On our way, we stopped by the river to take a rest and were surprised to hear what sounded like the cries of a baby.
"Do you hear that, Ning? It's a baby crying." I said.
"Yes," he replied. "But where is it?"
We ran towards the sound of the cries and lo and behold, there it was, a little baby girl lying in a basket on the river bank.
"It looks like she has been abandoned," said Ning, going closer to the baby.
Just then, quiet unexpectedly, the sky began to darken and big drops of rain started falling.
"We've got to get her out of the rain," I said. "Let's take her to Yunzhi's place." We covered her with the cloth she was wrapped in, lifted the basket out of the water and ran all the way with it to Yunzhi's shack. The rain was getting heavier every minute and by the time we reached the shack, we were completely drenched. Yunzhi suggested that Ning and I stayed the night since the storm was still raging, so we sent Head Nun a short text to inform her in case she got worried.
Su Ling was delighted to see the baby, having not started a family of her own yet. She quickly went to warm up some milk while Yunzhi dried the baby with a towel. And all the time, the baby kept wailing and wailing.
"It's probably hungry," said Su Ling and gave her some milk. To our surprise, she spat it out. When Su Ling tried again, she spat it out again. She just didn't want to drink the milk.
"How odd," said Su Ling, frowning. Yunzhi suggested some warm water but again the baby spat it out.
"It looks like she doesn't want anything to drink or eat, for that matter," said Ning.
"Well, let's just put her to sleep then," I said.
But the baby wouldn't sleep either. She kept crying and crying ... well into the night. None of us could get any sleep and when dawn broke, we were tired out.
"I think she's missing her mother," said Su Ling wearily. "Perhaps you had better take her back to the river where you found her."
Ning and I agreed it was the best thing to do and left with the baby. The rain had stopped, the sun was just beginning to rise and it was a cool, clear morning.
"Do you think her mother will come for her?" I said, as we put the basket back by the river.
"Maybe," said Ning, eyes still bleary from a sleepless night.
We both felt there was nothing further we could do but just as we turned to leave, we heard a voice behind us .... "Stop! Don't go, please help me!"
Astonished, we turned round .... it was the baby crying for help!
Ning and I looked at each other. A baby only about a month old asking for help ...?
"I don't like the look of this," said Ning, backing away. "Sorry, old chap, you have to deal with this one on your own." With that, he ran off
"Wait, come back, you coward!" I yelled after him but he was gone.
(To be continued)
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| "Look, it's a baby!" |
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