Tell a story | A tree grows on his back

"it's easier to collapse, right?" The tomato in front of me asked me.

cloudy day, the air is moist, the temperature is about 11 °, windy. I pressed the brim of my hat and did not answer. I took three carrots and two cucumbers in my hand. After a few steps, he turned back, picked up the tomato, and beckoned the boss to collect the money.

A tomato costs 0.56 yuan, and a talking tomato costs 0.56 yuan.

there are many people in the vegetable market, and the fruits and vegetables are relatively fresh. People who come here to choose food are not blind. The food world view is the same as the world view, everyone has it, and there are thousands of ways to match the taste. How much is this one per jin? I want the brightly colored ones. Wait.  
 

"you don't like tomatoes, nor do you like carrots." I didn't go to see who was talking. I guess it was a cucumber. I still didn't answer. I pursed my lips, wrapped them around the collar of my gray coat, and walked into the wind in the street.

  there were several leaves rolled up in the wind, and after a few minutes, it began to rain. Rain is a particularly troublesome thing. I squeezed the neckline with my hand, grabbed the newly bought vegetables tightly with my arm, and ran home.  
 

Leather shoes clap when they step on the street covered with Rain Water, and the traffic lights at distant intersections change from green to yellow, and then to red. I can't go any further. I stopped at the intersection and waited for the green light. A rainy day is a troublesome thing. I subconsciously touched my back with my hand. At the moment the light turned green, I began to run again.

after I got home, I threw my newly bought vegetables on the ground and began to look for sickles. The vegetables were screaming, but I was not in the mood to take care of them at this time. I took off my clothes, went to the bathroom, turned my back to the mirror, and began to cut off the leaves from my back with a sickle.

when I went out, I thought it wouldn't rain, so I only wore a shirt and trench coat. The material of the clothes was very good, but after being caught in the rain, Rain Water would still infiltrate the cloth, drop it on her back, and grow rich plants.

"it's easier to crash, right?" The tomato muttered again. I was angry and wanted to cut it with the knife in my hand, but the plants on my back were still growing, so I had to stand in the bathroom and keep cutting.

two hours later, I collapsed on the sofa, breathing heavily in the air. As soon as the nerves and minds relaxed, the body fell into a dream as if it had fallen from a 100-story building.

when I woke up, the room was dark, the messy voices in the dream were still there, and countless hoarse voices were bothering me, asking me to do something, but I just wanted to sit on the sofa in a daze. Most of the time I was the one who was given up, just like being given up by a dream. It was pulled in for no reason, and thrown out for no reason.

"Is he awake?" The tomato heard me and asked the carrots and cucumbers next to me.

I said, "I'm awake." After saying this, I got up and changed into a clean set of cotton clothes, then went to the vegetables I had littered and picked them up. "I'm hungry. Let's cook."

 the tomatoes didn't speak, and the carrots quarreled first, but fortunately, I only bought three, so it wouldn't be too difficult to fight. Carrot A clamored to stir-fry with chili, carrot B said steamed was better, carrot C said not to eat it.

"it's hard to hold on, isn't it? It's easier to collapse, isn't it? " The sound of tomatoes has a bit of an empty aftersound, which I don't like very much. "do you believe I crushed you and threw you into the dustbin?" I grabbed it and threatened.

 it doesn't talk. I can't help it. I can't crush it and throw it away.  
 

it is natural to be able to hear plants talking to their fruits. It seems that you can not only hear sounds that should not exist, but also see things that do not exist. No, it's not psychic, seeing ghosts or something, it's something strange, just like plants grow on my back, no one else can see it.

Ten minutes later, I cut open the mouth of the tomato so that I would never hear it say "collapse" again.

I didn't collapse, and I didn't notice any signs of collapse. I didn't know where the tomatoes knew about Sydney, so I told me about the collapse over and over again.

A month ago, Sydney died. My wife, Sydney, is dead.

 this is not a thing that can make me collapse. Life is impermanent. You know any result, just which one to bear, or the sequence of time. This is not much different from before, life from two people into one person, the biggest feeling is that the house is twice as big as before, and the sound is twice as loud as before.

vegetables made the taste of the vegetable salad sweet. I put tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and some leftover fruits that I bought yesterday.

when eating tomatoes, I think the juice in my mouth becomes very sour. I don't think it will give up. Although it has been chopped up by me, it still says "collapse".

 I have always had a good relationship with Sydney, and in the week after her death, I even felt that she was still alive and would always forget that she was dead at some point. I would stand in the living room and shout "Sydney". When I was cooking, I would shout "Sydney, give me a hand." Wait.

when did I suddenly accept this? it was yesterday.

I was taking a bath last night. The water became cool before the Bubble in my hair was washed clean. I turned it on again many times, and the water was still cold. After I wrapped up the bath towel, I went out of the bathroom to check the water pipe and check the power supply. It turned out that the gas was gone.

  the water heater in my house is a gas water heater. When the gas is gone, the water becomes cool.  
 

the water on my body is almost dry, but my hair is very sticky. I searched all the corners of the house, but I couldn't find a gas card filled with gas. Sydney helped me solve everything at home, large and small, and I never worried about it. So, an hour later, I realized that I had lost Sydney.

 there is dust in the room that I can't see with the naked eye, the refrigerator is loud and I cry loudly.  
 

at that moment, I cried and wailed so much that I couldn't help my heartache. I saw the shadow of Sydney all over the room. She was cooking, she was watching TV, she was watering the plants on the balcony, she was on Sing, she was doing a lot of our daily things.

I sat on the ground crying, trying to reach out my hand to grab it, but I knew I couldn't catch it, so I cried even more sadly.

 that kind of heartache cannot be expressed, but people who have experienced loss should be able to feel it. My heart hurts, just like something stirring in it, and my chest hurts too. With every breath, I can feel the pain of tearing my chest.  
 

all night, I didn't move. I just sat there crying. Finally, the tears were gone, and my consciousness was still crying. When I was drowsy, when I looked up, it was still a little bright. I slowly got up and went to the bathroom and took a cold shower.

Sydney is gone, I see.  
 

after accepting this fact, depression seems to flow out of the body with tears, so I do not feel "collapse", but have reached a state of vague calm.

I don't know how tomatoes know about it. It seems like I've never told anyone about it. It doesn't matter. I've eaten it. It's rotten in my stomach.

get up and leave the table. I picked up the cutlery and was about to go to the kitchen. I accidentally saw the plant leaves I cut off with a knife in the bathroom in the afternoon. After I washed the dishes, I went to the bathroom to pick up the leaves I had cut in the afternoon. The leaves have withered and are not as fresh as they were when they were first cut.

I cleaned them up and threw them in the trash can.  
 

after Sydney dies, I can no longer eat meat. My body seems to be unable to afford meat, so I will spit it out when I eat it. After several times, I no longer try to eat meat, but just fry or stew green vegetables. After eating it a few times, I feel that my body begins to reject cooked food, so I begin to satisfy my hunger with washed fresh vegetables and fruits.

on Rest in the evening, I woke up thirsty several times, and the whole pot of white water beside my bed was drunk clean. After drinking water, he went back to bed.

I had a dream in which Sydney was blurred. I tried to wipe the fog off her face with my hands, but I still couldn't see it.

"Sydney, what are you doing?"

"watering, is your back still itchy? are those plants still growing?"

 "Yes, it always happens when it rains. I don't know where it started. Other people can't see it, but I think I'm a monster."  
 

"it's not a monster, it's a plant, and you gradually become a plant."

"Plant, have I become a plant?"

"well, yes."

 the scene in dreams is always changing. In dreams, people don't think too much about things like why this happened and why I did it. The body and mind are out of control, and the only thing that can make you feel real is your consciousness. Although time, place, and events are not self-determined, all choices after that are made by yourself.  
 

I sat in a flowerpot, naked and confused, watching Sydney holding a flood. The pot was watering my feet. I looked at her quietly as if I was a plant from ancient times, and there was nothing wrong with it.

after watering, I sat in the flowerpot, as if a little more tender. Sydney gently stroked my skin with her fingers, and I groaned comfortably.

"Are you comfortable?" Sydney asked me.

"comfortable."

the alarm clock rang, and I was awakened. When I woke up, I found a cold sweat and a humanoid mark wet with sweat on the bed. I carefully recalled my dream, which seemed to be a plant. When I thought about it, I couldn't remember anything.

after getting up, I dried the sweaty sheets and quilts. Then went to the balcony to water those plants. Sydney likes plants very much. She bought many kinds of plants and put them on the balcony, some of which I can't even name. Since the death of Sydney, these things of watering the plants have naturally fallen on me.

while watering, I gently stroked the leaves of two plants and suddenly remembered the voice of Sydney: "are you comfortable?"

I replied: "comfortable."

I don't know why these two words suddenly pop up in my heart, but Sydney's voice is so familiar that it reminds me that when we hugged and kissed, she liked to touch my skin so much that she didn't seem to touch it enough, inch by inch.

  your lover's hand cuts across your skin, which gives you a deep sense of love. Sometimes, two people get along for a long time, touch and kiss each other, become a habit, but you can never find a better feeling than this.  
 when Sydney was holding me, she repeatedly rubbed her arm against my arm. When I was scratched, I smiled softly and asked her what she was doing.  
  "I heard that the skin of two people close to each other will produce a magical thing, which will make a person's body healthy, it will be like a magnetic field, or something else, but even if it doesn't work, I still want to dawdle with you like this. It's so comfortable."  
 

I laughed at her foolishness, and then rubbed her face hard with my face. She smiled happily, and so did I.

I have no work to do. After Sydney died, I quit my job and planned to rest at home for a while, but the alarm clock was not turned off. I still got up at 7 o'clock every day, watered the flowers, cleaned the room, watched some movies or news, and then went to the vegetable market or supermarket to buy daily food and supplies.

plants that have been watered seem to wake up from a deep sleep.

"How are you today?" Talk is jasmine, it grows very well, although Sydney died after it was depressed for some time, but still very healthy.

elegant cocktail dresses make you look glamorous and magnificent. Perfect for formal functions or informal parties.

"very good."

"quietly bask in the sun." A large pot of green pineapple said like a chorus.

 I don't want to talk to them. Some of them try to persuade me, while others don't like me very much. As for me, all I have to do is water them.  
 Sydney's parents called me and asked me to come by. I picked up the key on the low table by the door, got ready to go out, thought about it, and went back to the bedroom to get a navy blue coat. Sydney bought this coat for me, too.  
 Sydney's parents are very old, and there are often some things in life that can't be handled by themselves. At this time, they usually call me and I drive there.

the distance is not very far. It takes only fifteen minutes to drive there.

when I was in the past, Sydney's parents gave me some relics of Sydney's life. They were so sad that when they spoke, they already burst into tears before they could say the words several times. I comforted them and kept saying, me, don't be sad.

We talked for a long time, so it was already afternoon when I left my parents' house in Sydney, and I hadn't had dinner today, so I drove directly to the vegetable market.

there are not many people in the vegetable market, and the owners of each stall are sitting lazily in their stalls. I stand in front of the stall where I often buy vegetables and look at the fresh shiitake mushrooms that have just arrived today.

"you don't know what's going on yet, do you?"

 I glanced at the tomatoes on the shelf next to me.

"you must not know what's going on yet."

 I looked at the tomato in surprise. The next moment I picked it up and gave it to the boss to weigh and calculate the price. Because there was another tomato talking to me, I didn't buy much and quickly came out of the market.  
 

when I got home, I angrily pressed the tomato on the kitchen board, held the knife to its mouth, and asked, "what's the matter?" I don't know what to say. "

it is not afraid at all, and its voice is still as calm as it was in the vegetable market. "just go and see what you brought back."

I angrily threw away my knife and rushed to the door to see what I got back today. Apart from the keys, vegetables, and the relics of Sydney from Sydney's parents' house, there were only some items that Sydney and I had used together, such as toothbrushes, towels, changing clothes, etc., which we had put in her parents' house, and there was nothing special. I was so upset that I threw everything to the ground at once, but I still couldn't find the thing I should know.

as I took a deep breath, I remembered the navy blue coat I was wearing today. My hands gently reached into my pocket. Finally, I found something hard in the left-hand pocket.

I took it out and saw that it was a seed. Although I didn't know what seed it was, I was sure it was the seed of a plant.

I walked up to the tomato with the seed and said, "Is this it?"

"This is Sydney, can't you see?"

I suddenly remembered that one day it rained and I didn't bring an umbrella. It rained very hard that day. I ran home quickly, but my shoes suddenly scratched. I fell to the ground and my chest was so painful that I didn't breathe for a long time. I just lay on the ground for a long time.

 when I finally got home, the plant on my back was already three meters tall, and I was wearing this navy blue coat that day.

"she has become a plant, and so have you."

I froze.

I remember that Sydney often told me when she was watering the flowers that she wanted to be a plant, want me to become a plant together, sprout from a wild jungle, and then grow up, branches and veins intertwined.

I didn't understand why I had to be a plant, so I asked her.

she said, "so we can live forever, and we can be together forever."

I suddenly felt a little itchy in my hand holding the seed. I turned the back of my hand and looked at the palm, where a small leaf grew.