A Sunny Afternoon                       by Guo Chen Xi 郭辰昕

It’s a shiny sunny day. The sun is smiling. The wind is singing. The clouds are dancing. And little Johnny is playing with his lovely doggy in the yard. In an orange peaked cap, he looks cuter and more cheery. Little Johnny’s lovely doggy is called Pin.  Pin is a brisk Dalmatian with brown spots. The yard around the house is full of Mom’s favorite shrubs. The green shrubs are prettified with colors of flowers. Right in the backyard is a small fruit tree. There are only some small white flowers on it during this hot summer time. Now little Johnny and Pin are keeping a close watch on a green big-eyed frog under the fruit tree. All of them stay still for minutes as if time stops.  All of a sudden, little Johnny and his Pin are suddenly throwing themselves on the frog at the same time. 

“Bang!!” The cute frog jumps away agilely just before little Johnny and Pin bump their heads against each other. Instead of crying, Johnny and Pin are rolling on the grasslands with laughers. The warm wind is blowing softly on little Johnny’s pink cheeks. He holds Pin in his arms with a yawn. In the shadow of the tree, they close their eyes slowly and unconsciously. It’s really a free sunny day.

“Johnny, time for lunch,” stepping out of the kitchen, Mom calls her little son.  However, no one answers. “Johnny! It’s lunch time.” Mom says again while taking off the apron. Again, no one answers. Then, Mom climbs the stairs and calls, “Johnny, where are you?” Meanwhile, no one answers. “Johnny, are you here?” Mom asks when knocking the door of Johnny’s bedroom. Uh……no one answers. Mom starts to feel nervous. She quickly opens the door. There is no one there. Everything is normal.  The bed is clean. The bookcase is clean, too. And little Johnny’s favorite model is still on the desk. Mom begins to worry.

Rushing out of the house in a flurry, Mom bumps into Mrs. Jones. She is a 67-year-old woman who lives with her husband next door. Their children, Fred and Ted, are working in the city. 

“Where is little Johnny?” Mom asks just as Mrs. Jones wants to say hello to her. 

“On……I haven’t seen cute little Johnny today.” After thinking for a while, Mrs. Jones says slowly. “You mean that little Johnny is not home? What a pity. I am going to let him have a taste of the cake I baked this morning.” As soon as Mom wants to explain that Johnny is not only out but has also disappeared, Mrs. Jones shout in a sudden, “ Don’t tell me that little Johnny disappears!” There is a slight quiver in her voice as she speaks. 

“Honey! Little Johnny is lost! What can I do? My little Johnny is lost,” Mrs. Jones turns back to her house and shout to her husband. 

“Could you….” Mom is interrupted by the bump when Mrs. Jones closes the door hastily. 

“Oh! How can I find my son?” Mom whispers and walks as fast as possible to the nearest police station. After a corner, Mom sees a man in black uniform riding a bicycle toward her. He’s a police officer! Mom almost cries. 

She runs to him and says, “I lost my little son. May I ask you a favor….”  Mom is interrupted one more time when the police officer speaks in a cold voice.    

“What’s his name?” 

“Johnny. His name is Johnny.” Mom replies quickly and nervously. 

“When is he lost?”

“Just a few minutes ago when I called him for lunch.” 

“Where?”

“I’m not sure. I think he was playing in his room but .…” Mom tries hard to remember what happened this morning. 

“OK. I’ve already understood the whole situation. Now the only thing you have to do is to stay home waiting for good news,” suddenly the police officer breaks into Mom’s talk in a colder voice and then rides back to where he came by bicycle. 

“Holy cow! Is there no one who can help me?” Mom cries in her mind, “Where is my little Johnny?” 

Mom looks absent-minded and walks absent-mindedly. She is eager to find her little Johnny; however, she has no idea about what to do. She just walks and walks. She never stops until a voice flashes through her.

 “It’s such a hot day. It’s too hot for people to go out. It’s the reason why I don’t earn a lot of money today. It’s the hateful weather’s fault!” Mr. Smith, the shopkeeper, is talking to himself as usual. 

 Mom suddenly finds out that it’s the store Johnny often goes to because there are many kinds of delicious candies. “Mr. Smith, do you know where little Johnny is?” Mom asks in a hopeful voice.

“Little Johnny? There are too many little Johnnys. Which one do you mean? The one with red dirty hair, the one living on the top of the mountain or the one who doesn’t exit in fact? If you mean the mischievous one who lives on the mountain, I can tell you that I haven’t seen him for many days. And moreover, I don’t want to see him anymore. He is the worst boy that I have ever seen. He broke my window with a baseball several days ago.”Mr. Smith talks too fluently and endlessly for Mom to break into his soliloquy. 

Mom leaves the grocery as soon as she can. She can’t waste time to listen to his meaningless talk because the sun is setting. 

   “God bless my little Johnny.”Mom is standing on the stream in the village where she and her little Johnny live and she prays in her mind. In the water is the reflection of the sun. It is so red that she feels her heart bleeding. Several ducks swim in front of her. 

   “Could you tell me where my little Johnny is?”Mom asks in a weak and despair voice.

  “Crack! Crack!”is the only sound a duck can deliver.

   The sun almost sets and Mom’s heart is almost broken, too.

Suddenly a thought flashes through her head. Mom runs as fast as if there is a lion running after her. Although she is tired physically and mentally, she still makes great effort to run fast. The evening wind is a little cool but Mom doesn’t notice it at all. Gradually the house shows up in Mom’s eyes. It’s closer and closer. Instead of rushing into the house immediately, Mom runs to the yard. In the moonlight Mom sees a dark shadow moving. 

  “Bow, wow, wow.”It’s Pin! 

 After Pin, Mom finds her little Johnny sleeping soundly under the fruit tree. She quickly goes toward Johnny and holds him tightly in her arms as if he is going to disappear.“God bless!”Mom whispers.

 “Mommy, are you crying?”Little Johnny is awake.

 “No. Nothing.”Mom wipes her tears and says,“Let’s go in for dinner.”

 This night Mom is very angry with herself,“How could I forget I told Johnny to play with Pin in the yard till I finished cooking!”