Letter from a soldier on the island.

Short story

(Baonghean) - Today, after nearly a month of registering on the dating app, Hoang received a bundle of letters. If weighed, it would easily reach one kilogram. The officer on duty delivered the letters to Hoang, saying:

If everyone were like you, the postal service would be booming!

In that "bundle of letters," Hoang sorted them according to the sender's address. He found a letter from a college student who had been a student at his high school. Hoang would reply to this "special" letter along with more than twenty others. As for the hundreds of other letters, Hoang asked his teammates to help him find friends.

The next day, on his way to the post office, Hoang calculated: "I send 30 letters a month, that's almost a third of my allowance, but the joy of receiving them is a thousand times greater." Hoang hummed a cheerful song: "...A soldier's letter, it's not as long as a newspaper article, a soldier's letter, the backpack is used as a table so the handwriting is slanted..."

Hoang's unit was stationed on the Cam Ranh Peninsula, as a reserve force for the Spratly Islands. In his letter, Hoang introduced himself as an island soldier (because he was about to be deployed to the islands). However, some female students mistook him for someone already stationed on the islands and asked him all sorts of questions about the Spratly Islands. One girl even asked him to send her some seashells as souvenirs.

Illustration

Among those letters, the one from the medical student (who was a classmate of Hoang's) with its playful tone bothered Hoang the most. Once, she jokingly asked, "How many cannons does your unit have?" Hoang replied, "That's a military secret, I can't answer that." In a later letter, the student asked again, "I mean, how many people are in your unit?" Hoang told this story to the whole unit, and one of his subordinates said, "You should answer that all your cannons are malfunctioning."

That was also the letter that arrived most regularly. From over twenty people, gradually only a handful remained who continued to send letters to Hoang. Among them was a medical student who regularly sent two letters a month.

Hoang's comrades in the unit still regularly keep in touch with the new friend that Hoang "assigned".

Hoang was assigned to a submerged island. His new unit consisted of 24 soldiers from all three regions of Vietnam—North, Central, and South—with their diverse accents blending together like a flavorful bowl of soup.

Quân, originally from Quảng Bình, with a rich, salty coastal accent, once said while eating:

- My family in the countryside sometimes produces 2 tons of salt a day?

Tuan, originally from Nam Dinh, joked back:

- "Nại" is a new word!

Hong, originally from Quang Nam, joked:

It's like this every day!

The whole unit burst into laughter, drowning out the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, creating a white foam.

Hoang received another letter from Hien, a mischievous student. Hien wrote: "...Hoang, do you have any sea snails? Could you send me a few as a souvenir? We haven't seen what sea snails in Truong Sa look like. Here, we only know about the apple snails..."

Hoang had been at sea for a month without diving once. That day, after his shift, Hoang decided to give it a try. The sea shimmered, and the coral reef before him looked like an underwater palace from the Journey to the West movie. Hoang collected several seashells the size of his hand. These seashells would make a wonderful vase; Hien would surely love them. Hoang didn't know the name of this type of seashell. He asked everyone in his unit, but no one knew either, so he called them (in his letter to Hien) "Nang Huong seashells." These seashells traveled thousands of kilometers inland to reach Hien in the capital.

When Hoàng received the letter, he saw a photo of Hiền in the rice paddies, her hair flowing smoothly. Looking at the scene and the person, Hoàng felt a pang of nostalgia for the mainland. He longed to immerse himself in the river water to satisfy his thirst for fresh water. On the island, each bucket of water had to be used three times: for washing his face, for washing clothes, and for watering plants.

A year passed, and Hoang had become accustomed to the dry season and the stormy season in Truong Sa. Both seasons were filled with intense sunshine and wind, like the soldiers' longing for the mainland. During the stormy season, the entire unit was like a bird's nest perched precariously on a treetop. After the storm, the sea was calm, like a rice field in its prime. The sun slowly rose, then, after a day of shining like a ripe rice field, gently sank into the waves like a shy kiss.

Once, Hoang felt inspired to write poetry. Hoang, being a math student, considered himself merely a "beggar" writing spontaneously, based on what he saw and felt.

When the storm rises, demons emerge from the sea.

He stood guard like Sun Wukong, slaying demons.

The storm has passed, and you're back so peacefully.

The sea was calm, and he stood there, waiting for someone...

In the unit's bulletin board, Hoang's poem sat modestly in the "humorous poems" section. The political officer said:

- Hoang's poems are great, as good as the poem "Spring Wine"!

Hoang laughed:

You don't know this, but I'm related to the poet Xuan Dieu!

Eighteen months on the island felt like a journey across a rapids. We said goodbye to the submerged island, a place with a name like something out of a fairy tale, on a calm day when the sea was still, the waves gently lapping like the eyes of those bidding farewell. The whole island embraced, reluctantly bidding farewell to those leaving and those staying behind. Tien, from Bac Ninh, sang the song "Don't Leave, Stay Here" to the strumming of his guitar, its melody filled with poignant emotion.

In Hoang's backpack were letters that tasted salty with the scent of the sea. These were letters Hoang had received since arriving on the island and letters his comrades had sent to their families. Hoang would visit each of his comrades' families, from Thai from Cam Ranh to Hai from Hai Phong. Hoang would also visit Hung's house in Quang Nam and meet Hung's younger sister, who in her letters had acknowledged Hoang as her sworn brother...

At the graduation ceremony of the City Medical University, student Mai Hien received many congratulatory flowers for her excellent graduation achievement. Among those who presented the flowers, there was a naval officer wearing a faded, wave-worn uniform!

Phan Xuan Hau

Yen Thanh