Past 10 years has witnessed the vanishing of the obsolete hotel, based on which mounting skyscrapers are erected, with a gradual diminution of my memory concerning this timeworn space.

　　I came to my aunt's home to idle away the torrid summer days as usual，but something was different this year. While I was stauntering along the dank corridor, the rooms of the dated hotel, which is used as compensations for the laid-off, arraying in orderly row came into view, among which was my aunt's home, thus providing me much convenience to get acquainted with rather more friends here.

　　As my aunt had not straightened up my room, for the first few days, I was arranged to lodge under neighbor's roof, coincidentally providing me an opportunity to associate with my first friend here. She had a gaunt face but always wearing a dazzling smile. Later, I learned that she left school two years ago for tending her mother, an obese lady in wheelchairs. What stirred me a lot was, juvenile as she was, she could run the household adroitly and keep it shipshape, although the girl and her mother were subsisting on the limited dole. As all was quiet at dead of night, she scrubbed for her mother then moved her to the bed laboriously , wiping out the tears for her mother.

　　My second fellow here was a boy at my age, and we got to know each other in a marvelous way. When I was lingering around the porch, abruptly, a slight voice of a boy came out:

　　"Are you new here? I haven’ t seen you."

　　“Where are you? I can’t see you at all."

　　"I am here, I was locked in the room, but I can see you through the hole in the door."

　　Through the hole, a face of a lovely boy jumped into my sight and our friendship grew from that moment on. Occupied with heavy work, his single mother had to lock him in the room, because she failed to tend him during the work time. I knew that his mother would go to work in the morning and come back at dusk. Therefore, I cocked my ears to catch the slam of the door every morning. As soon as she left，I would sprint for my friend, with infatuated storybooks in my arms.

　　Certainly, I also made friends keen on amusement, outside the old hotel. Having bought seasonings for my aunt for several times, I found the twins of grocery were indeed joyful, since they were always able to find something breathtaking and dramtic. Never would I forget the day when we slipped into the Bureau of Public Security, just for the inviting loquats in the yard, but barely ended with the sleuth barking at us, making us flee away with a paroxysm of guffaw

　　……

　　Nostalgic as I am, I could not refrain myself from recollecting the memories embedded in my heart, equally I aspire to locate the old hotel, as well as my old friends, to ensure that, the girl has resumed study and her mother has shaken off the illness; the boy and his mother have led a life of their own will; the twins are still as free-spirited as birds flying in the sky…

　　Hope they are encompassed by the happiness they pursuit. Best wishes to all of them!

Writen by Aoli Bi