Then the day finally arrived when she could go home to her grandmother. During the long car ride, Thu Thảo dozed off, but as soon as she got out, she ran straight into the yard:
Grandma! Where are you?
Grandma came out of the kitchen, smiling brightly.
- Thao's back? Grandma's making sticky rice, we'll have some later!
Thao hugged her grandmother tightly, giggling. The smell of kitchen smoke and pomelo leaves on her grandmother's clothes made the little girl feel that summer had truly begun. Outside, the summer sun shone brightly. Several hens were scratching in the dirt under the banana tree. In the distance, children's voices could be heard calling out to each other in the field.
That afternoon, the neighborhood kids came over to call Thao to come play. Little Tí, Hương, Đạt… all of them had sun-bleached hair and muddy feet. They laughed and chirped like sparrows.
- Shall we go to the cornfield, Thao?
Are you going to catch crickets?
No! Go catch baby birds!
Hearing that, Thao's eyes lit up. They all ran along the dirt road to the riverbank. The afternoon sun was still shining, but the wind was starting to cool. The cornfields were taller than a person's head, their lush green leaves rustling whenever the wind blew. Cu Ti looked secretive:
- In the evening, the baby birds look for places to sleep on corn leaves!
- Really?
- Really! But you have to be quiet.
The children immediately scattered among the rows of corn. Some bent down, squeezing through the leaves. Others craned their necks, looking up at the corn stalks swaying in the wind. In the distance, there was the chirping of young birds. Suddenly, little Tí exclaimed:
"Here it is!" He cupped his hands together. Inside was a tiny baby bird, its feathers sparse and pale yellow. The bird trembled violently. Its tiny eyes were wide with terror.
Let me see it!
"It's beautiful!" they all gathered around.
A little while later, Dat caught another bird. Only Thu Thao couldn't catch anything. Every time she cautiously approached, the bird would startle and fly away. Once, Thao thought she was about to touch it, but the bird suddenly darted up from the leaf, causing her to fall to the ground. The other children burst into laughter. Thao was so embarrassed. She tried again, but still couldn't catch it. Finally, Thao sat down on the grass, her eyes red with tears.
- I didn't catch any...
Then the little girl burst into tears. Her friends looked at each other in bew amazement. They never imagined that such an incident would upset Thảo so much. That evening, Thảo remained very sad. Her grandmother tried to coax her for a long time before she would eat another half bowl of rice. Feeling sorry for her granddaughter, her grandmother called Thảo's father in the city. After listening to the story, her father burst out laughing:
- It's nothing, Mom! Tomorrow you can just buy the little girl a new bird with some money.
The next day, Grandma called Tí over. She bought back the baby bird that Tí had caught the day before. Then she took down the old bamboo cage hanging in the corner of the kitchen and put the bird inside. Thu Thảo was very happy. She happily sat next to the cage all afternoon, sometimes breaking up rice for the bird to eat, sometimes running around catching young grasshoppers. But strangely, the bird wasn't happy at all. It didn't sing. It just clung to the bars of the cage, looking up at the blue sky outside. Occasionally, it would flap its wings frantically as if wanting to fly out, its eyes panicked, and its tender wing feathers torn and tattered.
That night, the air was stiflingly hot. Around midnight, Thu Thảo began to have a fever, her face flushed, her body burning hot like roasted corn. Her grandmother frantically wiped her forehead with a cold towel, but Thảo remained delirious. In her feverish state, Thảo saw herself curled up on a corn leaf. The leaf was long, narrow, and slippery, swaying and rustling in the night breeze. It was pitch black all around. The tall corn stalks resembled a giant forest. Thảo wanted to call for her grandmother, but her throat was constricted. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound beside her. A giant green caterpillar was crawling towards her. Then another, and many more. The caterpillars' plump, green, slimy bodies terrified Thảo. She tried to move back, but the corn leaf was too small. The wind howled. The corn leaves flapped against each other. Dark clouds covered the sky. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky. Bang! A thunderclap startled Thảo. Rain began to pour down. The icy rain lashed against her skin, stinging her. The corn leaf shook violently as if it were about to break. Thao was terrified and frantically cried out to her grandmother:
- Grandma! Grandma, save me!
But amidst the vast cornfield, there was only the howling wind, no reply. Thao screamed for her grandmother, for her parents, in utter terror, seeing the green caterpillars about to devour her, feeling as if she were about to fall into some dark, deep, and painful place… Then she woke up, her body still burning with fever. The house was silent and dark. Outside, a flickering oil lamp shone. Thao trembled as she got out of bed and made her way to the door. The night wind after the rain blew cool and refreshing. Reaching the yard, she saw her grandmother standing outside the gate. Beside her was a small bamboo sieve. In the sieve were a bowl of white rice, a small plate of salt, and a few candies. An incense stick burned brightly, its smoke drifting thinly in the night. Her grandmother walked slowly around the gate, softly reciting:
- Oh, my dear spirit. Thu Thao's spirit. Wherever you go, come back. Cross the river, come back; cross the field, come across... Come back to eat white rice. Come back to drink clean water. Don't wander in the bushes. Don't play in the distant fields. Come home to Grandma...
Her voice was a gentle whisper, like a soft breeze. Thu Thảo stood silently listening. It was the first time she had seen her grandmother perform a spirit summoning ritual. Her grandmother walked around the gate once, then stepped into the courtyard, still softly calling out:
- Good spirits stay... Bad spirits go... May the little girl get well soon... May the little girl sleep soundly...
When she finished, she turned around and was startled:
Oh my goodness! Why are you out here?
She quickly hugged her granddaughter. Thao rested her head on her grandmother's shoulder and softly asked:
Grandma… what are you doing?
- She performed a ritual to summon the spirit of her child.
- Where did my spirit go, Grandma?
She smiled gently:
- I guess you're too playful and still lingering in the cornfield, so Grandma had to call you back.
Thu Thảo fell silent. She suddenly remembered the terrifying dream she had just had. Lying in the middle of a dark cornfield. Rain, wind, thunder, lightning. Green worms crawling all over her. Alone and isolated. Suddenly, Thảo felt like crying. Then she remembered the bird in the bamboo cage under the eaves.
- Grandma...
- YES?
So… where does the bird's spirit reside?
Grandma looked at the cage for a long time, then said slowly:
- The spirit of the bird is probably out in the fields and meadows… wherever it wants to be.
- It doesn't want to stay in the cage.
- Probably not.
Thu Thảo bowed her head. The little bird remained silent in the corner of the cage. Perhaps its mother was looking for it in the cornfield. Perhaps it was as frightened as Thảo had been in that strange dream. That night, it took Thảo a long time to fall asleep again. The next morning, the sky was clear and blue. The early morning sun shone brightly on the corn leaves still glistening with rainwater. After finishing her bowl of porridge, the little girl hugged her birdcage and ran to find her friends in the field. Cu Tí was sitting fishing by the ditch. Hương and Đạt were pulling up weeds to play a game of fighting. Seeing Thảo arrive, they all cheered:
Hey! Is your fever gone yet?
Thảo sat down on the grass and told her friends about her dream from the night before. She told them about sleeping on a corn leaf in the dark. She told them about the green caterpillars crawling all over her. She told them about the storm and the fear she felt when she lost her grandmother. At first, little Tí just laughed:
- There's no such thing as a bird's spirit!
But then it gradually went silent. Huong hugged her knees and whispered:
- Getting lost from your mother would be really scary…
Dat looked at the birdcage and mumbled:
- Ever since we brought him home, I haven't noticed he's been happy.
They all fell silent. The little bird still clung to the cage bars, gazing out at the blue sky above the cornfield. After a long while, Thu Thảo softly asked:
- Or maybe… we should let it go?
None of them answered immediately, but then Huong nodded first.
- YES.
Dat also scratched his head:
Let go.
Cu Tí looked at the bird for a while, then decided:
- Well, let's just send her back to her mother.
Thu Thảo opened the cage door. The young bird remained still for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, it spread its wings. At first, it wobbled. Then it flew higher and higher. It flew over the grass. It flew over the rows of green corn rustling in the wind. It flew on and on towards the clear summer sky. The children looked up and watched it. None of them said anything. Only the wind from the riverbank rustled through the corn leaves. After a while, little Tí suddenly whispered:
- From now on, let's not catch baby birds anymore, okay?
No one objected. Thu Thao smiled. She felt as light as a bird soaring into the blue sky.
From that day on, the children still ran and played in the fields every summer afternoon. They still caught crickets, fished, flew kites, and chased butterflies. But none of them stalked baby birds sleeping on corn leaves anymore. Because now they understood that on those leaves swaying in the wind, there were tiny birds sleeping peacefully.
Source: https://baolangson.vn/giac-mo-tren-la-5094854.html
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