August 30, 2020 - voice of a Grand daughter
Covid-19 short story
Written in both English and Chinese
Voice of a Grand daughter
The phone was ringing. It must be one of those marketing calls. This time, I would not answer the phone. Recently, there have been at least two such calls in the morning, two in the afternoon, and even two more before 9 pm. It was annoying.
A minute later, the phone rang again. This time I picked up the phone, raised my voice and said loudly, "Hello". The other party immediately dropped the call.
After another minute, the phone rang again. This time I picked up the phone and did not speak. A girl's voice said, "Where are Grandma and Grandpa?"
"Oh, my baby ...this is grandma...I love you..." I replied.
"Grandma , I miss you." My 3-year-old granddaughter Lydia said.
"I miss you too." Lydia replied. " When are you coming? "
"As long as it is safe to travel, I will see you guys as soon as possible." My eyes were wet.
"Grandma , I'm very safe at home. My brother is busy with his iPad. He doesn't fight with me or beat me anymore." Lydia answered happily.
My face immediately turned into a smiling face, and I said, "That's great."
"Grandma , you must come. I miss your toys, new clothes and... well..." There was a silence .
"What else, Lydia?" I want to know her
answer. Silence continued.
I asked again, "What else?"
There was a pause for a few seconds. Then she said: "Your hug and kisses...”
"Really?" I am glad to hear this answer. "Good girl, I will send you some hugs and kisses and toys."
"I want new clothes too, Grandma. But brother has an iPad. So he doesn’t need anything."
I replied happily, "Ok... Ok..."
"Really? I'm going to tell Mommy now. Mommy... Mommy..." She hung up the phone.
孫女兒的心聲
電話響了。 它一定是那些營銷電話之一。 我今次不再接電話。 最近，這類的來電，早上至少有兩個，下午兩個，甚至晚上9點之前也有兩個。 真煩死人。
一分鐘後，電話又響了。 這次我拿起電話，抬起聲音大聲說，”你好”。 對方立即打斷了電話。
再過一分鐘，電話又響了。 這次我拿起電話不說話。 一個女孩子的聲音說：“嫲嫲和爺爺在那兒?”
“哦，親愛的……這是嫲嫲……我愛你……”我回答。
“嫲嫲，我掛住你。” 我的3歲孫女兒莉迪亞說。
“我也想念你。” 莉迪亞回答。 “ 你什麼時候來？ “
“只要旅行是安全的，我就會盡快見到你。” 我的眼睛濕了。
“嫲嫲我在家很安全。 哥哥忙於他的iPad。 他不再和我打架或者打我。” 莉迪亞自豪地回答。
我的臉立刻變成笑臉，我說，”那真好。”
“嫲嫲你必須來。 我很想念你每次帶來的玩具，新衣服和……嗯……”寂靜無聲。
“還有什麼，莉迪亞？” 我想知道她的
答案。
我再追問，” 還有什麼? “
停頓了幾秒鐘。 然後她說：“你的擁抱和親吻……”
“真的嗎？” 我很高興聽到這個答案。 “乖孫，嫲嫲會寄給你，一些擁抱和親吻，還有玩具。”
“ 我還要新衣服，哥哥有iPad， 什麼都不要。”
我好開心地回答，”好... 好...”
“真的嗎? 我現在去告訴媽咪。 媽咪……媽咪...” 她掛了電話。
