When she first came here to work, at night, she often stood on the upper floor of the dormitory looking down at the street, the street in the night was like a thin thread, occasionally a streak of light appeared and then disappeared - it was the weak light of a night car in the misty mountains and forests. Looking up at the sky, she saw falling stars in the dark, silent space. Graduating from the university of education with honors, she happily believed that she would go anywhere to teach, would bring what she had learned in the classroom to continue writing the dreams of young children. At the age of twenty-two with many aspirations, she confidently wrote an application to go to the highlands to work at a boarding school for ethnic minorities.
The new school was built under a government project, located on a high hill, separate from the village. The teachers were all elderly, each with their own concerns, and they were willing to stay because they loved their students. Some had been in the village for ten years, and when they received the decision to move to the city, they were filled with joy but could not bear to leave the place where they had spent most of their youth, so they refused to go to a more favorable area. She had been here for almost seven years, and had also fallen in love with a few boys, making all kinds of promises; then their lives were broken because no one could bear that the girl they loved would accept living in a remote and isolated place. In just a moment, she was already approaching her thirties.
For the past four months, she has been searching and waiting, only to feel disappointed. The boy with big black eyes, a warm voice, and a worldly appearance has kept her awake. She waited for him but couldn't find him. She looked for him to return the watch he left behind before leaving. She went to his office several times, and the person on duty explained: "They only have a meeting once a month and then leave right away because the area is large, with many communes near the border, so they have to be on duty regularly. He lives on top of Pu Xai, eighty kilometers away from the main office, high and far away, with no phone signal. If you have any message, write a note and leave it, next month when he comes to the meeting, they will give it to him."
- I didn't text him anything. I just wanted to see him to return the watch. It has the letter H engraved on it, probably a keepsake from someone.
- No, H. is the abbreviation of his name. Mr. Hiep.
She insisted on sending the watch back. And left her phone number.
But about a month later, the person on duty called her up again.
- After the meeting, Mr. Hiep went straight to the base because this season is hot and prone to forest fires, so we have to check regularly. He asked me to give you the watch and wished you good health.
Seeing her still standing hesitantly in front of the agency gate, not wanting to leave, the man said sympathetically:
If we are meant to be, we will definitely meet, girl.
She did not believe in fate. Suddenly, a feeling of disappointment welled up in her heart. That boy with big black eyes and a small, scholarly figure did not look for her, did not call her even once to thank the person who saved his life or at least take the time to meet and say five or three things as usual to make things clear. Could it be that he was that heartless and ungrateful? Not really, because she believed in her feelings. People who dare to choose arduous work often have a warm soul.
And you? What made you leave the city with a leisurely office job to go to the mountains and forests, patrolling the border all year round, living in a place without phone signal and with few entertainment options like this. If it wasn't to escape the past, you must have been very passionate about the nature or the people here. Being a forest protection officer is not an easy job.
The fate between her and him. It was an afternoon, when the whole school went home for the weekend. The teachers' dormitory had a power outage. She followed the familiar path behind the school to the forest to pick wild fern for dinner. When she first came here, she had no idea that there were many types of wild vegetables that could be eaten in the forest instead of the morning glory, amaranth, sweet potato, Malabar spinach... that were grown in the school garden. On the day off, she followed the locals into the forest to pick bamboo shoots, pick wild fern, bitter greens, wild eggplant, wild banana flowers, pick chestnuts, pick mac cop fruit, wild rambutan...; her legs were used to climbing the slopes, and her shoulders carried the basket without feeling tired.
It was still early so she walked further, the deeper she went into the forest, the cooler the air; the cold mist blew on her face, a very pleasant feeling. In the forest, in the afternoon, the temperature dropped, so when going out, she often had to bring an extra coat. The space was very quiet, only occasionally disturbed by the clear call of a bird calling for its flock. She knew every turn of the forest so she boldly went to the edge of the stream, where the most fern grew. When the basket on her back was full of young green shoots, she put it down and sat down to rest by the stream. The stream water was so cool that it seemed as if it could reflect its reflection.
The sound of someone groaning behind the rock made her jump. A feeling of fear and horror ran down her spine. She threw her basket and ran away. The groans gradually faded, weak, she had to stop and listen, it seemed like there was only one person, a man. Who? Or someone from the village who went hunting and fell from that mountain? Or someone who was being retaliated against, beaten and thrown into the forest? Well, anyone was fine, as long as they were still alive. She calmed herself down and tiptoed closer to the rock where the groans came from, gently and cautiously.
He lay there, blood still seeping from his pants, mixed with the water flowing back from the rock crevice, red and murky like crab bricks.
Seeing him wearing the uniform of the forest protection team, she felt secure and walked over.
She shook and called:
- Hey, what's up?
The man slowly opened his eyes. She didn't dare to look at his face for long, which was covered in bruises and scratches from falling from a great height and being torn by rocks and grass. His teeth were clenched tightly to keep from making a sound, probably because of the pain.
She didn’t know how she managed to carry the boy from the creek bank to the school gate, a distance of about two kilometers, along the rocky slope mixed with weeds. She also carried his basket full of vegetables, backpack, knife and water bottle. The afternoon was cold, but she could feel sweat dripping down her cheeks, her heart pounding unsteadily. It was dark when they got back to school. No one had time to ask her where she had met him. The teachers helped him in, treated the wounds on his face and body, then took him by motorbike to the district hospital.
After they left, she poured out the vegetables in her basket to cook dinner and saw the watch among the wild vegetables. She picked it up to look at it. It was a platinum watch, quite heavy, and new. She looked more closely. The inside of the watch had the letter H engraved on it. She remembered that the boy was probably the same age as her. Perhaps this was a gift from his lover, so his name was engraved as a keepsake. She must find him to return it, she thought.
She accidentally found him on Facebook. It was exactly that guy, she recognized him right away. The same bright smiling eyes, pale white skin, neat crew cut hair, meeting him once made people not easily forget. But he was walking with another girl on his wedding day.
Hearing from the person on duty at his office that his mother suddenly fell ill, he hastily transferred to the city, and only a month later he got married. It seems he only met her a few times. He got married to reassure his mother, but he still had deep feelings for the mountains. Hiep rarely shared his personal life with his colleagues. I heard that he was a prodigal son when he was a student, so after graduating from university, he left the city for the mountains to cultivate his mind and character. In general, he is a family man. That's what I think.
After a brief conversation with the man on duty, she learned that the day of the accident was the day he was on patrol. Normally, each group had two people, but that day was the weekend, and his colleague had an urgent matter and asked for leave. He was on duty alone, crossing the forest in the midst of a fierce hailstorm. He slipped and fell down the mountain, injured, lost a lot of blood, and broke his right leg, so he lay motionless in the ravine. That fateful afternoon, she met and saved him.
She took off the watch and put it in the box as a keepsake. In the silence of the mountains and forests, standing from a high floor, she saw a star suddenly fall on the mountain top.
According to Short Story by BAO PHUC (NLDO)
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/sao-roi-tren-nui-post325930.html
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