Time flied. Two months passed quickly. Tomorrow there would be the last lesson Professor Hu gave them. In the evening no sleep came to her. 

In the darkness she could only hear the tick of the clock. She wanted to cry loudly. 

For a whole night Sophie stayed wide awake. As soon as it got bright, she got up and walked out of the dorm. 

She wandered on the campus. The morning of The Academy Garden was peaceful and beautiful as usual, but there was something painful in her mind. 

A moment latter Sophie stood at the classroom door. She pushed the door open. The classroom was empty. 

Sophie sat down in her own seat and stared at the blackboard. The sound of reading resounded in her ears. The professor’s smiling face reappeared before her eyes. This belonged to her. It was her college classroom. How she wished the time would fix.  

She turned back. The classroom was dirty, waste paper piled on the floor, the blackboard and the desks were covered with dust. 

Sophie thought: “It is the last lesson the professor gives us. I should clean the classroom, and in the future when I recall this class, it is always bright. Our professor will feel comfortable, too. It is also a special present I send her before we leave each other.”

So Sophie began to clean the desks, sweep the floor and wipe the windows. Half an hour latter, everything was neat and tidy. Sophie opened the window and took in some fresh air. 

When the students arrived one by one, they were astounded by today’s classroom cleaner. 

The bell rang and everyone waited quietly. Professor Hu arrived. She was wearing a new dress and the familiar kind smile. First the professor looked around at the clean classroom and then started the lesson. She was speaking as fluently as usual and she chose to stand beside Sophie’ s desk, but she dared not to look Sophie in the eye. Sophie also dared not to look at her professor in the eye. 

The exercise was finished and there were still 20 minutes before the class was over. The professor walked on to the platform. The class forgot themselves in watching her. The professor put her book away and said: “This is the last lesson I give you. I am very sad. I can never be a teacher again. I will cherish you all in my mind forever. Tomorrow I will go to America. Even though we can not see each other, you can still write to me or email me, and I do not know when I can see you again…”

Every word of her professor was hammering heavily on Sophie’ s heart, and she could hardly breathe. How she wished all would be false what she heard, how she wished she could return to the past, how she wished her professor never cried.

 None of her wishes was granted. The hush reality had forced the professor and her students apart. Now the professor burst into tears. She said sorry and she ran out of the classroom. 

Sophie could not stay in her seat any longer. She dashed out of the classroom and ran to the corridor. She saw the professor’s sad back shadow at the end of the stairs. Sophie ran down the stairs. She saw the professor run to her office and closed the door. Before she gave herself time to think she went and knocked at the door, when the familiar voice called out: “Come in!” 

She did go in, right up to her professor, who looked pacified, and saying with a small quiver in her voice: “I came to…” But she didn’t finish, for the professor raised her trembling hands and touched her hair softly. Outside the winter sunshine was warm, just like the professor’s love, streaming into Sophie’s heart. Looking the professor in the eyes Sophie forgot her speech. 

The class was over and the professor left. Being tired, Sophie walked back. No one was in the dorm. Sophie closed the door, drew the curtain and retired to her bed. Soon she fell fast asleep. In her dream she was at the seaside, waving to a ship. She knew her professor was in the ship, but she could only watch the ship moving further and further to the other end of the sky and vanished out of her sight. 

Someone rushed in and awoke her. She sat up at once, tears flowing on her face. 

“Why are you crying, Sophie?” Helen asked surprisingly. 

Sophie said nothing, but wiped off her tears with the towel, and began to write, losing no time. She resolved in her quiet little soul to be all that the professor hoped to find her when time brought round the happy meeting again.