Chapter Two: A Borrowed Childhood

He had made death into a ticket to rejoin his family. “Your sister didn't bring us here to die with you,” Su said, pressing the memory card into his palm. “She brought us because she couldn't wake you last time.” Chen finally wept. The fire department condemned the building that night and relocated all seven tenants. A blue envelope appeared: “Outcome altered.” Before the memory struck, Shen bit down hard on his tongue. It dragged him into a summer afternoon. Nine-year-old Xiaokui led her brother to the river and gave him half an orange ice pop. Cicadas roared. He smiled with a missing tooth. She thought, If I keep holding his hand, he can never get lost. Shen woke with blood in his mouth.