When she got to the end of the alley, Soi heard Cu Mun crying. She stopped to wipe the sweat that was running down her forehead. It was dusk, the light bulb in the house had just turned on, and ants were flying around the lampshade. On the mat on the porch, Cu Mun cried like he was throwing a tantrum. In the kitchen, Soi's mother sat by the fire, her face filled with sadness and fatigue, letting Cu Mun cry until he was done. "Why are you crying? Auntie's home!" - Soi bent down to comfort the boy. In her arms, Cu Mun stopped crying immediately, wiped his nose with the back of his hand, and smiled. Soi carried him around the yard, patting him gently as she walked. In just a moment, he fell asleep, his hand still clutching tightly onto his aunt's shirt. Putting the boy in bed, Soi rushed to the kitchen to arrange the dishes on the tray and turned to ask her mother, "I'll prepare dinner for you, Mom!" Her mother coughed and pushed more firewood into the kitchen, answering heavily: "What kind of rice or water, I can't swallow it!"
Soi quietly went into the kitchen to warm up the rice, then went to the garden to pick some sweet potato shoots, and grilled some eggplants with fish sauce. That was enough to finish the meal. The simple meal was served, and looking at her mother chewing slowly, Soi felt sorry: "Tomorrow I will go up the hill to pick medicinal leaves for Aunt Nhu, when I have money I will go to the market to buy some food". Her mother gathered the medicinal leaves on the drying tray into a bag, muttering: "Taking all the work upon myself, the housework, the grandchildren, where will I have time for my husband and children?" Soi smiled furtively, took the basin and went to the well. After a whole day of hard work, the ash stuck to her hair, Soi pulled the bucket of water and poured it down, then quickly turned to wash the basin of clothes. When she finished, the moon had hung above the haystack, spreading a cold white color over the vegetable garden. Inside the house, the two of them were fast asleep, their steady breathing echoing in the empty house. The little boy turned over and mumbled his mother's name, then fell back asleep. Thom, her mother is Soi's younger sister, she became a mother at nineteen and left her child with her sister, went away for a long time, only occasionally stopping by to hug her child for a bit.
The night stood still in the wind. The cotton tree at the crossroads was swaying and dropping clumps of red leaves. The children of the village who had just played under the cotton tree had now returned home. She looked at her trembling shadow on the wall. Every night, she felt a little older, her lips were as wrinkled as the last wilted petals of the season.
* * *
It was still foggy, and Soi had already shouldered her backpack and gone up the mountain. She followed the winding red dirt road through the blooming sim forest and then turned onto the trail leading to Bai Chay. Soi let her backpack wander around, picked a bunch of five-color flowers, brought them to her mouth and sucked the remaining sweet nectar. Soi's hands nimbly picked the leaves. Only someone who was used to picking leaves like Soi would know which bushes had medicinal leaves. In the village, only the medicinal leaves that Soi picked would satisfy Mrs. Nhu, the leaves still had dew on them, strong and pungent. Soi bundled each handful of medicinal leaves and put them in the basket. While tying them, she calculated mentally. This time, Mrs. Nhu took the whole basket and she got more than a hundred thousand, enough to buy food for her mother, and the rest to buy a can of condensed milk for Cu Mun.
Thinking of Mun, Soi thought of her younger sister, wondering where Thom was now? When would she come back to her children? One day, she heard villagers say that they saw Thom in a coffee shop in town, her hair dyed blond, her clothes beautiful. Soi didn't believe it, but deep down she understood that Thom couldn't stand the hard life in the countryside. When they were young, the two sisters went up the hill to collect firewood, looking at the white reed forest, Soi was fascinated and picked each branch to make a wreath to wear on her head. Seeing that, Thom burst out laughing: "You're really a country girl! Me, even if you gave me these reed flowers, I wouldn't want them, what flowers or locusts are so bland!"
The afternoon sun had not yet set when Soi went down the mountain and turned towards Aunt Nhu's house. As soon as she saw Soi, her aunt warmly greeted her, took out her wallet to count the money and gave it to her, not forgetting to give some bananas and areca nuts to Mun. When she got home, it was already dark, as soon as she saw her aunt, Mun raised his arms to be held. Looking at her sparkling eyes, Soi saw the image of Thom when she was little, skinny, her hair tied in a bun at the nape of her neck but her eyes were always strangely bright.
Night. The house was silent. Soi lay listening to the steady breathing of Cu Mun, listening to the wind whistling through the reeds. Soi fell asleep, in her dream she saw herself standing in the middle of a bank of white reeds, on her head, a reed wreath was woven so elaborately, at first glance it looked like a crown. “Look! You’re as pretty as a princess!” - a voice said. Soi turned around, it was Thom. Thom was standing there, not more than an arm’s length away from Soi, but somehow she felt so far away from her sister. “Thom! Come back to Mun! Every night she asked her grandmother to tell her about her mother. She asked, is my mother as beautiful as Aunt Soi? Why did you leave me? Come back, Thom!” Before she could finish, Thom’s figure had disappeared into the bank of white reeds. Outside the coop, the rooster flapped its wings and crowed at the third watch. Soi woke up and looked out, the night was still thick. On the other bed, the grandmother and granddaughter were still hugging each other, sleeping soundly.
At dawn, Soi woke up, hurriedly put on the rice cooker, and arranged everything. She combed her hair, wrapped rice balls in a bag, and changed Mun's clothes, carefully putting on the cloth hat she bought at the district market. "Where are you taking your grandchild?" - Mom took out a tray of medicinal leaves to dry, turned around and asked. "The two of us went to town to inquire about her mother. We can't let Thom wander forever, and we can't let Mun be without her mother." Outside, a gentle early morning breeze gently shook the leaves, and the remaining water droplets from last night fell down on the yard. At the foot of the hill, the reed fields rustled like waves, glowing white like layers of clouds. Suddenly, Soi hummed the song "Going alone, returning alone." "Spinning embroidery thread alone"...
The road to town in the misty morning. The girl pedaled briskly, Cu Mun sat neatly in a rattan chair hanging from the handlebars, his tiny head occasionally tilted back to grin at his aunt. A few buffalo carts whizzed by, leaving behind clouds of dust and smoke. After noon, the aunt and nephew stopped at a small coffee shop in the heart of town. She asked the owner about Thom, who worked at the dimly lit coffee shop across the street. “Thom? Is her hair blond? She worked at that shop, but I heard she quit a few months ago, and I don’t know where she went.”
She said goodbye to the shop owner, picked Mun up and continued on the motorbike. Thom had a hunch that she wouldn’t go far, just wandered around and asked around for a while and found a stall selling second-hand goods at the end of the market. A girl was busy hanging up a pile of clothes, her long black hair tied neatly, her profile looking sad and silent. Could it be… “Thom!” - Thom called softly, hearing her voice choked and trembling.
The girl turned back. The same eyes, sparkling like when she was a child, only now they were a bit lost and lonely. Her eyes were startled when she realized that Cu Mun was in Soi's arms. Thom stopped, dropped her shirt, and rushed towards her son. "Mom!" - the call was soft but enough to startle Thom. Cu Mun jumped into her mother's arms with the instinct of a child longing for his mother. After a moment of shock, Thom crouched down and hugged her son, burying her tear-stained face in Soi's hair. Soi turned away, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes...
The wind from the reed field blew gently, carrying the scent of new earth. On the next bed, Cu Mun lay between his grandmother and mother, babbling about all sorts of things in life. That afternoon, when Soi brought Thom home, after so many worries and separations, his mother no longer blamed Thom, but quietly went to find blankets and pillows, preparing a warm place for Thom to lie down between the two of them.
Night. Soi dreamed again, she saw herself standing in the middle of a bank of white reeds. In Soi’s hand, a wreath of white reeds shimmered under the moonlight. She called Thom, placed the wreath of white flowers on her sister’s head, and then they both chattered back. Down there, the fields were in harvest season, the drying yard was golden…
Going alone, returning alone. Spinning the embroidery thread alone… Soi hummed, the familiar song from when she was little that her mother used to lull her and her sister to sleep. Tonight the lullaby rang out again. The two of us going, the two of us returning. The two of us spinning the embroidery thread alone… Not knowing if it was in a dream or in reality, Soi heard Thom whisper: “From now on, I will return to my mother, to Mun, you go get married! I will weave a white reed wreath for you to wear on your head on your wedding day.”
Short story: VU NGOC GIAO
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/vong-lau-trang-a188425.html
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