Mr. Lizard Outside the Window - Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Rainy Winter
It was a rainy winter day. Cold raindrops pelted the leaves of the longan trees, creating a pitter-patter sound.
On the edge of the longan grove stood a multi-story tenement building, self-renovated by locals. Amidst the downpour, a light shone from a window in the small building, and the faint sound of a violin drifted out. The melody permeated the rain curtain, floating among the endless trees, wandering into the cold and chaotic dark night.
The room inside the window was small. A few slabs of stone on the left side of the entrance formed a makeshift kitchen. A single bed and an old wardrobe occupied most of the space.
A young girl stood barefoot by the bed, playing the violin with her eyes closed, lost in the music. It was a fearsomely cold winter, yet she chose to play Vivaldi's "Spring." The March-sun-like melody formed a stark contrast with the icy rain outside. Even the aunties playing mahjong on the first floor couldn't help but look up.
"Who is that? It sounds quite nice."
"A young lady from the music academy. Lives in the farthest room on the third floor. Chicken1."
"Ying Jie rents all her rooms to these music kids. Must be noisy, huh? Red Dragon, pong2."
"Noisy my foot! You think playing mahjong isn't noisy? This is high art, you know? I listen to these kids playing every day, and I sleep like a baby. Oh, I won! So sorry, another lucky win for me, tee-hee."
The landlord, Ying Jie, had married into this area from the Jiangnan region. Her accent was a mix of Wu Chinese3 and the local dialect. Her husband had run off with another woman a few years ago, leaving her to raise their young daughter and manage this building on her own.
"On a day like this, no need to go out to work, just sit at home, collect rent, and play mahjong. Pure bliss," Ying Jie said, spreading her hand to collect the money. "Men? Pshaw! Who needs 'em?"
For Banxia, who also rented a room on the third floor, the greatest joy in this cold and damp weather was to stay inside and play the violin to her heart's content.
Every stroke of the bow across the strings held a similar beauty, yet each was subtly different. Her long-time companion, the violin, was the outlet for her soul. Enveloped by the melody, her spirit seemed to soar, the earth stretching endlessly beneath her feet, spring flowers blooming in the midst of winter.
"Banxia." A low, eerie voice suddenly intruded upon the spring-like music.
The music stopped abruptly.
Banxia's bow froze. She blinked, wondering if she had misheard.
The low voice came from outside the window, strange and hoarse. It was calling her name.
Banxia turned to look out the window.
In the rainy winter night, the rusty security bars outside the window were being drenched by the dripping rain. Beyond lay a world of deep darkness, where the undulating longan trees rustled softly in the rain.
On a night like this, on the third floor, outside her window, there should be no human voice.
Banxia had always had a unique sensitivity to sound. She could clearly distinguish, capture, and remember any sound around her. Her music teachers had always praised this ability.
She rarely misheard anything.
"Banxia. Help me." The voice sounded again from the dark outside.
This time, Banxia heard it clearly.
The voice was right outside the window, on the third floor, on this rainy night—a low, eerie voice calling her name and asking for help.
Banxia's first instinct was to grab something for self-defense, but she immediately remembered that she was holding her violin. She quickly shifted the instrument behind her back. Most music students had this habit: if they tripped while holding their instrument, they would rather fall on their face than let the instrument hit the ground.
A flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, casting a pale light on the wet window.
Clinging to the slightly open windowsill was a small, pitch-black creature. It looked like a black lizard, its tiny, straight claws gripping the sill. In the lightning's flash, its eyes narrowed into slits.
Banxia's gaze locked with those eyes for a moment in the fleeting light.
"Was...was that you calling my name just now?" she asked hesitantly.
The lizard was only slightly longer than Banxia's hand, as black as ink, darker than the rainy winter night. It was a mystery how it had climbed so high, or how long it had been waiting outside. Covered in mud and rainwater, it looked pathetic and dirty. If the lightning hadn't illuminated the window, Banxia might not have noticed it.
When it heard Banxia speak, the small, inky creature tensed, its neck raised, as if debating whether to flee.
The lightning faded, and the rain intensified. The pitter-patter of raindrops pelted the tiny, black body. Its little claws slipped on the wet windowsill, as if it might be washed away at any moment.
"Why don't you come in?" Banxia hesitated for a moment, then extended her hand towards the windowsill. Her calloused, pale palm, lay flat before the dirty reptile.
Anyone else would likely hesitate to let such a strange creature into their room on a stormy night like this.
But Banxia happened to be a girl whose nerves, except when it came to music, were remarkably thick. Having grown up in the countryside, where she amused herself by scaring boys with caterpillars, she wasn't afraid of small creatures like lizards. In fact, she found the little thing clinging to the window in the pouring rain rather pitiful and cute.
Even if it was a strange, talking lizard.
Like a frog prince who had come to her window seeking help, she thought with a flicker of excitement. Or perhaps, a lizard prince.
The tiny lizard stared at her hand, its body tense and motionless.
Banxia looked around, grabbed a small washcloth from the corner of the table, and placed it on her hand, stretching it further towards the window.
"Come on, come up," she said patiently, her hand steady, the washcloth soft and dry, radiating the warmth of her palm – a stark contrast to the cold outside.
The lizard at the window hesitated for a long time, tentatively extending its five tiny, straight fingers.
The towel was soft, dry, and delicate, radiating the warmth of her palm – a world away from the cold outside.
Finally, the little black lizard, wagging its nearly frozen tail, crawled in from the window, stepped onto the princess's hand towel, and was welcomed into the warm room.
At first, Banxia was filled with novelty and excitement. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, occasionally opening her eyes to peek at the little lizard and see if it was doing anything.
She had made a comfortable nest for it by the wall opposite her bed, using thick bath towels. She settled her chilled guest into the soft nest.
However, amidst the sound of the pouring rain, the small, dirty creature curled up into a tiny ball on the thick towel, remaining motionless, as quiet as a black stone.
What a peculiar night. She wondered if she was dreaming. Drifting in and out of sleep, she gradually dozed off.
In the middle of the night, she half-woke and opened her eyes. The heavy rain had stopped at some point, and a bright, round moon hung in the night sky.
The moon, as if freshly washed by the rain, was startlingly bright. Moonlight streamed through the window into the small room, spilling onto the floor.
In the hazy moonlight, she could vaguely see a person lying on the floor. The figure's skin was pale, their back thin. The bony back was turned towards Banxia, curled up motionless in the moonlight.
The crisscrossing shadows of the window bars fell on the protruding shoulder blades, creating a cage-like grid of light and dark. Within the grid, on the pale skin, was a gleaming, crimson wound.
Banxia's heavy eyelids struggled to open but failed. She drifted back into a deep sleep.
It wasn't until morning that she suddenly awoke, sitting up in bed. She looked around the now brightly lit room.
The small room contained only a bed, a small square table, and a simple wardrobe.
Bright daylight and the sea-breeze-filled air streamed in through the open window. On the floor beside the bed, near the wall, a few thick towels formed a small nest. A palm-sized black lizard lay curled up within the towels, motionless.
There was no moonlight, no pale-skinned man.
1. ^ 幺雞 (yāo jī): In Mahjong, "yāo jī" refers to the "one of chickens" tile.
2. ^ 碰 (pèng): "Pong" is a common term in Mahjong, meaning to form a set of three identical tiles.
3. ^ 吳侬軟語 (wú nóng ruǎn yǔ): This refers to the Wu dialects spoken in the Jiangnan region, known for their soft and gentle tones.
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