Wind Instinct - Short story contest by Le Thi Kim Son

When he caught a wooden truck to Laos, Quang decided to go. Quang remembered that he had promised to celebrate Di's 20th birthday with a long trip to Laos, but unexpectedly that promise was postponed indefinitely when Di was suddenly hospitalized. Quang would go for Di.

Sleepiness came without him realizing it, when Quang opened his eyes it was almost afternoon. The motel near the border was not bustling but strangely quiet. Only then did Quang remember that he needed to check his passport to bring it through the border gate tomorrow, but after searching around several times, he still couldn't find it anywhere. Perhaps he had forgotten to bring it because he was only planning to travel domestically. Quang angrily threw his backpack aside, lit a cigarette and went outside, intending to meet the driver to report his problem and then change direction.

- Quang, is that you, Quang? - The voice was unexpectedly familiar. Quang turned his head around, impossible, it was Di, it was really Di. Di rushed to hug Quang in surprise. Quang's hand gently lifted up then suddenly wrapped around Di, it was little Di, she was like a light ball of cotton, unable to say a word. Quang could only hug Di and lift her up, then buried his face in Di's shoulder and sobbed. It took a long time for Quang to be able to push Di away a bit to look at her and speak:

- Are you okay? Why are you leaving like this? What if you get hurt again? How can I find you? You've been gone for months?

Di smiled, shaking Quang's head gently. "Say it slowly, I won't be able to answer in time," then covered her mouth and laughed again. Quang looked at Di in surprise. It had been a long time since Quang had seen her smile so brightly. Di miraculously recovered a week after Quang left. Everyone wanted to contact Quang but couldn't because Quang had left his cell phone behind, cut off all possible contact with him, and wasn't online on any account. A month later, Di was discharged from the hospital, after being able to walk and walk normally and doing all kinds of tests. Di thought Quang would only be gone for about two months, but after waiting for half a year without any news, instead of going on vacation in Da Lat as planned, Di tried her luck at the place where they had agreed to go.

- I was going to go home, but I was tired today so I postponed it. I've been here for a whole week. Luckily I stayed to meet you, it was like fate. - Di finished the story and snuggled into Quang's armpit happily.

- Oh, did you call home to tell me if you've seen me yet? I'm afraid my family will worry. - After a while of happy chatter, Quang remembered. Di was silent for a moment then timidly said:

- My phone was stolen, but it's okay, I've only been gone for a week. - Di coaxed to reassure.

- Okay, I'll call you tomorrow. - Quang nodded perfunctorily.

- We can go back tomorrow. I don't have my passport.

- I brought it for you, good? - Di smiled again.

- How… do you know? - Quang was startled.

- I went to your house to look for it and then remembered that you promised to go out on my birthday so I brought it along. You always leave it in the nightstand drawer. Let's go tomorrow, okay? - Di looked up at Quang, making a pleading face like a child. Quang always softened to Di's requests.

Unable to call home, the signal seemed weak near the border, Quang returned the phone to the driver, whistling, perhaps it was unnecessary. Quang had planned a trip that did not depend on technology, just traveling, sightseeing and feeling. Although he was a bit worried about Di's health, when he saw Di's bright smile, Quang complied. Taking the tourist bus, the two began the journey Di had missed.

ILLUSTRATION: AI

Who dares to say that instinct is ugly, who dares to say that instinct is barbaric. Right from the moment of encountering this world , the angry cry of humans is also instinct. When hungry, the flailing hand, the heart-rending cry to be fed is also due to the survival instinct fighting for a part of life, quickly determining where the source of life is. When the tiny lips open to try to receive the sweet drops of milk passed on by the mother, nothing can be more precious than the survival instinct. That instinct, passed down through hundreds of millions of years, is stronger than any desire. It is always latent in every person's body, never lost, only smoldering, smoldering in the red hot coal, waiting for the day to preserve its intense desire to live.

Changing to suit the surrounding conditions is also a part of the survival instinct, but to what extent to change so as not to lose oneself, to still keep intact what is most essential to oneself. The wind swirls around with difficult questions that are always present in Di. Only humans, the most highly evolved animals, give themselves the right to take away their own lives without waiting for nature to eliminate them. The head is full of calculations, sadness that only they can understand, only they are lonely in this vast world, torturing themselves. So that one day when everything is tense with sadness and hatred, people will choose their own way to end, not paying attention to anyone and fighting against the law of survival that is screaming somewhere inside them. Not giving instincts a chance to speak up, to express or to hold on to the life that is flickering out because of that contemptuous thought. Is that so, Di?

Di's words startled Quang, he always had to be afraid, then spread his arms to protect. While Di always struggled, silently, and sometimes burst into bursts of joy, from Di's eyes to her lips or pursed lips, everything shone with an irresistible radiance of joy. That joy could spread to many people, creating an irresistible harmony, but to Quang, that smile was not real. Not real at all, because Quang understood that smile carried many wounds within it, and those wounds did not heal, it always bled with each cheerful, cheerful laugh like a string of warm, clear crystals extending endlessly in the light.

***

Twenty years old, the age when people have the right to be carefree, to love, to do something big or crazy to mark a new milestone in their maturity. Di is also 20, also full of faith, faith in fairy tales, faith in miracles like children from far away believe in fairies and genies. But, Di marks her 20th birthday by lying flat in a pure white room, filled with the strong smell of antiseptic, white-clad figures passing by constantly exchanging hopeless looks about Di's illness. She cannot open her eyes to smile to comfort everyone, because now Di herself cannot smile at her own illness.

Quang helplessly watched Di's smile become thinner and thinner like a piece of paper, her skin became more and more transparent as if at any moment Di could disappear, could become invisible right before Quang's eyes. Quang was in pain when he saw Di's pain increasing, her smooth brown hair now only remained in a photo hanging in the corner of the room, and now there was a Di with a woolen hat covering her head all day long. It was rare to see a day when Di reached up to look at Quang, smiling silently. Quang could only sit and watch, waiting desperately with Di for a miracle that could, at some moment of distraction, remember Di's name and happily come. The waiting killed Quang. It gnawed at Quang slowly, from Di's hair falling out more and more until it was completely gone, from the sudden pain that made Di's beautiful smiling face crumpled, to the head shaking of the doctors.

Quang realized he was changing every day, changing so much that he could only hope to keep a little warmth on Di's lips, a little expression of panicked life.

***

What is happening here? What are people doing here? What is that altar? All the questions were swirling in Quang's mind. The crying faces were looking at Quang sympathetically, what crazy joke was this? Quang wanted to tear everything apart, the scream in Quang broke out, the thing that Quang was running away from, the shadow that always followed Quang's journey reappeared, this was a nightmare, yes, this was a nightmare, it would pass quickly, Di would shake Quang awake with a fragile smile on her lips, everything would wake up right now.

***

What is human instinct? When faced with something that exceeds their emotional threshold, people will choose to confront or avoid it. Di chose to confront it head-on. She could no longer force herself to smile, could no longer wait for a miracle to bring her health back, and knew that she could not survive. One quiet day, Di quietly told her mother to donate what she could to medicine. She wanted to entrust herself to the future, so that she could be the next miracle for everyone. And the day Quang met Di, it was exactly half a year since the doctors were rushing to receive the next life in a new surgery.

- No way, Di went with me, Di promised to meet me at home. Everyone, stop joking with me, it's cruel.

Quang's voice gradually grew louder and then disappeared. Quang collapsed, the pain shattered. The shadow of the trip was not real, was Di's smile not real? Quang did not know if he was running away from Di or running away from himself, the bag of photos that had just been developed in Laos and brought to Di fell out and scattered. The photos had Quang smiling brightly, his hand holding a strange long-haired girl, the girl's face radiant and cheerful like a radiant 20-year-old. Di's mother walked over, holding the photo and crying, that was the girl who received Di's cornea, one of the five people who received the remaining parts of Di's life...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ban-nang-cua-gio-truyen-ngan-du-thi-cua-le-thi-kim-son-185251027210332005.htm