Who Cares? by Wang Xin Yi ¨LªY»ö
To the west of Missouri River, there was a small and secluded village. On the south edge of the village, there were three houses. Mrs. Shepherd was the householder of one of them. She was an old widow.
It was a Sunday morning in beautiful May. When the whole village was still asleep, Mrs. Shepherd woke up to prepare breakfast. She did not always wake up so early. Because she lived alone, no one would mind if she forgot to prepare breakfast. But her son and his family were here this day. Mrs. Shepherd was quite busy but happy. ¡§Hey, wake up.¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd called out. ¡§Come on. I have prepared breakfast for you.¡¨ Matt Shepherd and his wife, Karen, stepped into the dining room and sat down. Then their daughters, Natalie and Holly, came in. ¡§My dear, come and sit here with me.¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd said.
It was a nice breakfast. But after breakfast, Matt Shepherd and his wife and children have to leave right away. ¡§We should set off right now. We must arrive home before lunch, Mom.¡¨ Matt said. ¡§I know, I know. You told me last night. I remember.¡¨ Her voice sounded a little bit disappointed. But she still kept smiles on her face. ¡§Hurry up. We have no time.¡¨ Matt had already stood in the door and urged. ¡§Sorry we can¡¦t go to church with you this time,¡¨ Karen took her bag. ¡§We will come back to see you some other day. Don¡¦t forget to take medicine.¡¨ ¡§Bye Mom.¡¨ ¡§Bye grandma.¡¨
After Matt and his family left, Mrs. Shepherd¡¦s house became quiet as usual. She walked to the window; gazed at the path in front of her house, and pondered.
Dingdong, dingdong¡K
The bell of church caught Mrs. Shepherd¡¦s attention. ¡§Ah, it¡¦s time to go to church.¡¨ ¡§Hey! Holly! Natalie! Let¡¦s go¡K¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd turned her head and was immediately aware that she was the only person in this house now. She put on her coat and wool hat silently. ¡§Coat, gloves, hat and¡K¡¨ she murmured to herself, ¡§and glasses! Oh! Where are my glasses?¡¨ She spent about 20 minutes searching for them and finally found that the glasses are right on her face. When she stepped into the church, the service had begun for five minutes.
Mrs. Shepherd quietly took a seat in the corner near the door. She always sat there. It was not because she was late all the time, but she loved to keep a distance with other people. People in the church noticed that someone was late, but no one turned his head. Nobody wanted to pay attention to her. And fortunately, that was what Mrs. Shepherd hoped, too.
The church service was boring. Time seemed to go slowly. After the aged priest finished his speech and people recited chant, the service was over eventually. Mrs. Shepherd breathed a sigh of relief. She stood up and was going to leave. ¡§Help! Help!¡¨ Somebody ran in the church and shouted. ¡§A house is on fire.¡¨ People in the church all rushed to the door to see what happened. Mrs. Shepherd stood in the door and looked towards south. Then she was stunned. ¡§Oh! GOD! It can¡¦t be,¡¨ she cried. ¡§That is my house!¡¨ Now every one turned and looked at her. She was panic-stricken and rushed towards the house.
When poor Mrs. Shepherd stood in front of her house, all she can see was black ashes. The smell of burnt filled the air. The fire had been quenched, but the whole building was ruined. Mrs. Shepherd faltered toward her house. ¡§Everything is gone.¡¨ She fell down and sat on the ground. ¡§It is gone.¡¨ She broke down and sobbed aloud.
At this time, all habitants in the village had gathered here. A young police man patted Mrs. Shepherd on the shoulder. ¡§I¡¦m really sorry,¡¨ he said. ¡§Please accept the accident, Madam.¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd covered her face with her hands and cried. ¡§Well. I know your feeling, Madam. But I have to ask you something. Are you the host of this house? Who else live with you?¡¨ But Mrs. Shepherd just kept crying and answered nothing. The police man turned to the crowd and asked loudly, ¡§Is there anyone who knows about her family?¡¨ No one answered. ¡§Nobody knows? OK! And what¡¦s her name?¡¨ All the people kept silent and looked at each other. The police scratched his head and said, ¡§Is there really NO ONE that knows anything about this Madam?¡¨
¡§Shepherd, Miranda Shepherd,¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd said lightly. Her voice was very nasal. ¡§I live here alone. My son and his family live in a city about 160 kilometers north of here.¡¨ Hearing the words, the young police man smiled as if he was saved by goddess. ¡§It¡¦s great. Then could you tell me how to get in contact with them?¡¨ he said.
About two hours later, Matt Shepherd and his family came back to the village. When Matt and Karen arrived at the scene, People whispered to each other. ¡§Look! They are those unfilial son and daughter.¡¨ ¡§Yeah. They left their old mother and moved to big city.¡¨ ¡§They live in a big and beautiful house in that city but let their mother live in such a small and dilapidated wooden house.¡¨
Matt heard exactly all the whispers but he didn¡¦t mind it. He passed through the crowd and saw his mother. She still sat there and didn¡¦t want to leave the house. The young police seemed glad to see Mrs. Shepherd¡¦s family come. But he looked angry at the same time. He walked to Matt and his wife, and yelled at them. ¡§Why do you come back so late? Don¡¦t you know how pathetic your old mother is?¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd sobbed. ¡§Mom, don¡¦t¡K¡¨ Matt turned to his mother. But she just sat on the black ashes, held a black pot, and cried. ¡§Oh, my favorite pot¡K.¡¨
¡§Don¡¦t make any excuse for your deeds.¡¨ An old man said angrily.
¡§You can¡¦t let your mother live here alone and be indifferent to her.¡¨
¡§I don¡¦t¡K¡¨ Matt uttered.
¡§Look at your suit and dress. You must be a rich man, right? And you just give your mother an old house to live. How unfilial you are! ¡¨
¡§Hey, please. I just left¡K¡¨ Matt tried to explain.
¡§You should feel ashamed of it. You know?¡¨
¡§Young guy,¡¨ the aged priest finally uttered in a gentle voice, ¡§when children grow up, they have to leave home and fight for their own lives. It¡¦s good. We all know it.¡¨ The priest said. ¡§But you shouldn¡¦t forget your parents. You have to show your concern.¡¨
¡§We know, sir,¡¨ Karen said.
¡§I know maybe you are quite busy with your work, but you still can spare time to visit your mother.¡¨
¡§Yes, I agree with our priest,¡¨ a fat woman said, ¡§I¡¦ve never seen you come back here to call on your Mom.¡¨
¡§Sorry Madam. But in fact we did.¡¨
¡§We know what you want to say. Let¡¦s forget the fire disaster. Just look at your mother. How thin and weak she is,¡¨ a young and pretty girl said. Tears filled her eyes.
¡§Oh! GOD!¡¨ Matt felt really tired and could hardly control his temper now. ¡§It¡¦s ridiculous!¡¨ He murmured and walked to Mrs. Shepherd. ¡§Mom, let¡¦s not stay here, ok? You¡¦ll catch cold. Let¡¦s go back home.¡¨
¡§Hey, come on. Natalie. Holly,¡¨ Karen said, ¡§Go to help grandma.¡¨
¡§That¡¦s right.¡¨ The police ran to them. ¡§Take your mother home and live together. That¡¦s what you have to do. But before you leave there, I think you should¡K¡¨
¡§What do you want me to do, sir?¡¨ Matt thought that he couldn¡¦t be patient any more.
¡§Uh¡K just make a record about¡K about how¡K¡¨ He wanted to know details about how much Mrs. Shepherd had lost in this event. But his question was interrupted by Natalie.
¡§Grandma.¡¨ Natalie ran to old Mrs. Shepherd and said cheerfully, ¡§I want to eat those apple pies you made this morning. Just go home now.¡¨
¡§I beg your pardon.¡¨ The young policeman seemed getting confused now. ¡§Why do you said just go home now and eat pies? Your grandmother¡¦s house had been burned.¡¨
¡§NO! Grandma¡¦s house hadn¡¦t been burned. It is just over there.¡¨ Holly pointed the brick house which is just two doors away. ¡§Look! That one.¡¨
¡§Ah! Is that my house?¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd seemed bewildered, and then laughed suddenly. ¡§That¡¦s right. It¡¦s my house.¡¨
People stopped whispering or scolding. Now they tried to digest the meaning of these words. ¡§You mean¡K¡¨
¡§That¡¦s right.¡¨ Matt took a deep breath and said slowly. ¡§This is not our home, and that one is.¡¨
¡§Oh! Yes. Yes. Just go home. Go home and have a piece of apple pie.¡¨ Mrs. Shepherd walked towards her house slowly with Natalie and Holly.
Karen turned to those dumbstruck villagers and said, ¡§Our mother is a patient of amnesia.¡¨ Karen was glad that she finally has a chance to explain. ¡§She is puzzle headed sometimes. We are sorry to make a misunderstanding just because you don¡¦t know that.¡¨
¡§But¡K Who is the real owner of THIS house?¡¨ Someone in the crowd asked.
No one answered. No one knew.