Short story: Sea Lily

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - 1. Hue looked up at the deep night sky, his eyes following the twinkling stars that stretched on and on until they met the sea on the horizon. Hue exclaimed in his heart: "Oh my! There is a whole sky in the sea!". From the place where the sky and water met, the waves pushed the starlight into a giant, shimmering, undulating silver color, pushing and pushing towards the shore. Hue just sat there in the middle of the vast sand on the wheelchair, gently biting his lips, quietly savoring the familiar salty taste that had been with him since he was born. Hue gently bowed his head, tossed back a few strands of hair that were falling in front of his eyes, stretched, then brought his two hands to his mouth, cupped them together into the shape of a megaphone, and shouted: "O sea!". The small fishing village, on a small island, adrift in the middle of the endless ocean, had been familiar with Hue's helpless yet passionate call for decades. Everyone felt sorry for Hue, but they could only sigh and shake their heads in sympathy because they could not help Hue return to the sea.

MH: VO VAN

For Hue, the sea is home. At the age of fifteen or seventeen, Hue was already famous in the fishing village for his diving skills. He was like an otter, appearing and disappearing in the ocean. His father, at the age of sixty, was an old fisherman with a “copper body and iron skin”. To raise his five or six sons, born one year apart, who were growing up, he had to go out to sea regardless of whether the sea was calm or rough so that his children would not go hungry. Hue was the eldest child, and from a young age he followed his father to the sea to learn how to fish, catch squid, and catch sea cucumbers to make the most delicious food. Just like that, at the age of ten, he was familiar with every current in the unpredictable fishing grounds in the life of his father. Hue loved moonless and starry nights like tonight the most. Usually, after dinner, when it was just getting dark, his father's deep, stiff voice, typical of coastal people, urged: "Hue, let's go to sea, my child. There must be a lot of fish tonight!". After saying that, he put on a faded black shirt, tailored in the style of a ba ba, with a patch as big as a hand on his left shoulder, walked briskly and disappeared down the winding path on the island to the boat dock. Hue's mother muttered a sentence that was left unfinished: "I haven't had time to breathe yet...". Hue quickly took a sip of the herbal water and put on only a pair of shorts with a drawstring across the waist, reaching past the knees, tying the straps with both hands while running after her father, panting: "Dad! Wait for me, it's still early, Dad...". Regardless, the old man kept his face down and walked. Her father was Hue's pride, because everyone in the fishing village admired and admired his ability to predict the weather or the time of the seasonal fish flows. According to him, he would definitely bring home a big haul of fish. So Hue decided to drop out of school after finishing primary school to pursue a career as a fisherman.

2. Hue loves the freedom and openness of the sea. If he doesn't go out to sea for even one day, he feels lost and weightless. At the age of twenty, Hue was already an experienced fisherman. The sun and wind of the sea have made his skin dark and shiny, his chest muscular. His peers in the fishing village honor Hue as "handsome seahorse" because of his strength, determination and courage every time he goes to sea. Hue is quiet, every time he hears someone call him by that phrase, he just smiles and raises his index finger to signal thanks. As the eldest son, for people in the fishing village, getting married at the age of twenty and having children to continue the family business is normal. Therefore, his parents urge him every day and intend to choose a suitable girl for him. Hue doesn't object, but he says: "Parents, take it slow, I'll never be single again!" Hue knows he loves the sea very much, he's afraid of disappointing the girl who will be his wife, and besides, he's only twenty.

Hue could hold the sea in the palm of his hand to calculate his steps, but he could not foresee the risks of his life. Disaster struck when Hue was diving to catch sea cucumbers, a marine creature that lives at a depth of about seventy meters below the sea surface. The irony was that the sea gave him so much but suddenly took everything away from him. That night, after diving down and catching a sea cucumber weighing about four or five kilograms, he was strangely excited. Instead of following the rope of the person on the boat for about forty meters to stop and slowly regain the pressure balance before rising to the surface, relying on his youthful strength, Hue took a breath and had a stroke. Since that fateful night, Hue's legs were completely paralyzed, gradually atrophied and lost all feeling. From a strong young man, after a period of treatment at large and small hospitals, Hue returned to the fishing village on the small island with immobile legs. Ending his journey to conquer the sea, Hue fell into depression, starting a long series of days of boredom and pessimism when he had to stay inside four walls and his only joy was to stroke the smooth black fur of his dog Muc. Hue longed to go to the sea, to splash around in the white-capped waves, to stay up all night fishing for squid, especially catching sea cucumbers, sometimes he wanted to end his meaningless life immediately. But looking at his father who was over sixty years old and did not complain about the burden of the family, looking at his mother whose hair was getting grayer and grayer because of the hard life but still smiled to encourage him every time she woke up, looking at his younger siblings growing up day by day to follow their father to the sea, Hue could not bear to be cruel to them. "I weave this net for you, Dad, our net is too old and torn...", "At home, apply some otter oil to the bottom of the basket boat for Dad...", his father assigned him tasks every day. Hue realized that he was still useful, he still had his hands, he thought more positively and gradually regained his balance. The stories about the sea, about fish, about everything that happened on the small island, bustling during every family meal, gradually revived Hue. The waves seemed to have calmed down inside him. Every time Hue wove the net, Squid would either walk around him, skillfully wagging its long tail, or lie prostrate in front of him, looking up with its sparkling, wet eyes at the young master's hands. Hue looked at it and coaxed: "Don't leave me, okay?"

3. The border guard station on the island is not far from Hue's house. The island is small but it is a big family. Seeing the ironic situation of the young man who always considered the sea as his home, the brothers in the station took part of their salary to the mainland to buy Hue a wheelchair. The day Hue received the wheelchair, the whole island celebrated with a batch of grilled fish just caught from the sea, on the sandy beach connecting the waves, everyone was happy because Hue had a new pair of legs so he could go to the sea by himself whenever he missed the sea. Hue tearfully held the hand of the station chief Phan, looked towards the sea, feeling more confident when thinking about tomorrow. It only took a few days, the muscular hands of the otter boy from the past could control the two wheels of the wheelchair quite skillfully. Every early morning, when the sun covered the sea with gold, and at sunset, when the sun gradually touched the sea, following the only road, Hue stopped in front of the black rock beach, sat in the wheelchair and watched the sea from afar because Hue could not push the wheelchair on the sand, Squid wagged his tail and ran after her. Hue took a deep breath of the strong scent of the wind, each time she did so, her heart felt indescribably excited, she wanted to touch the sand, to scoop up some seawater and splash it on her face to feel the taste of the sea more clearly. The howl of Muc mixed with the sound of the waves created a lively harmony deep, deep in Hue's soul. He smiled, opened his wide arms to hug Muc, and rubbed his face into its silky black neck fur like a child. Then, Muc also left him and went away. Hue told herself: "I have to practice pushing the cart on the sand. Muc, I will try for you. Remember to cheer me on!" And, Hue did it.

4. Hue's life has also changed since many people came to visit the island. His father bought him a tuk tuk with three rows of seats to make a living. He is a special driver, only knowing how to drive and sit in the car even when picking up and dropping off passengers. Tourists have never seen Hue get out of the car to warmly invite passengers, but only turn to them with a gentle smile. Many people wonder, but through the stories of the islanders, understanding his situation, they all enthusiastically support Hue, and the people who provide tuk tuk services on the island always give him favor. It seems that no one wants him to be sad. Hue understands that and he silently thanks life for making up for him. The sea is still blue, the waves still hug the sandy shore. The singing of the girls on the late afternoon bus this afternoon seems to still linger and echo in Hue's ears.

Hue had no private happiness, but he opened up a vast world of happiness for himself every time he returned to the sea. Tonight, the sea was calm, the sea welcomed him with cool breezes and a sky of sparkling stars in the endless ocean. On the way back home, Hue was not in a hurry, he stopped to sit for a while under the canopy of a single-headed maple tree on the island, he seemed to take in the vast space where the sky and water met in the depths of his eyes. "There is no dead end, if we dare to move forward!", Hue thought. And, on the small island, for decades, in the midst of that vast ocean, there was a "Sea Lily" flower, despite the storms that befell its life, still giving the sea an unconditional love...

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