Days and nights

Since I moved into this dorm in 2019, I always bump into a lady who works here. She cleans, gets things in order, waters the plants in the hallway. She is so full of charm that I like to watch her from far away - precise, astute, yet extremely gentle. She takes care of those plants with her hands dancing around the soil as if casting some sort of magic. I am sure she has magic, otherwise they would never have been so lush and exuberant being confined in a dull building. Our eyes would meet every now and then, we smile at each other, and sometimes greet briefly. Although we barely talk, it feels to me that we have known each other for a while.

As the pandemic quickly turned my life upside down, I spent much more time roaming around in the building like a ghost. I barely see anyone but her. Dumping my trash, collecting my mails, I always take my time, much longer than what is needed. Perhaps I want a change of scenery, perhaps I want to smell some air that’s different from my room’s, or perhaps I just crave the indescribable feeling of peace by simply seeing her existence.

I don’t really remember how we began to talk. Perhaps it is one gloomy afternoon, as I was walking back to my room, I saw her salvaging some plants out of the huge trash bin. “Did people just throw them away?!” I couldn’t control but screamed. “Yes… so many students left because of COVID and they just dumped everything.” As she took another one out of the trash, she turned around and looked at me, “ah! I remember you.” She smiled.

Film stills from Days And Nights, dedicated to my deeply beloved friend with the kindest, warmest heart.

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