幸福就在身边

在她出世的那一刻，她的母亲因难产而断气了。原本满怀希望地期待着她的到来的父亲，因这件事而对她产生了厌恶，因为他的亡妻是他一生中最爱的女人，他不能接受她的离去。

 然而，他还是有尽责地将她养大，只是他不曾爱过她。她没有父爱，也没有母爱。她不曾知道什么是爱。

她八岁的那年，她的父亲因为太怀念妻子而跳楼自尽了。在他的丧礼，她没有哭，也没有笑，也没有发怒。她静静地看着躺在棺木里的父亲，没有说话。

亲戚们都不愿意收养她，彼此退让，借口连篇。最后，她被送到孤儿院去。那里的小朋友都是和她一样的，没有爸爸，也没有妈妈。刚去到时，她看见他们在游乐场快乐地追逐，欢乐的笑声荡漾在空气中。她静静地看着他们。

她，只是个外人。

起初，小朋友们都很乐意地欢迎她，向她伸出友谊之手。可是她的反应很冷漠，他们从来都没见过她的笑容。他们不知道，她不懂得如何笑。久而久之，他们也不和她笑了，也不和她说话了。他们没有讨厌她，只是他们也没有喜欢她，没有爱她。

她 喜欢一个人坐在大树下，目光投向前方，看着只有她才看见的梦境。从八岁到十五岁，她唯一的朋友就只有那棵树。她的学业很好，因为她读书时从来没有必要分 心。然而，有一次的考试，她不及格。原来那是因为作文的题目是“爱”。她的答案卷几乎是空白的，只写着两个字 — “爱是……”

有一次，有一位讲师来到了孤儿院。

“世上最幸福的人，分为两种！第一种是会爱的人，第二种是被爱的人！所以，你们都是幸福的一群！”

她终于笑了，但是笑容却是苦的。

从那天起，她开始自言自语了。然而，说的就只有那么一句：“我不幸福，我不幸福……”

她也喜欢用树枝在沙土上画许多个问号。没有字，就只有问号。这些问号，有大也有小，有丑也有美。有一次，院长看到了，便好奇地问了她这些问号象征着什么。她回答说：“我想知道我的幸福在哪里。”

院长不知道该怎么回答她的问题，于是离开了。

她从小到大，都活在自己的小世界中，不曾对周围的人、事物产生任何兴趣。或许就是因为这个吧，她才会不知道有个人一直都在观察着她，注意着她，怜惜着她。不敢太靠近，因为怕会被反弹得更远。

她坐在树下的时候，没有发现一个男孩正坐在附近的草地上。考卷被分回来的时候，她没有看见后座的男同学正在偷偷地看着她的卷纸。讲座会时，她没有看见站在她左手边的男生正在凝望着她。

如果她知道我爱她……她就会知道，幸福就在她的身边。

Hope

When I first heard about the news, I did not digest it. I could not believe it. It was untrue. They were probably out of their minds.

Someone put their hand on my head. "There is still hope, dear."

"Yes, yes," I told myself. "There is hope."

And then the force of reality hit me like a sledgehammer. It was true. There was hope, but still it was real. She was dying.

She had been sent to the hospital two days ago, to have a brain specialist check on her. We all wanted to find out the cause of her memory loss, of her headache, and of the swelling at the side of her head. And yesterday, only yesterday, we had received a phone call saying that she had a brain tumor, and was going to undergo an operation on next Tuesday.

I was calm. What would she look like without hair, I thought. Would it be very painful?

And today, another phone call announced the news of the explosion of her brain tumor. Her brain was dead, they said. But she was still alive, being connected to a ventilator.

Someone drove me to the hospital. "There is still hope," they kept saying. And I repeated the words to myself. There was still hope.

Somebody led me up to her ward. There were many people there. Why were they there, I wondered. What were they waiting for?

"We will switch off the ventilator as soon as her brother's family arrive," a man's voice said. "They want to see her for the last time."

The last time? But there was still hope, wasn't there? I looked around at all the people, waiting for them to scoff at the the man for feeling so hopeless.

But nobody said anything. Nobody did anything. They were all just standing there, with red noses and red eyes. Patting each other on the back. Hugging each other. Talking to the motionless person on the hospital bed.

I stared at them. Where was the hope they'd been telling me of?

I looked at the woman on the bed. She was covered with a pink blanket. She looked peaceful, and beautiful. I had seen that face many times in her sleep. Yes, I told myself, she was only sleeping. So I waited for her to wake up.

"I miss you, my poor darling..." Her mother was crying. What was the matter with her? Didn't she know, didn't she believe that there was still hope?

A tear rolled down the woman's face, from beneath her closed eyelids.

I was triumphant. So she was awake. I waited for her to sit up and embrace everybody.

But she just lay there with her eyes shut, and teardrops rolling down her cheeks.

And then her brother's family arrived. I was taken out of the room. I sat in one of the chairs against a wall, and fixed my eyes on the television. I vaguely saw some animals on the television screen. I stood up again, and walked back to the ward. There was an old man in the opposite ward. His heartbeat was even weaker than hers. But nobody was there with him. He was unconscious, and lonely. Strange, I thought. Why did I feel even lonelier than him?

Somebody was calling my name. They were preparing to unplug the ventilator. "Wait", I wanted to cry. Why wouldn't they believe that there was still hope?

And the ventilator was switched off. And her heartbeat gently failed. And she died. My mother was dead.

After all, there never had been any hope.

The Storm

"'This is the last straw! I will not endure this any longer!' Father was in a raging temper, and his face was as black as only a face could be. 'Prepare your swords for battle!'"

"A war. Again. It was the third time this month! But this time, the Wools had really gone over the limit. They were actually sending people over to steal our water! As if we had a lot to spare. But still, I didn't like the idea of battling with them again."

"There we were, all lined up in our various positions. And there was Father, shouting words of encouragement to us. And there were the Wools, looking down their noses at us. They were always a snobbish lot. We stared at each other in hatred, the Wools and the Whites, and our faces darkened until we were all of the same colour as Father's."

"When everybody had stared their fill, somebody did a roll on a war-drum. Brrumm! The battle was on!"

"We drew out our silver swords. The swords were purposely made in a zig-zag shape, so that it would wound and cut easily. At a word of command from Father, we rushed towards the Wools, brandishing our swords. They, too, whipped out their own swords, which were bigger than ours, but also heavier, so that their movements were clumsy."

"As we were running towards each other, I happened to look down, and I saw the trees below bowing to and fro. No doubt it was because of all the wind caused by our sudden movements. But look! there was an enemy right in front of me. I dodged under his outstretched arm, and plunged my sword into his heart. He buckled up, and dissolved into a pool of water, and fell out of sight, down to the surface of the big, round ball called Earth."

"Every time our swords struck true, there would be a celebrating drum roll. This increased our war spirit, and soon pools of water were dropping from everywhere, while the fighters became lesser and lesser in number."

"Brrrrrum! There was the drum roll again. I looked around for a while, and was glad to see that most of the remaining fighters were Whites. The few Wools left were still fighting valiantly, but it was evident that the Whites were gaining victory on them."

"At last, at long last, the last Wool fell with a cry to the ground, far below. We high-fived and congratulated each other heartily. But we knew that the Wools would come back. They always did, especially on hot, sunny days. But all was well. After all, what is life without a taste of spice in it? At least, we had regained peace for the time being."

The above passage is adapted from a diary, which was found lying in a pool of water after a storm.

我是你的王子

第一章：黑暗

睁开眼睛。

向左看。黑暗。

向右看。黑暗。

向上看。黑暗。

向下看。黑暗。

我失明了？

尝试摆动四肢。嗯，很好。但……怎么湿湿的？算了，不动了。静静地思考。

我到底是谁？怎么会在这？怎么……一点声音也没有？啊……好静！太静了！难道我聋了？

“不要啊！”咦？我没聋啊。也没哑呢。不过刚才发出的声音，确实是有点难听。很沙哑。嗯。失明而已，小事一桩。继续思考吧。

怎么我一点回忆也没有？难道我发生车祸，失忆了？也失明了？嗯，对，一定是这样！好高兴啊，我终于明白了！顿时觉得自己很聪明，在黑暗中手舞足蹈，结果被水溅得一身湿。唉，该死的水，我到底在哪啊？这里的水不会很深，而且还很浅……只到我的膝盖。好奇怪。

第二章：看见

突然，我听见头上传来吡啪吡啪的响声。嗯？抬起头，才想起我什么也看不见。失去了双眼，真麻烦！烦躁的心情，使我哭了起来。

但……这又是什么？黄黄的，应该是阳光吧。

等等……黄黄的？阳光？阳光！我能看见！我没有瞎眼，我能看见，我能看见，我能看见！

啊……头上的天空真美，蓝蓝的，而且好宽阔，圆圆的耶……圆圆的？天空不是无边无际的吗？怎么突然是圆形的了？

这时，我看见一个人。不，应该是半个人才对，因为我只看见他的上半身。他看着我，我也看着他。他穿着很整齐，而且还拿着一本书和一支笔。

估计我的双眼突然能看见是和他有关的吧。正当我要开口问他我在哪的时候，他在书上写了几个字，然后就走了。这是什么啊！没礼貌！

“喂！你这没礼貌的家伙！”我吼道。但他早已听不见了。

第三章：怎么办！

我终于开始观察我四周的环境了。向上看……妈呀！我发现我脚下的水只是小事——因为我在一口很大很大的井里！

糟了！到底是哪个没良心的家伙把我扔在这？而且……我要怎么出去啊？我能爬上去吗？于是，伸出双手，牢牢地捉住眼前的墙壁。哇！我的手……真丑！一定是在这里呆了太久的关系，所以生了皮肤病！越看越觉得恶心，于是干脆闭着双眼好了。

可是，我爬不上。试了一次、两次、三十次、四百次、五千次还是爬不上！那该死的墙壁实在是太、太、太滑了！怎么办……怎么办……怎么办……

第四章：人不可貌相

无奈地抬头一望……啊！我看见美女了！她正从井边经过，完全没注意到我的存在。好美，好美，好美！美得惊人，美得完美！喂，我会对美女产生兴趣是很正常的一件事，好不好！毕竟我还是一个充满帅气的大男人啊。只是手部生了皮肤病而已。

一时太兴奋了，我跳了起来……而且还一跳就从井里跳了出来。

“啊！救命啊！”那位美女尖叫了一声，接着不小心把手上那金色的小球（好特别的球！差点就比她更美了）弄跌进去井里了。

“啊！我的球啊！”美女又尖叫了。说真的，她的叫声有点难听，而且还真的很尖，我的耳朵都被她弄痛了。于是，为了使她停止发出叫声……

“放心，我在这！球是我害你弄跌的，我会帮你捡回来。”

“真的？”美女用一对水汪汪的眼睛望着我。啊，电力好强，我受不住了！她慢慢地将脸蛋挨近我……慢慢地……快碰到了……差两寸……一寸……一厘米……

“最好你是说真的！”她突然向我吼了一声，把我吓得往后退了好几步。“如果我在一分钟内还看不见我的球，你就休想要看见明天的太阳！”

好霸道！好恐怖！人，真的不可貌相！海水更加不可斗量！

“是啦是啦，一定会帮你捡回。可是有一个条件。”我若无其事，笑嘻嘻地说。

“你还敢和我说条件？”美女那漂亮的脸孔瞬间变得有巫婆般的恐怖。

“不敢，不敢……”我急忙说。“现在就去帮你捡球。”

我走到井边。“可是如果我把球还回给你，你就要吻我一下！一下就够了！”不知哪来的勇气，使我回头说了这句话。

她没回应我，只是双眉竖了起来，形成“M”字形。

“没说话就代表你答应喽！”没等她的反应，我就跳入井里了。

第五章：你说话不算数！

“啪！”井水再次溅得我一身湿。球……球……球……啊！我看见了。

我得意地游了过去，把球拾了起来。仔细一看，这粒小球上原来刻着几个小小的字呢。什么“伊莎贝拉”——这就是她的名字吗？还有“皇族”——这又是谁的名字？

等等！皇族。皇族？皇族！难道……她是公主？

“倒数五秒钟。”井口传来了伊莎贝拉的声音。“四……三……二……”

“咚！”我急忙跳了出去。“喏，你的球。”

“嗯。还算准时。”她和我点了点头，就转身走了。

“喂！我的吻呢？”我不奋地问道。

“你长得这么丑，鬼才要吻你。”

好伤人的一句话！虽然我还没照过镜子，可是我脑子的每一个细胞都在告诉我，我是位无与伦比的帅男！如今，她却说了一句这么过分的话！

“你……你……你……”我气得几乎说不出话来。“……你说话不算数！”

“我什么也没说过。”

一时想不起任何一句辩驳的话，我只好说，“如果你不吻我，我就一生一世都跟着你走。”

“随便。跟得上才算。”她冷冷地回应了我。

第六章：英雄救美

说完，她开始跑了。这么细的腿都能跑的这么快，好厉害！可是……哈哈哈，我比她更快！我不但追上了她，而且还超越了她。证明我比她更厉害。正想回头向她炫耀的时候，才发现她不在我身后了！

我立刻转身，往反方向跑。她怎么这么快就不见了啊？

“唔……唔……”那是什么声音？路边的草丛微微振动着。在好奇心的驱使下，我就跳入了草丛。

我看见……我看见一个男人用一只手捉住了伊莎贝拉的双手，另一只手则捂着她的小嘴！过分！我扑向那个男人，想好好地教训他一番。

“啊——！”那男人弹跳起来，发出女人般高音的尖叫声，比伊莎贝拉的叫声还要尖。真是丢完全世界男人的脸了。他抛开伊莎贝拉，头也不回地展现他的飞毛腿。哇，我不甘心！他怎么跑得比我还要快？

这时，伊莎贝拉走了过来。“嗯……谢谢你喔。”

哇！原来她低声下气说话的声音是这么甜美的！好可爱的声音！我爱上她的声音了！

“不客气，小事而已。”我露出自认最帅气、最阳光般的笑容。

第七章：就是要跟着你

“可是我还是不喜欢你跟着我。”她接着说道。

“咚。”我的心从天空的白云上掉下来了。“为什么啦！难道你不想有一个能保护你，给你安全感的男人在你身边陪伴着你吗？”

“我家里有的是护卫。而且，我从来没见过像你这么丑的男人！”

“什——么！”我气愤地叫了起来。“你怎么一直说我丑啊！我是世界上最帅，最‘汉山’的男人咧！”

“什么是‘汉山’？”

“呵呵呵，就知道你的英语没我好。‘汉山’就是‘英俊’的意思啊！”我得意地说。

“笨蛋，那叫‘汉森’啦。”伊莎贝拉的双眼眯成了两条线，隐约地看见有三把汗从她额头流下来。

“哦……嘿嘿……原来如此哦……嗯……”一时不知道该说什么才好，感觉上自己比刚才那个男人还要丢脸。

“而且，你一点也配不上‘英俊’这个形容词！哼！”她抛下了最后一句，就离开了。

“喂！怎么可以这样来说我的！”我追着她走。“不管你喜不喜欢，我就是要跟着你！”

第八章：见家长

“碰！”我呆呆地望着眼前刚被关上的大门。

“咚咚咚！”对，我正在敲门。难道她要我在沟渠过夜吗？我怎么说也是她的救命恩人啊！

“爸爸，有个怪物来了，快把他赶走！”透过门缝听见伊莎贝拉的声音。

怪物！她竟然说我是怪物！

这时，大门开了。两位身材庞大的男人走了出来。哇！好高大啊！难怪她不需要我。

“啊！”

当两个大男人同时发出尖叫声，效果是很恶心的。怎么大家看了我都会尖叫的啊？呵呵呵，一定是我长得太迷人了！

“皇上……这个……”

“什么事情啦？”一位戴着皇冠的老伯伯走了出来。“啊！”

又来了。我实在是太有魅力了。

“你是谁啊？”国王喘着气问道。我看见两个护卫跑走了。

我将事情一五一十地告诉了他。听着听着，他的脸色从苍白变成了红色，然后变成紫色，再变成粉色，然后再变回白色。

“哦……原来是这样。给我五分钟。”

说完，他就把伊莎贝拉拉进了一间房，然后把门关上。我情不自禁地走到了门外，将耳朵靠在门缝。虽然如此，我还是听不清楚他们的对话，因为他们说话实在是太小声了，生怕全世界会听见他们的秘密似的。

我只能听见几句——“不要欠别人……不知道他会对你做出什么事情……答应他……”等等。他们到底在说什么啊！难道我长得很像恐怖分子吗？真是的。

“啊！”原来伊莎贝拉和国王的商讨已经结束了，一开门就看见了我。于是，两父女同时发出了尖叫声。他们的合音听起来挺不错的。

“咳咳。我们决定把你收留……一直到贝拉愿意吻你。”

“那你就要收留他一辈子了。”伊莎贝拉不屑地说道。

“皇上，你只需收留我两天，两天就好了。”我自信饱满地说。“我会让她在两天之内爱上我！”

“呸！别妄想了！”

第九章：拉拉

“嘿，早安！”昨晚在伊莎贝拉的房间睡了一夜。虽然我只是睡在地上（我承认自己是个很有风度的男人），但是她房间的地毯也很舒服哦！于是，我今天的心情比昨天还要好。

“早。”

“原来你爸是叫你贝拉的哦！那我要叫你什么呢？”

“什么‘爸’！别这么无礼！”

“别扯开话题了！啊，我知道了！就叫你——‘拉拉’！”

“超级难听的，好不好！如果你叫我拉拉，那我就叫你妖怪好了。”

“哈哈哈，随便咯，你要叫我什么都可以！拉拉拉拉拉拉拉拉！”

“拉拉？”国王刚好走了过来。然后他就一直笑个不停了。

“笑什么！爸爸，我不准他叫我拉拉！我要他叫我伊莎贝拉公主！”

“女儿，忍一时风平浪静，退一步海阔天空哦。”

“爸爸，你怎么一直帮他啊！”

第十章：爽！

后来，我们就到饭厅去享用早餐了。

“爸，他怎么和我们同桌啊！而且……还坐在……”伊莎贝拉皱起眉头，把一张苦瓜脸慢慢转向正坐在她左手边的我。

“哈哈，没关系啦，没关系啦！”国王笑嘻嘻地说。“来，吃吧！”

“吃不下。”伊莎贝拉嘟起她的樱桃小嘴。

“拉拉，要我喂你吗？”我笑着说。

 

“算了，我吃，我吃！把你的臭手拿开！”

什么啦，我刚才明明就有洗手！虽然……我的皮肤病还没好……

第十一章：对我改观？

晚上，我又和伊莎贝拉同房了。

“喂。你真的不介意睡地上吗？”

啊！我没听错吧？她在关心我！关心我耶！

“当然不介意咯。你是公主，听你的话是应该的。”

“哦。就只因为我是公主？没有别的吗？”

 

“因为……你是女生？”

“算了。”四周一片漆黑，可是我能想象到那张漂亮的脸孔上会是怎么样的表情。

“其实还有一个原因啦。”

“是啥？”

“因为我喜欢你。”

静默。她睡了吗？

第十二章：迈向成功了！

今天，伊莎贝拉比往常静很多，完全没和我斗嘴。

“喂，你怎么啦？”

“我在思考。”

“思考些什么啊？”

“不告诉你。”

“告诉我啦……快说啦……快说啦……拉拉……”

“嗯……我有件事想问你。”小公主有点犹豫地说。

“什么事啊？”

“昨晚，你好像是说你喜欢我哦？”

“嗯？原来你有听见？我还以为你睡了！干嘛不回应我一下啊？弄到我好尴尬耶……”

“嗯……就是因为……我也很尴尬啊……”

“哈哈！你尴尬什么啊！难道……嘿嘿嘿……”

“你笑什么啊！我是绝对不会承认我喜……啊！”伊莎贝拉把句子说到一半才发现到自己说多了，连忙捂着自己的嘴巴。但我已经听见了！

“你喜欢我！你喜欢我！哈哈哈哈哈！”

“才没有！”我这才发现到原来她脸红的时候是这么可爱的。

第十三章：告白

又到了晚上。今晚，已经是第二晚了。而且我的确是成功地让她爱上我了！可是，我就是想不通为什么，因为我根本就没有追求过她。那时候对国王说的话，只不过是一时的冲动而已。

“你知道吗？你真的好丑……”伊莎贝拉突然说出了这句话。

“你……”

“但是……我却喜欢上了你……怎么办……”

我的眼睛变成了两粒篮球般的大，嘴巴则张成了“O”字形。

静默。因为哑巴中头奖——有喜难言。好久好久后，我才回过神来，问了一句“为什么？”。

“因为……因为你说话的方式很像一个人。”

“谁呀？”

“他是我哥，也是我曾经深爱的人。但现在……”说到这里，伊莎贝拉突然哭了起来。

“别哭啦……没事的……有我在这……忘了他吧……”为了安慰她，我都不知道自己在说什么了，开始胡言乱语了。

“原本，我真的以为自己能够忘了他，可是当我听见你说话的时候，我又想起他了。”

糟了，是我间接中害她哭的！

“那……我干脆不说话好了。”

“你……你好可爱……”

唔。我的听觉有问题吗？她说我可爱！顿时，我的心就像一只小鸟一样，自由自在地在空中飞翔！

啊！她的嘴唇怎么突然在我面前了啊？我还没有心理准备啊！

这回是真的了……两寸……三厘米……半厘米……

第十四章：神奇之吻

我们嘴唇相碰的那一刻，感觉上好甜蜜，我真的快飘起来了……越飘越高……

“啊！”她呆呆地望着我。

我也感觉到我自己的身体上有变化了……原来我真的是长高了！而且手上的皮肤病也没有了。但奇迹还没结束……

啊，我的记忆回来了，通通都回来了！记忆就像热血一样，不断地涌进我的头脑……啊！太多记忆了，我受不住！太多了……太多太多……

第十五章：我是……

我出生于中国，流着中国人的血。自小，我就失去了父母，自小就习惯了流落街头的生活。一次，我被街上的几个流氓追赶，因为我偷了他们手上的面包。跑着，跑着……我跑到了码头。似乎无路可走了——可是就在这时刻我看见希望了！我爬上了一艘正要开走的大船。

接下来的日子过得好困难。为了不让船上的乘客发现我的存在，我只好和船上的每一个人都玩着“躲猫猫”的游戏。好几次，我都差点被发现了。至于食物来源，我是在每一夜，趁大家都入眠了的时候才去偷些食物吃的。

后来，这艘船终于到了目的地——英国。下船后，我依然过着流落街头的生活，在街上向人乞讨。可是我发现这里的人民比中国的还要更不友善！或许是因为在中国，处处都是穷苦的贫民；而在英国，个个都是富有人家。

有一次，一位上了年纪的老伯伯牵着一只大狗经过了我面前。那位伯伯的面孔长得还算慈祥的，于是我就拉了拉他的裤角，示意他施舍点钱给我。怎知，他往我踢了一脚，接着吩咐那只大狗咬我！

那只狗遵行了主人的命令，而我只好持着血肉模糊的腿，一拐一拐地走到另一条街去。

这时候，传来了号角声。突然有很多人出现了在我身边，互相拥挤。而我，则被推到了那条街的中央。还没来得及反过映来，一匹马的蹄子重重地压了在我身上，之后我就不省人事了。

醒来后，浑身都好痛好痛。可是我却躺着在一张很舒服的床上……我从来都没有睡过一张这么舒服的床！而且，四周的环境虽然很陌生，但同时也很美，很干净，很宽阔。

后来，我才知道原来踩在我身上的那匹马是英国的国王的马，因为当时国王刚打猎回来，所以骑着马回家。当他看见我的状况后，一阵心痛使他决定了要领养我！因此，我从一个贫穷的中国孤儿，变成了饭来张口，衣来伸手的英国王子。

接着的几年，我都过得好开心！到了我十岁的那年，皇后怀孕了，生了一个小女儿。我还记得，是我帮她取名的，她叫“伊莎贝拉”。由于我和她没有血缘关系，因此国王答应了待她长大后，会把她许配给我。从那以后，我就更加疼爱她了。

我二十七岁的时候，妹妹已经是个很漂亮的小姑娘了，我们也订婚了。在婚礼的前一天，我独自到森林里去打猎。突然，我面前出现了一个老婆婆。她的鼻子很长，脸上也带着恐怖的奸笑！从那个笑容，我就知道了——她一定是巫婆。

我连忙拔腿就跑，可是跑了很久后，还是找不到出路——我被困在森林里了。这时，她又出现了，脸上依然带着微笑。

我还记得她向我说的每一个字。“你只是个卑鄙的中国孤儿，凭什么做王子？凭什么娶英国的公主为妻？我告诉你，我是不会准许这场婚姻的！现在，我给你一个机会。如果你愿意马上回到中国去，我会成全你，并且让你过着一个富贵、无忧无虑的生活。”

但当时的我已经深深地爱上了妹妹，我也知道妹妹爱着我，于是我对她说：“不行！我不能辜负妹妹，不能令她失望！她现在还在等着我回家呢。”

“好吧。”巫婆再次露出了那恐怖的笑容。“既然你这么固执，我也没办法了。现在，我要把你变得连狗也不如！”接着她念了一连串的咒语，我就什么也不记得了，直到今日。

从此，流传着一个闻名全世界的童话故事——《青蛙王子》。

I found that I had boarded the wrong bus...

I found that I had boarded the wrong bus. The seats were the wrong colour, the bus driver was a different person, even the passengers were different. I was sure of this because I had ridden on the same bus every day of the week since last year. I tried to stop the bus, but the driver was already going at full speed, and the driver either would not or could not hear my request over the sound of the engine.

Wearily, I found a place and sat down by the window. I tweaked open the curtain. It was raining heavily, and the sky was dark. So was the bus. A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the bus. I looked away from the window hurriedly, as if afraid of hurting my eyes. Funny. I was not so jumpy usually. My gaze traveled to the seat next to me, and I jumped as though I had received an electric shock.

The seat next to me had been empty when I sat down. But it was now occupied by a little girl who looked about five. I could see her face clearly because of the lightning. Her face was deadly pale, and she was thin, very thin. Her face was also completely empty of expression. Then the lightning was gone, as though somebody had switched off a light in the sky, and her face was once more in shadow. I looked away from her hurriedly, as a crash of thunder descended from the sky.

Looking determinedly through the window, I pondered about the presence of the little girl beside me. The bus had not stopped after I got on, that was certain. So how had she got on? I steeled myself and turned to ask her this. After all, she was only a little girl. Only a little girl. But if so, how had she disappeared so quickly? The seat beside me was empty once more.

I turned and searched every face on the bus, hoping to see the little girl somewhere. But all the passengers on the bus were old people. And their faces were as expressionless as the girl's had been. I tried to convince myself that they were just fed up with the rain.

I stared straight in front of me, waiting impatiently for the next bus stop. Suddenly, another flash of lightning came. I hesitated for a few seconds, and turned my head to the seat beside me once more, willing the little girl not to be there. But she was.

She was just sitting there silently, staring at the floor, looking as pale as before. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck standing up straightly, and it was all I could do to prevent myself from going up to the driver and forcing him to stop the bus. Hey, that was a good idea.

But then the lightning disappearing, and the thunder came. And the rumble of thunder seemed to roll a heavy weight against my heart, as I remembered the expressionless face of the driver, and how he had pretended not to hear me when I first got on.

An uneasy memory floated back to my mind, the time when my friend was telling me a story about the Ghost Bus. A man had got onto the wrong bus, just like me. And just like me, he had felt uneasy about the bus and the people on the bus. Then, a frightened-looking young girl beside him had whispered to him that this was the Ghost Bus, and all the people on the train were waiting for the best chance to attack and eat him. Then, he grasped hands with the young girl and they leapt out of the window together. The bus rattled on, while the ghosts in the bus shouted after him in dismay and disappointment. He was just going to thank the young girl, when she smiled and said, "Now, you're all mine."

A creepy story, but I had just scoffed and laughed at it. And now, it was coming true! Well, not exactly. But almost.

The lightning flashed once more, and the girl, who had disappeared with the lightning just now, appeared again. This time, she had a cut on her head. It was bleeding slightly. The lightning was gone, and the bus was plunged into semi-darkness once more. But suddenly, a small person hurled itself against my chest.

I screamed.

The bus wobbled, and came to a stop.

I fainted.

When I woke up, I was in hospital. I got up and checked myself all over. No bites, not scars. And no —— OH MY GOODNESS, the girl was standing next to me!

She was staring at me, and she was laughing. I was ready to black out again, when she spoke for the first time. And to this day, I really wish I had covered my ears.

It turned out that she was just a human child. She had been scared of the darkness, so she had hidden under her seat. Every time the lightning came, she thought that the light had been switched on, so up she came. And the last time, she had banged her head, and she had just wanted me to comfort her.

I felt so stupid.