Looking back at the old days

In the last month of the year, the weather turns cold. Winter makes city life a little less noisy, and much more tranquil.

Illustration: DANG HONG QUAN

The cold winds sweeping through the city made everyone want to wake up a few seconds later, walk a few minutes slower, and linger over any remaining warmth. The streets, therefore, became less bustling.

1. I stood on the balcony looking down at the street, stretching in the early morning sun, greedily inhaling the slightly cool air of the changing season, and suddenly felt my chest filled with memories of days gone by.

On those chilly days, before even opening my eyes I would hear my mother calling me to wake up for school in the morning, the bustling sounds of cooking in the kitchen from my father, or the sound of my grandmother tilling the soil to plant vegetable beds in preparation for Tet (Lunar New Year). Stepping out into the garden to hear those sounds of labor, I would see the chickens clucking and leading their chicks to forage early in the morning. The rooster, with its reddish-purple feathers, flapped its wings and crowed loudly, shattering the tranquil silence...

For a moment, I withdrew my hand, composed myself, and looked down at the bustling street. On a chilly morning in the heart of the city, I suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia, as if hearing the sound of a rooster crowing from the past...

2. It was the sound of chickens in the small annex of the house. The place where my grandmother, my parents, and those times I racked my brains over essay assignments. Most houses in the rural areas of Central Vietnam had small gardens, a few chickens, and two or three dogs. My elementary school years passed by in a colorful tapestry filled with textbooks and family memories.

There were times I secretly peeked at the solutions at the back of my 5th-grade math textbook and got caught and scolded by my dad. There were times I had to sneakily hug a rooster figurine on my desk and observe it all night while writing an essay because the prompt was "describe a rooster."

The rooster was raised by my mother from the moment it hatched from the egg. Who would have thought that the always arrogant, cocky rooster would meekly stand still on the table while I described it? The rooster, forced to stay awake all night and miss its morning crow, was rescued when my mother gave me a good beating.

On some days when it rained heavily, the rooster would spread his wings wide. He would shelter the hens and the little balls of fluff that had just hatched. His body would be soaked, his comb drooping and askew, but his posture would remain upright, his wings still outstretched.

For some reason, I suddenly thought of men like my father, like my uncle... Men who endured the harsh weather, using their calloused hands to build a shelter from storms for their families. Men who always sacrificed without complaint...

3. The day my father died at sea, it was the first time I woke up to the sound of a rooster crowing. The crowing couldn't rouse me from a nightmare. Those mournful crows marked the beginning of a new day, a farewell.

On the day of the burial, according to custom, my uncle carried a rooster. He walked around the grave a few times, muttering prayers softly, then released the rooster onto the mound of earth. He said it would guide my father's spirit back home. The rooster wandered around the grave a few more steps, then lay down beside the newly erected headstone.

It looked at me, but didn't follow me home. My uncle said it had to stay here until the day the tomb opens. I looked at it, then at the raised mound of earth, my heart aching with sorrow.

In the silence, I heard the sound of a rooster again. The rooster next to my essay writing practice was the same rooster next to my father's grave. It could no longer spread its wings to shield its chicks from the rain. Those fluffy little balls of fluff had grown into sturdy chickens.

They inherited life from their father, just as brave and proud. They spread their now-wide wings to protect their younger siblings and their mother hen.

Outside, even the winter feels warmer, evoking memories of days gone by...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhin-nhung-ngay-xua-cu-20241222095205653.htm