Ch 3 A Dream
Feiyun's mane was snowy white, as the snowcap on Changbai Mountains.
Feiyun's eyes were charcoal black, as the soil on the Songhua River bank.
Feiyun's blood was scarlet red, as the blood roaring inside father's chest.
Wang Yao had never seen the Changbai Mountain or the Songhua River; but in those dreams the mountain howled and the river roared, because his mother told him that father was leading the troop there fighting the Japanese. His mother always lighted a lamp with him at night to read those last words his father wrote. Wang Yao didn't see how his father died; but in those dreams his father's blood was surging.
He saw, on the bank of Yellow River, the wind blowing tenderly and fragile irises swaying. He saw Feiyun's swift body like a cloud in the sky, those eyes like two shining stars. Father gave Feiyun to him before leaving home when Feiyun was still a little horse and him, still a little boy. He grew up with Feiyun in difficult times, like those resilient irises on the river bank.
The snowy white mane was splashed with hot blood when the bombers flew over their head, taking the life of that majestic horse. In a moment, Wang Yao thought it was his father's blood he saw in those dreams, flowing on top of the snowy mountain.
He casted his tearful eyes towards the sky of his suffering motherland—there, in the sunset faraway of the northwestern sky, he saw a heroic golden rider on top of Feiyun, rushing across the sky. The rider had silver color hair, violet eyes, and a warm smile like sunflowers…
"You finally wake up." A gentle voice pulled him out of his nightmare.
He opened his eyes and heard a collective noise of snoring from his fellow soldiers. A small lamp was swaying at the door of their bunker room. He saw Toris' concerned face; that pair of blue eyes like the Baltic Sea was full of sympathy. "You cried. A dream?"
Wang Yao nodded and quickly wiped away the tears from his eyelashes. Toris patted his friend on the shoulder understandingly—people like them who left their home behind for war didn't need to say much to know each other's mind. Even Toris himself often dreamt of returning to his Baltic homeland.
Wang Yao got up, put on his uniform coat and walked out of the bunker. Faraway, at the sunrise of some lime color clouds shined a lone star. He followed the beaten path of their camp base, walking slowly. Inside a puddle of water, you could see some small bubbles beneath the thin layer of ice, and sometimes, in these bubbles, there would be a piece of purple or yellow poplar leaf or white birch leaf. Wang Yao would always break the thin ice and took the frozen leaves back to their bunker room. It didn't take long before they accumulated to a small pile on the desk, emitting a wine-like aroma.
He saw the cavalry rider Ivan Braginsky whom he just met yesterday sitting under a tree, drawing something in the dim light. Wang Yao was always good at memorizing people's faces, especially someone like Ivan. That silver hair, violet eyes and warm sunflower smiles contained a magical power that once you caught a glimpse of it would never forget.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you," said Wang Yao. "But it's still pretty dark around. Don't you worry that your eyes will go bad?"
For some reason, at the thought of those bright eyes could possibly be wearing thick glasses made him feel pitiful.
"It's you, Wang." Ivan raised his head and blinked his eyes, "Don't forget who I am. The eyes of a scout love dark nights. They won't go bad."
"Why don't you draw during the day? It could get a bit busy with all the campaigns, but it won't leave you with no free time at all."
"Dawn always inspires me." Ivan smiled and waved the small piece of paper in his hand. "Before the war, I studied in the art academy. Since then, I always loved to get up in the break of the day to draw…"
Wang Yao took the drawing from him; under the dim light of early morning, he saw a handsome horse drawn in pencil. "That's nice. He even went to university before the war!" He was fondly looking at the drawing and couldn't put it down, thinking to himself, "What a great work…Maybe he was drawing his Kostya; or perhaps, he was drawing Feiyun that he never met…"
Ivan could almost read his mind. "You didn't answer my question during the day. You must ride very well? Maybe you owned a nice horse, too?"
A sentiment intertwined with tenderness and sorrow suddenly seized him. Before he knew, he started talking like an old friend with a rider whom he barely knew for a day, about his Feiyun and about himself. Many years later, Professor Braginsky still clearly remembered everything Wang Yao told him. As the son of a hero fighting against the Japanese, at the age of fifteen, Wang Yao wanted to continue the fighting in where his father died; however, the government decided to send him to study in the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1941, he graduated from high school and was just about to apply for Moscow University before the war broke out. Wang Yao went to the conscription office in the same day, but people there advised him to come back later, as he was still four months short before reaching the age of eighteen years. Under the insistence of this stubborn foreign boy, however, they eventually agreed.
After a short training session, Wang Yao was sent to the infantry reconnaissance squad. He got along well with everyone; his best friend was a Lithuanian, Toris Lorinaitis. Wang Yao was close to him partly because of the guy's soft-spoken temperament, partly because that he was studying in Moscow University where Wang Yao had longed for, and partly because they were the only two foreigners among the squad filled with Moscow locals.
"I should go back to our squad, Ivan." Wang Yao heard the bustling noises from their campsite. As their conversation went on, they started addressing each other with first names and with the casual form of "you".
"Yao!" Ivan called him, "Would you tell me why you collect those leaves?" as he curiously pointing to the frozen Topol' and birch leaves Wang Yao had taken out from under the ice.
"Because I've always wanted to be a biologist, my dear artist!" Wang Yao smiled and strode away.
*Changbai Mountain: A major mountain located in the Northeast of China bordering North Korea.
*Songhua River: Located in the Northeast of China
*Feiyun: translates to "Flying cloud"