( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Dung walked back from the river. The road was rocky and rugged. His raincoat flapped and tore, water seeped into his cold body. Dung stepped onto the porch, his lips turning purple, trying to look towards the riverbank before slamming the door shut. It was only four o'clock in the afternoon but it was already dark. Rain was everywhere. The mountain wind blew through the valley in gusts. It was a habit, every time it rained heavily, there was a power outage, no phone, and the funniest thing was no water. Where was the water pipe from the mountain? I don't know why it got clogged every time it rained heavily. Dung groped under the bed to find a bucket to catch the water. Chi said: "Dung, go wash your clothes and eat. I told you, heavy rain, big flood, no one will row a boat across the river. It will stop raining tonight, we can only go tomorrow morning. We're going too."
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| MH: VO VAN |
Dung grunted without saying anything, turned on the light. The wind blew through the window, swaying the light, and Chi's shadow swayed on the wall. She was grading papers. Hanh and Thuy had already covered themselves with blankets. The rice was still hot. Dung ate quickly. The young jackfruit soup with betel leaves was so fragrant, Dung liked this dish the most. When he first came here, Dung asked his students to pick betel leaves for him. Students in the highlands loved to be asked by their teachers, so they fought over them. That day, Dung had to use a bag to carry the betel leaves, but a few days later he had to throw them away! Outside, the wind was getting stronger, accompanied by downpours that seemed to tilt the sky.
Although it was very fragile, Dung still hoped to be in time for Trang's wedding, at least by ten o'clock tomorrow morning Dung would be in town. From Tra Phu ferry to Trang's house was seventy kilometers, a few hours by car, nothing much. Unfortunately, it was flood season, the water was too strong, it was impossible to cross the river. The teachers' council had already received Trang's invitation, but they also went to the riverbank to look at the water and then turned back. Dung was very restless. When Trang gave the invitation, she said: "Dung, try to listen to me". Dung laughed: "You keep calling me em, it's not okay". Actually, Dung was not younger than Trang. They were the same age, but Trang graduated from the 25th class of the Pedagogical College, while Dung graduated from the 26th class. Trang's tone was condescending: "I'm the senior, Dung has to call me chi, you hear?" Looking at Dung's face, Trang said it wasn't too much. Being the son of a well-off family, Dung could not hide his "rich kid" nature. On the first day of school, when stepping out of the basket and onto the shore, everyone took off their sandals. Dung left his shoes on and dug his feet into the mud. Sister Thuy said: "Take off your shoes, if a leech gets in, you'll know." Dung jumped up: "Are there leeches?" Dung pulled his legs up, took off his shoes and waved them around. From the riverbank to the school, about two kilometers! Two kilometers of walking. The steep and winding road, sometimes crossing streams, sometimes along hillsides, the edge of forests, and dense trees. Dung walked with his feet for a while until he heard blood. It hurt so much! Dung sat down on the grass bank, examining his feet. "Hey, watch out for leeches." Dung quickly stood up. Two leeches were clinging to his shirt. "Let me catch them for you," Trang said, reaching out to remove them. The leeches were slippery, soft, and stuck tightly, making it very difficult to remove them. Dung's face was pale, his smile was crooked. Dung suddenly felt something strong and determined about Trang. But after all, Trang was a girl. Because she studied a year ahead, she can't call me "em". Dung will definitely call me "Trang", call me "em". Dung thought to himself.
Seeing Dung's fear of leeches and leeches, Ms. Thuy laughed heartily. She said: "You will get used to it. Ms. Thuy, Ms. Chi, and Hanh are all from here, Tra Phu, so those things are not strange to them. Tra Phu is only separated from Tra Giang by a river. Dung and Trang are new soldiers. Trang is a girl but strong. Dung is a boy but weak." The primary school's teachers are all female. Ms. Thuy is the principal. The school has just opened a new sixth grade class. Theeducation department has hired two middle school teachers. Trang teaches social studies. Dung teaches natural sciences. Dung is the only male so he is exempted from cooking. But Trang assigned Dung to collect firewood and vegetables. There is no need to worry about vegetables here.
Young jackfruit, Malabar spinach, and jute. But what to cook with? During flood days, no one can go to the market. There is only fish sauce here. Fish sauce is the only one. If you want to eat fish sauce, it means crossing the river. The river is too vast during flood season. So what can you do to improve yourself?
It has been raining recently. After harvesting, the terraced fields are full of water. Dung followed his students to cast nets. It was very interesting, the nets were just thin bamboo pieces woven together, with a stem at both ends. There was no bait or fat, but when dropped into the water, the fish liked to crawl into them. It was the first rain of the season, the fish came to the fields to spawn. Dung followed his students from one field to another. There were days when he came back at eight or nine o'clock at night, soaked and shivering, Dung threw the string of fish into the pot and said to Trang: "I'll leave it to you". While preparing the lesson, Trang looked up: "Okay, leave it to me, change your clothes or you'll catch a cold".
Dung lit the stove, warming his pale hands over the dancing flames. Trang felt sorry for Dung. The room was divided into three parts. The last part was the kitchen, the middle was the female teacher's sleeping area, and the outermost part was a table for dining, preparing lessons, and receiving guests. Ms. Thuy jokingly called it the "multi-function room". Now there was Dung's bed. The bed was carried from the other side of the river, temporarily borrowed from Ms. Chi and her husband. Ms. Chi's husband worked as an accountant for the commune committee. At night, he slept in the office. Trang slept with Ms. Chi. She was pregnant, her belly was already bulging. As the name suggested, Dung was the youngest, then Trang, then Hanh, Ms. Thuy, and Ms. Chi... Dung was half resigned, half in resistance. When he came home late from fishing, wet all over, Dung had a fever and was groaning loudly. In the morning, Trang went into the village, picked a pot of leaves to steam, and asked the villagers for a chicken egg. Trang didn't know where she learned this remedy, but it seemed effective. Trang said: "Dung, go to bed, cover yourself with a blanket. Here is some essential oil, put a few drops in the pot of leaves. Here is a towel to wipe your sweat." Trang made Dung lie face down, then peeled the hot egg shell, Trang rolled back and forth on his back. Dung cried out in pain, gritted his teeth, tears flowed, sniffed but did not dare to move. At first, Dung felt his ears burning, a little strange feeling when a woman's hand touched him. Trang also felt it but tried to act serious: "Lie still, general; otherwise I will kill you, you must endure it." Dung was as obedient as a child.
In the afternoon, Dung felt lighter, his head pain lessened, and he was completely fine the next morning. Dung silently thanked Trang, but didn't know how to say it properly. If only Trang hadn't cooked the pot of leaves for the steam bath that day... But it was because she assigned him to do it, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have gotten water poisoning. Although he said that, deep down, Dung had a special feeling for Trang. Dung realized that Trang's hand had a magical warmth. Dung felt like there was something fragile and smoky. His mouth kept calling her sister, but his heart didn't want it at all. This afternoon, he went to the riverbank and watched the water flow noisily. The water splashed and foamed against the bushes and rocks. The water swirled and carried away the trash, but it didn't wash away Dung's heavy heart.
After more than a year of teaching with Trang, Dung realized that Trang was strong, straightforward and decisive. Trang was cheerful and innocent but also very serious. Many moonlit nights, wandering to the riverbank and sitting on the rocks, Dung seemed to want to say something but stopped. Dung was afraid that everything would burst. The faint scent of the forest, and the scent of Trang's hair, the two of them quietly walked through the alluvial land. The soft, modest water of the dry season still flowed passionately in the riverbed. The moon was dreamily shimmering. The moon in the forest was different. Dung suddenly felt small and shy. Why couldn't he say anything to Trang, or... But he couldn't. The night dew had descended on the edge of the forest, the two of them quietly returned. Each of them was pursuing their own thoughts. Suddenly Trang said: "Maybe at the beginning of the next school year...". "What? What did you say? Are you moving away next school year?" Dung asked quickly. "No, you're getting married." Dung saw thousands of moonlight dancing, thousands of forest leaves fluttering in the night. "Really, Trang?". Trang bent down: "I'm not joking with you", Dung felt something empty, something lost. Something suddenly seemed near, yet far, forever far away in Dung's heart.
And now, Dung sat facing the darkness, the wind and the rain. If only his phone wasn't broken... Dung would call back, would read to Trang the poem by Hoang Cam that he planned to read at the wedding: "On your wedding day, I found leaves/ You smiled as the car turned the needle's thread warm." Tomorrow was Saturday. At eleven o'clock on Saturday, Trang would put on her wedding dress and get on the wedding car. She would turn back to bow to everyone, would look up at Dung with eyes filled with happiness and a bit of sadness. Dung would also wave goodbye, wave goodbye to something deep in his heart. The wedding car took Trang away, as if carrying a joy, a sadness.
The rain got worse as the night went on. The battery-powered transistor radio at the head of the bed had just sent out an urgent telegram and predicted that "The water level of the Tra Bong River would rise to the height of the flood in 1999..." All of Dung's hopes for tomorrow had vanished like the foam on the deserted river. Nature had its own power, its own miracles. Just last night, the rain had buried the sky and earth, but this morning the sun had cleared. The mountains and forests were clear and green. Dung hurriedly put on his bag and hurried toward the riverbank. Still water and water. The river widened, generously rolling downstream, its water color murky. On the other bank, there seemed to be a few silhouettes of people behind the eucalyptus trees. Dung sat on a rock, his eyes far away. The sun had risen, the sun seemed to warm the mountains and forests again. The river still flowed on silently and endlessly. A lone bird flew across the river's surface and flew to the far end of the sky.
Carrying his bag back to school, Dung absentmindedly reached out to pluck a leaf from the roadside, as if hearing Hoang Cam's poem awaken in his heart: "The country wind whistles, calling the dieu cotton, oh dieu cotton...".
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