Crimson Instinct

'Is this how death looks like?'

"I want to go to mommy and daddy…"

I'm crying and crying a lot. My hands and feet hurt badly. I don't know why one of the uncles tied me. This place is so scary! It is dark, and I don't like it at all. Because monsters hide in dark places, and then they eat you up! That is how it is in every story that mommy tells me at bedtime.

I looked at all these uncles. They are bad, they are really bad. They were beating up a pretty sister, and I started crying for her. Daddy says it's bad to hurt others. But then they caught me.

"Mommy...Daddy…I want Mommy and Daddy…I want to go back home…" 

I cried hard, but the uncle is smiling, but it is not like how Daddy smiles at me.

"Sorry, dear, we cannot send you back home."

I think I have seen this in a movie before. 

The bad guy would laugh and look happy when he wants to hurt the good guy.

Is he going to hurt me? But it is really painful! I don't want to get hurt!

"No, I want to go back. Why can't I?"

"Because you have seen something you shouldn't have."

I understood because I'm smart. One day, my classmate, Qingyu, hit me on the head. I told my teacher, and she punished him for it. Qingyu was mad at me that I told my teacher.

"I won't tell anybody, I promise!" 

"We cannot do that little girl. You have to die."

"Die?" I have never heard of that before.

"Didn't your Mommy tell you? It is when you go to heaven."

I remember my neighbor's kitty who didn't come to my house one day. She said, "She is resting in heaven, dear. She is living in a better place so she won't come anymore."

I cried harder. I don't know where heaven is, but I know that you never come back again. "Mommy...Daddy…No, I don't want to go there. Take me to Mommy and Daddy!"

Then a light hurt my eyes. I see someone standing at the top. It is dark, and I cannot see that person clearly. But, there is a thing shining brightly, something at the side. I cannot make out its shape.

"Uncle, are you the king?" I have seen this in cartoons. "Uncle King, I want to go to Mommy and Daddy, please!"

But he didn't say anything.

"Nobody will help you here."

I am scared. I want to run away. Even the king is a bad guy! 

But then I remembered what Daddy said.

Every story has a hero who defeats the bad guy. And as the princess captured by them, I have to help him. I quickly and quietly drew the image of the thing shining I saw on the dirt. I'm not good at drawing, but I hope my hero will understand.

The bad uncle was walking towards me, smiling, and he had a knife in his hands. I am scared because knives hurt!

"If you don't send me back to my Mommy and Daddy, then my hero will beat you up!"

But everybody laughed.

"It's the truth! One day, my hero will come and beat you all." I am trying to be brave, just like my hero. But it is hard, and I'm still crying.

The bad uncle laughed loudly. "I will wait for him."

He raised his hand.

"You are a monster. Home... Mommy...Daddy..." I am shaking badly.

Suddenly, I feel pain, lots and lots of it, even more than when I had scratched my knee, even more than when I had accidentally bumped my head on a wall. I am scared.

In my mind, I saw my mommy and daddy. They were smiling at me.

Everything was spinning. I got more scared.

I want to go to Mommy and Daddy...

Then I saw the tall figure of a man. He looked big and strong, just like a superman. I couldn't see his face, but I felt happy, very, very happy.

I know who he is.

'My hero.'