Life of Bāo - Chapter 2

May 12, 2008 (Fifteen years earlier)

What is great about serialized fiction? -This. This is where the reader can be brought up to date. Sorry, I won’t refer to you as the “the reader” again, as if we are disconnected. You can’t be expected to remember what is happening with the story if you only get a chapter or two per week. I can be that loved one or friend sitting with you at the movies when you lean over and whisper, what is going on? I am right there while you’re reading at your kitchen table, sitting on a chair in a waiting room, or at your desk at work. Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you don’t tell my editor that I am writing this. Secrets among friends. It's a great way to start.

You will recall from Chapter 1 that our young protagonist Bāo appears deficient in frontal lobe brain cells. He has gotten himself into a bit of a mess. But what environmental factors contributed to his delinquency? Sometimes, you have to reach into the past to understand the present. That is where we return to our story, the past. Pack your bags we are going on a trip - Chapter 2. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

May 12, 2008 (Fifteen years earlier)

Kang Tao and Jing woke early on a Monday morning, and their lives and their four-month-old son Bāo were changed forever by the end of the day. There was much to do before their scheduled departure from Chengdu to Yingxiu in Wenchuan County, China, an eighty-mile trip. As a professor at Chengdu University, Tao took the week off.  His father's 55th birthday is Friday, May 16th. This would be the first day Kang Minuzhu would meet their son, Bāo. Jing insisted they travel by train. She and Tao both deserved the short vacation.

For two weeks, Jing packed for the trip. Each morning, she reviewed the list of items they needed. This would be their first extended trip with Bāo. She packed formula, diapers, baby blankets, and baby clothes. She mused, “Did I forget anything?”Last night, she set out Bāo’s traveling outfit, a blue onesie. It was monogrammed with the name of Chengdu's baseball team, Dragons. It was a gift from her coworkers at the university. Tao rushed into the bedroom and grabbed their two suitcases and backpacks. Jing took the quilted baby bag from the bed, followed Tao out of the room, and asked, “Did you put the car seat in the car?”

As he left the apartment, Tao was flustered and shouted, “Yes, that is the third time you have asked me that, and the answer is still yes.”

With nerves frayed, Jing took a deep breath, calmed herself, and replied, “Sorry, I'm just nervous about the long trip from home.”

Returning inside, Tao stopped directly before Jing and assured her, “There is nothing to be nervous about.” He hugged her. “But,” he continued, “Chengdu is one of the busiest cities in China, and traffic moves slowly, especially in the morning.”

Jing said, “I know. It’s just that we haven’t traveled recently. Now that we have Bāo, I want to be sure not to forget anything.”

Tao picked up the last two pieces of luggage, and Jing carried Bāo in her arms. Tao loaded the luggage in the trunk while Jing secured Bāo in the car seat.

***

The traffic, as predicted, was heavy. They reached the train terminal at ten o'clock, which gave them plenty of time to have lunch at KFC in the departure hall before their one o'clock departure.

Bāo fussed since their arrival at the train station. Jing picked him up and gave him the formula bottle she had warmed in the microwave at the restaurant. After finishing only half the formula, Bāo was asleep in Jing's arms. She carefully placed Bāo back in the car seat. Both university professors had the resources to purchase an extra ticket so they could use the car seat on the train. They boarded the train at twelve-thirty. Tao began to relax. They would depart in thirty minutes. They traveled northwest to a terminal south of the Kuiguangta neighborhood, de-boarded, and rented a car. Tao thought grabbing the car seat with the carry-on luggage would be quicker than storing it in the luggage car. He was correct. He glanced at his watch. “It's only two-twenty. We are making good time.”

Jing looked at Bāo and said, ”He's been sleeping since we left the train station. I am so excited for Minzhu to meet him."

Tao smiled and replied, “Yes, he will be happy to meet his first grandson.” Tao looked and pointed. “There is the bridge over the Mingang River.”

A large boom sounded like a plane breaking through the sound barrier as the ground shook. “What was that?”Jing yelled.

“Look,” Tao said as he pointed to a mountain about one mile across the river. “What is that?"

Jing screamed. The mountain top exploded. Large boulders, the size of trucks, crashed into the water. Buildings on both sides of the river collapsed like a row of dominoes. The car began to shake from side to side and then bounced on the road. A large explosion caused a yellow-orange fireball to rise hundreds of feet into the air. Tao’s eyes widened as the bridge before him began to undulate up and down like a soundwave. Jing continued to scream. Bāo wailed. A two-foot-diameter stone crashed through the window, killing Tao instantly. The bridge collapsed into the raging river. The force of the earthquake caused the vehicle to bounce off the road. Their two-ton rental car flew through the air like a metal projectile and landed in a thirty-foot ditch that wasn't there a minute ago. Jing lay face down in the ditch one hundred feet away. Fire erupted from buildings on both sides of the river, and cars littered the highway for miles.

Bāo, stunned, stopped crying. The car seat protected him as he flew through the air and landed on a fallen tree limb. The car, from which he was ejected, smoked and then exploded with enough force to lift it ten feet off the ground. It landed in a burning heap of metal. Perched above the ground, the heat from the explosion warmed his skin. Bāo cried.