HELLO LOVE My father and the flood season

This year’s flood season came early. It was not even the end of July but the rains had already come in torrents. Heavy rains had been falling for days, flooding the village roads and alleys. The small stream running along the edge of the village had turned into a muddy flood. The road to the school had become a flooded path, with mud up to the ankles, and in some places up to the knees.

In a small village corner, a thin man with dark skin carried his child on his back, wading through the muddy water to take his child to school. His old shirt was faded, his shoulders were soaked, his hands tightly holding onto his plastic sandals, walking slowly but steadily in the raging flood water flowing across the road. No one said anything but everyone was silent when they saw that image. The father silently carried a dream on his back - the dream of sending his child to school in the middle of the flood season.

In this poor countryside, flood season has become a haunting experience. But along with the flood, there is always the image of fathers and mothers silently fighting against natural disasters to maintain the rhythm of life for the family. People often talk about mothers with a big heart, but fathers with their backs bent, their feet wading through mud, their hands carrying burdens on their shoulders also carry a deep, wordless love. Flood season not only carries away trash and mud, but can also swallow children's dreams if there is no father's shoulder to support them. Here, it is not just simple words of encouragement and comfort like "good child, I love you" or "you must try to study hard", but the journey of fathers carrying their children across streams and through mud to get to school has become all too familiar. And to fathers, every action, every deed for their children is always more important than anything else.

Many people have asked: "When the flood comes, the roads are all submerged, why don't you let your children take a few days off from school to wait for the water to recede?" but my father just smiled gently: "If I take a day off, the knowledge will stay after a day..." - a simple reason but it makes me choke up. My parents' dream in the countryside is not big, they just want their children to have a proper education, have a stable job, and leave behind the hard, muddy days of making a living. For that dream, my father is willing to get wet in the rain, wade through cold water so that his children can go to school every day. For his children, he has transformed into a sturdy bridge connecting the flooded area and the dream of knowledge at their small school.

In the city, his eldest daughter has now gone to work. After many years away from home, she still can't forget the image of her father carrying her to school every day, sometimes crossing slippery mud, sometimes wading through streams during the muddy season. Her father's thin back, cracked feet and eyes are always imprinted in her memory.

This year, the flood season came early, and the girl was restless again. She called home more often, following the weather in her hometown every day. Just hearing news of heavy rain in the Central region made her heart skip a beat. “Are Mom and Dad okay?” was the question she always asked at the beginning of each call, and as always, her father just smiled lightly: “Everything is fine at home, don’t worry…” But she knew that no matter what happened back home, her father would hide it, afraid that she would worry. Even though it was pouring rain and wind, and the path home was flooded, her father still said: “It’s okay, just a little bit of water.”

Last night, the daughter happened to see a photo online of her father carrying her to school on a muddy road, water up to his pants, and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. Living far away from home, in a noisy, bustling city, she could only wrap up her longing in hasty phone calls and short messages: “Dad, take care of your health...”.

The flood will recede, the village roads will dry up, but there are images that will remain forever, such as the figure of my father struggling in the middle of the flood, the eyes of my mother silently waiting behind the small gate, and the love for the homeland that seeps into each silver water, deep into the heart. And no matter how far I go, how successful or busy I am, just hearing the news of the flood season coming makes my heart ache with longing: missing my parents, missing my hometown - where there are flood seasons and silent, strong shoulders.

Hello love, season 4, theme "Father" officially launched from December 27, 2024 on four types of press and digital infrastructure of Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio and Television, promising to bring to the public the wonderful values of sacred and noble fatherly love.
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Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/van-hoa/202507/chao-nhe-yeu-thuong-ba-toi-va-mua-nuoc-lu-63006db/