A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid of the dark." Beryl struggled to get up and was full of apologies as she continued, "Dylan, did I hurt you anywhere?"

"No, no, it's okay," he answered quickly. He pushed himself to his feet, flushed with embarrassment. He noticed that she did not seem to register anything wrong with the situation. Beryl did not appear at all disturbed by the unseemly moment. It was as if nothing had happened.

Though still young, Dylan knew clearly what "inappropriate for children" meant, so naturally he knew what a first kiss was and what it meant to people as well.

He felt a great sense of disappointment upon seeing that she did not find anything wrong with the kiss. However, he considered it lucky that his mother knew nothing about the kiss. Otherwise, he would surely receive a severe beating...

"Beryl, let's keep this a secret. What happened just now didn't happen, okay? Do not let anyone else know about it, especially my mother, okay?"

"Secret? What secret are you talking about?" she asked.

"I meant that...just now... I kissed you... No, wait! You kissed me... No! Ehmm..." Still flustered he had managed to even confuse himself. Finally, he blurted it out, "I meant the secret was that we kissed by accident just now!"

"Oh, like this, right?" she said innocently. Blinking her big eyes, she stood up on tippy toes and kissed him quite deliberately on the cheek, to show that she knew what he was referring to.

He stared at her in disbelief. His face flushed like a ripe tomato, " You...kissed me, again!"! !

"Is there something wrong with that?" She seemed confused too and tried her best to explain, "Mommy once told me that only people in an intimate relationship can kiss each other..."

"No, you are a girl. You can not kiss others so casually like this." Struggling to remain calm he fought to keep a straight face like a grown-up, as he continued sternly, "Have you ever kissed any other boys, except me?"

She shook her head slowly, "No."

The sudden happiness he felt was confusing, yet it also filled him with pleasure. 'She kissed only one boy, and that's me!' he thought, inexplicably happy.

"Anyway, you can't kiss others so casually in the future," he cautioned.

I an outsider

his face. Tears seemed very close as she continued, "Are

her face with his sleeve explaining, "Of course

eyes were red from crying, just like a bonny,

his heart pulled painfully tight as he saw her distress. He did not want her to cry.

Pondering what to do for several seconds he finally had an idea. Moving in closer to her, he kissed her cheek, "Don't cry please. You see, I kissed you now. I've never kissed anyone else before you, except my

stopped crying and

pudgy fingers he soothed, "Of course. So promise me that you will not

about you?" she demanded.

only one allowed to do so!" he

said,

person for her from now on. Other boys would not be able to compete for her

secret. Let's pinky-swear

...

the Misty

had became the laughingstock of the whole village. The bride they bought for their son at such a high price was stolen away by a bare-handed foreigner! What was more, there was nothing they could do

was still lying in bed seriously injured, and his son was just an

curse Jacob and

such a good fighter. Besides, Mr. Barefoot was the best and the only doctor in

Jacob or Emily, but rather

his room and did not want to see anyone. Every day, he just stared

he saved them carefully,

with Emily. "She must be a evil witch and has stolen your soul! If I knew it earlier, I would definitely have asked your father to sell her out! She proved a disaster for both you and your father!" Mrs.

and seriously refuted her accusations, "She is my

you