On the way home, I stopped by the town to buy a tray of offerings from a ready-made service, and drove quickly to prepare the offerings for my mother before noon. Since my mother passed away, I have felt as if I were lost in the flow of life. After my 18th birthday, I left home to go to the city to make a living, struggling to make a living. For the past 7 years, I have only returned home on my mother’s death anniversary each year, and have been absent from the rest of the year, not caring about the house that once comforted and pampered me, no matter how much my father begged and persuaded me.
The sunlight through the leaves was unusually clear. Looking in from the porch, I suddenly saw Aunt Ngan's figure busily working in the kitchen, and I imagined my mother's appearance. Strangely, a feeling of closeness crept into me, but that vague moment was immediately extinguished by my aunt's words: "You're back, I've prepared enough offerings to hold the anniversary of your mother's death, don't worry." My aunt's gentle, warm, loving voice was still there for me, even though I was rude, grumpy, and treated her like a stepmother "blood is thin, heart is thin". After many years, my heart had calmed down a bit, but I still tried to let go: "No need for you to worry, I can take care of myself" as if to comfort myself.
My father stood outside listening to the entire conversation and as usual he let out a soft sigh... Suddenly his eyes lit up with faith as if he understood that only the truth could resolve all the problems in his only child, and only by doing so could this family be truly stable and happy.
With a determined face, he approached me and said, “Let’s play a game of chess.” That father-son bonding pleasure had been missed for so many years, and this time I couldn’t refuse. He knew that every time we played chess, both father and son could open up their hearts, but recently, because he wanted me to have a complete life, without being psychologically affected by my mother’s story, he chose to remain silent.
Slowly, he told me in a low voice why my mother left and then passed away in a traffic accident. He said that his parents got married through a matchmaker when they were both old and his mother, who was from the South, was “very brave” and traveled thousands of kilometers to the North to be a bride. After I was born, he thought that having a son would be the bond that would strengthen the family, so he worked even harder, hoping that his wife and children would not suffer poverty.
However, when I was 5 years old, my mother's first love returned from working abroad. Because they missed each other so much, they went to the West to live and work, and have been missing since then. Until my mother died in an accident, my father only received a text message informing him. My maternal family's conditions were too difficult, so they only called occasionally to ask about their grandchildren. Later, when my grandparents got old and weak, their visits became less frequent, so their feelings became more distant.
Pitying my father for being a single father and also because of her love for children, Aunt Ngan from the next door agreed to come live with us to take care of and love my father and me without asking for anything in return, not even a feast to introduce to relatives. My father saw that Aunt Ngan truly cared for and looked after his stepchildren, so he loved her even more. Aunt Ngan treated my father and me with all her sincerity, yet for many years she had to suppress her resentment that she had “stolen” someone else’s husband, and endured all the nagging, insults, and cruelty from me.
Gradually understanding everything, but the "porcupine shell" on the outside made me - the child who had always loved my mother the most, thinking that my mother had suffered because of my father's "two-facedness" - not allow myself to accept that extremely cruel truth. I got up, took my bike, and rushed out of the house as if running away.
What should I do with what I have done, can the rift I caused be mended? That question kept echoing in my head, even creeping into my sleep, making me feel restless. At 11 o'clock at night, after struggling with a jumble of thoughts, I quickly got on my motorbike and drove more than a hundred kilometers home as if if I didn't go home right away, I would never have another chance. Tonight the wind turned, after driving a short distance, I suddenly felt a light rain, regardless, I continued to drive on the road, because compared to the coldness and harsh words that had been rubbed into my father and aunt's hearts over the years, being whipped in the face by wind and rain was nothing. Thinking that, I drove even faster.
The clock struck 1:30, which was also the time I arrived home. The house was extremely quiet, I calmed down and gently opened the gate, surprisingly everything was still the same, all the passwords in the house were my birthday. I walked towards my bedroom, but was suddenly stunned by the conversation between my father and aunt coming from inside. "I only love myself, I wholeheartedly take care of my husband and my husband's stepchildren, but I have to bear a bad reputation". "Quan is also my son, there has never been a moment when I did not consider him my son, sooner or later he will understand my feelings".
As if I couldn’t wait any longer, I pushed the door open and walked in: “Dad, aunt, I’m… sorry. It’s all my fault, you and aunt have always loved me, but I just made a mistake. From now on, we will be a happy family, okay?”
After that sentence, there were tight hugs, tears of happiness and above all, my regret that it was not too late. I was glad that I realized it in time, that I had regained family happiness for myself and for my father - the person who always loved me with all his heart.
Hello love, season 4, theme "Father" officially launched from December 27, 2024 on four types of press and digital infrastructure of Radio - Television and Binh Phuoc Newspaper (BPTV), promising to bring to the public the wonderful values of sacred and noble fatherly love. |
Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/9/171455/loi-hoi-han-khong-muon-mang
Comment (0)