《红龙渡》

凉白开

那天北风卷着腊梅的碎瓣，在锦东公园空地上游荡。郭女士收束起红绸扎就的舞龙，忽然听见冰裂般的呼救声刺破长空。她循声奔向桥头时，缎面金龙还在臂弯里簌簌作响，仿佛一尾不安的活物。

桥下孩童的棉袄像片枯叶漂在水面，十指在寒潭里抓挠着虚无。郭女士解下腰封的刹那，十几米红绸如霞光泻地，龙须掠过结冰的芦苇荡，鳞甲擦过青石桥墩，缎面裹挟着北风猎猎铺展。落水的孩子抓住这抹血色时，整条龙忽然活了——龙头还在桥头缠着石栏，龙尾已化作渡人的绳。

看客们围成半圆的当口，红绸正一寸寸吸饱冰水。郭女士攥着龙头的竹骨，能清晰感受到另一端生命的重量。龙脊在众人手中起伏游动，恍若年节时穿街走巷的祈福之舞。待孩童裹着热气腾腾的毛毯哆嗦时，那只遗落的棉鞋还在水面打着旋，像未及讲完的童谣。

后来总有人问，那天的红龙怎么偏就随身带着。郭女士只是笑，指间摩挲着褪色的绸布。舞龙人最知龙的脾性，这祥瑞之物原就爱盘踞在人心最柔软处，等某个命悬一线的时刻，便化作横跨阴阳的桥。

Crimson Dragon Crossing

That day, the north wind swirled with fragments of wintersweet petals across the open space of Jindong Park. Ms. Guo had just gathered her dance dragon made of crimson silk when a cry for help pierced the sky like shattering ice. As she raced toward the bridge, the gilded silk dragon rustled restlessly in her arms, like a living creature stirring with unease.

Below the bridge, the child’s cotton-padded jacket floated like a withered leaf on the water, his fingers clawing at nothingness in the icy pond. The moment Ms. Guo untied her waist sash, over ten meters of red silk cascaded like spilled sunset. The dragon’s whiskers brushed against frozen reeds, its scales grazed the stone bridge piers, the silk unfurling fiercely with the north wind. When the drowning child seized this streak of crimson, the entire dragon suddenly came alive—the head still coiled around the bridge railing, the tail transforming into a lifeline.

As onlookers formed a semicircle, the crimson silk drank the icy water inch by inch. Gripping the bamboo frame of the dragon’s head, Ms. Guo could distinctly feel the weight of life at the other end. The dragon’s spine undulated through the hands of the crowd, reminiscent of the blessing dances that wind through streets during festive seasons. By the time the child was wrapped in a steaming blanket, shivering, the lost cotton shoe still revolved on the water’s surface, like an unfinished nursery rhyme.

Later, people often asked why the crimson dragon happened to be with her that day. Ms. Guo would only smile, her fingers tracing the faded silk. Those who dance with dragons know their nature best—these auspicious creatures dwell in the softest chambers of the human heart, waiting for that moment when life hangs in the balance, to become a bridge across the chasm between life and death.