That night, as Weng and Cherry packed the car for Ningbo,

Shirley was planning a trip of her own.

She had taken a picture of a train schedule with her phone,

and found times for the early morning express to Beijing.

Sneaking on shouldn’t be too hard, she thought.

Children always find a way.

She wanted to surprise her mother and win her father’s
admiration for embarking on such a daring journey.

Shirley kissed her grandparents many times that night,

knowing they would suffer when her breakfast went cold.

She also kissed the photograph of her mother and drew hearts

on the plastic glass for eyes.