Slender fingers rise and fall on a row of black and white keys, and the melodious sound of flowing water pours out from under the top of the grand piano, the sound of which is as fresh as morning dew and as clear as the cry of a kingfisher. There weren't many listeners on the benches, but everyone closed their eyelids and indulged in the soft sound of the piano. The hands on the dial of the grandfather clock turned round and round, but time seemed to freeze, and they did not want to move forward with the stubborn hands.

The performer is a girl with long blond hair that reaches her waist. She also had her eyes closed, and her expression was far more intoxicated than that of the audience. Her movements are so fluid that she doesn't seem to have to think about the rhythm and notes under her fingers. It is clear that his hands are far softer and more delicate than ordinary pianists, but the music he can play is not inferior to most people who make a living from musical instruments.

Of course she can play this tune well. Chopin's piano music always resonated with her, and this one was her favorite nocturne in B-flat minor. It takes her a few minutes to play this piece every time she finds a moment of tranquility.

Halfway through the line, consciousness slowly emanates from the fingertips. What time is it? About half past five? Dinner after you get back? Pray again...... It's annoying.

Since God is all-knowing and all-powerful, he must have discovered that he was not the lamb he would shelter. So what's the point of my tireless prayer? If God doesn't exist, isn't this prayer even less valuable?

Do you want to stop playing two more tunes and deliberately miss the time to pray? Forget it, it's still a trivial matter to not be able to eat dinner, but her father ......

As if remembering some bad memory, the long piano paused for half a beat. But the audience here had little common sense about music, and no one noticed this obvious flaw.

After all, since I am not blessed by God, then ...... Isn't it better not to be born from the beginning?

I'm ...... The people of Satan.

What makes the girl suffer so far is that she is a little different from other girls.

What she likes, what makes her heartbeat, is the same as her, girls.

At first, I was about nine years old. Daisy, her playmate who grew up with her, was always babbling about who was cool in the class and who had joined the school's football team. She said yes twice every time, and it seemed that she paid as much attention to the boys as she did, but these things never entered her heart, and she turned her head and forgot about them.

On the contrary, every time she sees Daisy change clothes and reveal her white body, she always subconsciously swallows.

For a long time, she was ignorant, until the sexual initiation class opened in junior high school. After the class, she understood a lot of things. For example, how did the child come about, for example...... Self-orientation.

It turns out that I am normal, and this is just a different choice from most people. After relieving her confusion, she happily went home to tell her mother about the momentous discovery.

but it attracted abuse..... and beatings.

It is no wonder that their family is a traditional Catholic family, and this kind of thing is blasphemy against God. The parents who learned of this were horrified and felt that the child they had given birth to was a demon. Those days were nightmares for her. It wasn't until she assured herself that she was just joking that she was able to leave a life with a blue and purple face, and because of this, she missed school for a long time.

Belch...... What a terrible memory.

At the end of the last note, the audience hugged their applause. The girl has not yet opened her eyes. It seems that she is gladly accepting the praise of everyone, but in fact she is worried about her future life.

Yes...... If only I hadn't been born, anyway...... It's that kind of parent.

But it shows that they are real Christians, true Christians.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; Whoever loves his children more than me is not worthy of me; Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ”

Chewing on the content of Matthew's gospel in her heart, the girl only felt bitter in her heart.

"Dear Lily, your performance today is perfect." Shi Shiran, a young man sitting in the front row, got up, held her hand and gave an elegant kiss.

"Thank you, Danny." She smiled in response to his compliment. Danny is a well-known gentleman in the community, and he is always the first to lend a helping hand whenever others are in trouble, which has earned him a good reputation in the community. Danny showed his affection for her early on, and the rest of the community believed that they were a match made in heaven and that their union would be blessed by God.

Or accept his proposal? Lily thought boredly. Slowly, she also began to suspect that she had some kind of disease, as long as the disease was cured, everything would return to its original state, and her parents would still love her like that.

Dealing with the pestering Danny, Lily closed the keyboard cover and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Go back, at least if you pray according to the rules, they won't embarrass themselves.

Lily walked down the aisle between the two rows of benches, her fingertips brushing the back of her oak chair, which was slightly hot from the sun, stroking the cracks that stacked parallel to each other. As she walked to the last row, she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and was given a white, slender hand.

She stopped and looked at the owner of the hand, a guy hiding in a gray cloak. Finding that she had stopped, the hand was quickly retracted, and it waved again and again to show that she had no malicious intent. "Hug, sorry, I just wanted to say...... The piano you play... Very nice to hear. ”

The sharp-eyed Lily grabbed the other party's wrist instead. The guy was so frightened by her that he tried to pull his hand back into his cloak, but tried several times without success.

Lily sighed again. She read that right, the wrist she grabbed was covered with several long, slender interlaced wounds. The wound showed no signs of healing at all, apparently from a recent past.

"Do you want to ...... Suicide? ”

The cloak was loosened during the previous struggle, revealing the large wavy hair underneath and a withered bone-like face. It was a girl, with thin cheeks, like a skeleton covered in a layer of skin. The girl shuddered at the slightest stern question, almost cowering into a ball. "I'm sorry ......"

"Why did you start apologizing...... I'm not scolding you......" Lily was a little speechless. "Why?"

"Because...... It's annoying to be alive......"

Lily thought for a moment and sat down next to her. "Do I play the piano well?"

"Hmm." The girl was a little confused.

"Do you still want to hear it?"

"Hmm."

"I come here every afternoon to play the piano, and you can hear it all the time when you come at the appointed time. What do you think? Doesn't that feel like it's not so bad to be alive? ”

The girl was a little tepid, and it took a while for a while to understand what she meant, and the fear in her eyes turned to disbelief. "Really...... Are you sure? ”

"Well, of course. Now I have to go home, see you tomorrow! Lily glanced at the clock and saw that there was not enough time, so she hurriedly said goodbye and left the community center.

When she got home, the sun had set, and she pushed open the wooden door painted cherry red and sat down at the table without saying a word. The father, who was sitting opposite, had just cut a slice of bread and was buttering it with a dinner knife. He looked up at her with a gloomy expression.

"You're six minutes late." The knife slices through the bread cuts, leaving behind an uneven layer of butter, and the unstained blade glistens in the light. Lily only felt that the knife had just passed through her heart.

"I ...... I just persuaded someone who wanted to kill himself! So came back late. She hurriedly explained to her father.

"Saved...... A person who wants to kill himself? The knife paused.

"Well, right in the community center, isn't there a camera there? I wouldn't tell such an easy lie! Not to mention...... Lying will lead to Hellfire! ”

"Indeed......" Lily breathed a sigh of relief in her father's usual slow voice, but she could already guess that dinner was going to be ruined tonight.

"Well done, my daughter." Her father's next words made her unbelievable. She stared wide-eyed at the man who had been with her for eighteen years, but she felt like she had known him for the first time.

"Well done, my daughter." Seeing her stunned appearance, my father repeated it with a smile, and the expressionless face that had been frozen all the time actually smiled. At the same time, her mother, who was still washing dishes, heard what she said and came over and hugged her excitedly. The father's love and mother's love, which she hadn't experienced for a long time, suddenly came, which made her a little frightened.

"It's really my daughter, you must be ...... Be inspired by God! Father's next sentence made Lily, who had just felt a little warm, fall into an ice cave.

For the next few minutes, her parents did not hesitate to praise her with the best words, but Lily did not listen to a word. Until my father solemnly declared, "Although this is a good deed in accordance with the gospel, it is important to pray before dinner." It was all over, and after eating the dinner that was about the same as a wax block, she said goodbye and went straight back to her room.

Is...... Reverent.

Lily lay on the bed with a blank expression, not just sad or happy.

——————————

The rain hasn't stopped yet.

Lily glanced at the cloudy and rainy sky, closed the cover and stretched. Today's community centers are empty and empty. After all, it's raining, and instead of going all the way to a community center, everyone is willing to stay at home and watch TV.

Except for that...... The guy who has been sitting in the corner.

"Coming here today?" Lily greeted briefly and sat down on the bench beside her.

“...... Well. It seems that because of the motivation to live, Lily feels that the girl's complexion is much better than two weeks ago, the original shriveled limbs have become plump, the cheeks have become a little more bloody, and the original messy long black hair has been neatly combed and tied into a side ponytail, like a doll that has fallen into the dust has been picked up and wiped clean and put on beautiful makeup. However, it's her favorite type, Lily thought out of tune.

She hesitated for a moment, and then carefully handed over a lily in her hand.

"For me?" Lily asked.

“...... Well. "Although my complexion is much better than before, I still have such little guts.

"Why?" It seems to be a freshly picked flower, with a few drops of dew on the white petals. Lily brought the flower to her nose and sniffed the lily's unique scent.

"Because...... Because your name ......"

"Oh, that's right." Lily understood what she meant, and Lily did mean lilies.

What to do at this time? Lily thought about Danny's previous actions and took her hand for a kiss. "Thank you very much, miss."

The rain stopped, and the sun, which had been obscuring the body for a day, was finally able to breathe before sunset, and the bright and warm sunset spread the same warm sunlight over the whole land, dyeing everything in the color of the setting sun. Lily, who had kissed her hand, looked up and met her eyes, which had been dyed amber by the setting sun.

"I like you." Without thinking, Lily subconsciously said this.

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt that it was going to be bad, their whole community has a strong Catholic atmosphere, every family is Catholic, but her family is the most old-fashioned among them, and the probability of meeting a girl who is her kind is too low and too low! It's over, what if she told her parents about it? Lily only felt that she had accidentally pressed the switch of the end of the world.

Unexpectedly, the girl nodded softly, though she looked cowering and timid. "Me too."

No one spoke, and the silence continued. Suddenly, Lily leaned over and kissed her, for an unknown amount of time, until there was a soft knock on the door of the community center.

The two parted in panic, and a few seconds later the door was pushed open. At the door was a man she knew well, Danny.

"You didn't come home for dinner, so your father asked me to look for you. I'm guessing you're in the community center, and sure enough, yes. "Danny doesn't seem to find anything. He explained his purpose as he walked through the doorway.

"Who is this?" Danny reached out to the girl as if to shake her hand, but the girl quickly dodged it. Not only that, but she also covered herself with the cloak she had always carried, hiding behind Lily, trembling and her eyes full of fear.

"Uh...... I didn't do anything......" Danny was also stunned by the girl's reaction, and hurriedly proved his innocence.

"What's going on?" Lily shielded the shivering girl with her body and asked in a whisper.

"It has nothing to do with him...... It was my fault. The girl also understood that she had lost her temper, but her body did not listen to her call at all, and she was trembling all the time.

"I stopped the kid from thinking about suicide, and then she occasionally came to hear me talk about the piano." Lily thought about it, and first vaguely explained the ins and outs to Danny, everyone is a neighbor, secrets can't be hidden, and gossip is always everywhere.

"Oh, I've heard that your father always talks about it when he talks to people, is that her?"

"Uh-huh. Let's go home first. Don't kill yourself again, little girl, if you want to hear me play the piano, just come back tomorrow. Lily said goodbye briefly, grabbed Danny's hand and hurried away.

Their home is not far from the community center, but it is not close, and it is about a 10-minute walk. Halfway through the turn, Danny suddenly slowed down, and Lily's pace slowed down.

"Before...... I see it. Danny hesitated, and said something that he had put in his heart.

"You see?" Lily's heart sank, although she guessed this possibility, but no one wanted to face a worse predicament. "What do you want to do? Want to tell my parents? Or are you trying to blackmail me? Although she was still expressionless, the mixture of fear, fear, and anger trampled on her nerves, and even she didn't notice that a faint golden light rose from those sapphire pupils.

"You know I'm not going to do that! I'm not that kind of person! Danny suddenly became a little excited, but soon he languished again. Indeed, I have always liked you, and it is impossible to say that you are not sad at all. But I ...... I won't tell anyone, no one will say. ”

"Oh." Lily was noncommittal.