It was drizzling again which slightly annoyed me after a week’s overloaded working. I thought it would be a sunny day and the SAS kids would be sitting among us in a circle enjoying the warm sunshine and chattering around. The reality always seems to conflict with our sweet dream.
I didn’t feel the least excitement upon arriving because my heart was miles away in my university’s lab, thinking about the mechanic exo-skeleton and the service robot I had been coping with for weeks. The bus arrived at SAS unexpectedly fast. I walked out of the bus attracted by none of the surroundings, directly following the security guard through the gym, which was quite gloomy. On entering the library, the light brightened a lot, but the emptiness dispersed the tiny comfort momentarily, brought around by the luminosity. Then, finally, in the computer lab, we met those kids.
They were younger than I previously thought, my elaborated formal greeting was apparently inappropriate for them. Pathetically, I was at a loss of how to begin a conversation with these kids who were at the beginning of their teens while I was also a teenager, on the very tail of my teenage years. Was I really that old? Where was my untainted pure youth?
Thanks to Tom, we had a brief introduction of each side and he made us say something about ourselves one by one? which eased my unsettled feelings quite a bit. It was always better to have somebody talking while you could sit in the corner unspotted. Then we started to register accounts on a website for future discussion. When the kids were helping most of us with the process, I was just idling around, because I finished that a month ago when I received the project notice. I was just the kind of guy settling all the problems on one’s own.
When they excitedly finished registering, I just sat there waiting for the next activity. Then we split ourselves into several groups to talk about the novel. We had Leeghao, Zhang and xxx, three seemingly wicked boys. They ran off out of the computer lab to their favorite sofas in the library, and jumped over a dwarf bookshelf and bounced onto the sofa. I followed them, copying their movement. Strangely, a sudden feeling of interest and relief flew through my entire body. Then, somehow, I delightedly read two pages of the book. They asked, do you have any questions? Jesus, certainly not, I answered silently inside my mind. I just smiled, saying nope. They seemed a little bewildered and read a few paragraphs each. But none of us showed keen interest for the novel, I supposed.
The turning point came without any awareness. Lee said he was fond of sports. Wow, we turned out to have something in common.
I randomly throw out my words “Er, do you guys watch NBA?” Their eyes shined instantly, then Zhang asked “Yeah, we do. And what’s your favorite team?”
“Lakers, of course.” Sports really made communication much easier.
How they responded not only impressed me but also fueled my excitement. Lee flattened on the carpet with a sigh while Zhang and xxx shook their fist as if they had won something. What came next, was our talk flooded as if a trickle prompted into a torrent. Time finally flies.
On my way back, I realized I had experienced that worriless youth, too. The most worthwhile discovery was the childish, innocent and fancy-free sentiment they displayed though it lasted only scores of minutes. It drew me back to taste the joyful period deeply buried inside my cluttered mind. The momentary isolation of the social evil and sophistication left me the hard-earned serenity to feast over my wonderful childhood.
What a relief, thanks to the SAS children, they loosened my long-time strained nerves. I realize childhood is a lifetime treasure everyone reserves. All we need to do every now and then is stroll to the reservoir of childhood memory, scoop a spoonful of the inexhaustible wonder which could keep us young forever and taste it. At least, this works for me.