"Ruby, go catch the kite!" When the string broke, all the children at Heaven's Pier panicked as they watched t…
"Ruby, go catch the kite!"
When the string broke, all the children at Heaven's Pier panicked as they watched the kite drift further away, landing in a distant hillside tree.
Ruby had broken the string. Biting her lip, she ran toward it.
"Wait here! I'll fetch it back."
She raced toward the kite as twilight deepened. By the time she had climbed the tree and retrieved it, the sun had completely set.
Looking down toward where the children had been, she saw no one—all had been taken home for dinner by their mothers.
By now... her father should still be working at the winery, not yet finished for the day.
Ruby clutched the kite tightly, afraid the wind might take it again. But the tree was so tall—climbing up hadn't seemed difficult, but now, holding the kite, she dared not descend.
The night grew thicker, the air turned cold with dew, and Ruby sat alone in her lofty perch, watching as lanterns lit up one household after another below.
She deliberately widened her eyes, letting the wind dry them completely. She was going to be a heroine someday—this was nothing!
Even if nobody knew she was here, even if no one came looking, even if she had to... had to spend the night in this tree alone, she wouldn't be afraid.
She, Zhou Ruby, feared neither darkness nor solitude!
After what seemed an eternity, Ruby had counted the evening lanterns of Heaven's Pier three times: two hundred and sixty-eight in total.
Cold and hungry, she curled into a tiny ball against the biting wind, drowsily thinking that she really would spend the night in this tree after all...
In her daze, she spotted a small lantern in the distance, seemingly the only light in these hills, bobbing closer and closer toward her.
"Ruby! Ruby!"
The lantern approached, somehow speaking.
"Ruby!"
...Hmm?
The lantern illuminated the kindest, gentlest face in the world, looking up at her with worry and care.
...Was this a dream? Ruby let go, and the kite floated down, caught firmly by the person below.
"It's you!"
She finally called out, her voice breaking with tears.