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The Sweat on My Mother's Face Yongping Li from Taiwan An afternoon of play turns into a mother's moment of concern. Remembering that day leads to an understanding of a mother's love. I was born in the countryside far from a city. The nearest small town was about eight miles away. When I was a child, there were a lot of sparrows in the wild field. I and other boys liked to catch them. The only tools we needed were a basket, some rice or wheat, a bamboo or wood stick, and a long string. Drawing by Yongping Li We held up one side of the basket with the stick which was tied to the long string so that sparrows could get into the basket to eat the rice. First, we put some rice or wheat on the ground and covered it with the basket. We held up one side of the basket with the stick which was tied to the long string so that sparrows could get into the basket to eat the rice. Then we held the other end of the string and hid someplace, waiting. We were waiting for the sparrows, holding the other end of the string and hiding. When the sparrows went into the center of the basket, we pulled the string quickly. The basket fell down and covered the sparrows. We often took the rice from a machine which was used to husk rice. There was always some rice left in it after it was used. We put our small hands into the machine and took out the rice. One summer noon when I was about six years old, while I was taking the rice, another boy pulled the driving best of this machine. My finger was clipped and seriously hurt; the nail was taken off. My mum came and carried me in her arms and ran to the hospital in the nearest town. The weather was hot. She went fast, and did not take any break. A lot of sweat was on her face and wet her clothes. When we got to the hospital, she was exhausted. After that, the shape of my finger was changed and a scar was left. When I see this finger, I remember the sweat on my mum's face. More moments of reflection Does Time Build Walls? | My Grandmother's Village My Success as a TV Hostess | Remembering Hutong Beijing | Catalan Vertigo Return to: Moments of Reflection | Issue 12 | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2007 - topics mag@gmail.com - Sandy and Thomas Peters