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brother, my dear brother, do you remember it is your birthday today? i am standing in the little forest behind our house, thinking of you. sister! a voice comes into my mind. isnt that yours? you are standing there, leaning against a tall tree and smiling to me. your strong body seems to be taller and stronger than before. have you finished your homework? you are asking me. but when i run toward you, you disappear. brother, where are you? brother! on your last birthday you told me, ruixue, ill tell you a piece of good news. ive been enrolled by the army. i was astonished. i didnt understand why you choose to be a soilder. maybe because i had lost my parents, i was afraid of losing my brother. no! i objected. you can go to university after you graduate from high school. we can ask mothers unit to support us. how can you think that way? weve been brought up by the state these years. now we have grown up. we are in a position to help others and to serve the country, said brother.i had nothing to say. i thought of the aunt meeting me in the rain, thought of my grandma taking care of me when i was ill thought of a lot of people who had given us help. what could i say? i could only looking into your eyes admirably and the tree you were leaning against was in a mass of branches and leaves. several days later, we parted happily. i never thought this would be the last time that we met. soon after you went, i received your letter in which you told me that you were to go to the front to fight floods. i never thought you would be lying there forever.brother, whenever i close my eyes, i can see you. you are stepping difficultly toward the dam, with a heavy sand bag on your shoulder. i see you push one comrade-in-arms aside. but you are pushed into the flood. | 
