( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Rushing out of the classroom, the excited steps made it impossible for the children to walk in a straight line like usual. Friends held back, friends blocked the front to chatter and discuss the field trip that the homeroom teacher had just announced. As soon as she saw her mother, Nhi excitedly showed off:
- Mom! Our class is going on a field trip.
- Oh really? Where are you, daughter?
- At K9 Da Chong and Ba Vi white goat farm, Mom. Have you ever been there?
- Not yet. But I think I'll like it.
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Nhi held her mother's hand, skipping under the banyan tree. All along the way home, Nhi chirped like a little bird, occasionally hugging her mother tightly, her cheek pressed against her mother's back. Spring had come, the green fields of young rice had begun to take root. Flocks of sparrows flew in and perched on the electric poles, looking around at the children leaving school. The smell of mud wafted in the afternoon breeze, strangely peaceful. Herds of cows came down from the hills, their bellies full of grass, leisurely walking on the road. The sound of mother cows calling their children, the sound of buffaloes calling their calves echoed throughout the sky. As soon as Nhi got home, she ran around looking for everyone. Nhi bragged to her grandparents, "I'm going on a long trip soon." Before her grandparents could ask, Nhi ran over to pick up her little sister, kissing and cuddling her: "I'm going on a long trip with my teachers and friends. Does Nhi like any gifts so I can buy them? Don't worry, I have enough lucky money to buy you lots of nice toys." Seeing the dog wrapped around her leg, the cat meowed in the corner of the yard. Nhi also picked it up to announce the important news. Meow! Meow! The cat didn't understand anything, struggling to find a way to escape.
Throughout dinner until bedtime, Nhi could not stop thinking about her first trip. Lying under the blanket for a long time, Nhi suddenly whispered behind her mother:
- I have never been out of my hometown, Mom. When you were my age, did you get to go anywhere far?
- Back then, we were very poor. We just wanted enough food to eat and clothes to wear. After school, we herded buffaloes, caught crabs and snails. We never thought about leaving the bamboo fence of the village.
- Are you sad, mom?
- No, my child. Children back then found joy in poverty. If they couldn't walk, they could walk with their imagination through the pages of books that I read. And imagination is incredibly rich. You can go anywhere you want.
- So where did you go with your imagination?
- Sometimes I find myself drifting on the sea. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to be left on a deserted island. I imagine those journeys while lying down, half-asleep, listening to the sound of cows grazing nearby. Sometimes, after a sunny afternoon of catching crabs in the fields, I come ashore and lie under the shade of a creaking bamboo fence, falling asleep in my imaginary world . Go to sleep, my daughter. I believe that your upcoming trip will be full of fun.
- The teacher said parents can also sign up to go with me, Mom. Dad isn't home, so will you go with me? I want you to go with me wherever I go.
- If you want, I will arrange it. Let's go to sleep, it's very late.
The following days, Mom was busy working overtime at the factory. The industrial park was more than twenty kilometers away from home, so Mom was always busy leaving early and coming home late. There were days when she came home and saw her urging Nhi and her sisters to go to bed long ago. Early in the morning, Mom hurriedly got up to cook breakfast for the whole family and then went to work when Nhi had not yet woken up. Nhi's father worked all the way down in the city and only came home occasionally. Nhi and her sisters missed Dad very much, but they could only talk to each other on the phone every day. Dad often called during breaks. Nhi could see the hardship through the drops of sweat on Dad's face. Through the dry rice, Dad choked halfway through swallowing. But Dad was always smiling and asking if Nhim was being good at home? Was he eating well? Was Nhi happy at school? Who were Nhi's close friends in class? Nhi told Dad everything that happened in class. Even the time Nhi was punished by the teacher and had to change seats because she talked in class. The time when she failed the Vietnamese exam. There was a new student in the class who had just moved back from Hanoi . Lien had a difficult life, her father went to a camp, her mother abandoned her when she was young, she had to live with her old grandmother. On days when the weather changed and her grandmother was sick, no one took her to school. She was the worst student in the class, she couldn't even read many words. After listening to her story, the father kindly asked:
- Do you often play with Lien in class?
- No dad, because he is shy and doesn't talk much.
- In your friend's situation, you should be closer to him. Help him study to improve.
- Yes, Dad. Oh, but Dad, it seems like Lien is the only one in our class who didn't participate in this field trip. Maybe it's because her family is poor.
- I believe the teacher and the parents' association will find a way to solve it, son.
Nhi fell asleep with her friend's story. In her dream, Nhi saw her teacher holding her hand and getting into a green bus. The bus drifted along the shady trees and vast green fields. The whole class sang loudly together, the sunlight shining through the golden windows like sweet honey... The next morning, Nhi went to class to tell her friend about last night's dream, but the school bell rang. The teacher walked into the classroom, looking at all the students affectionately. Someone asked, "Teacher, when will the whole class go on an experience trip?" "Can I bring my puppy?" "Will we be able to milk the goats and drink their milk when we visit the goat farm?" "Will we be able to visit the area where Uncle Ho's body was previously preserved?" Nhi's arm wavered a few times before she boldly raised it: "Teacher, will Lien go with our whole class?"
That afternoon, after the students had finished eating and when they had fallen asleep, the teacher wrote a message to the class's Zalo group to discuss the field trip. As soon as she opened her mouth about Lien's case, many parents enthusiastically supported Lien to go on the field trip with her friends. The teacher sat quietly in the classroom, listening to the steady breathing of the little students, her heart filled with emotion. Gently pulling the blanket over the students, she smiled slightly as she looked out the window at the little sparrows also chirping gently in the classroom hallway.
That night Nhi was determined to stay up and wait for her mother to come home, even though she had urged her to go to bed several times. Lying still under the blanket, she listened to the sound of her mother's car slowing down and stopping at the gate. Her mother tried to walk very quietly into the room to check if Nhi and her sisters were asleep yet. When her mother was about to close the door and turn to leave, Nhi whispered:
- Are you home from work, mom?
- Oh! Why aren't you sleeping yet?
- Because I want to wait for you to come home to tell you some good news. Lien will go with the whole class, mom.
The mother smiled affectionately, kissed her little daughter on the forehead, and softly said:
- I know. Good night and sweet dreams. I'm going to take a bath too, it's not late.
Finally, Sunday morning came. Normally, the alarm clock rang loudly every morning, and grandma had to call Nhi over and over again, but Nhi refused to wake up. But today, probably because she was so nervous that she couldn't sleep, Nhi woke up before the rooster in the coop. She checked her small backpack several times to see if she was missing anything. The sneakers that her mother had washed and dried for several days had finally dried. Nhi looked outside several times, but the sky was still not bright. Grandma woke up and started chopping wood to start a fire to fry rice. Mom had finished some chores around the house. Nhi sat by the fire and asked if her grandmother had gone on her most recent trip with her grandfather. Had she ever met Uncle Ho? This time, I will visit Da Chong hill in Ba Vi, where Uncle Ho's stilt house used to rest. While we were chatting, mom urged:
“Get ready, it's already bright outside. We'll stop by to pick up Lien, okay?”
The car turned the bend of the forest road and saw the small figure of Lien waiting on the slope. Nhi shouted happily and waved to her friend from afar. The two children hugged each other as if they had not seen each other for a long time. During the journey, they talked about all kinds of things. What do the sparrows dream about? The grain of rice or the sky? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?... They laughed out loud, making the sparrows on the electric wire noisy. Then suddenly Nhi hugged her mother and asked:
- Mom! Can we wake up earlier every morning and pick up Lien to go to school together?
- Of course. But you two have to promise to go to bed early so you can wake up early tomorrow, okay?
- Agreed! Agreed.
The sound of children giggling and laughing melted the mother's heart. The slight chill of the fresh spring morning made the two children hug each other tighter. The school gate appeared before her eyes, a blue bus had been waiting for her for a long time. Nhi held her friend's hand and shouted softly: "Look, just like in my dream". Leaning on her mother's shoulder, Nhi watched the world outside pass by through the car window. There would be many other trips waiting for Nhi in the future. But she believed that she would never forget her first long trip filled with the laughter of teachers, friends and with her mother by her side...
VU THI HUYEN TRANG
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