Silent Spring - Short story contest by Hoai Nam (Hanoi)

A light drizzle began to fall, a light drizzle, not a torrential downpour, but so persistent, it made her pain heavier, more painful at intervals, sometimes so harsh as to tear everything in this world apart. Is there any pain greater than the pain of losing your child, is there any other pain equal to witnessing your child disappear and disappear. Her face became thinner, this loneliness and immense pain kept clinging to her. She sat absent-mindedly in front of her child's portrait, muttering prayers for her child's soul, hoping that he would no longer be tied to anything in this world, she prayed for her child.

Illustration

Spring brought her a beautiful son like Kien, and also took Kien away from her life. From a newborn life, she cried out in happiness when she became a mother, and now she was broken... She cried out for her son's soul, where was he? Her Kien was such a beautiful child, there was no reason for God to take him away. If so, it would be a mistake, a huge mistake of creation.

Kien is the precious gift that she has, the last gift and legacy that her husband left behind. Her husband was a sailor, he died in a storm at sea. Her mother said that a fortune teller said that her fate was similar to her husband's, so she is haunted by her mother's words until now, when he passed away, she began to believe in her own fate. She felt sorry for the unlucky man who married her, and they would also die young, so many matchmakers arranged marriages for her, but she had to stay single to raise her children, choosing a pure, noble, simple and kind life.

Twenty-one years ago, her son, a twenty-one-year-old university student majoring in architecture, died in a traffic accident. The news hit her like a bolt from the blue. He was doing charity work, giving small gifts to homeless people in the middle of the night near Tet. Kien told her several times that in his life, he wanted to do all 100 things he needed to do before he died. At that time, she scolded him.

- Shut your mouth. No one wants to talk about death, even though it's inevitable.

The child was hit by a seven-seater car, the driver was a drunk, drunkenness blurred the will, drunkenness corrupted people. She had always been suspicious of the unexpected events of that day, in the morning she broke a glass cup, in the afternoon when she was cutting vegetables for the chicken she cut her hand and it bled. She blamed herself, there were always signs reminding her, but how could she not pay attention. When she arrived, the child had been taken to the hospital by friends in the group, breathing weakly, the doctor said the child could only last no more than two days, because the area of ​​the child's brain was seriously damaged, the glasses the child was wearing were broken. She beat her chest, blaming herself, she should have left the child by her side, how many times she had thought that even if she had to raise the child for the rest of her life, it would be fine, as long as the child did not go too far. At first, when my child got into university, so many chaos kept dancing in my head, but people are not born to be protected, but to live together, rub against each other, integrate and grow up. Keeping my child by my side can sometimes be selfish and cruel.

She hugged her son's things and cried, a backpack with a few books, a box of drawing paper, he would graduate in one more semester. Loving his mother, Kien never asked for anything, from the age of four or five, he was independent, knew how to help his mother with the simplest things, did not cry and throw tantrums, he was as good as a puppy. She hugged her son's still warm coat, the flower he embroidered himself to cover the torn part of the coat. That was the coat she sewed for him when he went to university, the coat was not too beautiful, could not compare to the coats she sewed when she was a girl. In his coat pocket, there was a small wallet, the bag smelled of honey grass. He still loved this honey grass smell so much that he always hid it in his wallet like this. A photo of the two of them taken at the university gate. The smile was exactly like her husband's, so gentle and innocent. That gentle nature actually made her worried, worried that Kien would be bullied. But Kien never bothered her about anything.

Along with the pain, people look for a reasonable reason to blame for their pain. She saw the driver and felt hatred. Why did he do that to her and her child? They had suffered enough. He bowed his head in silence, and that silence broke her. He should have been cruel and cold so that she could hate him for the rest of her life. She rushed forward and scratched his face a few times. Scratched until it was all gone. She collapsed. But what did she get?

Her son's whole body was pale and motionless, making her heart ache. His condition was getting worse and worse, more than a day had passed, it seemed like there were only false hopes left. In her most desperate moment, she hugged her son's diary, his handwriting was soft and flowing, how many grievances he had written in it, she thought he was living a good life, but it turned out not to be so. Why did he always hide his pain and endure it alone like that. She saw her son's bucket list, things to do before he died, so many hopes for a different future, those innocent and pristine dreams, she noticed how many of her dreams there were. Yet he knew and wrote them down. Then she saw the last of them, he wanted to donate his organs after he died or was brain dead. At first, she didn't think much of it, but then she remembered one late night, when mother and son were sitting cutting thread for a sewing factory near their house, Kien said that he wanted to live a brilliant and meaningful life...

The nurse's voice seemed to interrupt her thoughts. The doctor said that the chance of survival was very small, and the journey was too long, and if he did survive, her son would most likely become brain dead, so she should prepare herself for the future.

She was absent-minded, the moment had come when the pain inside her festered. Why was life so unfair, she wandered around the hospital, tears streaming down her high, rugged cheeks. She sat on a stone bench, empty, as if she had lost all her soul. Only when she heard the cry of the person sitting next to her, did she wake up and return to reality. Next to her was also a mother, a mother who waited day by day for the death of her child, her child had heart failure... Then she remembered Kien's last wish. She didn't want her child to suffer anymore, that was enough for her child. But how could she bear it, the body of a living being that had grown up inside her, she remembered the image of her little son running around playing with the cat in the garden. He smiled broadly when he watched a dragonfly perched on a pot of ginseng flowers... Oh my, how loving. How could she have the courage to do that now.

For several days she had not eaten or drunk. There was no one by her side, she was filled with resentment. If she did not do it right away, she was afraid she would give up. She wanted to help her son fulfill his last wish, at least a part of him would still exist in this life and save someone who was getting weaker every day. And the result was that his heart, his kidneys, his corneas all found new owners. It turned out that there were so many people still waiting for organ transplants.

Now, she held her child in her arms, still warm, the once small hand placed on hers, the small mouth still babbling. In this world, no one wants to die while still a virgin, the pain is immense, heartbreaking and endless.

She stood in front of the crematorium, watching the black smoke billowing into the sky, beginning an adventure in another sky. Another person she loved had left her, leaving her alone. She brought Kien home, the house that had been waiting for Kien to come home for Tet.

- Kien, mom is taking you home.

Unconsciously, it had been a long time since she had called Kien that, since Kien finished eighth grade, when he entered his teenage years. The time she realized that Kien was shy when she called him that in front of her best friend. The cats and dogs were inseparable when they saw her coming home, half of these cats and dogs were adopted by Kien, her son also participated in rescuing homeless cats and dogs, so many of his dreams had not come true.

- When you're gone, the birds will miss you so much. And these cats and dogs will never be happy again.

She placed Kien's urn on the altar and prepared to clean the house. Before she could clean, a few neighbors came to visit. She didn't know if she should believe her ears or not, when someone said that she should have left her son intact... The sounds around her became chaotic, the voices of people became noisy and disturbing. Ignoring them in the small house, she went to the pond behind the house to get some duckweed for the chickens and ducks. She worked hard to get the duckweed but she was absent-minded. She fell into the small pond, a few people came to help her up but she refused them all. She sat on the edge of the pond sobbing, the chickens and ducks had no meaning anymore. This Tet, there was no longer a flesh and blood Kien to wait for.

Spring, Tet came, the murmuring of the neighbors' reunion made her sad, the pain no longer festered but began to destroy silently. Alone by the fire, she suddenly heard a strange noise outside the door, a strange young man walked in. Strangely, the dogs did not bark, the geese did not quack in alarm.

He went to find the person who gave him a heart.

Emotions surged, tears flowed uncontrollably. Her child's heart was still beating in this world, it was not meaningless to bring life to others. She cried her heart out. Outside, a gentle wind blew, the thin peach blossom petals flew down to the river in front of the house, would they follow the current and flow to the sea, back to the ocean?

Rules

Live beautifully with total prizes up to 448 million VND

With the theme Loving Heart, Warm Hands, the 3rd Beautiful Life contest is an attractive playground for young content creators. By contributing works expressed through various forms such as articles, photos, videos ... with positive content, full of emotions and attractive, vivid presentation suitable for different platforms of Thanh Nien Newspaper.

Submission period: April 21 - October 31, 2023. In addition to the forms of memoirs, reports, notes, and short stories, this year the contest has expanded to include photos and videos on YouTube.

The 3rd Beautiful Living Contest of Thanh Nien Newspaper highlights community projects, volunteer journeys, good deeds of individuals, entrepreneurs, groups, companies, enterprises in society and especially young people in the current Gen Z generation, so there should be a separate contest category sponsored by ActionCOACH Vietnam. The appearance of guests who own works of art, literature, and young artists loved by young people also helps the theme of the contest spread strongly, creating sympathy among young people.

About the contest entries: Authors can participate in the form of memoirs, reports, notes, reflecting real stories, real events and must have accompanying character images. The article must express the content about a character/group that has taken beautiful, practical actions to help individuals/communities, spreading warm, humane stories, optimistic and positive living spirit. As for short stories, the content can be composed from real or fictional stories, characters, events... of beautiful living. The contest entries must be written in Vietnamese (or English for foreigners, the organizers will take care of the translation) no more than 1,600 words (short stories no more than 2,500 words).

About the prize: The contest has a total prize value of nearly 450 million VND.

In the category of articles, reports, and notes, there are: 1 first prize: worth 30,000,000 VND; 2 second prizes: each worth 15,000,000 VND; 3 third prizes: each worth 10,000,000 VND; 5 consolation prizes: each worth 3,000,000 VND.

1 prize for the article most loved by readers (including views and likes on Thanh Nien Online): worth 5,000,000 VND.

For the short story category: Prizes for authors with short stories participating in the contest: 1 first prize: worth 30,000,000 VND; 1 second prize: worth 20,000,000 VND; 2 third prizes: each worth 10,000,000 VND; 4 consolation prizes: each worth 5,000,000 VND.

The Organizing Committee also awarded 1 prize to the author with an article about entrepreneurs living beautifully: worth 10,000,000 VND and 1 prize to the author with an outstanding charity project of a group/collective/enterprise: worth 10,000,000 VND.

In particular, the organizing committee will select 5 honored characters voted by the organizing committee: award 30,000,000 VND/case; along with many other prizes.

Articles, photos and videos to participate in the contest, readers send to the address: songdep2023@thanhnien.vn or by post (Only applicable for the Article and Short Story contest categories): Thanh Nien Newspaper Editorial Office: 268 - 270 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City (clearly write on the envelope: Works participating in the 3rd LIVING BEAUTIFULLY contest - 2023). Detailed information and rules are posted on the Living Beautifully page of Thanh Nien Newspaper.

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