White Dragon

Rebirth... I lay supine on a flat surface that's surprisingly soft. I felt the pillow graze my nape, I don't remember my bed being this cloudy. I opened my eyes slowly as a strong green tint keeps forcing them shut — jade... Wait, jade? How do I know what it is? I suddenly remembered my nainai, my beloved grandma who would always make me wear her old necklace with a pure jade pendant hanging. This time, confusion struck as I saw the same pendant hanging right above me..as a chandelier.  "Shenlian!", a voice unknown to me shouted, yet why does it sound so familiar? I got up and stretched for a bit and surveyed my surroundings – this was not my room after all. If I can recall correctly, the last thing I saw in my sleep was a dream about my nainai looking over me, weeping the most melancholic tears I've ever felt on my cheek. "Be good to your family in the next life, okay xiao niao?  She would often call me xiao niao which means "little bird". It was funny how she wanted to nickname me xiao long, meaning "little dragon" but she said it sounded weird on me, thus, settling with former instead. "Shenlian! Breakfast is ready!"  A little annoyed, I swung open my door and an old ayi was standing there with feeble stature, she requested I follow her downstairs. Welcoming me was a woman, a burly man, assuming he's married to her, and someone who seems like he's much younger than I am maybe? Yet again, I felt like I've known them for years. "Come, have some stuffed buns and soymilk." Not to be too baffled as I already am, I just sat down and filled my plate with stuffed buns alongside a bowl full of chestnut soup.  "Xiao lian..are you okay?" The youthful boy asked me.  "Mmph, who- who are you again?" I asked him regardless of how much food I was chewing. "Uhh, I'm your older brother? Jiao Yuan? You're awfully hungry, heh." Older? He's clearly a child. I couldn't follow and my head started to hurt. The lady with the white hair noticed and started to stroke my own and told me to take it easy. "You've been unwell for a while but the physician assured that you'll be up and about tomorrow if not today." Her voice was so soothing that my head felt sober. Well, I guess that makes the three of them my family — my new family. Is this what my nainai was trying to tell me before? I was always one to believe in the afterlife. However, I was still unsure whether these people are actually my new family or genuinely old-fashioned folks who kidn*pped some wandering girl. My..dad offered me more soup and asked me to eat it in my room instead so I could rest afterwards. My brother accompanied me upstairs. I had a lot of questions but I was curious about one thing. "Okay, I just have to ask. Why was I ill in the first place?"  "You really don't remember, huh?" He asked with a fair amount of pity.  "It was an accident, we were playing with our cousins and Ah Shui was using his handmade crossbow to capture pheasants as always. He bumped into a pillar and he unintentionally released the trigger..." I started feeling faint again, I was remembering events from both my old life and the new. "The arrow pierced almost through your torso." As he said those words, I could've sworn I had passed out but that was when my memories flooded me vividly. I can hear my grandma screaming..lights blocking what's left of my vision. I feel a penetrating wound on my upper body. The yelling and shrieking are making me groan, too much that it made breathing harder. I continued to try and reach my limit but it was so painful, my chest squeezed me vulnerable I wanted to claw my lungs out so I could breathe even for a little.  I saw my father's hand holding a huge shard of glass, bloody. I felt a blinding pain in the exact same location where Ah Shui's arrow targetted me. My mouth overfilled with warmth as my eyes did too but this time, all I could perceive were blotches of the same colour as my hands. My tears coalesced with the blood and no matter how much I cried, I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. The next thing I saw was flickering lights tinted red. "Hey! Wake up!" A muffled voice gradually gets louder.  I hastily sat up and the first thing I did was gasp for air.  "What happened to you? Are you okay?" He kept swinging my head and arms to check. I guess this is how he reassures himself. "I'm okay." I hugged him tightly "I'm okay because I'm with my family now." I drooped my head on his shoulder as I patiently waited for nightfall.