Prologue

I only know it was you.

That I had been longing to be with.

Should I sue something to get back to you?

Because I will swim through you in a grit.

***

It is the year 2072, and a caregiver sprints up towards the elderly who is sitting down on his wheelchair while the urine is draining down the floor. The nurse quickly gets a tub and place it underneath the chair as the white-haired elderly smiled back at his caregiver. The nurse beams back genuinely as she soothes the arms of the white-haired man.

All of the elderly through the home for the aged building that is located by the side of the Yangtze River in Shanghai, China, are awake for hours now and have been taken care of by their own caregivers. The place is filled with noises as one of the rooms has been occupied by the elders who like music.

A manly caregiver with his chubby face has been playing the guitar for almost hours now after the elderlies have been done with their breakfast. They are swaying along slowly as they sang along through the tune of the Chinese Lullaby.

The bedrooms are now deserted as one nurse stops in front of the corner ward by the ground floor and peeks through it. She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the aged woman with long, ivory-colored hair neatly tied behind her back with a scrunchie. The nurse places the clipboard on the table as the aged woman looks up from the wide crystal clear windows of the bedroom with tears welling up in her eyes. She is wearing a juniper scarf around her neck and her skirt has been flowing on her ankles.

"It's Chinese New Year next week, right?" the aged woman asks in a hoarse voice as the nurse slowly walks up through the side of her wheelchair. The Yangtze River is still beautiful through the view by the ground floor windows and she sighs as she sees how breathtakingly mesmerizing to see it.

She smiles as she nods and asks, "Do you have any plans for Chinese New Year, Ms. Xi?"

The aged woman just chuckles with her parched voice and she looks down at her lap as she rolls the wheelchair with her wrinkled hands. She stops by the neatly groomed bedroom by the window and tried to wear her slippers underneath her feet. She struggles to wear it and the nurse rapidly picks it up while placing it on her feet. The tears escape through the aged woman's eyes as the nurse looks up at her.

"Ms. Xi, why are you crying? Is there something wrong with you? Are you hurt?" The nurse asks that countless questions all at once as she observes the whole body of the aged woman.

She just shakes her head and mumbles, "I'm fine. I just remembered something."

"What a relief. Should I get your medicines for today? It looks like you haven't eaten breakfast yet?" The nurse asks as she sits down on the soft mattress and smiles at the aged woman.

"It's okay. I'm not really that hungry. I just want to know what will happen when Chinese New Year came right at the time," the aged woman speaks softly as she glances over the area again. The nurse quivers her lip as she nods and follows where she is looking at.

"Did something bothers you, Ms. Xi? You can tell me everything," the nurse grabs a hold of her hands and she places it between her palms. The aged woman feels the hotness on the palms and she sees how worried her eyes must be.

"It's the Legend of the Cursed Dragon that always bothers me when Chinese New Year is around the corner," the aged woman mutters as the nurse gasps and raised her eyebrows when she came to know that it is prohibited to tell that folklore even in the newest generation.

"I wish I can turn back the time," the aged woman whispers as the tears fall down from her cheeks in no time. The nurse quickly glimpses through her with confusion through her face. The aged woman rapidly turns the wheels through the drawer and opens it. She grabs a notebook through and she sighs as she caresses it with her wrinkled hands.

The nurse stands up from the mattress and approaches the aged woman hastily. She glances at the ancient notebook she is holding and asked, "What is that, Ms. Xi? Can you tell me what was inside it?"

The aged woman smiles as she hears the calmest voice she ever heard throughout her entire lifetime. She looks up slowly towards her and says, "This was my diary back in the days. The time where I have to meet him, my beloved was written all over here."

She stares at the brownish appearance of the notebook and turns to the mattress to open it. The nurse glances at the page and she covers her mouth slightly as she sees an illustration of an azure dragon. The image is so clear and beautiful that the nurse beams through the page. The aged woman says, "I drew it when I celebrated the Chinese New Year for the first time in the mountains. I was really delighted back then."

The nurse stares at how she smiles through her eyes and listens intently to the aged woman. She continued to say, "And then for the very first time... I saw him through that long robes, and he was smiling back. I still remembered how handsome he looked the first time I saw him."

She stares longingly through the azure dragon on the notebook as the nurse observes the grief that crosses through her face. She pats her shoulders once again as the aged woman smiles sadly at her wheels.

"I miss you, my dragon," the aged woman mumbles as she hugs that piece of notebook close to her chest as she sobs.