Royal poinciana tree at the village entrance

The day Van returned, the harvest was in full swing in her hometown. The scent of straw and new rice wafted in the air. The royal poinciana tree, which once held Van’s memories, was also in bloom.

Van’s hometown was called Loan village. She didn’t understand why it was called that. Before leaving the village, Van asked around but no one could answer her question. “Never mind, why be curious? Loan village is still nice?”, she thought and didn’t ask anyone anymore.

Right at the entrance to Loan village, there is an ancient royal poinciana tree. Its canopy is wide, casting shade over a large area of land. Children and villagers often gather around it, some to enjoy the cool breeze, some to gossip.

The Royal Poinciana tree bloomed, and the villagers knew that summer was coming. The children were excited, they were about to have a break from school. No one knew how long the Royal Poinciana tree had been there. The elders in the village said, “It has been there for a long time.”

Three months away from home, on the day she returned to the village, she passed by the royal poinciana tree. Van stood under the tree for a long time before returning home. To her, the royal poinciana tree was a part of her memories. Whether happy or sad, she would go under the tree to play. It was like a confidant when her mother unfortunately passed away.

Van’s mother died in an accident when she had just turned sixteen. That fateful afternoon, while Van was sitting under a royal poinciana tree, villagers came running to report the news of a lightning strike. She jumped up and ran after everyone. When she got there, her mother was covered under an old mat. She screamed, then fainted without realizing it. When she woke up, Van found herself in bed at home. Outside, neighbors were covering the tent in preparation for the funeral.

Illustration: China.

After her mother died, Van lived with her father who was always drunk. More than a year later, her father remarried. He married a woman who already had children in the neighboring village. Van's life began to feel like a living hell. "Study a lot but still can't get better, don't worry about finding a job to make a living", every day, her stepmother sometimes whispered, sometimes raised her voice in Van's ear. Day by day, Van could no longer fight for her education. She decided to leave, leaving behind her dreams and ambitions.

“Find a job and make a living,” the sounds still echoed in her stepmother’s rage that day. But Van knew what job to find. No one could help her. Her father was drunk all day long. Her stepmother had never given her a happy day, except on their wedding day.

Van brought that matter to Mrs. Huong, her closest neighbor. “Why don’t you learn how to cut hair?” Mrs. Huong advised.

"My eyesight is bad, if I learn that profession I might ruin my customers' hair," Van replied.

“If not, go to sewing school. After finishing school, just work and earn money. Later, when you have capital, you can go back to your hometown and open a shop.”

"No, I don't like learning sewing and besides, our village already has a few tailor shops."

“Whatever, I’m tired of you. You argue no matter what your profession is,” said Mrs. Huong, standing up, waving her hat, and walking away.

“What profession should I learn now?”, Van muttered to herself and walked away. Her wandering thoughts led her to the royal poinciana tree without her realizing it.

Before her mother passed away, the two of them always sat under the royal poinciana tree to enjoy the cool breeze. “I will become a doctor in the future,” Van told her mother. “Your father is already dreaming at such a young age. Focus on studying first. I will provide you with a proper education so you don’t have to work hard.” When her mother was still alive, Van’s mother always advised and encouraged her like that. But then, when she passed away, that plan and Van’s dream were also buried.

The day Mrs. Huong advised her to go to sewing school, Van argued. But in the end, she chose to learn this profession. Van had no other choice.

More than a year after her mother passed away, Van packed her bags and went to the city to find a place to learn a trade. She went to say goodbye to Mrs. Huong. “You have to be careful when you get there, don’t trust anyone, understand?”, she told Van, then took out one hundred thousand dong from her pocket and put it in her hand. “I already have it. I won’t accept it,” Van pushed her hand away. “Your father, accept it, when you’re rich you can pay me back,” Mrs. Huong tried to put it in her hand, then left. Van stood looking at Mrs. Huong’s shadow for a long time, tears welling up: “If only I had my mother right now.”

No one knew her, so Van fumbled as she stepped into the city. “Hey, girl, where are you going? Just came from the countryside? Need to go somewhere, tell me to take you”, the motorbike taxi drivers standing along the bus station enthusiastically invited and teased. “I’m not going anywhere, someone is picking me up”, Van replied, holding her luggage tightly as she walked away.

She wandered through the streets, looking for a place to stay and looking for places that were hiring sewing apprentices. At the beginning of a street, she saw a tailor shop with a sign saying it was hiring apprentices. She ventured in and asked for a job.

The tailor shop owner was a middle-aged man with silver hair. As soon as he entered the door, without waiting to be asked, Van said: “I saw your shop posting a notice recruiting apprentices, so I came in to ask, if you can let me learn the trade.”

The tailor shop owner walked around Van, looking around as he walked. She still had the habit of hugging her handbag to her chest, her eyes following the shop owner’s steps. After a while of asking, the shop owner looked at Van’s exhausted appearance again, sighed, and said curtly: “Okay, go in.”

***

Van was accepted as an apprentice. She rented a room about five hundred meters from the tailor shop. After three months, she missed her home, her hometown, and the royal poinciana tree at the village entrance. Van asked her boss to let her go home. She took a bus back to her hometown, planning to go to town two days later.

Seeing her just coming back to the village, Mrs. Huong called out: "Didn't you go to sewing school in the city? Why are you here now?"

"I miss home so much, please come home for a few days," Van replied.

“Oh my god, I've only been gone for a bit and I already miss you,” Mrs. Huong continued: “Come over to my house to light incense for your mother, and come over to my house for dinner tonight.”

Van nodded and walked away. She returned home, the garden that had been deserted for months without her presence. Her father was still drunk as before. Through Mrs. Huong, Van learned that her stepmother had gone back to her mother's house after an argument with her husband. Van greeted her father, then, not caring whether he responded or not, she walked into the house, to the altar, and lit incense for her mother.

“I just got home. I miss you so much, Mom,” Van whispered, lighting incense on the altar, tears welling up in her eyes. She walked around the house, her clothes scattered everywhere. The kitchen was no better, the bowls and chopsticks were scattered everywhere, no one bothered to clean them. Her father didn’t even bother to clean them. The stepmother had left, he ate whatever was available. “Why clean up?” he said, leaning back on the garden table and chairs.

Van paid no attention to her father's words. She wiped her tears and cleaned up. After a while, unable to bear missing her mother, unable to bear seeing her family in such disrepair, Van ran to Mrs. Huong's house. Van's father looked after her, his eyes seemingly filled with tears.

As soon as she entered the door, Van hugged Mrs. Huong and cried out loud. “I miss you so much, Mom,” she sobbed. Mrs. Huong could only hug her and rub her back: “Stop crying, it will be okay. Stay here and have dinner with me.”

That afternoon, Van stayed for dinner with Mrs. Huong. After finishing eating and cleaning up, Van asked permission to go home to sleep.

The distance from Mrs. Huong's house to her house was not far, but there were few people. Many thoughts appeared in her head, she planned to sit under the royal poinciana tree for a while and then go home. After walking a few steps, she thought differently, planning to turn back to go home. Surprised, the truck driver did not have time to react... Van was thrown far away. Before passing out, Van heard people talking somewhere....

***

“Van had an accident,” Mrs. Huong shouted as soon as she entered the gate. Van’s father still paid no attention. Mrs. Huong approached and shook the man. She slapped him like a thunderbolt: “Van had an accident.”

The father suddenly woke up, looked up at her, then stood up and ran. As he ran, he called his daughter's name. Mrs. Huong chased after him. Both of them arrived at the hospital when Van was already in the emergency room.

“What did the doctor say?”, the father ran to ask the two young men who had picked Van up.

“The doctor hasn't said anything yet,” the two young men replied.

He ran to the door and stared at his daughter. A moment later, the doctor announced that Van needed blood for a transfusion, but her blood type was rare. Both Mrs. Huong and the two young men tested, but only the father had the same blood type as Van. However, he was drunk and could not take blood at the moment. The doctor said it was urgent, the hospital's blood bank did not have that blood type.

“How can I get blood? How can I do that?” the father asked the doctor repeatedly.

“You need to sober up first. We can’t take your blood when your blood alcohol level is so high,” the doctor replied.

He ran to the tap in the yard, drank and drank, rinsed his mouth and spit it out. He acted like a madman despite Mrs. Huong’s dissuasion. He also took a bath to wash away the alcohol, but it still didn’t work. Mrs. Huong went to buy him a glass of hot lemonade to sober him up.

“Oh my God! The alcohol. I have ruined you, Van!”, the father cried out in the middle of the hospital yard and collapsed.

Nearly an hour later, the doctor was able to take blood and transfuse it into Van. Luckily, it was still in time, and Van survived. The father spent several sleepless nights, sitting outside the door waiting for his daughter to wake up. Mrs. Huong brought porridge to Van when the sky began to lighten.

“You go home and rest a bit, leave the baby to me”, Mrs. Huong advised Van’s father. But he didn’t listen, pushing Mrs. Huong away: “Let me alone”.

Van woke up. The father ran to hold his daughter’s hand, his eyes red. Van had never seen her father so weak. He hugged Van. Mrs. Huong stood beside him and tried to push him away: “The child is still weak, don’t hug her so tightly.”

He cried like a child. Holding her hand, he promised to stop drinking, work hard, and love her. Van looked at her father. Tears streamed down her face.

***

Afternoon. Van was lying in the hospital when a thunderstorm suddenly broke out. Van had a feeling that something was about to happen. She stood up and looked outside. The sky was swirling and the rain was pouring down. After a while, the rain stopped and Mrs. Huong brought her porridge. It was still dark outside.

“The royal poinciana tree at the village entrance was struck by lightning, its trunk split in two and fell down,” Mrs. Huong told her as soon as she reached where she was lying. Hearing the news, Van was shocked. She put her bowl of porridge aside and was about to run to the royal poinciana tree, but was stopped by Mrs. Huong.

On the day she was discharged from the hospital, Van was led by her father past the royal poinciana tree. The tree trunk was withered. The villagers were gathered around the tree, preparing a meal to worship the tree. The tree was dug up and another royal poinciana tree was planted in its place.

Van asked her father's permission, she approached, scooped up a handful of soil, and planted it on the base of the newly planted royal poinciana tree.

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