kill a seedling without roots, a fish without wide
　　waters .
　　For some reason, this matter has been made public, and the abnormal death needs to be investigated. Qiushou’s daughter-in-law is lying on the grass waiting for the forensic doctor to arrive. People couldn’t stand the scorching sun, and they went back to their houses one after another. Qiushou and his son sat under the eaves at the door of their house and watched from a distance. For two hours, only the autumn harvest daughter-in-law was lying on the open meadow. The village has never been so empty, nor has it been so loud. No one can sit still. Some people looked up in the house and saw Caodianzi. What was different from the past was Caodianzi with an extra corpse. Even if you don’t look up, the corpse has its own high light, radiating the village like a scorching sun. At this time, the scorching sun is not hot, but cold. If you glance at it, you will see the cold, faint light, which makes your scalp numb. This is because the person who was alive and kicking this morning can only be called a corpse. Death is so cold that it can freeze the sun and reach its opposite.
　　When the forensic doctor arrived, Qiushou’s daughter-in-law was examined naked. The scorching sun is so poisonous, her body is even more swollen, and her whiteness surpasses the lush green grass and the ground, as if floating in a heat wave. In the scorching summer, the scorching sun is still scorching hot, people stand in the tumbling heat wave and surround them far away, women weep and cry. The man looked up at the scorching sun that was shining brightly in the sky, or turned his back to look at the distant mountains, rivers, and villages. The same goes for the autumn harvest.
　　Compared with the years of “sweat dripping down the grass”, on this day, people understand the scorching sun better. After that, the autumn harvest and the harvest left the village. But as long as this family is mentioned, no matter what the weather is, you will see the scorching sun in the sky.
　　clear sky
　　At that time, people often asked for rain. The season for praying for rain is often in spring. In the seasons of our village, I like to visit in spring in winter. The snow has melted, the river has opened, and the grass has sprouted on the ground. It is still lingering in winter, and the wind is very hard. When winter is finally gone, the wind softens, the snow is moist, the sun shines, the land swells, and everything recovers. However, in order to truly recover, the spring rain, which is as expensive as oil, needs to be continuously nourished. If it doesn’t rain, the plants that stretch out their arms and legs and wait for a drink of water to stand up cannot stand up, and the land is still yellow. If there is no rain for a month in spring, people will panic. At this time, the wind was really warm, but it was very dry, and the more it was blowing, the more dry it was, and all the remaining moisture in the ground was blown away.
　　It is like this every day, there is no cloud at all, the sun rises and sets as usual, and you can’t find a cloud if you want to take it away. The sky is as clean as it is lonely. Facing the sky is the earth, the cleaner the sky, the older the ground. The river branches were dry, peeled, and cracked, forming black tofu pieces one after another. Originally, a sunny day was refreshing. At that time, no one would say that today was a sunny day, and saying it was like a curse. When it is completely dry, don’t talk about moisture content, just one word: drought, drought, drought, no one dares to plant seeds in the ground.
　　At this time, people are extremely afraid of the clear sky, a kind of boundless and far-reaching blue. The sky was so motionless that one had to wonder if there was still a sky. The boundless silence, the world stood still.
　　This is a punishment, someone must have offended the sky. This is very possible. In the rainy season, when it rains endlessly, anyone may casually say, oh my god, it rains every day. So, the rain stopped. The older generation demanded atonement and knelt down to the world. The old man walked in front, the adults led the children, and the Yangko team, small drum team, and big drummers all came. The place to pray for rain is at the bank of the river that is about to dry up in the east of the village. Everyone has people coming, if they don’t come, they are afraid that the rain will avoid their own fields. People stepped on the cracked ground, shouting for the sky, calling for the rain, begging for the sky, begging for the rain, and the soles of their feet creaked. God, you have a lot of adults, which bastard has said the wrong thing, don’t be like him, don’t dare again, give some rain. God, I kowtow to you, give me some rain. God, have pity on us.
　　Beat the gongs and drums every day, and if the rain does not come, I invite the great god to dance. The sky is so clean and blue, people kneel down to pray for rain, talk to the sky, and dance for the sky. Sometimes I really ask for it, and sometimes I can’t ask for it. When you can’t ask for it, you can always see someone who looks up at the sky. People who walk look at the sky, people who meet people look at the sky, hold their rice bowls to look at the sky, and look at the sky on the way to the hut. God, you grow some clouds. Today, there is no cloud at all, which is really scary.
　　If the rain does not come, the sky is still extremely clean, and there is no cloud at all, reflecting the darkness of the land, making each other lonely. People are afraid that time runs too fast, even if they are suffering, they have to slowly get through one clear sky after another.
　　I don’t know whose child suddenly shouted one day: “Look, look, clouds are growing, clouds are growing!”
　　At the moment of hopelessness, even poultry and livestock have to look up at the sky, and the neck of the person who is looking at the sky stretches again.
　　What kind of cloud is it? There is a plane flying over. But people still stared at the poor dog’s tail-like smoke for a long time until it dissipated. At least for a while, the sky is not alone.
　　Facing the long-lasting clear sky, scaring disobedient children at night, no longer talking about wolves, tigers, Nandakeng, but the sky. Cry again, I will throw you to the sky. There is nothing in the sky, even the sky does not seem to exist, what are you afraid of? Just because there is nothing, because of the unknown, even children are afraid. But all living things can perceive, the boundless emptiness is equivalent to
　　die.
　　Dark Clouds
　　If a dark cloud has huge wings, it is believable.
　　At that time, our family only had Dianzidi. When going to work in the fields, you don’t go to the east, north, or south, but only to the west. Our family is in Gaogang in the west of the village. It is the third household from west to east. Standing outside the courtyard gate to the west, we can look at our own land, and at the same time look at Erlatou, which is a mountain. Sometimes, my father stood on the high hill outside the gate with his hands behind his back and looked westward, as if looking at his country. As the saying goes, “an ugly wife is close to the treasure in the home”, our family has a treasure. Close to the ground, you can walk with a hoe and cross the Toudaogouzi. There are several fields not far away. Walk for a while, and then pass Erdaogouzi, there are still a few pieces of land. If you go to Erdaogouzi, you need to bring lunch. Standing outside the courtyard, you can also look at the location of Erdaogouzi, because the land is at the foot of Erlatou and on the river bank. “Looking at the mountains and walking down the horse”, the work is exhausting enough, if you walk back and forth twice a day, it will take time and effort, so you have to bring
　　lunch .
　　One morning in early summer, we finished shoveling the land near Toudaogouzi without bringing lunch. In the afternoon, we planned to serve the vegetable garden and took a nap. My father looked at the sky and suddenly decided to go to the land in Erlatou to see the river by the way. . After shoveling his head all over the ground, he will cast his net in the river at the foot of Erlatou. Mother also looked at the sky, the sky was covered with thin gray, through the gray, the background color was blue, it didn’t look like it was raining. I can’t remember why, there were only the three of us that day, and there was no brother. Sister and brother are still young. I can’t remember my age either, maybe fifteen or sixteen. We walked for about forty minutes with our hoes on our shoulders, and then we rested on the ground. My father and mother began to shovel the ground, and I wanted to go to the river to have a look first. Living by the river, I still want to see the river when I see it. The river is not enough to see, just like there are no identical leaves, and there are no identical rivers. A few days ago, the water swelled and then withdrew, and the cobblestones on the river bank were covered with a layer of mud. I hesitated to go to the bank. In addition, there is an inexplicable smell in the air, which makes people inexplicably uneasy. Actually, it was silence. The silence is too great, people want to ring in the ears. I don’t know if my parents heard the friction between the hoe and the soil, but I didn’t. What broke the silence was the father’s cry: Oh my God, Lord Hades is here!
　　I turned my head and saw the blackness in the sky. It was a real dark cloud, as dark as it could be. In summer, dark clouds often come, and suddenly blackness rises in all directions, sometimes bringing a burst of rain, sometimes just bluffing. This time, the dark clouds came from the north. The dark clouds from the north are the most powerful, often covering the sky, and there must be heavy rain. Father has already noticed that the dark clouds are powerful, and just now they are still far away in Beishan, and they are slowly rising, and they cover half of the sky in a short time.
　　Father said: Run, run, don’t shovel, don’t take
　　the hoe .
　　Then the wind picked up and we started running. The dark clouds were clearly on the side, and in an instant they came behind us. The dark clouds chased us, and the big and sparse raindrops chased us too. We can only run, except land or land, or rivers and meadows, there is no shelter from wind and rain.
　　I turned around while running, and the dark cloud was flying. It had wings that could cover the entire sky, like a giant eagle. No wonder it arrived behind us so quickly. It’s flying, it’s swooping. Black has its own horror and unfathomable. My father ran at the front, my mother was in the middle, and I was at the end. Frightened by such a dark and swift cloud, the mother shouted and changed her voice. Yes, dark clouds bring rain, that’s known. However, who knows what else it will bring. If there is thunder and lightning, we can only stop. Father judged that we could stay ahead of the clouds until we got home. Run, definitely can run over. It’s just raining, but my father is not afraid, he smiles like he’s playing a race against dark clouds. My parents, one laughed and the other cried, which made me dumbfounded.
　　For a while, every time I looked back, the dark clouds were behind me, my body was under the blue sky, and there was a thin line between me and the dark clouds, and the sky and the earth became only as high as me. The darkness made my scalp tingle, and the cloud became a monster, as if it could snatch me away, or swallow me in one bite, and it would be blackened by touching it. My father didn’t want to be stained with black when he ran so fast.
　　In fact, we didn’t run through the dark clouds after all, and got caught in a heavy rain. Before we got home, the whole sky was dark. But I’d rather have the memory stay between me and the dark cloud. It is clear that the blue sky is in front of me, but the black sky is behind, and I am running, running towards the blue sky, or I am with the dark clouds, I am the leader, the wings of the dark clouds are my wings, and I am flying. At this time, the beauty of the sky is grand, and we are doing a grand run. If I were black, I would not be afraid. On the contrary, I control black. I am like the king of hell, controlling the power of life and death, so that others can be afraid. When I become death,
　　I live .
　　Just like this, black is like death, being chased by dark clouds, and whoever escapes in his life will always be covered one day. When I got home, my mother blamed my father for not caring about her and running away by himself. My father laughed and said: It’s useless to run, so why not? Can I still carry you? Hiding behind your back? It turned out that my father knew that we couldn’t run away from the dark cloud, so he just wanted us to run away. If you can’t run, you still have to run. It’s like fighting against death, you can’t wait to die.
　　Remember a race against dark clouds, finish the race you must lose with the winning spirit.
　　Sometimes when I see the old bustard protecting the chickens, I will think of that dark cloud, think of its wings, and feel blessed. So, dark clouds are like gods, black gods.
　　Huoshaoyun
　　The family dogs are not called Laifu, Wangcai, Xiaohei, Dahuang, Huahua. It is even more impossible to call them by foreign names such as Dudu, Duoduo, and Huanhuan. Just call it a dog, a white dog.
　　I don’t know how old the dog was at that time, but I was fifteen years old, still very naughty, and liked to climb the woodpile. In the midsummer evening, I stood on the firewood pile, and the dog looked at me under the firewood pile. I saw the sky in the west was on fire, red and red clouds of fire. The cloud is redder than the fire, and I am a little worried that if I really light the firewood pile and the house, the world will burn down. When the dog saw me looking west, he also turned his head to the west. The pigsty blocked it, and the dog couldn’t see Huoshaoyun.
　　I want to take the dog to see Huoshaoyun. After getting off the firewood stack, I walked west with the dog, only wanting to reach the steep slope, and the downhill is Toudaogouzi. We stood on the steep slope and watched the burning clouds, the dog became red, and so did I. The fire cloud spread quickly, over our heads, and set the east side on fire. There is no wind, and the thick and thin smoke in the village is all red. Red blinds the eyes.
　　Standing in the surrounding red light, my heart beat faster and I didn’t know what to do. Something had to be done. Probably the same with the dog, it suddenly rushed down the steep slope and started to run wildly, so I ran with the dog. We crossed Toudaogouzi to the north, and then went south along the river bank. The dog watched me run along, and ran even more happily, one end to the left, one end to the right, and sometimes it circled me a few times.
　　The dog and I walked across fields, across ditches, across meadows, and back into meadows. I saw a horse chasing another horse.
　　There are countless wild flowers blooming under the feet, red roses, red lilies, pink pink carnations, white chamaejamas, white Ledum, and tassels… The grass is getting deeper and deeper, and the dog is still running, as if he has discovered something, running fast. I can’t run anymore. My lungs felt like they were on fire. I breathed heavily, my cheeks were hot, and I was covered in sweat. I was standing in a field of golden nasturtiums, and not far away was a field of purple horse lotus. They were surrounded by redness, and they became restless, fluttering and trembling, flirtatious and gorgeous.
　　The sky is still burning, the vast field is red, and I am alone in the vast field. At that moment, it seemed that I was the only one left in the whole red world.