The bus arrived at the rest stop..the sound of the engine was gentle, outside there were bustling buses on the same route dropping off passengers, stopping to rest along the way..the rustling sound of hurried footsteps on the road surface..probably the feeling of stomach ache..urged the passengers to run faster..
Silent …
The driver must have been reluctant to wake me up..actually, I haven’t slept yet..the feeling of being restless when memories come flooding back.I just want to sleep but the nerve endings recalling memories keep stretching…tired..sometimes I fall asleep, sometimes I’m half-asleep…awake and half-awake
Hey, take a break.
Yes ..
did you sleep well
yeah..also sleep..but restlessly baby
The rest stop was also spacious, unlike the old days in my hometown, going down the street, the small, dusty rocky road… the passenger van slowly emitted black smoke, the two rear wheels creaked as if dragging because it was carrying nearly 60 people, on the roof was a dog cage, a bag of pig peeing, unlucky for the family who looked out the window to see the sky and got a bunch of pig pee… bathing was a waste
..at that time, I always wished that someday my hometown would have many buses running,…because the district bus station only had one trip for the whole morning…now I’m alone in one bus, the driver cherishes me like a jade emperor…oh life…how quickly things change.
Gains and losses are like reflux…like heartburn, wanting to swallow but can’t
I remember the other day that guy said…he’s under too much pressure…he’s probably going crazy…he’ll probably have a good time and then quit his job.
A moment later, the guy said…hey you…be careful, you lost your bonus this month but still have your salary…consider it bad luck…are you going to eat shit…huh?
Hey you idiot…house rent, kids’ tuition, food money…coffee money…have you thought it through?
But I’m angry…I’m so bored
I find it stressful..
Well, you should take a year off… take a few days off and go back to your hometown… to relax your mind..
The bastard said… huh… I wish I could go back to my childhood days… f…ck… those days were so great, I didn’t have to think about anything… just ran to the river to bathe and jump around… f…ck… when I was a kid I was still bathing in the river, you guys.
Haha…
I said those days were so much fun, I didn’t think about anything…just stupid…silly. But now I miss those days, guys.
Giap said…that time was a reckless time…no knowledge of sex, no internet…this movie that movie…but every guy successfully went through puberty…hiihihi
that bastard said fuck your grave, only smart…nowadays kids 13, 14, 15…they are already pum pum noisily…what the hell did you know back then
I said not sure
oh a..that dumb guy is so loud today
…………….
The sound of the car is gentle and smooth again… the space seems to revive the old scenery… the small brick yard, the simple relatives appear…
Miss Cam was just 18 that year.
The last days of autumn, the beginning of September… when the lingering sound of frog drums, still lingers in my head, following the lion dance, of the Mid-Autumn Festival song in the communal house yard… still echoes.
The drums beat loudly outside the communal house.
There is a lion dancing around and around
Mid-Autumn Festival, bright moon fills the village streets
Under the golden moonlight, the juniors sang loudly.
The cold, lonely winds have been blowing in, the weather seems to be dancing every day… somewhere, some musicians’ souls are moved, composing many songs about autumn… the day when the leaves are about to wither… the summer rains seem to no longer shake the fields…
The rice has bloomed and is drying its color. The birds keep carrying their tents out and setting traps but can’t find any. It seems like winter has begun.
My grandmother said, next month is the day to offer new rice… in my hometown it’s strange… everything goes like clockwork, January is Lantern Festival… May is Insect Festival… August is Mid-Autumn Festival… early October is offering rice to celebrate new rice…
The mute girl was like untied, in the past, no matter what people said, she just nodded and shook her head… nowadays, wherever she goes, she carries a notebook with her… whatever she wants to say… express her thoughts… she writes the words on the pages of the notebook.
My grandmother kept giggling and stroking her hair.
come on son
The mute girl leaned her head on my grandmother’s lap..smiling shyly..she put the notebook on her lap and wrote on it a line
Yes
My grandmother said that next week I will turn 18 so she can make sticky rice to worship my ancestors to celebrate my escape from the disaster.
hiiiii
I sat on the porch, the sun was dry and gentle, my face was sad.
my grandmother said
what’s wrong with you
The mute girl wrote a few words in her notebook.
are you sad
My mother came out and saw that but said nothing. I quietly cycled to the gate.
my grandmother said leave him alone, he is still moody at his age
I cycled out to the field and ran up to Mr. Dam’s house.
I was scared again, so I drove back…
I’m afraid of meeting the wine seller again.
It’s been over a week now… I’ve been worried that Ms. Hong will meet someone and tell them that… that boy is lurking.
I must have run away… damn it, who does that… stalking people
driving back along the village road…my father heard people calling out
Who wants wine…who wants sticky rice cake…
Gai cake in my village is very delicious, the gai leaf is also strange, the ingredient to make the cake grows wild in all gardens, pick the leaves, crush them, soak them in rice, grind the flour into a black powder, mix with sugar, the filling is made of mung beans… the cake is so delicious you want to swallow it
oh no, met the pink lady again, I rode my bike and ran away… every now and then I looked back and saw the pink lady’s bike as if it was rushing after me
swish swish..if the pink lady catches me, I’ll die…I pedaled furiously into the turns of each neighborhood
it’s so funny.. seeing that L… pink girl made me lose my appetite, lose sleep… shit and didn’t even bother to stalk her anymore..
but because…also because of that old man…
childish naivety…hidden in my heart…until today…so strange…
strange… in the middle of the first days of September… the mute girl was still engrossed in following her grandmother… her grandmother took a jute sack and sewed it into a human body model, stuffed it with straw and rice husks… sewed the sack to stretch it out… like a pregnant woman… held a plastic doll and stuffed it in to make a baby model
She taught her how to turn the baby upside down, taught her how to press and hold…when the baby’s head appeared…I looked at it and found it funny, but the mute girl kept writing down what my grandmother said in her notebook…then she acted alone like a dancer practicing dance.
She looked at me and smiled, her smile was like sunshine, her eyes were as sparkling as a little girl who received a gift… I kept going to school… running past Mr. Dam’s house… looking to see if there was the wine seller’s car.
a cold afternoon, blue smoke hung over the roofs of kitchens…autumn wind…noon sun tanned grapefruit. But the afternoon felt like a car…someone else’s smoke, afternoon in the kitchen with the fragrant smell of grilled corn
I drove my bike into the yard and saw a little girl, about 5 or 6 years old, running around…with a mute girl.
Mom..whose child is this?
Oh, that’s Miss Hong’s daughter who sells wine in the village. This afternoon she took her child to school and then went to Chau village to sell goods. Please take her home. This afternoon she’ll stop by to pick her up. If not, please take her home for her near evening.
no i won’t take you…i’m going to watch the kite flying. I ran out to the field to look…out there the kite flying group must be gathering right now…
Swinging… the sound of the kite flute screams, the kite flies up. Mr. Do Dieu’s kite flies every afternoon, the joy of children, of the elderly… Mr. Do makes the kite flute, the sound of the flute is loud and clear… this windy season without him… the children feel like they’ve lost something big…
I came home and didn’t see my mother’s student.
my mother is folding some clothes
where are mom’s students
My mother has been waiting for me for a long time. Miss Hong came to pick me up.
luckily I almost died..i was about to take my things out to take a shower
this girl
Yes
Tomorrow afternoon, Mom will go to the district for a 2-day training course. You stay home and teach Tam more. Tam is fine now, but Grandma also limits her from cycling because the village roads are too bumpy. If she falls off, she’ll die. Whenever Grandma needs you, I’ll help her take her.
Yes…
This afternoon I finished 3 periods… the teacher let the class out, the class of pre-pubescent kids had many strange stories, pairs of kids were paired up, whispering, and saying some really stupid secrets… I just let them drag each other out first… quietly walked out the gate not knowing where to go.
Just reaching the corner, suddenly saw the pink shadow of the girl… Tu oi… Tu oi…
I intend to cycle across
what do you hold… tu tu… can i ask you something
I bowed my head, my toes moving… scared…
she said… mumbled… what she said… i…
hihi..her laughter…
Oh, Mr. Dam asked me to go home to get some Chinese medicine for my grandmother. What did he say to me?
said nothing..i was going to take the car and go
Miss Hong looked around and saw no one..her voice dropped…
this girl
what did she say
that…that story yesterday, don’t tell anyone…i beg you…i give you this money, this snack, oh i give you this sticky rice cake…
Miss Hong talked a lot, I just kept quiet and drove away…I was afraid Miss Hong would scold me, Miss Hong would report me to the teacher…but…
oh my god
Yes… I don’t know anything… because that day I stopped by to see Mr. Dam’s birds… I didn’t take any money… or cake.
You’re a good boy…so help me…later if you want anything just tell me…that day I wanted to see you at home and ask your mom to bring your brother back…but you hid from me…she gently stroked my cheek…so handsome, when you grow up you’ll have plenty of girls chasing you
her fake pink voice…i feel like a burden has been lifted from my heart
You go home. I’ll continue selling alcohol. I haven’t been able to do anything these past few days because of that old man. That bastard.
so angry
she went back to the bamboo village… wine, who wine…
The sound of the wine seller’s voice mixed with the sounds and scenery of the village…my village…peaceful days…imprinted in the memories of the years that today, with the cruel pace of life…how many people remember, long to return to a childhood full of memories