The night in the south always seems to be clearer than in the north, not that the stars are like sand, and there are not many problems, but standing in front of the window can make people think from a different angle, after all, the north is cold outside and warm inside, and the south is cold outside and cold inside.

The night breeze was the night breeze that fondly tickled Astrid's sideburns, and the faint glow of the hair that looked misty in the dim room reflected the green eyes of Lake Astrid were easily reminiscent of a bobcat at rest, an elegant creature with smooth fur that forgets the sharpness of its claws if you are not careful. On the edge of the snow-capped mountain cliffs, they like to crouch on it, hibernate at night, perhaps even because the prey is too lazy to move because of disdain.

The crimson liquid slowly seeped into her lips, and I don't know what brought the glow, Astrid tilted her head slightly, staring at the sky, the gray and blue curtain covering the dust, and there would be despicability.

2043, December 25.

The round pine wood crackled and burned, the Christmas red and winter warmth covered the hall with staggered twinkles and carpets, the gift boxes piled up by the fireplace were the children's eyes shining, even the "jinge bell" and pudding cake could not take away the eyes, the alcohol promoted the desire of the elders to talk, the less dense beard seemed to wait for the arrival of Santa Claus, and the bright red liquid dripping on it was also urging the last tick.

While the adults were busy staggering, Keith sneaked into the pile of gifts, and the rats who fell into the rice barn opened their bows left and right to grab the full gift boxes, and ran to the rare dark corners to start counting, and the children who smelled the wind "clanged" and ran over, of course, to share their share in advance.

"Hey, Lee, it's yours." Keith is like the king of children, picking out colorful gift boxes of different sizes and packages one by one, handing them to the children who came over, and then telling them not to be in a hurry to open them, or they will lose the purple candy if they are found out.

The children were pulling up the boxes and scattering them, and a little girl with a ponytail whispered, "Ah, this is Artie's, I really want to exchange it for a gift with her." ”

"Hey, you know it's a gift from Artie, too?" Another black-haired boy pressed the bow on the red and blue cover box and reminded the ponytail girl, "If she finds out that you did it, she will definitely run to your house and beat you up!" She doesn't care about you! ”

Keith threw himself on his gift box, this gift box that had to open his arms to hold firmly grabbed him, naturally he didn't hear the conversation of the children on the side, but he mostly shrugged when he heard it, it was his sister's thing, not his, anyway, he was worried that he couldn't find a chance to take a good look at his sister's angry appearance, this is a rare grand scene.

Keys is sure that it will be bad luck to open the present before the official announcement, but it is impossible for an eight-year-old boy to stop his thirst for Christmas presents, and he has to rack his brains to guess what is in this big box so heavy, is it a folding bicycle? No, it was a gift from the previous year, it would be a model warship? Cut, I guess it's the blonde stupid guy who likes it, he's already a pure Montana man! It's the same as my father said! So it should be a saddle!

Carl Joseph had just finished clinking glasses with the guests, sat down and had a drink with his wife, when he saw his youngest son running over, and his youngest son Keith climbed onto the sofa and pouted, "What's in my gift?!" ”

"Well, it's going to take it apart and find it yourself after a while, this is your wish, how can Dad know?" The father's tricks have been passed down for hundreds of years, but they always make the children dizzy.

"I want to start early!"

"Oh, dear, your sister hasn't come yet, we're going to wait for Artie to come and tear it down." Evelyn Josephine lovingly stroked her youngest son's head and comforted her.

Apparently unhappy, Keith jumped up and stepped on the couch and said, "Why do we have to take her to start!" ”

Carl Joseph put down his glass, glanced at Keith, who was about to make a fuss, and said softly, "Because you can't, son." ”

Watching Keith run away sullenly, burrowing into the crowd to find his friends, Carl looked at the clock and frowned.

"She's the only kid in the world who is still late for Christmas." Evelyn sighed, kissed her husband gently, stood up and said, "I'll go see Artie." ”

……

It is hard to imagine that the most famous contemporary rock singer would have such a sad literary and artistic young appearance, and it is probably this that has captured the hearts of countless girls who are just starting to open their hearts, and every concert has to be carried out by several fans who are too excited and dizzy.

The melancholy aura of the super idol's signature has infected the little owner of this house, otherwise why would there be a girl with a perfect family who would smoke and match at Christmas? This is big news in the circle of boys and girls! Astrid, who is not afraid of heaven and earth, actually has a time when she sheds tears?

"Ati?!" At this time, the girl was the most reluctant but also the most willing to hear the sound than her mother, and Astrid wrapped the bath towel more tightly, and shrunk her arms to her chest, as if trying to shove herself into the gap in the tiles, before she cried out, "I'm ...... in the bathroom"

Any mother who has raised an adolescent daughter and an energetic seven-year-old son can easily discern the slightest change in the tone of her children, and Evelyn keenly hears the helpless and fearful mood of her rebellious daughter at the moment, and softly finds the key to the doorframe, opens the locked door, and hears sobs.

"Mom, close the door!"

Mother closes the door, the handsome little guy who is all the rage is not lethal to her, the mother walks into the bedroom of her daughter for a long time and refuses to let her in, of course, after Astrid goes to school, it is a different matter, the mother ignores the rows of empty Budweiser beer cans lined up next to the bed, and the crumpled crumpled waste sketch paper everywhere. She saw blonde hair spilling out of the bathroom door.

Mother walked into the bathroom and looked down at the big woman who had been fighting with her cousins yesterday and suddenly disappeared today, and the moment she looked down, she saw not only Astrid's round face covered with dry tears, but also the dried and bloodstained pajamas by the bathtub.

"I'm sorry ......" In Astrid's thirteen years of life, except for today, she thinks that she is unbeatable, in the entire Joseph family, she is the proud eldest daughter, in school, she is a student that teachers love and hate, and can get "A" in every class, but she also never has to worry about being with the boys, especially the fist that should be exclusive to the boys.

She won every time.

But this time, she suddenly realized that she couldn't win herself.

Astrid moved her feet, trying to squeeze herself over, turned her face sideways, buried in her knees, "whining" like a fawn lost in the forest, lost in her hometown.

"Artie, you don't have to apologize." The mother crouched in front of her daughter, slowly stroked her hair, cupped her face, and looked Astrid in the eye. She's me. Mother thought.

"Honey, you're fine, as always." Mother got up and turned on the bathtub faucet, and the water poured down, and the heat gradually dispelled the gloom. "Take a hot shower, it's good for menstrual cramps."

The water had barely reached the bathtub for a while, and the knock on the door rang again: "Evelyn? ”

It's the father! Astrid swallowed her sobs and turned her head quickly to lean out the door, but then looked at her mother for help.

"Don't come in." The mother quickly pressed against the door, revealing half of her body to block her father's puzzled gaze. "Give us a few minutes and let the boys open the presents first."

The father glanced in, and all he saw was his wife's gentle smile, and in his father's eyes, the children would only hide when they had to clean up the mess. "Is Artie alright?"

"She's fine, don't worry." The father opened his mouth slightly, nodded and withdrew.

"Bang~" The door closed.

For the first time in a long time, Astrid felt so kind that her mother was sitting next to her, not the grim-faced middle-aged woman in the teacher's office.

"Do you know what my mom said to me?" Evelyn looked at her daughter, who had grown up. Girls will always be quicker than boys, but no one can tell why. "You won't like it." Evelyn added.

"Everything has changed now, you used to wrestle and fight with those boys, but you can't anymore."

Astrid blinked, biting her lip tightly.

"The way they look at you will also change, the eyes of you will be different, they will seem to be despising you, as if you are weaker than yesterday."

Evelyn leaned down and said, "But you didn't. ”

"You're better than all of them, because if a man is in charge of having children, humans won't be able to survive for even two generations." At this, both mother and daughter laughed.

Evelyn sniffled and continued to educate her daughter, "But you've been slighted long enough to start believing it. ”

"So I have to be you, darling, to make you something that most men can't match, and for that I apologize to you in advance, because you won't like it, Artie."

Tighten the faucet, and the bathtub is naturally getting cooler without warm water.

"Ha~ I'm like that, but now that I think about it, I know my mother did the right thing."

"This is the most precious gift she has given me."

"Now, I have to teach it to you."