The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Francine blushed and replied awkwardly, “What do you mean by that? He was very diligent in tutoring me back then!”

Corinne neither explained nor rephrased her remark.

Chester did not seem to pay too much mind to that either. He grinned shyly and looked at the three little kids seated between the two girls. He sighed. “Time sure flies. The children are all grown up now.”

Corinne tilted her head and looked out at the passing streetscape through the car window. She murmured, “Yes. Time flies… Three years have passed in the blink of an eye…”

The city’s lush parks were the preferred destinations for spring outings and picnics. Many families brought their children here to play on weekends when the weather was perfect.

Corinne and Francine led the children ahead, while Chester followed behind and helped carry their belongings. After finding a suitable empty spot on the field, Francine pointed and said, “Let’s set up our spot here!”

Chester nodded. “Sure.”

the food and drinks they had brought along. Francine took several photos of the food, beckoned the three children over so she could take pictures of them

and

of the camera frame. He retreated

over to Chester and asked softly, “You’ve fallen

red, and he nodded earnestly. “Honestly, I used to be biased against her. I thought she was uneducated and had the temper of a spoiled young brat. When you asked me to tutor her, I had the chance to interact with her more. That was when I

with that observation. “Yes, she’s pretty naive, especially in this department,” she said, tapping her

understood her gesture and burst into laughter. He did not deny that Francine was not the most intellectually sharp person, but that formed part of her

a chill run down her spine. It was almost as if a thorn was

too familiar one. It was the same feeling she got whenever a

instinctively turned to look in the direction of the eerie sensation. She spotted a man gazing at her in a wheelchair beneath