"You go up the side staircase on this side, and when you get to the third floor, turn left; that's where it is. Your junior high classmates are in the suite on the second floor to the right. If you don't go downstairs in between, you should not run into them,"
"Okay," the girl nodded and then proceeded up the stairs.
The stairway, carpeted and with handrails of still-glossy mahogany, and the corridors illuminated by chandeliers hanging down, all entered the girl's sensitive perception. The various voices from the rooms nearby also faintly reached her ears.
With each step she climbed, the shifting perspective made the memories in Hexia's mind roll back, scene after childhood scene coming into view.
"Hexia Tilan, that is my name."
In the warm afternoon, standing in the classroom bathed in slanting sunshine, a little girl in a blue and white dress began to speak timidly.
