Remember the Royal Poinciana season

Illustration (AI)

On weekends, I take my camera and wander around the familiar streets of the city, looking for interesting moments in everyday life. Today is a cool day after a series of hot days. Sipping a glass of iced tea after an afternoon wandering through many street corners, I accidentally hear the melody of the song "Color of Royal Poinciana Shirt" somewhere: "The sound of cicadas sobbing, summer is here! In front of the school yard today, you and I... Looking at each other, speechless, tomorrow we will be far apart, surely the moment of separation will not be happy!"

How fast! Summer has come! I gently closed my eyes to feel more clearly the sound of cicadas starting to chirp in a summer chorus under the rows of royal poinciana trees, signaling a long summer vacation for the students is coming, which is also the moment when we say goodbye together with regret and sadness of the last days of school. Somewhere, I seem to hear the laughter of my old friends and the lectures of my teachers, and the sound of drums "tung tung" resounding in the corner of the school yard.

Mrs. Nga’s tea shop is my favorite destination whenever I need to relax after stressful working hours. Not only does it help me recharge my batteries, it also gives me peaceful moments when I can immerse myself in the surrounding space, admire the colorful bougainvillea trellis and the fresh rose pots that she takes care of every day. In particular, the tea shop is located right under the canopy of an ancient royal poinciana tree, like a green umbrella that provides shade every time I visit.

Sitting under the tree, looking up at the sky, I could not seem to see the clear blue clouds but only saw through the lush green leaves of the royal poinciana and the bright red of the butterfly-like flower clusters. Suddenly I remembered the story about this flower that my mother once told me: “In the past, when the earth was still cold, the Jade Emperor sent his children to the earth to warm all living things. But his children were threatened by evil people, so the Jade Emperor chose the royal poinciana tree to hang the Sun, the poinciana is where his children reside.”

Bending down and picking up a few royal poinciana petals, gazing at them in a daze, my heart suddenly filled with endless regret. I remembered that place - the school I attended with so many sad and happy memories . The dreamy memories of those days had the image of chalk dust falling on the podium, the silver hair of the teachers and the green heads of the little students diligently taking notes. That was the place that gave wings to the dreams of my beloved fairy age, carrying so many desires and hopes, a place that no matter where I was, when I saw the red season of royal poinciana, I would remember it as a wonderful memory of my childhood.

It has been nearly ten years since I left my innocent, mischievous student days, the "most mischievous, second most evil" age, gone are the days of forgetting notebooks, not memorizing old lessons, and getting my white shirt stained with ink... I now live in the hustle and bustle of life with worries about food, clothes, rice, and money. Maybe for many people, summer is just one of the four seasons of the year, not carrying any special meaning, but I secretly think that those who have gone through the time of white shirts cannot help but have feelings and moods every time summer comes with the sound of cicadas, the blooming of royal poincianas, and deep in the soul, I still eagerly await... Like me, right now!

I remember every summer morning, I cycled on the road to school filled with red phoenix flowers. Occasionally, a few phoenix flowers fell down, anchoring in the basket of my bicycle to accompany me to class. Many times, I imagined myself as a princess lost in a beautiful and romantic scene. The phoenix flowers were a vibrant red, making my heart flutter. Many times, on the way home from school in the harsh sunlight of noon, we students quietly cycled, quickly wiping away the sweat rolling down our dirty faces and listening to the clear sounds of cicadas, the rustling wind, watching the beautiful road dyed in bright red. Those phoenix flowers still glowed red as if silently giving strength to the white dresses still carefreely fluttering in the sun.

In high school, Tung was my best friend. He was the best student in class, had a gentle face and a rather shy personality. Tung liked Lan with her funny ponytail since grade 10. Because he was shy, year after year, he kept that feeling to himself. Time passed quickly, exam season was coming. During recess, standing on the floor admiring the clusters of bright red phoenix flowers that seemed to want to decorate the school with the beauty of summer, I nudged Tung's shoulder and asked softly: "Exam season is the season of separation. If you don't tell me, Lan won't know about your feelings." Tung sighed softly.

There was a bit of sadness deep in the eyes, lingering feelings of love that I didn’t dare to put into words: “I don’t dare say it”. To help that pure, beginningless, and unending feeling, with the responsibility of a close friend and advisor, I said: “What girl doesn’t like flowers? It’s the season of beautiful royal poinciana flowers, why don’t you give her Lan?”…

Looking at my friend's shy face, I shook my head in disappointment and decided to do it myself. After school, I stopped by the Royal Poinciana trees near my house and climbed to pick the most beautiful bunch of flowers. Although I was a girl, climbing didn't scare me. I rushed to Tung's house, gave him the bunch of flowers, smiled, and discussed the plan to surprise the girl of his dreams. I didn't know what was written in the notebook Tung gave Lan, but the next morning, when I received the bunch of Royal Poinciana flowers and a small gift with pressed petals in the drawer, I saw Lan smiling.

In my senior year, I bought myself a beautiful purple scrapbook with the royal poinciana petals pressed by me, and placed it next to the purple ink notes of my close friends. The branches of flowers of our separation were always bright and sparkling in the sunlight, just like our souls at that time, always innocent and mischievous. I wanted to press the memories into red royal poinciana petals, but now, every time I open that scrapbook, I have to be gentle and careful so as not to break the petals of those memories… A sky full of my memories!

Linh Chau

Source: https://baolongan.vn/nho-mua-hoa-phuong-a194926.html