Memories
As I jump of that big, red bridge towering over the Miluo River I think about my miserable life and death. Why am I jumping off this giant bridge strapped to a giant rock because my emperor was defeated! I am furious, so I am throwing myself away to get rid of this sharp, stabbing pain deep down in my chest. It is the 5th Day of the 5th Lunar Month and I, Qu Yuan had my life flash before my eyes. Birth and Death, Childhood and Death, Adulthood and Death and then I was gone.
I see a big black stone building, the Chinshi Hospital. Inside my mother, Chi Yuan, is on a hospital bed covered in stained, woven sheets. My father Wang Yuan, a tall, chubby man is standing next to my mother holding her hand. My mother seems to be in a lot of pain. That is because she is in labour. Giving birth to me and my twin brother Bu Yuan. After what seems like an eternity my brother and I are both lying in my mother's arms. She looks so happy and so does my father. Next to the bed is a piece of cloth with the words 'Bu Yuan and Qu Yuan, born in 340 BCE. With proud parents Chi Yuan and Wang Yuan.' I figure out it's a birth certificate. Looks pretty plain to me.
Then my father starts to turn pale, pale as fresh snow on a winters day. Next thing you know he is also in a hospital bed. My mother's smile has now changed to a worried expression and my brother and I are lying in a basket next to my mother's bed. A few hours later I hear the rush of feet outside my mother's room. A big group of nurses and doctors are rushing to my father's room. "Is he dead?" I say to myself. 5 minutes after that rush a nurse comes in my mother's room. I overhear the nurse telling my mother that unfortunately my father suffered a very bad heart attack and he is now dead. I was just born and my father just died.
Childhood. My small stone brick house. I look through a large hole in the wall, most likely a window. I see my mother sitting on the floor eating rice and millet with a big smile on her face. I look over to the right and see my brother Bu on the floor, covered in a bright red liquid. I see my younger self next to Bu screaming and crying, my mother doing nothing. How could they just let my brother die like that? "They are monsters," I say to myself. "Doing nothing while my brother is dying!" Oh well, they hated him anyway. "Brother please don't leave me!" I hear my younger self say. Then the image in my mind changes.
I am now an adult. I look about 25 or so. I am in the same house I was as a child. I see my mother laying on the ground. It reminds me of how my brother Bu died. The memories all flow back to me. My adult self is shaking my mother and pleading her to wake up. But, she doesn't. At that moment I realise that she is dead. I go and get a shovel and start digging a hole in my backyard. Then I carry my mother's life less body and gently place her in the 3 foot deep hole. "Goodbye mother," I say as I fill in the hole with dirt.
The visions of my sad life suddenly disappear. I know now that I am dead.
As I stare down at China from my new home heaven I see people throwing rice and other grains into the water where my corpse lays. Who knows how much longer my dead body will stay together in one piece. Then I look up. I see a bright red sign. On the sign there are big, bold, black letters saying "Welcome to The Dragon Boat Festival. Please place your offerings for Qu Yuan onto a boat and we shall give them to him for you."
"Maybe it wasn't so bad dying after all," I think to myself. "I got a whole holiday named after me." As I keep looking down at the Miluo River I thought about my life and how it changed the lives of others. My name is Qu Yuan and I am now dead.