The days before Tet
Friend ..
Dear readers, heroes, lustful gods, those who come in and out of this story page day and night…
hee hee
What emotions have you experienced in your life? The happy and sad moments in each person’s thoughts. Because each passing moment makes us wish we could turn back time.
Those days when we were children..
Because my two friends have not been back for a long time, now I write this page to tell you
Remembering the days before Tet in the past, the year when the epidemic lurked outside the border, preparing to flood into every home
I, the second guy, the third guy quietly went out to the balcony, hesitantly opened the mask and pulled the strap down to my chin. The second guy took a long drag of his cigarette and looked through the glass window, his voice lowered.
You guys look at the sky, I think the weather these days is strange, it’s gloomy and looks like it’s about to rain.
The guy said…climate change, now the rainy season and dry season are mixed…I’ve been feeling sore lately, I’ve been sneezing since this afternoon…
I told you, look away, pull up your mask…if something happens to you, don’t drag me and that guy with you.
Hee hee
Damn it, I saw the pictures online about the situation in India.. there was no more firewood, people threw bodies into the Ganges, floating…so scary..
The guy took another drag on his cigarette and said what the hell to be afraid of, life and death are predestined..come what may..get your salary and bonus soon..then let’s go home and prepare for Tet. Sitting here complaining won’t solve anything..
All three of them looked out sadly… their hearts sank and they didn’t want to say anything.
Waiting anxiously. The mood is restless in the heart, as if to say..
Dear Saint, please forgive me for the mistakes I have made in my life…so that I can overcome this great disaster…
It was almost 4pm when the three of us were getting ready to go home… the sky was pitch black… rain poured down, thunder boomed, light rain all night… tomorrow is the 29th of Tet
The rain in the middle of summer gives people a feeling of peace, it dispels the stuffiness of summer… the rain on Tet holiday that year was strange, the temperature suddenly dropped… the cold mixed with raindrops flying blindingly across the sky…
I kept mumbling
Tet oh… Tet is so strange
So now today, also rain, also cold wind. The warm feeling in my heart because I can sit in the middle of the village land.
Thinking about the past months, each passing night brings Tet closer, this year’s Tet is bustling on the village roads… Tet in my hometown
Tet. For spring to come
This afternoon I walked from the field across the road that divided the village, behind the field were lush green vegetable fields. I looked into my nephew’s shop, his stall was full, bustling with customers coming and going. The shop was right next to the street in the middle of the village.
I walked in
It asked what I wanted to buy, this year I brought back a lot of things, it went along the shelves to get some for customers to choose from.
I walked in, on the table, his phone was playing tiktok sound, faintly someone was reciting poetry….
The voice seemed to penetrate people’s hearts, the mood seemed to pull all the distant memories back, making me absent-minded.
mumble
…….
Oh, when is Tet?
But see peach blossoms blooming all over the street
Is it because being far away from home makes me miss it more?
Forget about Tet, go everywhere
….
Whose house at the end of the street is the firecracker going off?
Wake up my heart, Tet has come
Drizzle, small street
Tet is here, oh Tet in the countryside
….
Far away from home, how are you now?
Who will pick me up when spring comes?
Who reminds me, words of loyalty
Amidst the temple bells, on the late night street
….
Who will give whom a white towel?
forever warm spring love of heaven and earth
who will be with who in silence
pray that our love will become a couple
….
Peach blossoms are still blooming at the end of the lane.
Are the buds still pink, like before?
Or has it faded away, because of longing?
Waiting for the old person, where are you now?
……..
Let it rain tonight, too,
It’s freezing cold but why do I feel nostalgic… remembering that day
…….
It was getting dark, I cycled like flying on the road running along the field to the gate.
my grandmother asked
Why did you come home so late? Where is your heart? I told my grandmother the story of Mr. Dam borrowing the car to go to the death anniversary and then looking after the house for him.
He said the medicine will arrive tomorrow, so he will cut it to make sure it has the right flavor.
Feeling both anxious and scared because I had lied to her.
My grandmother always told me that at your age, your thoughts are impulsive and temporary, so anything can happen…so don’t hide anything from her.
But today I became a liar, lied to her about the story that happened this afternoon at Mr. Dam’s house but I’m not 16 yet…living in the village, this story is like an earthquake in the middle of the village.
Tired ..
Feeling dizzy, I drove my bike to the yard.
My mother stood at the door
Tu…my mother looked at me intently.
Yes mom
Do you have any stories to hide from mom?
I’m shy..silent
My grandmother came up from the gate and saw my mother questioning me. She said she had to look after the house for Mr. Dam who had gone to the next village to attend a death anniversary and had just returned.
My grandmother said, “Go take a bath and prepare dinner.”
She looked at me mutely, glanced sideways…pouting in a lewd manner.
I said nothing, gave her two packs of medicine and said, “Ma’am, here’s some tonic for you and Tam.”
He gave each person a bag of apples and a bottle of tonic wine.
My grandmother said, he needs a lot of his money when he dies, so this Tet she can make a lot of banh chung and give it to him as gifts. His family doesn’t have a woman to make banh chung, so the banh chung for Tet is given to him by the people around him.
Since she passed away, he has been single-handedly raising his son, but like other people, he would have remarried.
Near Tet, the whole village is bustling, everywhere there is laughter as if a whole year of exhaustion from struggling with the earth and sky.
Tet holiday everyone has a happy feeling
My house. She said this year is thoughtful, more people this year to celebrate Tet.
Grandma shared half of the pig with her youngest uncle’s family on the afternoon of the 28th of Tet. The meat was used to make the filling for the afternoon dumplings.
I became a servant in the house
Hee hee
Tomorrow afternoon, Tu, go to aunt Hong’s house to cut dong leaves.
Tu went to buy some more bamboo strips for grandma to tie the banh chung. Grandma counted each strand and then our family wrapped a few more cakes to give to Mr. Dam’s family, so we didn’t have enough bamboo strips.
Tomorrow afternoon, Tu, come help your mother clean and close the classroom.
Tu Mai, I and my sister Tam go to the river to rub the leaves.
There..
I was the runner for my grandmother and mother.. I cycled as fast as I could between my house, Mr. Dam’s house, and Ms. Hong’s house. I felt happy and elated because of Ms. Hong’s gaze.
This afternoon she carried her basket to the river, the river wharf of the village in the dry season, the water is crystal clear, the river pebbles are white, the water flows noisily… this part of the river is dry this season, people from this side of the village wade across to the other side for the year-end market.
She rolled up her pants, revealing her smooth white calves, her belly was already big, and she walked like a woman in labor.
I said, do you wash here or go near the middle of the stream?
She pointed, she and I carried dong leaves to the shallow water, the river this season is clear.
A few small gobies hid behind the rocks, nibbling at my heels, feeling sad.
She used two upside down baskets as a seat, her hands dipped the dong leaves into the running water, each stroke across the towel, she worked quickly, I just kept looking at her and smiling.
dong leaves, green bamboo leaves, her hand stroked quickly, each leaf fold swayed over the flowing water
Looking at her rosy cheeks, the feeling of affection makes me remember forever.
I and my aunt carried leaves back. In my yard, the rice drying tray had been brought out. My uncle’s family had divided half of the pig. Mrs. Binh’s two sons were cutting the meat into pieces.
Mrs. Binh sat with my grandmother on the porch, looking at me and smiling.
she said
This year she watched her grandson pounding pork.
It turns out that for the past few years, Mr. Binh’s handsome son bought a meat grinder and went from house to house to mix meat, grind, pound, and wrap ham for hire.
As for my family… Mrs. Binh told her grandchildren to come help because of her grace of saving people from suffering and disaster.
The meat was pureed, the handsome man poured it into the stone mortar. The sound of the pestle pounding the meat echoed in the corner of my yard.
this year’s New Year
fat