The village well tells the story

The village well is very sad these days. Not only him, but his whole family is like that too. Why is he sad? From the day he was born until now, it must have been hundreds of years, this is the first time the well family in Binh Thanh village has had to fall into a situation of being abandoned, mistreated, and rejected, with no one paying any attention to the presence of his family like that. Who in that situation wouldn't be sad?

From the past until now, no matter how the times changed, even when the whole village had to go through the most dangerous and difficult circumstances, even during the war, people had never treated him badly. Everyone in the village, from the rich to the poor, needed him. Without his brothers, this village would not exist because there were no rivers or streams flowing through here, nor any ponds. Only he and his relatives could take care of the most basic needs for their lives.

Therefore, it is always proud of the great responsibility it is shouldering and tries its best to fulfill that noble task. There are years when there is a great drought, ponds and lakes all over the country dry up, but it still tries to squeeze out every drop of water, enough for the villagers to survive the hardships. Only then does it feel how important it is.

It was honored to be born at the same time as the village, so it was called the Village Well. After it, there were many other younger siblings such as Luy Well, Tay Well, Liet Well... Since its birth, the great-grandfathers of the people currently living in this village have pampered it very much. Whenever its body was scratched or cracked even a little, the whole village was worried. People immediately focused on taking care of and healing the wounds on its body. People were willing to take the trouble to pick up every small leaf to keep the water in its body always pure. People also strictly forbade children from throwing anything into its body. They also worked hard to pave stones and clear ditches around it to prevent the dirty mud from staining its mouth.

That work is repeated from generation to generation, so even though many generations have grown old and passed away, it still retains the strong body of youth, even looking much younger than before. Its mouth has been repaired firmly, shiny and sharp with cement instead of the rough, old lime mortar before. The water source it contains is always full and overflowing despite people continuously taking away millions and billions of liters from it. With this momentum, it thinks it still has enough strength to last forever with this beautiful coastal village.

Just like that, it lived quietly, quietly serving everyone in the village. It became a place where people often met and talked to each other, so although it was located in one place, it knew almost all the big and small things in the village, and which family had a wedding or a death anniversary. It was a witness to many changes of the times, becoming one of the symbols of a village. The banyan tree, the well, and the communal house yard were always images deeply engraved in the subconscious of those who, for some reason, were forced to leave their homeland.

And what about love? His place was always a place where young men and women in the village could easily meet, date, and from there many couples became husband and wife. Children were born one after another and the village gradually became more crowded. He thought that life in this village would continue in this order forever.

One day, he saw many strangers coming to the village. They brought with them many tools, machines and long things that they called pipes. They dug trenches and laid the pipes leading to each house, one by one. He saw that everyone in the village seemed very happy.

When they left, the villagers no longer looked at it, as if it were something redundant that they could not bear to throw away. The Village Well lay there alone, lonely and desolate, no longer hearing the cheerful clanging of water buckets, the rumbling of water buckets, the cheerful laughter around it every day. Now, only the old banyan tree next to it kept it company, occasionally dropping a yellow leaf into the well as if to tease it.

No one talked to him anymore, so he had to try to find out why. Through the stories he heard vaguely from them, he finally learned a little. It turned out that the government was now encouraging villagers to use clean water. People criticized his water as unsafe because it had not been treated. On top of that, that water was piped directly to each house, so that they could use it as soon as they turned on the tap, without having to carry it in pairs like before. No wonder people no longer needed it.

At first, he was shocked and felt sorry for himself. But then he got used to it and consoled himself. He was not the only one who was forgotten. The bucket and the water buckets were also put aside. And before that, there were many other things that people had abandoned long ago. He suddenly realized that everything had a time, like the plowshare, for example, existed and was attached to people for thousands of years, then suddenly disappeared. Surely he would be the same!

One afternoon, a woman wearing a mourning scarf came to him. She leaned against the well and stood there in a daze for a long time. He knew that she had just sent her beloved husband to his final resting place. They had grown up together, known each other, and confessed their love right next to him, so he knew them very well. It seemed that she had come to visit him to recall their early memories.

Yesterday, two men came to visit it. One was tall and thin, with long hair, wearing white glasses, looking dreamy like a poet. The other was muscular and big, busily taking notes, measuring, and observing it very carefully like a professional researcher. They discussed enthusiastically about its age, about the people who built it. They also said that this was a relic that needed to be preserved in the village. It was very happy. At least people were still paying attention to it.

A gust of wind suddenly blew in from somewhere. The old banyan tree swayed and laughed at it. The old man even flicked a few yellow leaves that had fallen into the well. Its surface was now covered with the remains of the old man that no one bothered to scoop up. The village well was very angry. Hmm, the old man remembered that. Who knows, if it were to become an ancient relic of the village, he might even beg to eat it along with it!

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