My sister's gift

I still remember, every year-end summary, everyone had a reward to carry home, except me. I was so embarrassed, but I still couldn't get rid of my lazy habit.

It is easy to understand why I was always scolded by my parents and siblings. My father was a farmer, not very educated but highly valued knowledge. He worked hard all his life with only one desire: to raise his children to be "free from ignorance" and to be educated and successful. To him, children who study well are the pride of the family. So, a student like me who was a failure made him extremely sad.

Being a teenager, my thoughts and perceptions were still immature but I was easily moved and felt sorry for myself. At those times, I felt that life was so hateful, my family was so unfair. No one understood how hard studying was for me. That “hateful” mood made me increasingly stressed and depressed. Sometimes, I thought I was falling into hell.

When I was in 5th grade, my second sister came back from far away. My second sister was my foster sister, she lived with my family when she was young, now she has a husband and lives on her own. She was a good student, well-behaved, and also a teacher, so my parents loved her very much. She asked about each person's situation one by one, until I was the youngest son. My parents were happy and suddenly their faces darkened. My second sister silently listened to everyone "complain" about me, her face very pensive. "Okay, everyone calm down, let me try to advise my brother" - my second sister replied.

During the time I was home, she found an excuse to take me out almost every day. Without mentioning my “crimes”, she gently confided in me, encouraging me to express all my feelings and grievances. After a month of living with her, my sadness seemed to lessen. Before we parted, seeing my sad face, she smiled, slipped me a small book and said: “I have a gift for you. Listen to me, read it carefully. After reading it, I guarantee you will stop being sad.”

That is the story “Overcoming the Long Night” by writer Minh Quan. The story is about a poor boy named Tam, who has to go with his mother to take out the trash every night. Looking at the children happily going to school, he secretly nurtured a burning desire: To go to school! That desire was so great that Tam once told himself: “If I could go to school (…) I would go even if it was flooded, let alone the rain!”. Like me, Tam also resented his father and mother, but unlike me, Tam resented… not being able to go to school. He did not understand that his parents were not at fault. The fault lay in fate, in adversity, in the endless deprivation of those who were “guilty of poverty”. When he lost his father forever, Tam was shocked to realize that no one loved him more than his parents. The awakening of love, combined with his love for learning, helped Tam have enough will, determination, and determination to overcome the dark “long night” of his life.

Closing the book, for the first time in my life, no one scolded me, but I still cried. I cried for my ignorance because I resented my parents. No matter how strict my father was, he still didn't become an alcoholic, or even commit many wrongdoings like Tam's father. My mother was certainly not as grumpy as Tam's mother. My family situation wasn't so difficult that I had to go with my mother to take out the trash every night to earn a living. The desire to go to school of the boy Tam in the story made my face turn pale with shame when I thought about how I was afraid of studying like I was afraid of... leprosy. While Tam declared that he was ready to go to school even when it was flooded, I, whenever it rained a little bit, would shrink my head and neck, making up all kinds of excuses not to go to school. Obviously, I had everything that the unfortunate boy Tam had to wish for during those "long nights" but I didn't know how to appreciate it. Realizing those things was not an easy thing for a child as immature as me at that time. However, thanks to the book that my second sister gave me, I realized how to live differently and reach a better future through hard work.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/mon-qua-cua-chi-hai-post318161.html