The girl, who had just turned twenty, hobbled to the window next to her bed. She looked out into the distance, where she saw the silhouette of a middle-aged woman holding a basket of vegetables that had just been picked from the hill. The woman, with a small body and a wrinkled forehead, entered the house and called out:
"Hey, Mom just picked some fresh green vegetables! Do you want me to cook soup, boil or stir-fry them?"
"Yes, boil it, mom."
"Yes, let me boil it."
"I forgot, there are some shrimps that mom caught in the stream. Later I will cook them with fish sauce and dip them with vegetables. They are delicious."
As she spoke, her hands quickly picked and washed vegetables and cooked soup. She picked up a nearly empty bottle of fish sauce and poured it into the pan of hot garlic. The aroma of the dish wafted over to where Nho was standing.
"It smells so good, mom."
"Are you hungry?"
"At first I was a little hungry, but now the smell of the food is so delicious that I can't stand it anymore."
"I'm hungry too... hungry... hungry" - another voice rang out from a thirteen-year-old girl. She had been autistic since childhood, so even though she was a teenager, she still thought and acted like a child.
"Wait a minute, Mom. Right away, right away!"
Illustration
Nho usually helps her mother cook, but today her legs hurt so much that she can't go down to the kitchen. Seeing this, her mother let her rest and avoid moving around too much. She served the meal on a round table in Nho's room, where the oil lamp was flickering. The radio had not yet reached this area, so at night they had to rely on the light of the fire. The three of them sat down at the table to eat. Nho used her chopsticks to pick up some hot shrimps and put them in her mother's bowl. Then she turned to her younger sister and saw her slowly picking up some shrimps and sliding them up and down.
"Can you pick it up Mai? Let me pick it up for you."
"I can pick it up. You just pick yours up."
"Yeah... yeah" - I remember looking at the little girl, both amused and pitiful.
"Remember to take your medicine after you finish eating."
"Mom, did the doctor say when my leg would recover this morning?"
Hearing her daughter's question, the chopsticks in her hand suddenly dropped down. She knew that her daughter's leg would have a hard time recovering. She had also saved some money to buy her a wheelchair because Nho would soon not be able to walk with crutches anymore.
"The doctor didn't tell me. But it should be fine. Try to take the medicine as prescribed to recover quickly."
"Yes".
In fact, the medicine only reduced the sudden pain that tormented the young girl's weak legs, but could not help her recover as she said. But she loved her daughter and did not want her to be hurt, so she did not want to tell her this bitter truth.
Since childhood, Nho and Mai were unfortunate children, lacking the love of their families. The two orphans were adopted by a woman from the Southwest who had no husband or children and traveled to Da Lat to make a living. After more than twenty years living in this land, going through many jobs and charity work, she saw that these two children had the most pitiful circumstances, so she adopted them. The two were not biological sisters, but the kind woman took them in and took care of them, so they became close like blood relatives. Working hard to raise two sick children by herself, she accepted to sell all her assets to cure her children. But she never complained because she was satisfied with what she did. The small makeshift house on the hill was the only remaining property for her and her children to shelter from the rain and sun. For her now, all the material things she had could not compare to her two adopted daughters.
Nho looked towards the pine hill lying still in the wind. Tonight there was no moon, now there was only the light of the oil lamp and a few small sparkling lights from the fireflies calling for their mates. Her eyes looked into the distance. She was feeling the beauty of nature, the mysteries in the night and reminiscing about the time when her legs were still intact. Five years ago, Nho was an excellent young athlete who won many medals. Her biggest dream was to compete for the national team one day. But then that dream remained a dream forever when one beautiful morning, her legs could not lift. Thinking of that, Nho's tears welled up. A girl with so many dreams and ambitions had to put them aside. She felt useless and lived in despair. Luckily, she met her grandmother, whom Nho now calls mother, who gave her a lot of motivation to live.
"Da Lat city located on Lam Vien plateau is a paradise of many kinds of flowers: roses, chrysanthemums, gladiolus, hydrangeas..." - Mai's voice rose. She was reading a few lines of text on the newspaper lining the sticky rice packages that her mother had bought in the town that morning.
"Mai, please read me that song about roses, chrysanthemums, gladiolus, and cam... something again?"
"Rose, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, hydrangea".
"That's right! Hydrangea."
Forever bewildered asked: "What's wrong, sister?".
"I don't know either, I don't know why but when I hear the name of this flower, I have such a special feeling. I think it's beautiful."
Although she lives in Da Lat, for some reason Nho has never seen a hydrangea flower before, so when she heard the name of that flower, she felt strange and really wanted to see it.
"Is there a picture of that flower in the newspaper? Show it to Hai."
Remember to quickly hold the newspaper in Mai's hand and give it to her. A great disappointment: the newspaper did not have a picture of the flower, and if it did, it would only be a black and white photo that did not show its true color.
Remember to ask Mai: "Do you know hydrangea?".
"I don't know" - the girl answered briefly because she really didn't know either.
"Okay, go to sleep. It's getting late."
That night, Nho tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She thought about the name of the flower and really wanted to see it.
The next morning, Nho woke up and asked her mother about the hydrangea. Strangely, not only did she not answer her, she also left. For the first time, she was shocked by her mother's actions towards her. Normally, when she asked her questions, her mother would answer them thoroughly, but why not this time? Nho began to feel stressed. Day after day, Nho occasionally asked her mother the same question, but her attitude remained the same. She felt resentful, not understanding why her mother was angry with her.
Until one day, Mai pulled out an old notebook that was on her bed. The notebook was so strange, it had been in the house for so long but this was the first time she saw it. She remembered turning to the first page and saw the words "Diary of a first-time mother". She curiously began to read each page. At this point, tears welled up in her eyes: "Remember! My princess. Even though I didn't give birth to you, I considered you the treasure of my life. I only wish I could have met you sooner to make up for what you lacked before. Oh, I also heard Ms. Huong - the head of the orphanage tell the story of when she passed by a hydrangea field on the hill and heard the cry of a baby girl lying in a styrofoam box. She approached and quickly picked up the baby. At that time, you were lying in Ms. Huong's arms very well. You stopped crying and smiled. The morning sunlight shone down on the hydrangea field along with your innocent smile, looking very beautiful. Listening to Ms. Huong's story, I loved my angel even more. You were abandoned on the hydrangeas, so I didn't want that flower to be associated with your life in the future because it didn't bring you luck."
Remember to turn the next page to read, when she reached the last page, she paused and read each word carefully: "Remember, it seems that what I thought all this time was wrong. I really love you, but I shouldn't hide it from you anymore. Today I went to town to get you a wheelchair. Your legs are very weak now, it's hard to recover. It's better for you to sit in a wheelchair than on crutches. I will push you, wherever you want to go, I will take you there. Even though I'm old, I'm still healthy enough to protect you. Please trust me. This afternoon I'll bring the wheelchair back and I'll give you a gift. It may not have material value, but it will bring a lot of spiritual value to you. I think you'll like this gift."
Reading this part, Nho suddenly no longer felt sad about her legs, she had anticipated this for a long time. She was proud of her mother and curious about the gift this afternoon. The diary also mentioned her mother's feelings for Mai and her upcoming charity plans.
The afternoon gradually fell on the windy Lam Vien plateau. The slanting sunlight reflected the silhouettes of the mother and her two children on the hill. The scent of beautiful flowers kept spreading. Sitting on the wheelchair pushed by her mother, Nho took a deep breath to enjoy the fresh air. But she couldn't see anything because her eyes were covered with cloth until she saw the gift.
Hearing the wheels stop, she guessed that she was about to receive something very magical.
"We're here, you can take off the blindfold now."
A splendid field of flowers appeared before her eyes. The flowers were plump and colorful: pink, light blue, pure white. There was a hybrid flower that looked really eye-catching. She burst into tears of joy, for the first time in her life she had seen such beautiful and lovely flowers.
"Do you like it?"
"I like it very much".
"Do you know what flower this is?"
"What kind of flowers are these, Mom? They're so beautiful."
"These are hydrangeas, a gift that I have been cherishing for you. And this is also the answer to the question you have been asking me for a year now. I apologize for making you worry all this time."
"Yes, I am very grateful to you, Mom."
It turned out that Nho's mother had secretly planted the seeds and grown these flowers. All this time she had not said anything to surprise her daughter.
"You know, when I planted these flowers, I was very hesitant, because it was an unpleasant memory for you. But it was because of your desire to see these hydrangeas that I decided to plant them. Sometimes, even if things in life are not so good, we should not avoid them forever. Let's try to face them, because who knows, sadness can turn into joy."
"I know everything, Mom."
"Who told you that?"
"I'm sorry for reading your diary, mom."
"It's okay, you'll know sooner or later, it's just a matter of time."
"Why don't you pick the flowers that have already grown for your second sister instead of planting them?!" - Mai asked her mother. The little girl looked silly but sometimes had some pretty good ideas.
"Because I want Nho to live a new life like this flower. At first, it was just a pristine seed and over the years it became a beautiful, radiant flower. Do you see those honey bees? Thanks to them, the flower is easily pollinated and vice versa, thanks to the pollen, the bees have a source of food for themselves. It's the same with us, we help others but unintentionally help ourselves."
Listening to her mother's confidences, Nho looked down at her feet. Now she thought the miracle was no longer whether her feet were healthy or not, but what she learned from her mother. Living a more beautiful and positive life every day was the luggage she needed. In the near future, she and her younger sister would follow their mother to do charity work on their own wheelchairs. She would help those unfortunate lives see the flowers they most desired, just like today, for the first time in her life, Nho was able to admire the hydrangeas blooming on Lam Vien plateau.
Rules
Live beautifully with total prizes up to 448 million VND
With the theme Loving Heart, Warm Hands, the 3rd Beautiful Life contest is an attractive playground for young content creators. By contributing works expressed through various forms such as articles, photos, videos ... with positive content, full of emotions and attractive, vivid presentation suitable for different platforms of Thanh Nien Newspaper.
Submission period: April 21 - October 31, 2023. In addition to the forms of memoirs, reports, notes, and short stories, this year the contest has expanded to include photos and videos on YouTube.
The 3rd Beautiful Living Contest of Thanh Nien Newspaper highlights community projects, volunteer journeys, good deeds of individuals, entrepreneurs, groups, companies, enterprises in society and especially young people in the current Gen Z generation, so there should be a separate contest category sponsored by ActionCOACH Vietnam. The appearance of guests who own works of art, literature, and young artists loved by young people also helps the theme of the contest spread strongly, creating sympathy among young people.
About the contest entries: Authors can participate in the form of memoirs, reports, notes, reflecting real stories, real events and must have accompanying character images. The article must express the content about a character/group that has taken beautiful, practical actions to help individuals/communities, spreading warm, humane stories, optimistic and positive living spirit. As for short stories, the content can be composed from real or fictional stories, characters, events... of beautiful living. The contest entries must be written in Vietnamese (or English for foreigners, the organizers will take care of the translation) no more than 1,600 words (short stories no more than 2,500 words).
About the prize: The contest has a total prize value of nearly 450 million VND.
In the category of articles, reports, and notes, there are: 1 first prize: worth 30,000,000 VND; 2 second prizes: each worth 15,000,000 VND; 3 third prizes: each worth 10,000,000 VND; 5 consolation prizes: each worth 3,000,000 VND.
1 prize for the article most loved by readers (including views and likes on Thanh Nien Online): worth 5,000,000 VND.
For the short story category: Prizes for authors with short stories participating in the contest: 1 first prize: worth 30,000,000 VND; 1 second prize: worth 20,000,000 VND; 2 third prizes: each worth 10,000,000 VND; 4 consolation prizes: each worth 5,000,000 VND.
The Organizing Committee also awarded 1 prize to the author with an article about entrepreneurs living beautifully: worth 10,000,000 VND and 1 prize to the author with an outstanding charity project of a group/collective/enterprise: worth 10,000,000 VND.
In particular, the organizing committee will select 5 honored characters voted by the organizing committee: award 30,000,000 VND/case; along with many other prizes.
Articles, photos and videos to participate in the contest, readers send to the address: [email protected] or by post (Only applicable for the Article and Short Story contest categories): Thanh Nien Newspaper Editorial Office: 268 - 270 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City (clearly write on the envelope: Works participating in the 3rd LIVING BEAUTIFULLY contest - 2023). Detailed information and rules are posted on the Living Beautifully page of Thanh Nien Newspaper.
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