Faculty of Design

Illustration

Qiutong Lu

Story of My Mother

My mother, when in primary school, she was selected as a sprinter for their annual sports day. She was very excited when the day finally arrived, but that morning’s forecast shared of a possible thunderstorm. My grandparents felt that it was too risky, and forbade her to attend the special event. But, my mother, being a young child in grade 3, secretly left her house and started the long walk to the school. She was walking alongside the Yangtze River, when the storm arrived. It was a terrible storm, the sky darkened, as if the day turned to night, and she fought with the powerful wind, which kept trying to push her off the bank and into the river. Great, loud claps of thunder sounded, right over her head, and she saw lighting crash down, and then roll along the ground, like great fire balls. Terrified, she looked along the railroad tracks for shelter, and spotted a railway control-station, with some more people, sheltering from the storm. She sprinted to the shelter, as fast as her little legs could carry her. The railway workers instructed them to hide in the corners of the structure, to prevent any possible lightning attack in the center of the station’s building. My grandparents, by this point, had already realized that she was not at home, and were out searching for her along the route to the school. When they got to the bank of the Yangtze River, they found her umbrella, broken and twisted, from the storm. They didn’t want to think the worst happened, so they carried on. Finally, when they did find her at the control-station, all were overjoyed and embraced each other warmly. They then strictly told my mom that she needs to listen to their decisions, for they have her best interests at heart. Shaken and scared from the terrible experience, my mother vowed to cherish and value her life, and learned of the gift it is to be alive.

“An illustration of my mother’s extraordinary experience of encountering thunder storm in her childhood. ”