The Bicycle - Short story contest by Tran Thi Diep

The road gradually separated from the noisy luxury of the town that was about to be annexed into the city. A strip of wall, moss-stained and peeling from rainwater, appeared behind two rows of peony trees, also gray and swaying from the autumn storm that had just passed.

Thuyen walked while listening to the rumbling of her stomach. She had woken up too late this morning and had not had time to put anything in her stomach. Now her stomach was rolling and tightening with each step. But it was because her mother had not woken her up, or maybe she had, but in the sleepy haze of some dream, she had mumbled yes and then sunk back into unconsciousness. Every morning, her mother was busy with her vegetable stall. She woke up at two o'clock, slicing cabbage and banana flowers to sell to pho vendors, carrying several boxes of all kinds to the district market. Her mother worked very quietly so it seemed like Thuyen never woke up, but one night, she suddenly turned over, in the half-awake state of her sleep, Thuyen suddenly realized that her mother was sitting in the middle of the dark yard, flickering with the light of a flashlight, her back hunched as if carrying Thuyen's entire life, a life without the father who had abandoned Thuyen before she was even born.

Mother hid Thuyen from sadness.

Mother shelters the storms.

So even though she was busy, her mother never let Thuyen wake up early to help her or carry goods to sell, where a careless remark could cut her like, where's your dad that you have to carry goods for me, the handsome boy must look like his dad...

Thuyen had heard those sentences a few times before, when Thuyen was little, her mother carried her down to the market and spread a blanket around her to sleep in the middle of the stall. At that time, Thuyen didn't understand much, but she vaguely realized that every time the word "dad" was uttered somewhere, her mother's lips pursed tightly. Gradually, Thuyen stopped going with her mother, and she got used to it, sleeping by herself, waking up by herself and going to school by herself. Thuyen's world and her mother's vegetable stall had separated like two different sides of a piece of paper since when.

Thuyen reached into his pocket and turned it around. A cool, round piece was warmed by his hand - the apple Vy had given him that morning after Tech class. Thinking of Vy, Thuyen's heart was filled with an indescribable feeling of excitement.

"This afternoon, Thuyen, let Vy go home for a bit. Vy's... car... is broken..."

The class monitor gave Thuyen an apple, speaking hesitantly. Thuyen stood still as if rooted to the floor. Oh Vy, the girl in the class that many of the boys were crazy about, the girl who was both beautiful and smart, who once saved Thuyen from a bullying attack by the upperclassmen and Thuyen never had the chance to repay her, now asked Thuyen for a favor that everyone would be willing to do, but, but….

Thuyen was confused. He was silent for a long time, then stuttered out a sentence, his face red:

"The car…boat…is…also…broken".

Thuyen's face must have looked miserable or strange at that moment because Vy suddenly burst out laughing.

"When you fix it, remember to take me with you." Vy quickly stuffed the apple into Thuyen's hand and ran away.

Chiếc xe đạp - Truyện ngắn dự thi của Trần Thị Diệp- Ảnh 1.

The rain of the past few days had turned the road near his house muddy. The road ran through a deserted field, the flower beds had been torn to pieces by the rain, and now only their stems were left. Layers of yellow leaves from rotten trees had fallen and mixed with the mud that had been plowed by the rain, creating jagged ditches.

Thuyen walked slowly to avoid the mud splashing on her clothes. The cold wind mixed with a few drops of rain made Thuyen shiver slightly. If only she had a bike, she would have gone home. If only the bike hadn't broken down, Thuyen would have been able to take Vy today. The bike her mother bought for Thuyen at a used shop a few years ago has started to act up, one day it has a flat tire, one day the brake is broken, one day the crank is broken, when will she be able to fix it properly to take Vy, let alone buy a new one... Thuyen didn't dare to think, at the beginning of the year her mother had to spend a lot of money on Thuyen's tuition... Vy is good, she never compares who is good and who is not, never says Thuyen's family is poor, never teases Thuyen about not having a father. Vy always stands up to help the needy students in class, but when Vy needs her help, Thuyen is helpless.

He couldn't even do such a small thing. Thuyen felt extremely annoyed. He kicked the puddle in front of him. A layer of foam splashed out, followed by something black and hard that looked like a broken buffalo horn.

Thuyen was startled. He looked closely at the object that had just flown out of the water. It was a men's leather wallet.

Thuyen's heart was pounding. He looked around, quickly bent down to pick up the wallet and opened it. The green and red bills were stacked close together. Thuyen folded the wallet. He hesitated for a moment, thinking. Then he wiped the water stains around the wallet on his pants leg, dropped the wallet into his backpack and walked away.

Thuyen walked quickly. The sound of a motorbike coming from behind made Thuyen jump in surprise, afraid that someone would stop and tap him on the shoulder, saying, “Did you find something?” But the motorbike sped past.

Thuyen thought, there were no documents in the wallet, just about a million or two in cash. Maybe I should find someone to return it? But no one knew when the wallet fell there, no one posted it, and most importantly, no one knew Thuyen had picked it up. To some people, this amount of money was not much, sometimes they even forgot about it. But to Thuyen, it was an extremely large asset.

Thuyen could ask her mother to buy her a new bike to go to school, Thuyen could take Vy to school. Thuyen could give her mother the money and tell her to stop shopping for a few days... Oh my, how valuable this money was. Although she felt a little guilty, Thuyen's joyful side seemed to be winning. She told Thuyen to consider it a gift, if Thuyen didn't pick it up, maybe the heavy rain tonight could sink the wallet into the mud forever. Instead, use it to something useful...

***

The rain had stopped. The sky was grey but no longer heavy like the past few days. Thuyen returned home. He quickly dropped his backpack, his heart fluttering.

He wanted to run down to the market to tell his mother the news, but the road was too far and there were no buses, and he had to go to school in the afternoon. Thuyen walked around, then he approached the dining table, on which was a covered food basket. His mother must have left food there like usual, but Thuyen was in no mood to eat.

The car, the car, I will have a new car. Thuyen will no longer have to leave his car at Mrs. Lien's junkyard early in the morning. His old, covered car will be placed in a brightly lit yard full of beautiful cars. His friends' electric cars used to be a laughing stock.

New bike to carry Vy…

Thinking about that, Thuyen's heart felt so excited.

"Is anyone home"?

The call from outside the gate startled Thuyen, but he immediately recognized the voice of Mrs. Lien, the old woman who sold scrap metal.

"Hello sir, I was just thinking about you," Thuyen said politely.

"Hey little boy, what are you thinking about that reminds you of this old lady?", the old lady smiled kindly.

"Yes, yes...", Thuyen was confused, he couldn't tell the old lady about the wallet and the car. "Please come in."

"My mother told her to come over and get the bag of scrap metal."

"Yes, yes...", Thuyen rummaged around the house, he remembered his mother had told Lien about the plastic bags and bottles last night. Here they were, Thuyen had found them behind the door.

Thuyen carried the bag of things out for the old lady. Old lady Lien lived alone in town, and at her age she still struggled to earn money. Occasionally, when she passed by, Thuyen would hear a mother scolding her child playing on the street: "Go study, if you don't study, you'll have to wander around collecting scrap metal to earn money until you're old and still miserable like old lady Lien." Every time Thuyen's mother saw that, she would whisper: "Try to study hard, then earn money for poor people like old lady Lien."

The old lady fumbled around in her back pocket and pulled out a drawstring bag, opened it and gave Thuyen twenty thousand.

"You pay".

"No sir, you take it home and see how much it can be sold for, I won't charge you."

"It's mine, not yours," the old woman smiled kindly, stuffing the coin into the boy's hand. "I'm old but I can still work!"

Thuyen was confused, he didn't know what to do and didn't dare to argue with the old man anymore. Thuyen just held the money in his hand and hesitated.

Seeing the boy hesitate, the old lady reached into her back pocket and pulled out a pink and purple bill.

"How about this, this morning I sold fifty thousand and planned to go up to support the people in the North, now you take this twenty thousand more and go up to support us. Everyone needs to share, my dear."

The old lady stuffed the remaining money into Thuyen's hand and then walked away leisurely.

Thuyen nodded softly and stood still, waiting for the old woman's figure to disappear behind the small path.

A choking regret rose in his heart.

A hard-working old lady like Mrs. Lien spent all the money she earned this morning to help others.

Everyone needs to share.

Yet he was just about to take the money he found to use for his own pleasure.

Everyone needs to share, but Thuyen still sleeps well when his mother is awake every night.

A tear rolled down Thuyen's cheek. He went back into the house and sat quietly looking at the backpack lying on the bed. This afternoon he would bring the wallet inside to the principal to ask him to report it as lost. Tomorrow morning he would wake up early to help his mother set up shop.

Thinking of that, Thuyen's heart was filled with joy, a warm joy. He took out the broom to sweep the yard and clean the house. Outside, the rain had stopped, the remaining raindrops on the corrugated iron roof sparkled like small gems.

Suddenly there was the sound of brakes in front of the door, Vy's voice called out:

"The car is fixed, Thuyen. I'll come pick you up this afternoon."

Then the sound of the wheels rolled again, clack clack clack on the small road.