微故事: 二月廿九生日的呼吸 / The Breathing of a February 29 Birthday (Tonkabean)

微故事: 二月廿九生日的呼吸 (東加豆)

今天是阿琳的生日。二月廿九日，四年才一次。只要電腦系統沒有這一天，就不會有人記得。朋友不會在二月廿八日或三月一日祝福她，連父母也忘卻了這天的意義。媽媽沉浸在自己的感情世界，爸爸三年前的女朋友，昨天變成了她的新媽媽。

阿琳覺得這兩個大人很有默契。沒有強迫她叫那兩個人做爸爸或媽媽。阿琳其實無所謂，反正她對父母，本來就沒多少感情。

阿琳性格文靜，內心卻渴望被愛。這天，她獨自躲在房間，打開電腦，進了一個大笑瑜伽的線上課堂，她不是第一次來，是第六次，電腦這樣告訴她，第一次是十一個月前。一年參與六次，她不知道這算多還是少。

螢幕上幾十個方格，每張都是笑臉，有的笑得很慷慨，有的笑得很含蓄；誇張的、微笑的，幾乎手機裡那些笑臉表情包，在這裡都能看到。

阿琳雖然沒有大笑，卻不像以往那樣覺得喉嚨在抗拒。至少她剛剛用力哼出了三個「哈哈哈」，還感覺到橫膈膜有一股強烈的震動。

主持人忽然說，要為一位學員慶祝生日。那人叫阿布，來自印度。阿琳心頭一跳，二月廿九日，竟有人與她同一天生日。

她忍不住在聊天室打下一行字：「我也是今天生日！」

主持人看見了，直接喊出她的名字：「阿琳，生日快樂！你們兩個都是四年一次生日，真的很特別！」兩人的方格立刻放大，並排亮在螢幕中央，然後，音樂響起，他們竟然唱了四次生日歌。阿琳喃喃自語：「太有趣了，太可愛了。」

今日導師教鼻子呼吸：平時一分鐘呼吸十八次，交替鼻孔呼吸時，一分鐘只剩六到八次，就像冥想。

阿琳跟著做: 按住右鼻孔，左邊吸氣，再按住左邊，右邊呼氣。導師又說，生氣時交感神經太活躍，人就會緊繃。這時可以只用左鼻孔呼吸，那股涼意，幾分鐘就能冷靜下來。

壓力...壓力...。阿琳立刻跟著做，因為這一刻，她太需要讓副交感神經動起來了。左鼻孔吸，左鼻孔呼，再慢慢吐出。胸口那塊悶了一整天的石頭，總算鬆開了一點。

導師說，成年人每天只笑十到十五次，小孩子卻能笑二百到四百次。他反問：我們為什麼不向小孩子學習呢？

阿琳心裡一動。她一直以為，期待生日祝福是小孩子的事。但今天她收到一些生日的祝福時，她卻有一陣陣的喜悅。也許，她心底那個小孩子，從來沒有離開過。

四年一次的生日，一天笑一百多次，一分鐘六到八次的呼吸，她忽然覺得這些數字，好像都在說同一件事：有些東西，少，卻不缺，原來，這就夠了。

完

 

Micro-story: The Breathing of a February 29 Birthday    (by Tonkabean)

Today is Ah Lam's birthday. February 29, only once every four years. If the computer system does not have this day, no one will remember it. Friends will not wish her on February 28 or March 1, and even her parents have forgotten the meaning of this day. Her mother is lost in her own emotional world. Her father's girlfriend from three years ago became her new mother yesterday.

Ah Lam feels these two adults have a good understanding. They did not force her to call those two people Dad or Mom. Ah Lam actually does not care. She has never had much feeling for her parents anyway.

Ah Lam is quiet by nature, but inside she longs to be loved. Today, she hides alone in her room, opens her computer, and joins an online Laughter Yoga class. It is not her first time. It is her sixth time. The computer tells her so. The first time was eleven months ago. Six times in a year. She does not know if that is a lot or a little.

On the screen are dozens of small squares. Each one is a smiling face. Some smile generously, some smile shyly. Exaggerated smiles, small smiles - almost all the smiley emojis on a phone can be seen here.

Although Ah Lam does not laugh loudly, she does not feel her throat resisting like before. At least she just forced out three "Ha Ha Ha" and felt a strong vibration in her diaphragm.

Suddenly the host says they will celebrate a student's birthday. The person is called Abu, from India. Ah Lam's heart jumps - February 29, someone has the same birthday as her.

She cannot help typing a line in the chat: "Today is my birthday too!"

The host sees it and calls out her name directly: "Ah Lam, happy birthday! You two both have a birthday only once every four years. That is really special!" Their two squares immediately become bigger, side by side in the middle of the screen. Then music plays, and they actually sing the birthday song four times. Ah Lam murmurs to herself: "So interesting, so cute."

Today the teacher teaches nose breathing: Normally we breathe eighteen times a minute. When we do alternate nostril breathing, we only breathe six to eight times a minute. It is like meditation.

Ah Lam follows: Press the right nostril, breathe in from the left, then press the left, breathe out from the right. The teacher says again, when we are angry, the sympathetic nervous system is too active, and the body becomes tense. At this time we can breathe only with the left nostril. That cool feeling can calm us down in a few minutes.

Pressure... pressure... Ah Lam follows immediately, because at this moment, she really needs her parasympathetic nervous system to start working. Breathe in from the left nostril, breathe out from the left nostril, then slowly breathe out. The stone that has been pressing on her chest all day finally loosens a little.

The teacher says, adults laugh only ten to fifteen times a day, but children can laugh two hundred to four hundred times. He asks back: Why don't we learn from children?

Ah Lam's heart moves. She always thought that expecting birthday wishes is a child's thing. But when she receives some birthday wishes today, she feels waves of joy. Maybe the child inside her heart has never left.

A birthday once every four years, laughing more than a hundred times a day, breathing six to eight times a minute. She suddenly feels these numbers seem to be saying the same thing: Some things are few, but not missing. It turns out, this is enough.

The End

日期 Date：9 Nov 2026

圖 Illustration: 人工智豆 (Ai-Bean)

文 Written by: 東加豆 (Tonkabean)

我除了寫微故事，還製作有聲書，希望我們能互相認識。

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Besides writing micro-stories, I also create audiobooks. I hope we can get to know each other.

Do you like my stories? I hope to have your support, likes, or shares. Let me know that you are with me on this creative journey.

關於我 /About me ：https://tonkabean.me/

故事選集 / Story Collection

https://tonkabean2016.blogspot.com/

https://matters.town/@tonkabean/collections