Seeking Through the Mist
The work, written in the form of an essay, narrates a girl's journey of growing up. Perhaps it is the story of our own youth...
I ran through the dense fog, uncertain if it ever had an end or what it was I so desperately sought; I simply kept running forward, endlessly.
“Lingyin, get up! You’re going to be late for school!”
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I mumbled, “Alright, Mom.”
Sigh. That dream again—the one with endless mist, where I’m always running. I have no idea why I keep dreaming it.
Well, if I can’t figure it out, I shouldn’t dwell on it. I hurried to get dressed, washed up, wolfed down a few mouthfuls of breakfast, grabbed my schoolbag, and headed out.
It takes about twenty minutes by bicycle from home to school. I walked and paused along the way, finally arriving at No. 1 High School—the only key high school in Y City.
That’s right. There are only three high schools in the entire city.
As for me, I live in a small city in the northeast, where the population is sparse and most of the year is winter. The temperature drops to more than thirty degrees below zero, so cold your eyelashes frost over.
Apart from the biting cold, this northern town boasts vast stretches of primordial forest, enormous in area but with a tiny population. More and more children go off to university, and after graduation, most choose to leave their hometown, making those who stay even fewer.
For ordinary families, getting into a university is almost the only path forward. Leaving isn’t a sign of not loving one’s home; after all, who would willingly abandon their roots and face disdain elsewhere? Despite this city’s fresh air and natural forest oxygen bar, job opport