Chapter 4

The blessing ceremony started.

The village elder recited the traditional New Year's blessings, and the villagers stepped forward one by one to place a sprig of evergreen at the foot of the tree and light their own candles.

Mom went through the motions absentmindedly.

It wasn't until boxes of fireworks were carried into the open area and were about to be lit that she suddenly shouted.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Josh isn't here yet," she said, her voice sounding a little drained. "For something this important, the whole family should be here."

My eyes widened. Mom really did still care about me after all.

"Maybe he's just watching from somewhere nearby?" the elder replied. "Let's just light them first. We wouldn't want to miss the appointed time."

"But—"

"Mommy…" Ray-Ray suddenly tugged on her clothes and pointed toward the shallow trench nearby, half-covered in snow. "Was Joshie there yesterday?"

Mom looked at where he was pointing. There seemed to be something at the bottom of the pit.

Dad saw it too. Frowning, he walked over and brushed away a thin layer of snow. It was the sweater and jacket I'd taken off the night before.

They were frozen solid.

Dad's hand hovered in midair as Mom came over too. He stared at the pile of clothes for a few seconds, then snapped his head up to scan the area. But he only saw a vast expanse of white snow, empty and deserted.

Ray-Ray tightened his little fist around the button from the rag doll and asked softly, "Joshie took off his clothes… Isn't he cold?"

Dad picked up my sweater and stood there without moving.

"What on earth is that damn brat trying to pull by leaving his clothes here? Is he trying to make us pity him?" Mom snapped.

She snatched the sweater from Dad and shook it. Ice crystals showered down.

"Does he think leaving his clothes here will make us feel sorry for him? Make us search everywhere for him? In his dreams! Even if he freezes to death, it would be his own fault! How inconsiderate!"

But Dad's face had turned pale. "He… He couldn't have been here all night, could he?"

Mom froze for a moment, then slammed my sweater onto the ground even harder.

"It's a cheap trick! It's just a trick for sympathy! He just wants to make us worry and make us regret scolding him yesterday! He's probably hiding in someone's nice warm bed right now and laughing at us!"

Ray-Ray broke free of Mom's hold and ran over to the trench as well, digging into the snow just like Dad had.

Suddenly, he pulled a small object out. It was the name tag from my clothes. Mom and Dad had personally sewn it onto my clothes because they were afraid I'd get lost.

Ray-Ray placed the name tag and the button side by side in his little cold hand, looking up at Mom, then at Dad.

"Joshie's…"

Mom snatched the name tag away, gripping it so tightly that her fingertips turned white.

The surrounding neighbors started to realize something was wrong and gathered around.

"The boy's clothes are here, but he's gone? He didn't go home last night?"

"It's freezing out there. Where could he have gone in nothing but his thermal wear? Could he have—"

"Enough with the nonsense!" Mom snapped, cutting them off sharply. "What could have possibly happened to him? He's doing this on purpose!"

But I could see her hands trembling.

Dad said nothing more. He began searching around the old locust tree. The neighbors, sensing that something was seriously wrong, started searching as well.

Ray-Ray, held in Mom's arms, asked her in a small voice, "Is Joshie hiding too? Like I did yesterday? In that hole?"

The moment Mom heard him, she suddenly froze, and her gaze darted to the trench.

"Josh, don't you dare scare me! If I find out you're playing a trick on us, I swear I'll beat you to death!"

Even though she said that, she still let go of Ray-Ray and walked step by step toward the trench. Then she started digging through the snow with her hands.

"If you're trying to trick us, we won't want you anymore! You can forget about us for good…"

But before she could finish her sentence, a patch of blue thermal shirt peeked through the snow.

And then… came my face.