Her red panties moved like a red carp in the shadow of the water, and the more I stared at them, the more I couldn't resist the temptation. I told her to stay still, that I saw a fish. I dove under the water and ripped off her red panties when she wasn't ready. I put them on my head and hid in the water, evading her desperate pursuit.
I swam into the shallow water, and when she got close to me, I turned around and put my arms around her waist. We hugged and kissed each other, and I took off her top and threw it on a stone near me. I picked her up, and she hugged my neck. I walked into the tumultuous waterfall and gently lowered her back against the moss-covered rocks.
The cascading mountain spring formed a curtain behind us. The ivy was beaten by the water and danced wildly on our heads. The hot afternoon sun poured warm orange light on us in disarray through the water curtain. A feeling of thirst and wetness shattered her defenses of my heart and body, and we had our first taste of the untimely forbidden fruit.
We picked up the clothes we had thrown around and walked hand in hand to Donna's work shed. Donna saw a wild tree full of ripe red fruit and wanted to pick some but they were out of reach. I picked her up and placed her on my shoulders. She took a bunch of the fruit, fed me one, and ate one herself. She remained on my shoulders, and I continued walking up the hill until I tripped, and she flew off my shoulders into the grass. She was sitting on the ground, and I asked her if she had hurt herself. She said that it hurt everywhere. I let her sit there and eat more fruit, and I went to pick a handful of wildflowers and gave them to her for comfort.
We hid in her shed, forgetting the world around us. We continued our intimacy in the haystack. I found a beauty mole in her secret place and delicately kissed it – our secret. When our restless hearts gradually calmed down, we sat on the haystack. I put my arms around her, and her head rested on my shoulder.
We talked about the future.
"Brother Xiaofeng," Donna called me for the first time, "I hope you will be accepted to the university. Would you come back after finishing your studies?"
"I don't know," I thought the outside world must be fascinating. There were too many things to see and experience, "Four years of college is not enough."
"What about the eight years?" she asked, and before I could answer, she continued with a bit of sadness, "I know you have great ambitions; you won't come back, you'll never come back."
I kissed her head and said, "I don't know. But have you thought about getting out of here?"
"I'm a child of the mountains and forests, and I'm afraid to leave here. I like to sing folk songs, and I like to bathe in the sun – unless you tell me there's a place in the world for a wild girl like me."
"Then I'm afraid you have to wait eight or ten years for me to find a small island in the middle of the sea, where you can be naked with sunshine and sing beautiful folk songs every day, just like Eve in the creation story."
"Brother Xiaofeng, I have something for you." She took a small gourd-shaped jade pendant from her neck and handed it to me.
I thought it was too precious to accept.
"It's just a stone. It is precious to those who cherish it," she said, wrapping it around my neck. I held it in my hand and felt it alive, with Donna's warmth.
"I will cherish it," I was moved and took her in my arms again.
"Brother Xiaofeng, I'm so happy to know you like me!" Donna took my hands, looked at me, and said, "but from now on, I hope you will forget me, and you have to work hard to achieve your goal, without looking back. Don't let this mountain, this forest, and me – a girl who has never seen the world – block your sight."
"Donna, don't be silly. I believe you are the driving force for me to move forward. Let me tell you, I had a math problem in the entrance examination, but you helped me because your notebook had the answer. And my composition should be well written. Do you know why? Because I thought of you, I wrote Praise of Green Pinetree as "Praise of Donna". The little green pine tree is not afraid of storms and heat and grows up in adversity. Give her some rain and sunshine, and she will flourish; her tenderness, purity, and joy would illuminate the world around her."
"Well, even if it is, I can only give you this. You should go," she looked serious. "I…I still have a lot of work to do."
I tried to express my sincerity to her, "I will go far away, but no matter where I am in the future, I have you in my heart. Wait for me." I wanted to promise something, but I couldn't find the words. The language was so pale, and I didn't dare to say I would marry her this fall like Zabow, next year or in five years.
"Please go, go now," Donna pulled me up and pushed me out. "This place doesn't belong to you, and I don't belong to you, I'll guard this rubber forest, and I'll marry Siyan one day. Today for both of us, it was just a dream." Donna's words reminded me that, yes, there was a Siyan in our midst, I shouldn't be among them, and I had a long way to go, although it was hard to let go.
Sadly, I gave her a final deep kiss on the forehead, choked up, and said to her, "I'm leaving. Come to me if you miss me one day!"
She stood outside the hut and waved to me with a smile and tears in her eyes. After walking a long way, I looked back and saw that she was still waving. I burst into tears, and my heart was sour. I ran down the mountain all the way, regretting that this romance started. I knew Donna's heart was hurting as much as mine.