I'm Not Shouldering This Blame

On the east coast of the United States, Massachusetts is experiencing a snowstorm.

The thickness of the snow outside the house had already covered the calves, and the three steps in front of the door were all buried under the snow, and the sled dogs who went out for a walk fell into it in one fell swoop.Neighbors laughed cheerfully, and Christmas tunes were played through the open door.

Yes, today is Christmas, December is coming to an end, and there are six days until the new year...

Johnson Brown was lying on the window sill on the second floor. The neighbor's teenager was wearing a hat and mask, playing with the dog in the snow. In the dim snowstorm, the lights in the house were warm and beautiful.

He turned his head and drew the curtains.

It was cold in the room, and Johnson wrapped himself in a thick woolen blanket, his face pale with cold.

The heating at home was out last night and was not working, the room temperature was very cold.

Johnson's hometown of South Sasha does not have such a heavy snowstorm, and the winter is much warmer than here. Johnson has never seen such a heavy snow. Now what he sees is not novelty, but the quietness like gray mist.

The house was in a mess, as if it had been destroyed by a monster.

There was a big hole in the closet, fragments of the vase piled up in the corner, the wall lamp bracket was skewed, and the bed was missing a leg, so it could only be cushioned by books.When Johnson sat on it, the bed made a toothache, as if it would fall apart in a second.

No one at home.

The whole house was empty and cold as ice.

—Katie and Charlie went out to fight again.

The newlyweds are Johnson's new guardians. It is said that the legal adoption documents have not yet been passed. Johnson is temporarily living here as a relative of the hostess.

The hostess, Katie, is Johnson's former public school teacher. She is beautiful and kind.

Her husband, Charlie, is a kind-hearted lawyer who is always kind and warm to the children.

This is all Johnson knew about them, but after arriving in Bangolo, Massai, and living with the couple, Johnson found that they were not what he imagined.

The "enthusiastic" lawyer, except for going to work, never goes out, does not participate in community activities, rarely greets his neighbors, and once came home late, he even kicked the neighbor's dog severely.

Katie, who is kind-hearted, does not do volunteer work or go to church to help distribute food.

They said that because of the increased family burden, they can only spend more time on work.Their smiles are still warm and friendly, and they are very concerned about Johnson, but their relationship-it's not very good.

One night in the middle of the night, Johnson heard a quarrel downstairs in his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and got up, and walked quietly to the door. He heard Katie and Charlie arguing violently, which seemed to be about money and family account expenses. .

Such quarrels, Johnson used to hear every day in the slums.

He walked back to the bedroom, thinking about whether his decision was wrong. He should not have left South Sasha and let Katie's family suffer bad luck.

The city of Pedorion was severely damaged in that hurricane, and the city was almost turned into ruins. Those who did not evacuate in time were listed on the missing list, and some remains have been found.

Johnson's uncle, Lake, is still missing. He heard from his lawyer that the adoption procedures cannot be processed for the time being. Currently, he cannot go to school and can only stay at home.

There's plenty of food, great care, TV shows and computer games, but Johnson isn't interested at all.

A hurt teenager, very sensitive.

Living together every day, eating every meal on the same table, watching talk shows on the sofa in the living room every night, saying goodnight to each other every day... The longer we spend together, the more strange Johnson feels.

Katie's favorite guest on the show is humorous, but she always finds ways to laugh at the poor, implying that they are the trash of society.

The positioning of this program is to please the middle class and people who yearn for this class.Johnson has not been stunned by the city's bustling, luxurious life. These shows that make Katie laugh happily always make the teenager embarrassed and uneasy.

He is like a guest in this family, no matter how much hospitality and care he receives, he can't get involved.

After several middle-night quarrels were discovered by Johnson, Katie and Charlie would not argue at home. They would go to community parks or bars. They said to Johnson that "there are always contradictions in life, but they think it is wrong to quarrel in front of their children. should be avoided."

Now, they're out again.

With so much snow falling, he was left alone in the cold house at Christmas.

Mr. Lawyer didn’t get through the heating maintenance call. Katie said she would go out with her to see if there were any supermarkets that were still open. They still had smiles on their faces, but they were very reluctant.

Johnson tucked his head into the blanket.

Last night, Christmas Eve, they were watching TV in the living room when the whole house shook.

Then there were many black oblate monsters in the room. Through the glass window, Johnson also saw a monkey with long arms, grinning and jumping, shaking off the snow on the pine trees.

***

On the street of the community, a woman in a down jacket shouted angrily: "I'm fed up, Charlie! You also saw that when the monster came, Johnson would just hide in the corner! Fortunately, it was only a dozen black fur balls, What about gibbon monkeys, or even man-eating squids?"

The man in the black hat said impatiently: "Then what are you going to do? Tell him, 'Baby, there is actually a mysterious power in our body, manipulating it can protect us and defeat monsters'?"

The woman stared round her eyes, gasping for breath: "Why not?"

"He is a victim of school violence. Johnson Brown hates violence because of his childhood experience! Katie, have you even forgotten the words of the original book?"

"When faced with a monster attack, I just cry and tremble. Is this our protagonist? I really regret taking this mission!" The blond Katie was furious, "I would rather be the unlucky Jack and fly to the other side of the ocean, Wandering in the realm of demons is better than days like this."

As she spoke, she recounted Johnson's shortcomings.

"His socks are always dirty, his knife and fork are not working properly, and a set of dishes is all broken. Can't use a lawn mower, can't even use a microwave! God!"

Katie had an exaggerated expression of "this is a disaster", and she accused the man in front of her of leaving everything to her.

"The Abandoned World came last night. We managed to kill those black fur balls. He didn't do anything! The furniture and appliances in the room were all destroyed. Where did we get the money to repair? Last month was already in deficit, this month's The check is still delayed!"

The lawyer was full of impatience. He raised his hand to express his surrender, not wanting to argue with Katie: "I've already gone to urge you!"

"You have been urging for three days." Katie was so angry that she was about to cry.

She squatted weakly by the side of the road, thinking of the cold house without heating, she didn't want to go back.

"Hey, Katie, don't do this!" Charlie had no choice but to persuade, "Listen, we can't leave Johnson alone in the room. Do I need to tell you what the psychologist said? Children who have been hurt are easily extreme! Abandoned and prejudiced, anti-social personality at risk! We can't let Johnson become like that, dear, we have worked so hard, God bless us."

A man and a woman embrace each other in the snow.

They are indeed a couple, otherwise they would not have received such a good mission. There were still many people who were envious before. The close contact with the protagonist has become an important "relative" in the protagonist's heart.

Katie wanted to kill her ecstatic self.

"I knew it! If it's really a good thing, why didn't the leader himself come?"

The lawyer was taken aback, quickly stopped Katie, and stared at him warningly: "You don't want to die, how dare you say such things?"

Katie pushed her lover away in frustration, and said angrily: "Can you be a little promising! Those who will come to this world are all losers. You are suspected of helping people transfer property, and I illegally sold soft drugs. I almost went to jail... The boss will Where is it better than us?"

"Aren't you afraid that he's a murderer? If you die and me dies, how much loss will it cause to the organization?"

After hearing this, Katie dared not speak any more.

"Okay, baby! Go home and take your wallet, and our Johnson, and say no one fixes the heating, and we'll go to the hotel for the night," Charlie persuaded.

The two finally reached a consensus and turned their heads to walk to the residence.

After 10 minutes, they were startled.There was a row of children's footprints on the snow in front of the door, stretching all the way outside-Johnson left alone when they were not at home.

"Damn it! He ran away!"

"Johnson!"

Katie said anxiously, "He hasn't left the house these days, and he rarely even leaves the bedroom. Why did he leave suddenly? It's snowing so much outside!"

"Katie, did you say something?" Charlie looked at his girlfriend suspiciously.

"Shit, I don't know anything!"

The two complained to each other and chased after the footprints. On the way, they met a neighbor boy who came back from walking his dog. The footprints disappeared on the road, mixed with other footprints, and could no longer be distinguished.

"No! We're going to die!" Katie scratched her hair in a breakdown.

***

Johnson staggered on the road.

The cold wind gave him a headache, but he didn't want to go back to that house again.

Recently, Katie and their finances seem to be in trouble. Dinner has only been potatoes and bread for a week, and he seems to have brought bad luck to them.

With an unrecognizable house and messy furnishings, Johnson could not continue to live there with peace of mind.

He wanted to go back to South Sasha, go back to find Uncle Lake, maybe the casino where the missing Lake was still spending his time, the cold and dilapidated poor neighborhood was his home.No TV, no talk show guests satirizing poverty.

But South Saskatchewan is too far away...

Johnson was identifying the cross symbol of the church in the snowstorm. Suddenly, a tall man in a leather jacket was riding a modified heavy locomotive, and it stopped in front of him. Steaming smoothly.

Huge goggles almost covered the man's entire face.

"Sir..." Johnson said timidly.

The man put the motorcycle on the road swept by the snowplow. If he didn't give way, Johnson could only step on the snow piled up to half his height. blow……

"Little ghost, do you want to freeze to death on the street?"

The man lifted Johnson up, frowned, looked him up and down, and wrapped him directly in his leather jacket.

"First... sir?" Johnson was dazed, then struggled.

"Don't move!" The man straightened the locomotive, and drove away like lightning. The snowflakes and fine white mist from the tires were scattered all over the sky.