As if there was a chain locking me down, my body remained immobilized and no matter how much I wanted to move it, it wouldn't budge.
The fear had completely engulfed me within its embrace. I was left shaking like a trembling leaf in a rainy day and droplets of cold water rained all over me.
My heart jumped rapidly until that was the only thing I could hear ringing in my ears. I couldn't even feel my own breathing. It was as if I lost all of the oxygen in my body and the only thing my focus could catch on was that wooden stick in his hand.
I could recall it now, all the missing pieces. This man had hit his children for the sake of disciplining them.
That screaming behind the door where Li Fei had squatted down and cried her heart out as she quietly listened without being able to do anything to stop it. What was missing from that screaming was the sound of this man hitting his son. The sound of the wooden stick grazing the little boy's skin.
