"Coach, I want to play basketball!"
In the white room, bright moonlight sprinkled on the cabinet beside the bed, and on the wall at the end of the bed hung an LCD TV, on which the anime "Slam Dunk" was playing.
On the raised bed, a boy with delicate features and eyebrows like star swords but a pale face was lying on the bed watching anime on TV. His star-like eyes were shining at the character Mitsui Hisashi in the anime.
He was holding a basketball next to his hand, but if you looked closely, you would find a needle inserted in the back of his hand, and medicine was hanging above the needle. In his other hand he was holding a mobile phone, which was also playing the song "Until the End of the World."
The boy was so engrossed in watching TV that he didn't notice the door of his room was opened. A pretty girl walked in. If you look closely, you will find that the girl looks very similar to the boy.
The woman looked at the boy on the bed, walked to the bed, took the remote control from the cabinet, and turned off the TV. Then she gently said to the boy, "Xiao Chan, it's time to rest. You have to go to the hospital for a follow-up check-up tomorrow." Seeing that the TV was turned off, the boy looked at the woman obediently.
He looked at the girl with his starry eyes and said, "Mom, after the examination is clear, I can play basketball, right? I have wanted to play basketball for a long time. By the way, look, the game "Slam Dunk" on my phone has already ranked first in the country! I am awesome, right?"
As he spoke, he excitedly picked up the phone beside him and gestured to the woman. The screen on the phone was the mobile game "Slam Dunk," and it clearly stated, Extraordinary Slam Dunk: 2500 points, ranked first.
The woman reached out her hand and touched the boy's head lovingly and said, "Xiaochan is really awesome. Don't worry, you can play basketball after the checkup tomorrow. But now you have to give the basketball to your mother, put your phone aside, and sleep well." As she spoke, the woman looked at her child tenderly.
When the boy heard what his mother said, he obediently put the mobile phone in his hand on the cabinet beside the bed and handed the basketball next to him to his mother. Then he closed his eyes.
After seeing her child close his eyes, the woman reached out and touched the boy's head, then picked up the basketball, turned off the lights, and walked out of the bedroom.
As soon as she walked out of the bedroom, the woman let go of the basketball, covered her mouth with her hands, and shed tears. Outside the door, an extremely handsome man wearing black-framed glasses stood beside her, constantly stroking the woman's back with his hand.
The woman looked at the man beside her and threw herself into his arms, saying to him, "Husband, I am really in pain. Xiaochan is such a good child; why is God so unfair to him!"
But the man did not say anything; he just quietly comforted his wife. If someone could see the man's eyes, they would find that there was endless sadness in his eyes.
The boy in the room was lying quietly on the bed, unaware of what was happening outside the door. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a voice rang in his mind: "Excuse me, do you like playing basketball?" The boy didn't know what was going on but just responded, "Yes, I like it very much."
Then another voice sounded in his mind: "If you can play basketball, what is your dream?" The boy was silent for a while and responded to the voice: "My dream is to be able to play basketball healthily; that's enough."
At this moment, the voice in his mind suddenly stopped for a moment, and then he heard the voice saying, "Then, you must remember one thing: if you like basketball, you must be willing to give everything for it and never give up until the last moment of the game. Once you give up, the game will end early. So, let me ask you again, do you like basketball?"
This time the boy answered seriously, "I like it very much. I am absolutely not lying." After that, the voice became silent and the boy fell asleep.
Unknown to him, the mobile phone on the bedside table was emitting a faint light. The light seemed particularly soft under the moonlight and gradually spread from the mobile phone to the boy.
But the boy who was already soundly asleep showed no signs of waking up, and outside the door, the boy's mother and father did not notice any changes in the room.
Until the next day, the boy lying on the bed never woke up again. In the chaos, the boy's soul floated in the air. He looked at himself on the bed, his mother crying beside his bed, and his father with red eyes. The boy couldn't help but float over, wanting to help his mother wipe her tears.
However, he passed through his mother's body directly. At this time, a ray of light from the sky enveloped him. He felt the warm power in the light, looked at his parents again, and said softly, "Goodbye, Mom and Dad, I love you. I hope I can still be your child in the next life. At that time, you must accompany me to play basketball healthily."
Then he gradually disappeared into the air along with the light, and the body lying on the bed gradually became cold.
Just when the boy's soul thought he was about to ascend to heaven, the familiar voice in the dream came again: "My condolences. I can see that your parents love you very much, but unfortunately your body has been damaged." The boy who heard this voice asked, "Who are you? An angel?"
However, the voice did not answer but just said to him, "If I give you a chance to live again, with a healthy body, able to play basketball, but never see your current parents again, would you be willing?"
The boy was stunned by this question. He turned around to look at his mother, who was lying in his father's arms due to excessive grief, then looked at his father, who was trembling all over, and knelt down in front of them.
"I do, but I hope I can be my parents' child next time!"
"I'm sorry, I can't do this, but..."
"It's okay, let's go! By the way, you haven't told me yet, who are you?"
"Me? I'm Mitsui Hisashi, a man who never gives up."
After hearing the name of the voice, the boy looked at the light that was pulling his soul in shock, but before he could ask the next question, he completely disappeared into the air.