many_dreams

Did I steal someone’s life?

 The thought arrives not at ten years old, not at five — but the moment she opens her eyes as a newborn in a Haicheng hospital.

 She remembers who she was: Anya, a quiet dreamer from Country B, with her nose buried in novels and her heart tied to the idea of freedom. She longed to be unbound — to drift like the characters in her stories, free of expectations, free of rules. But reality clipped her wings. Strict parents. Financial limits. A life of quiet resignation.

 Then came the end she never saw coming — and a beginning she never asked for.

Now, she is Li Anqi, born into a world of lantern festivals, lullabies in a language she couldn’t name, and quiet luxury. Her new parents are kind. Her new life is peaceful. And yet, she carries within her the ache of a caged bird that once longed to fly.

 Every step forward as Li Anqi feels like a betrayal of Anya.

 But what does it mean to be “someone” when your soul has lived more than one life?

----
“Touch her and you will never know what happened to you,” he declared.
Who is this man? What is his connection to her? An admirer? A lover? Or... a villain in disguise?

Fragments of a Stolen Life

"Where is the manual for babies? I'm serious, Shuang. There has to be one. Somewhere."

Li Zixuan paced the length of the nursery with his arms folded behind his back like a nervous general inspecting enemy territory. His hair was still messy from sleep, one sock was missing, and the burp cloth draped over his shoulder had been there for two days straight. Probably.

Lin Shuang, lying on the bed with the tiny bundle nestled beside her, let out a weak laugh. "There is no manual. We're the manual."

"That's terrifying," he muttered, stopping mid-pace to glance at the baby lying on the bed. "She's so small. Look at her. Like… like a dumpling. A very angry dumpling."

"She looks like she's plotting something. Babies aren't supposed to look so… thoughtful."

Lin Shuang chuckled, brushing her fingers lightly over the baby's soft cheek. "She takes after me, obviously."

"Obviously," he said, but his voice softened. "She's beautiful."

Li Anqi or rather, the soul within her lay perfectly still under a pink blanket. Her eyes were closed, her tiny fists curled near her face. Her lashes were long, and her mouth slightly parted, as if she was dreaming of something far, far away.

Li Zixuan leaned in. "Do you think she knows we're her parents?"

"She's a baby," Lin Shuang replied, amused. "She probably thinks you're the milk delivery man."

Li Zixuan clutched his chest dramatically. "My daughter thinks I'm a vending machine. This is betrayal."

Lin Shuang rolled her eyes, but the smile never left her lips. There had been many tears since the birth.... of fear, of confusion, of the terrifying moment she'd nearly died. But in this room, with her husband's ridiculous expressions and her daughter's quiet breathing, the fear loosened its grip, just a little.

"You know what's strange?" she said softly, watching Anqi. "Sometimes I feel like… she's watching me. Really watching. Not like a baby."

Li Zixuan turned serious for a moment. "You felt that too?"

Lin Shuang nodded slowly. "It's like she already knows things. Like she's been here before."

Down in the crib, Li Anqi stirred.

She couldn't move much, her body was still unfamiliar, like a coat three sizes too small, but her mind? It spun with thoughts that didn't belong in such a tiny head. She heard every word. Every strange, sweet thing they said.

It wasn't the antiseptic hospital heat or the sterile lamp's glare this was different. A warmth that came from the touch of Lin Shuang's hand, the safety in Li Zixuan's clumsy, panicked fussing. They didn't know her not really and yet they loved her with everything they had.

And deep inside, where Anya still whispered through the fog of rebirth, something stirred.

It felt like… a door. No, not a real door.... something inside her. A space. Hidden. Waiting.

Anya couldn't explain it, not even to herself, but it shimmered like the surface of still water. Calm and quiet.... for now.

Li Zixuan panicked again. "She's choking! Shuang should I call the doctor?!"

"But what if she hiccups her way into the spirit realm?!"

Their laughter, warm and exhausted, filled the nursery.

And under the soft hum of a lullaby, Li Anqi drifted into sleep again, her little lips twitching.

For the first time, the dream was not of grief or goodbye.

And somewhere beyond the stars, the quiet pulse of something extraordinary, waiting inside her.

The Little Stranger