Dead lotus

There are two lotus ponds not far from the school. In summer, the lotus leaves are green and the lotus grows slim. Lotus leans on the lotus leaf, which seems to be born to lotus. Lotus leaves will sway with the breeze, and so will lotus flowers. When the lotus grows into a lotus flower, birds peck at the lotus leaf, and the color of the lotus leaf begins to turn yellow.

In autumn, the lotus leaves are picked early, leaving only the lotus leaves swaying in the autumn wind. The autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves, but the lotus leaves gradually turned yellow, but they still stood in the pond.

The yellowing of lotus leaves is a gradual process. Almost all lotus leaves are yellow because of the short illumination time in the left lotus pond, while the illumination time in the right lotus pond is long. Lotus leaves here are generally very thick and yellow-green. Under these plump lotus leaves, there are green duckweeds, and yellow or pink flowers will appear between the green leaves of duckweeds. Its petals are a bit like lotus petals, but smaller than lotus flowers, floating on the water, a bit like river lanterns put by people.

Whenever I say this idea, my mother will pat me on the head and won't let me go on talking about the rest, because my mother always thinks I have something to say.

At that time, there were often old people telling ghost stories in the countryside, including one about my uncle and eldest brother. I've never met these two people. They all drowned before I was born, in that big pond. At that time, there were no lotus roots in this pond, let alone duckweed.

The year after they drowned, two brothers of another family in the village also drowned. The parents of this family call names every day, blaming aunt for finding someone to cross the soul of uncle and big brother. The water ghosts wanted to find a scapegoat, and their children became scapegoats.

Mother doesn't believe in ghosts and gods and goes to work in the man's house. She said: "We can understand the heartache of losing two children in your family, but it's wrong to put the blame on irrelevant people. My eldest sister-in-law's men and sons are all dead, and orphans and widows are all miserable. Wouldn't it be worse if you called her names again? Can a mad dog bite people indiscriminately? "

Later, my mother planted lotus roots in the pond. Year after year, the lotus leaves in the lotus pond are more and more lush, and more and more lotus flowers are blooming. When I reached school age, I had never heard of anyone drowning in a pond.

When I pass the lotus pond on my way to school, I will pick a lotus leaf and wear it on my head as a hat. When Brother Qi goes to herd cattle, he will ride a big buffalo with a lotus leaf hat and walk around the fields leisurely.

I often think that if it weren't for the drowning of these two ponds, my mother wouldn't have thought of planting lotus roots or turning Qingshui pond into a lotus pond. We have long had the experience of herding cattle with lotus leaves to school in summer.

After leaving my hometown for many years, I returned to my hometown again and found that the lotus pond was still the same, except that the green lotus leaf had withered and withered, and the withered lotus leaf swayed with the autumn wind. It was a quiet and far-reaching landscape, as if telling the story of life cycle.

Occasionally, photographers come here to take pictures of withered lotus, and students who study painting come here to sketch. It is said that dried lotus has integrity and pride against wind, frost, rain and snow.

In fact, in winter, the withered lotus leaves are covered with snow and finally sink into the mud pond. Only next spring will a new round of growth cycle begin, and this cycle will be repeated. How far is it from birth to death? It's just a change of seasons.