Tomorrow is Chinese new year. People are preparing for tomorrow with excitement and anticipation. Everywhere was a festive atmosphere.
"Mom, I want to eat that.", a small chubby looking boy point towards a delicious looking strawberry cake which was being displayed on the store and shout with excitement towards his mother.
The boy's mother wore a warm smile on her face and look at her son who was dragging her towards the cake shop and said, "Alright, stop dragging me. I'll buy it for you but you can eat only one piece or you will have a toothache."
"Thank you mom!", the chubby boy was happy after hearing his mother's words and stop dragging her.
The road was bustling with crowds. People of different age groups with different fashion could be seen in the street. Some were young and energetic who had just reach adulthood, coming out with their friends and family to have fun while some were in their 30s but looking way older due to all the work pressure, just going home after finishing their work with dark circles around their eyes.
Everyone was busy in their own world and no one paid attention to a thin and messy figure by the road side who was looking at the loving pair of mother and son who went inside the cake store.
Xie Fang look at the cake shop's door that was closed with his dark and bottomless pairs eye like he had become a statue.
"What's wrong with you boy!", suddenly a angry voice caught Xie Fang's attention which was coming from his left side. An old man was standing there, looking at him with an angry face, "Are you deaf ? I'm telling you to move aside but you just keep ignoring me." Xie Fang look at the old man but didn't say anything. People were looking at their direction while passing and whispering among themselves.
"Sorry",the old man became more angry when he got no reply and was about to say something when a hoarse voice came from Xie Fang's mouth. Xie Fang moved to the side to give a way for an old man to pass by and bow to him, "I'm sorry. "
The old man was left speechless by the sudden apology. He saw that the young man was sincere in his apology and said, "Um, just look at where you are standing next time" after saying that the old man walk away.
Xie Fang walk around the bustling streets for awhile and return to his old moldy apartment. The area where he stays right now was supposed to be destroyed and reconstructed into a gambling place. Many people who lived here before had already left this place after getting money but in the end it became an abandoned area due to some issues.
The people who had left never returned and this place became a house or hideout for beggars and criminals.
Xie Fang never get know who his parents were or why they abandoned him. Since he was little, he was a quite kid who didn't like to talk much or maybe he never felt like it was necessary to talk with others. He aways kept distance from other and keep stare in the sky as if looking at someone or something when he was in the orphanage.
After he get older, he left the orphanage on his own and did part time jobs for living but never stay for a long time and had to keep looking for new jobs. Today was the same, he got kicked out of his nth part time job. Tomorrow he will have to look for another job or he will have to stay hungry till he find one.
Xie Fang open the door of his apartment which looked rusty and went inside. There was a weird smell that filled the air, the apartment was dark but the moonlight from the window make it possible for people to see little bit but not clearly. The wall of the apartment looked moldy, the paint were pilled off. It didn't look like a place for a person to stay in any sense. The whole apartment was empty like no one is living here.
Xie Fang went to his bedroom where there was only one old bed which make creaking sound. It felt like it was going to break at any moment and lay down.
There was only faint moonlight as a source of light in the dark room. The time move slowly, silence filled the room again like someone has click a pause button.
"Haa....", Xie Fang took a long and heavy breath with painful expression. He felt like thousands of ant were crawling in his body but he knew it wasn't. This was some other abnormal "thing" that was draining his energy. He felt like he was going to die but he knew he won't. He knows this abnormal thing want to tourter him physically and mentally, making him feel like dying before letting go. He felt like a prey who knows a hunter is right behind him but he can't ran away because anywhere he ran, he knows that this hunter will chase him. This will only make the hunter more excited.
Long ago, he had try to get rid of this "thing" but couldn't. So, he had hope for someone to come and save him from this "thing" but now he doesn't have any hope. He felt that this "thing" was a parasite that was living off by draining his energy. It feels like a never ending nightmare.
Xie Fang was curling in his old bed goaining in pain when a blue ball of light suddenly appear in the dark room, making the once dark and lonely room bright and warm.
"I finally found you...", the blue ball of light which look like a small ball said in a soft voice which was almost inaudible.