The boy came yesterday

The boy came yesterday

Nam's house is right next to mine. We are in the same class so he often drives me to school every day even though he never forgets to complain that I am so heavy that I could flat tire.

One day, as usual, I waited for him to come over to my house to take me to school, but I waited for a long time without seeing him. It wasn't until 5 minutes before class that I saw him frantically pedaling his bike past my house, in such a hurry that I forgot to complain about my weight. As a result, we were both late for class and were punished to stand outside the classroom door for the rest of the first period. I turned around angrily to complain when I saw him sobbing. It turned out that his dog had been poisoned. This morning, when he got on his bike and was about to go to my house, he found the dog dead in the yard. For the entire week after that, every day I ran over to get the bike to take him to school, while Nam, as soon as he came home from school, threw his bag in the house, sat at the gate and cried no matter how much I tried to comfort him. He cried so much that his parents had to come out and yell at him to stop so the neighbors wouldn't think something was wrong. Since then, Nam's family never kept a dog again.

Growing up, he and I each went to different schools. We rarely saw each other, so news about each other became sparse and lonely. Occasionally, when I visited home, I ran over to his house to say hello to his parents and then sat absent-mindedly in front of his house, remembering the time when he cried for the dog with a runny nose, looking so funny and pitiful. After graduating, he got a job in a famous foreign company and was quickly promoted to head of department. When we met again at class reunions, I saw him dressed in a suit, neat leather shoes, talking more calmly and maturely than his peers. I was truly happy for him, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss and disappointment. The boy Nam who used to drive me to school, stand outside the classroom door with me as punishment, and sit crying with red eyes in front of his house, probably now only exists in my mind.

Then he got married. Two weeks before his wedding, his mother called me to ask for the address of the veterinary hospital. It turned out that a year ago, he had brought home an abandoned puppy from somewhere, clumsy at raising it and extremely attached to it. Last month, because he had to renovate the house to prepare for the wedding, he sent the puppy home and told his parents to take care of it until after the wedding. The puppy got sick, and his parents were worried and tried to find a place to treat it. But then a week before the wedding, his mother called me again, sobbing and telling me that the puppy had just died that morning, and that I should not let Nam know because he would be sad. When the wedding was over, his mother would find a way to tell him in the gentlest way possible. Those afternoons of the past suddenly came back, filling me with a salty taste like the tears of the little boy sitting with his head on my shoulder, crying silently.

Perhaps in life, we often have to witness the coming and going of countless people we love. It can be a physical departure like when a person reaches the end of life. But it can also be the departure of an old figure. Sometimes it is even the figure of ourselves yesterday. Those separations will certainly cause us to lose, but there is no void that cannot be filled forever. In one way or another, by time or a new figure. Or sometimes, by a compromise with ourselves that we have to accept it. Change is the inevitable law of motion of life.

But change does not mean loss. Because something that does not change is synonymous with death. Love, family, friendship... all change over time, just as people inevitably grow old. That is not necessarily a bad thing. If it is inevitable, then it is better to hold your head high and smile to welcome it.

Hai Trieu