What is the legend of Carmen?

In the days when the entire Moon City residents were disappointed and indifferent to Carmen, perhaps I was the only exception.

I was also sixteen years old at that time, with short hair like a little boy, and my appearance could only be considered average, but deep in my heart there was an inexplicable fire shining from time to time, which was better than the best at attracting bees and butterflies. Girls are even more wild.

In the spring after Carmen arrived, the fire in my heart finally burned so fiercely that my mind was deformed, and I kept secretly paying attention to her all the time. However, no matter how people around me watched, humiliated or ignored Carmen, I always remained calm. You can think that I am cruel, shy, or have ulterior motives, but this is the fact.

It wasn’t until three weeks later, when no one was paying attention, that I finally plucked up the courage and let the badminton in my pocket accidentally roll down to her feet.

Carmen picked up the ball and held it in her hand. I deliberately didn’t look into her eyes, pretending not to care who I was talking to, and said casually:

“I heard this It came from the earth, but unfortunately I don’t play well.”

Carmen looked at me silently, and my heart almost jumped out of my chest, so I quickly added,

"Can you play?"

After a moment of silence, Carmen lowered her eyes and said softly:

"Yes, I can."

Our friendship started with this sentence.

Many people think that badminton is a simple toy. The ball is controlled on the palm of the hand by electromagnetic gloves. No matter how it is flipped and moved, it just cannot escape the space controlled by the magnetic field. It can eventually transform. There are many tricks, and it was popular for a while on the moon a few years ago. Then everyone quickly moved on to other exciting games. However, only the true connoisseurs know how wonderful and addictive the more subtle patterns are. I thought I was an expert, but I unexpectedly discovered that Carmen was better than me at this handheld sport, which has nothing to do with gravity and is very suitable for one's own entertainment.

In the next few weeks, whenever we had spare time, we would sit tacitly at the corner of the stairs where no one was paying attention, and play for a long time. When two people were concentrating on playing games, they rarely cared about other people's accents. At first, we just competed with each other in silence, occasionally saying a few words, and then gradually turned into talking about everything. In addition to playing badminton, Carmen also taught me other more ancient earthly games, such as Reversi and even flip flops, silly outdated games that kept both of us entertained.

To this day it is difficult to explain exactly why I persisted in trying to establish a friendship with Carmen. All the romance-related legends showed no sign of resurrection in her. But from another perspective, Carmen is indeed different. She is clumsy, shy, and somewhat inexpressive, but she possesses the kind of wonderful qualities that only people who are used to long-term loneliness have. People can't help but want to explore her. inner world. Sometimes when you sit next to her and gaze so closely at her trembling eyelashes and sensitive lips, you will feel as if you have entered an ancient fairy tale world and met a cursed princess or an imprisoned witch. However, the illusion dissipated in an instant, and all you saw was the pale, thin little Carmen who needed your company and protection.

On the surface, our friendship is not very passionate. Carmen does not live on campus, and is driven to and from Mr. Navarro. During lunch, she just sits in a corner, silently overcoming those moon vegetables that are difficult for her to swallow. More than once, I have seen boys and girls swarming over, huffing and puffing, and pretending to ask:

"Tell me about your life on earth, miss?"

Carmen put down the spoon, looked at them and said slowly: "On Earth... there is nothing different. We also live in cities, but cities are on the ground. We can occasionally see the sky. There are...stars at night"

"Stars--stars!" the guys laughed, deliberately drawing out their voices to imitate her, and ended up piling all the slimy kale chowder on her plate. inside, and then walked away.

After it was all over, I silently sat down next to her with a plate, gave her the fried red sausage and said:

"How about the stars, Carmen?

She lowered her head: "The stars are very blurry and generally cannot be seen unless it rains."

"Every time I mentioned the starry sky, she would stare into my eyes and say, "You have to see it yourself to know that it would be a very magical feeling if you could find a sparkling little star in the darkness, as if it was for you. Having been there for so long, you'll always wonder what makes it so special. ”

“We can go up to the ground and have a look, Carmen. "I suddenly thought of a good idea," they said that if you look at the stars from the surface of the moon, each one can be seen clearly.

Carmen shook her head, "Mr. Navarro will not agree." ”

So for the rest of the time we just bowed our heads and got over our respective cabbage chowders. It is a great sin to waste food.

Now I have to talk about Mr. Navarro .

Mr. Navarro is somewhat of a mysterious figure. He claims to be Carmen’s father, but Carmen has never called him Mr. Navarro; his file with the Immigration Bureau is almost blank, and some people speculate. He either once held an important position or was a field player, and only the latter has the right to wipe out his resume after retirement.

Mr. Navarro is said to be in his forties. , but he looks much older. His appearance... How can I put it this way, is very unforgettable at first sight. He is tall and thin, with dark skin, prominent knuckles in his hands, white and strong teeth, and deep eye sockets. He is somewhat handsome according to the lunar aesthetics, but he is the most domineering man I have ever seen. No lunar man has ever so strictly monitored any of his sixteen-year-old daughter Carmen’s actions. It was enough to make him unhappy and make his already gloomy eyes become even colder, so Carmen did not dare to do anything, did not dare to participate in sports activities, did not dare to laugh with the boys, did not dare to sing and dance, and did not dare to dress beautifully. I didn’t dare to have afternoon tea with everyone because of my clothes.

I said to Carmen more than once: “God, I don’t know what’s going on on earth. Girls of twelve or thirteen here. How can he still control you like this when you can move out and live on your own? ! ”

Carmen just lowered her eyes and shook her head. She was really resigned to it.

If it weren’t for the chocolate muffins, I probably wouldn’t have developed to the point of resenting Mr. Navarro. .

Carmen has promised me countless times

“If you win this round,” she always said, “I will bake it for you. Earth-flavored chocolate chip muffins, wow--" She made a weird, mouth-watering expression. Or for the kale and carrot chowder, or for the linear algebra homework, or something like that. But none of it came through, it was all just words. It was just a game.

However, one afternoon, Carmen suddenly asked me to visit her home.

“Mr. Navarro went to the immigration office and won’t be back until tomorrow. She announced solemnly, "Carmen is going to bake chocolate muffins and fresh milk pudding at home. I wonder if anyone would like to show off." ”

It was originally a pleasant afternoon. When I came to Carmen’s house for the first time, I was surprised to find that the furnishings of the house were simpler than those of the most well-behaved lunar residents, with a simple kitchen and toilet, and a small room. The small room is used as a living room during the day and as a bedroom at night. Apart from the most basic pieces of folding furniture, there is almost no extraneous thing. I can't help but think that the people who live here can live just by breathing air.

Despite this, Carmen magically baked waffles and puddings with the simplest ingredients, and we tucked all the furniture into the walls and sat on the spotless smooth floor to eat snacks and drink bags. Black tea was simply happier than those governor's wives.

At that time, the net lamp hidden in the wall spread the softest light evenly throughout the room, shrouding Carmen's black and blue hair. , like a light and bright corolla. I stared at her and couldn't help but smile.

"What? "She saw my expression and quickly wiped her mouth to see if there was any scum on it.

"I just want to," I announced solemnly, "a unique and wonderful afternoon, I and the whole month will be together. The only Miss Carmen in the city, sitting on the floor of her house and drinking afternoon tea, what an honor! "

Carmen turned away and said nothing, her face turned red involuntarily. I smiled, couldn't help but sigh, leaned over and gently pulled her hair that had fallen to her shoulders, and she turned her head to look Holding me.

"Carmen, you don't belong here." I said softly, "You were born a little witch, don't you still know your destiny?"

Carmen pursed her lips. , which made her face blush even more, and in the end she just shook her head, looked at the ceiling, and sighed softly.

"You know?" After a while of silence, she said: "Sometimes I feel that I am not the real Carmen."

I looked at her in surprise, She hesitated, pulled out her bed, and took out a dynamic hologram from a well-hidden mezzanine.

"I found this when I moved, don't tell anyone."

I took the photo and already guessed what I would see, the young Mr. Navarro and the gorgeous A group photo of a bohemian girl. The former is wearing the silver-blue tights that were popular among pioneers decades ago. He stares at his lover with a pair of irritable gray eyes. The girl is wearing a long dress that exposes her chest and arms. A plump arm wrapped around his chest, spinning and twisting enchantingly, full of provocation, but his expression was as unruly and distant as a wild cat.

I returned the photo to Carmen and saw that she had carefully hidden it. The relationship between the two people in the photo and the Carmen in front of me will probably always be a mystery.

Carmen sat down again, with a bleak look on her face. I smiled again and deliberately ruffled her hair. Then I simply stretched and lay down comfortably on the floor, pushing all the cups and saucers away. to the side.

"Forget it, forget it, no matter what fate arranges, you will always be my little Carmen." I said lazily.

So Carmen also lay down next to me and put her little head on my shoulder. We just lay on the floor with our shoulders touching each other, looking at the motionless black shadow on the ceiling and the trembling light waves projected by the unfinished black tea, and couldn't help but lose track of time. The clock jumped silently, and there was silence all around. Only the sound of each other's breathing filled the room, filling the whole room with warmth.

Yes, it was originally a beautiful afternoon like a dream, but it ended in a nightmare. That night, Mr. Navarro returned home early and unexpectedly found the messy cups on the floor, the remaining black tea snacks, and two sleeping girls. After a few seconds of surprise, he picked up the sleepy me and wiped me clean. He was thrown out of the door neatly. In the darkness, I could only see his bottomless sunken eyes, but they contained all the hatred, contempt, and coldness, so that I completely lost my resistance for a moment. force. It was much later that I understood why he had such a harsh influence on Carmen.

The next morning I waited at the school gate early, and finally saw Carmen being sent to school by Mr. Navarro as usual. It was only when I was eating that I discovered that she had two extra ones on her wrist. Gray fingerprints.

This time I scooped all her stew onto my plate without saying a word, vowing to myself that I would one day take revenge.

More than a month has passed in the blink of an eye, everything is unremarkable, but the temperature in the air is gradually changing. When the short summer arrives, the entire Moon City is no longer dead and dull, but has a brand new look.