Paper boat on a rainy day - Dak Lak Electronic Newspaper

08:14, October 8, 2023

You asked me how to fold a paper boat. I was startled, “frozen” for a few seconds and then realized that I had forgotten the image of a paper boat.

Back in the past, twenty years ago, my friends named me a “superstar”… of folding paper boats. You reminded me, smacking your lips in regret, missing my childhood so much. Every rainy season, you folded paper boats and let them fill the yard. Now, you want to recreate the old memories for yourself as well as for your children that their parents had a… fierce childhood. For no reason, I also miss my childhood so much.

I was born and raised in a peaceful countryside, where there was no dust on the streets, nor the loud honking of trains. In the 8X era, the Internet was not as popular as it is now, so we children played with the joy of creating our own. In the summer, we made kites, and in the rainy season, we meticulously floated paper boats for fun. I remember when it started to rain, my brothers and I ran into the house to find notebooks that had been written on or old newspapers to fold paper boats. Big and small boats of all sizes and designs were folded in advance, waiting for the rain to flood the yard and then brought out to float. I don't know how, but I was able to fold very "fighting" boats, with high technical requirements. The boats had sails with many layers and styles.

You recall the vast countryside yards. That place holds memories of your childhood. Especially the times of releasing paper boats in the rain. Living in the city, it is rare to see a couple of houses with a small yard. Children today are different from us. No one folds paper boats, forgetting to eat or sleep like us. No one is patient enough to sit at the edge of the yard for hours, waving their hands to let their paper boats float. The image of small boats following each other, bobbing from one end of the yard to the other, leaves you with so much happiness. You turn to whisper, wishing that back then there was a smartphone or a camera that could record those wonderful moments.

Illustration: Tra My

My memories always keep in me the fresh, sweet and cool rainy seasons. Then like a wanderer returning to an old place, I always miss my childhood. I don't know if there was some special belief, when I was ten years old I started writing my dreams on pieces of paper to prepare to fold kites with the hope that my dreams would come true. This child whispered to the other to follow suit in an innocent and naive way. We grew up with such pure beliefs. And that was also the luggage, the motivation for each of us to grow up day by day, escaping the life of the fields.

You whispered to me and asked if I wanted to learn how to fold paper boats again. Of course, I agreed immediately. The two of us prepared our tools, paper, scissors, and finally finished the paper boats. In the 4.0 era, folding paper boats is also simpler because if you don't understand something, just go online and look it up. Standing in front of the paper boats, a rainstorm happened to pass by, the two of us found the lowest place and started to release them. Suddenly, I felt like I was small again like in the old days and suddenly felt moved.

I suddenly felt so happy to have a beautiful childhood. A childhood that was not full of material things but was extremely peaceful with a beloved roof, with the rainy season and paper boats with dreams of spreading wings to fly far and wide.

Mai Hoang

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