Return to Love - Short story contest by Tran Hien

The sun had not yet risen, but the whole village was already bright. The sound of laughter and chatter could be heard from near and far. Nhan lazily lay on the floor, looking out the window frame made of small wooden pieces that had been worn away by the rain and sun.

She heard the babbling of the forest stream, mixed with the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the blowing of the wind. The summer sky was high and clear, with a white mist hanging over the mountain peaks right in front of her, as if a giant cloud blanket was descending down very close.

Just yesterday morning, she woke up in a cool room in the middle of the city. In her ears were the familiar and noisy sounds of the streets. Cicadas chirped incessantly on the branches, royal poinciana trees were blazing red in the middle of the street, and the weather was already extremely hot. She had just finished 12th grade and was studying for the upcoming university entrance exam. She enrolled in the fashion design major because she could draw, and because her boyfriend, Khuong, was also taking the exam for that major. So in addition to studying in class, she also took an extra drawing class in the park taught by a teacher who was a senior in the field. Khuong drew very well, under his pen everything seemed to come to life, looking at his paintings one could easily feel emotions that could not be expressed in words.

Nhan also draws well, compared to Khuong, Nhan is somewhat better, but that vague superiority, as the painting teacher once said: "Art must be sublimated from emotions, the artist draws a stroke, even a dotted stroke, must be a dotted stroke born from the soul, from truly sincere emotions emerging from life out there. As the writer Nam Cao said, art is not a deceptive moonlight, should not and cannot be a deceptive moonlight. Painters must draw well, but just drawing well does not necessarily make them painters." The teacher often looked at Nhan's paintings with deep, soulful eyes, somewhat tormented.

A cool breeze blew through the window, Nhan felt herself quiet, the thin blanket wrapped around her like a silkworm spinning a cocoon, a little empty, lonely, a little peaceful and quiet. There were footsteps tiptoeing up the stairs, the stilt house seemed to shake slightly, a small black face peeked out at Nhan, half wanting to get closer to her, half hesitant and afraid. Nhan slowly sat up, looking at her shy little niece over there, the little girl had jet black eyes, a high nose, a small mouth, and harmonious features. She seemed to have inherited all the beauty of her mother - her older sister. But the salty black skin and long, curved eyelashes were unmistakably her brother-in-law's.

Nhan tried to smile friendly, waving to her niece. Her sister walked over, brought her a bowl of fragrant fish porridge, then hugged the baby and brought it to Nhan. Her sister smiled:

- Last night, when you called to pick me up, we were so happy. Ai was so excited when she heard the news. She couldn't sleep, waiting for the morning to see her aunt. I got up, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and ate some porridge. Duc went to town, he said he would buy something delicious to treat me.

Saying that, Ms. Hien reached out to stroke Nhan's hair, gently and lovingly like she used to. Her face was bright, rosy, still as white as before, she seemed to be a bit rounder, with no signs of aging or the hardships of everyday life. In the blink of an eye, it had been 7 years. 7 years that Ms. Hien had not returned. Her parents had not visited either.

ILLUSTRATION: AI

Her parents only had two sisters, Nhan and her mother. Her mother could not give birth to a son, but her father did not force her to have another child. He often said that whether it was a boy or a girl, two was enough. Her parents loved her very much and sent her to study all the subjects of music, singing, and drawing. Hien was very good at English, she was pretty and gentle, and everyone loved her. She graduated from a foreign language university and followed the provincial youth union to volunteer in the highlands. Her mother felt very sorry but did not stop her because her father was very proud of that beautiful ideal of life and he supported her going. She did not expect that trip to change her life so much. She suddenly broke up with Huy, a handsome man who lived in the same city, had a stable job, and had his own house, to marry Nhan's brother-in-law. A local brother, the commune's union secretary, lived very poor and very far away. From the parking lot to her house, it took several hundred meters to walk.

Nhan thought of Khuong, of Khuong's infatuated gaze when he looked at My, Nhan's class's drawing model last week. It was a gaze Nhan had never seen in Khuong before, a gaze as gentle as water, ten parts indulgent, ten parts loving. The art teacher recognized Nhan's discoveries, he told Nhan that it was art, it was love, not loving that girl, but loving the artistic beauty of that girl. Artists love a lot, but they don't love a specific person, each person passing by, they only love a unique beauty. The teacher comforted Nhan not to be jealous when Khuong looked passionately at someone else, soothed Nhan's pride when he saw in front of him, the person who loved him was pampering someone else. Nhan still painted, painted the thin winds swirling around the banyan tree on a quiet summer morning like a lullaby. In the portrait, the girl appeared beautiful and elegant with skillful strokes, but in Khuong's painting, the girl was gorgeous, charming, and strangely magical.

Nhan was not jealous, not sad, not angry. Nhan wandered on the street, the sunlight spread evenly like honey. The sound of cicadas chirping in his ears made Nhan remember his sister. At that time, Nhan was only in 10th grade, she had graduated from university with honors. She got a job in the city, pretty and gentle. Every time Huy came to pick her up, he often gave Nhan many small, beautiful gifts. Then she went to volunteer, saying she would come back after a year, but unexpectedly she stayed in the village forever. She broke up with Huy and followed Duc to become his wife. Mother was angry and turned away from her. Father was sad and silent. She turned her back on a windy summer afternoon, father's hair turned white overnight, mother locked herself in a corner of the room and cried forever. She was mother's hope, mother's pride, the place where mother clung to among relatives and relatives in the face of the scorn of not being able to give birth to a son. But that pride vanished like an illusion, leaving mother in the midst of bitter, choking sorrow.

Nhan became his father's chess partner. Nhan told his father everything about himself. His parents never stopped Khuong even though they knew he was not old enough to date. His parents were calm and quiet, but Nhan knew his mother was always wary and watching over Khuong. He had loved Khuong since the second semester of 12th grade, because Khuong proposed and Nhan did not refuse, but the two had never gone beyond holding hands. Thinking about kissing, Nhan still felt something distant and strange, so he avoided it. Nhan always remembered the back of Hien walking in a summer with a red sunset. Nhan loved his father's thin shoulders sobbing helplessly every night, and his mother stood for a long time every night in her empty, windy second-floor room.

Nhan transformed herself into a talented, hard-working, and strong girl. Nhan was good at all subjects, even gifted subjects. Her parents always supported Nhan, because Nhan never did anything wrong. Until this summer, the summer of 12th grade, the last summer that the royal poinciana no longer promised to return to school in September. The biggest summer of her life. That summer wanted her to truly find herself among thousands of versions.

Coming home from drawing class, Nhan opened the chess board and played alone under the morning glory trellis in early summer. His father came to sit and play chess with Nhan. A few losing moves made him slow down, it seemed that Nhan had improved a lot. His father looked at Nhan for a long time, his youngest daughter had grown so tall since when. Her eyes and nose were very similar to Hien's. A choking feeling welled up in his heart, the corners of the old man's eyes were burning, trying to hold back the tears that were about to fall. His grandparents were so strict with Hien, always hoping that the red carpet would be laid out for their daughter. He also always supported Huy, even though he knew Huy was a womanizer, but Huy's family was rich, his daughter would not have to work hard to earn money. Yet Hien went against his wishes, leaving his grandparents in bitterness, uncertainty, helplessness, and anger.

As for Nhan, his love turned Nhan into a talented, well-rounded girl. Nhan never argued against any of her grandparents' wishes. But why did Nhan seem so lonely? She didn't know what she liked or what she dreamed of. She wasn't as decisive as her sister, knowing what she needed, what she liked, and was ready to rush towards what she wanted. Dad suddenly looked at Nhan for a long time, and for a long time, his eyes had never been so clear. Suddenly, Dad said to Nhan: "What do you like, what do you really like, do you like drawing? Find out what you like and do what you like, my child! Your true happiness is the precious happiness of your parents."

Dad's words were mixed with the sound of cicadas. Mom's eyes looked at Nhan lovingly, not as sorrowful as they had been for years. Nhan's ears were ringing. His heart suddenly started to beat as if it had never beaten before. Nhan put his hand on his heart, a feeling like something was bursting out in his chest. Nhan felt suffocated. Under the morning glory trellis, the porch roof shimmered with the sunlight. Summer shadows fell on each leaf, Nhan felt small again like in the past.

Very quickly, Nhan asked his parents to let him go find Hien. And very quickly, his parents agreed to let him go. His mother prepared some clothes for him, his father bought a bus ticket for him and saw him off to the bus station. His father took out Hien's phone number, Hien's husband Duc's phone number, and the phone number of Hien's neighbor. His father told Nhan that he often went to that village, he always had their phone numbers. It was just that he had no way to call them, no way to meet them face to face. His shoulders were still very broad, his forehead had a few wrinkles, but his arms were always firmly holding Nhan and her sister in his arms.

Nhan picked the onion slices out of the porridge bowl, then scooped them up with large spoonfuls. It had been a long time since she could innocently pick onions like when she was a child, ready to refuse anything she didn't like. Nhan no longer had to force herself to be a polished and well-groomed adult. Nhan hugged her sister. The summer was cool and refreshing. Sister Hien also hugged Nhan, stroking her younger sister's soft hair. She asked Nhan if she still had the dream of becoming a housing design engineer like before? If so, then quickly graduate and design a house for her by the stream. Nhan laughed out loud, looking out at the eye-catching stilt houses, remembering her old house drawings. A familiar joy suddenly woke up and stirred in her small chest. She sat next to her sister, her shoulder warmly against hers.

The sound of Duc's motorbike echoed loudly at the beginning of the village. The two sisters looked up, the shimmering sunlight from above fell on three silhouettes of people walking towards them. Duc carried two huge backpacks on his shoulders and behind him, her father and mother were smiling brightly in the sunlight. Hien stood up abruptly, in the form of a 25-year-old woman, she ran quickly like a little girl, rushed forward, threw herself into her father's big chest, and hugged her mother's gentle arms.

She laughed. She cried. Her parents laughed and cried. Nhan picked up the baby and walked happily towards her, saying softly, "Say hello to your grandparents!"

Summer sun. Sun spread across the hillside. Sweet as honey.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ve-voi-yeu-thuong-truyen-ngan-du-thi-cua-tran-hien-185251025093722781.htm