Short story: The loyal ring

Illustration: Vu Thuy

Grandma talked in her sleep, the day she skipped meals, no matter what, she would let me go home to him. One day, Grandma was lying down and reaching out to catch butterflies and pick flowers. In between her dreams, Grandma asked Mom to take my basket to visit him. The An Suong bus to Tay Ninh in the afternoon was very crowded. Take me early to make it on time. Or a few times Mom fed Grandma milk that overflowed. Mom coaxed me sweetly, drinking it to gain strength to go to Tay Ninh. Grandma shook her head, her lips moving, mumbling, some words coming and going. Listening very carefully, then vaguely piecing together the sentence that he came home and asked me to go out. Those times Mom often sighed deeply, Grandma's heart was as weak as an oil lamp. It would probably be soon.

At that time, my grandmother studied at Gia Long, my grandfather studied at Petrus Ky. We met on the street, we loved each other since the days of school strike. We loved each other since the time we held hands and sang “Wake up and go”, from Duy Tan to the City Hall. When we were raided, my grandfather held my grandmother’s hand and ran into a house by the roadside, hiding under the bed. That night, he took my grandmother to Gieng hamlet, deep on Phan Thanh Gian street. He hesitantly proposed. My grandmother nodded and promised to wait. Then he got on a one-way bus that slowly traveled to the outskirts of the city. Disappeared. Only a hasty, awkward kiss on her long, silky black hair remained.

At seventeen, I began to look forward when I heard the sound of gunfire echoing on the four streets of the city. Those were fierce times, and all I knew was that if I loved someone, I would wait for them. I believed in a fragile hope that he would return. I believed, but in reality, the times were cruel. More and more people were leaving, but the number of people returning was increasingly gloomy. Sometimes it was a death notice with a few military supplies.

A year later, the Mau Than battle, the artillery bombardment outside the airport was intense. The night was quiet, the chickens were calling, and Grandma woke up with a start. He came back, dark and thin, but his eyes were bright and his love was more passionate. The first time he gave Grandma was a ring made of loyal leaves. He scratched his head, a poor soldier's life was all there was. He escaped and went all the way to Ta Xia, sometimes when the enemy swept, he would move to the upper reaches of Vam Co. He hid right at the river bordering Cam. When things were rough, he would dive in one breath and go to the neighboring country. When things were calm, he would crawl back. He told her about Lo Go, he told her about Xa Mat. Grandma nodded but didn't know anything. Before dawn, he left again. He said he would come back this time, probably only after the war was over could he see her again. When the country was unified, if he came back, he would call his parents to ask for her hand in marriage. If not, well, if not, then she should get married. The life of a soldier, knowing that if he left, he wouldn't come back. She cried a lot, at eighteen years old, in the kitchen behind the house, she gave herself to him without much thought. Who knows, in her whole life she would only have this one time to be his wife.

***

Grandma often told An that in the afternoons, sitting on the porch waiting for him, An sighed deeply several times when looking at the altar, his portrait smiling gently with a flowing white beard. He was very good, he was brave and resilient. They captured him in an ambush at Ta Xia, they dragged him to Thien Ngon airport and beat him to death, planning to take him to Con Dao, but it seemed that God had mercy on him. At night, he kept watch while they slept soundly, he broke out of prison and escaped into the forest. He used leaves as camouflage to cross the forest to reach base R. He walked along the forest path, and when hungry, he ate wild fruits. When thirsty, he found a stream to drink. When tired, he hid under some dark leaves to sleep.

For example, he has a very good memory! After the prison break, he led the whole squad, surrounded and attacked Thien Ngon airport at midnight, just attacked and destroyed it, then withdrew. Just like a guerrilla, making the enemy confused and chaotic. Also in that battle, his best friend died on the spot. One of them was captured by the enemy. He was injured and lay next to his best friend who was shot. The enemy fired continuously. Perhaps his ancestors had blessed him, the bullets did not fall on the bushes where he was hiding. He lay there, two guns in his hands, holding his friend's body. He was waiting to die. He said that at that moment, he only prayed that in the future, he would be satisfied if he married another man and was still loved and happy. But he did not know that that year, he had a child who was just learning to ask, "Where is daddy?" Luckily, during the night, our side found him first, following the leaf marks left on the marching path. So both sides signaled from afar. Two short flashes, three long flashes. The flashlight hung down among the leaves, he was exhausted, at the same time his comrades followed the flashlight and groped their way to him. His friend's body was gathered in the forest. The other one was also said to have been tortured to death, they had a plane drop his body on Xa Mat, his body was entangled in the forest trees, hanging high up in the air. It was not until a month later, on the march that some soldiers in the same battalion discovered it.

He returned, always eager to reunite with his comrades. While he was away, he left his will to have his ashes scattered in the forest. His comrades were still marching there. His friends were still waiting for him to return to report his achievements. When I die, An, you should also bring me back there. The wife follows her husband, no one among his comrades knows me. I will go back to meet them.

Every day, Grandma would wait for him on the porch, as if he were still somewhere around this house. Even though Mom sometimes hesitated with Grandma, where is Grandpa, Dad has been dead for almost ten years, Mom. After the war, he came back on crutches, and Mom took me, at the age of seven, to go and recognize Dad. Then another group of kids came into the world. He has fulfilled his duty, Mom. He asked Mom to let him return to his comrades.

I don't know if Grandma remembers or forgets, but every time Mom hesitates like that, Grandma is so sad that she doesn't go out to the porch for three days. When Mom looks at her with pity, she gets angry and says, "Oh, Grandma, aren't the kids going out to wait for Grandpa to come home? If he comes home and no one opens the door, he'll just leave." So Grandma sits absent-mindedly in the afternoon sun. Her eyes are soft and waiting. When the sound of a motorbike passes by, she fidgets: "Honey!"

***

September Lo Go rained heavily. After asking permission from the commander, the border guard took An back to the station on a dusty motorbike. In the afternoon of Ta Not, the sunset split in two, half on the other side, half on our side. No matter which side, the sunset was a lonely and desolate yellow.

The first night in the forest, An did not sleep. The insects hummed. From time to time, in the distance, he heard someone singing a military song. There were footsteps rustling in time with each count. Could it be that the soldiers' souls were awakening, echoing the distant days?

The second day, the rain was still drizzling, and the soldiers stopped by An's hut and told him to wait a day or two more to see how the rain would go. The rainy season in the jungle often lasted for a whole week. When he decided to make this trip, An didn't know where to start. He could only whisper and pray to his grandmother to guide him through the journey, and wherever he went, she agreed. His mother had been in mourning for three years, but she knew how she could fulfill her grandmother's last wish. She was old, and she didn't have the strength to wade through the forest and streams. On the several death anniversaries of his grandmother, she sighed deeply. When would his grandmother be able to return to him? An looked at his mother, at the two portraits of his grandparents placed close together on the altar. His grandparents' eyes were far away through the white smoke.

Early in the morning on Thursday in the forest, the sky was clear, An followed the small boat with the border soldier to the upper reaches of the Vam Co River. The wind filled the water with waves. The urn containing the ashes was carefully wrapped in a white cloth by An. An asked his grandmother if she heard the murmuring sounds of the night, he was probably marching with his comrades through the low-leafed forests. There were many good things in the forest, such as the oil flower which was five times larger than the oil flower in the city. Or the children here were covered in black dirt but whenever they saw An, they folded their hands and greeted her very politely. The people in the border had nothing, only a kind heart. One day a chicken, another day a corn, sometimes a few bunches of wild vegetables, but their affection was warm and sincere. The forest soldiers were all gentle, and loved the city girl. When they heard the rain, they hurried back to An's hut, afraid that she would leak, catch a cold, or be bitten by wild mosquitoes that would swell her urban skin. It was drizzling, but when he had a chance to go to the district market, the border guard tried to buy her insect repellent, something a border guard would never use in his entire life. Now An understood why he loved this land on the border so much. At the end of his life, he was determined to return to Lo Go.

An released waves of ashes downstream. So Grandma returned to him. I wonder if Grandma was happy when she was introduced to her comrades? There was no more sound of flares, no more smell of gunpowder, no more the anxious anticipation of the wartime. Grandma returned to him, Lo Go land had another soul return like fourteen thousand souls gathered here, they lay listening to the military march echoing in the green forest.

The border guard brought the boat close to the river bank. If you have any sadness, send it to this thousand-year-old banyan tree! Whenever we border guards miss home, miss our parents, or have any worries, we come to this banyan tree and whisper to the banyan tree. Back then, there was a mischievous friend who asked the tree why everything in the soldier's life is fun, except that it's hard to find a lover. But it was really sacred, girl. About a year later, he got married. The thousand-year-old banyan tree is very sacred, girl!

An sat in the middle of a September afternoon. The forest rustled with fallen leaves. What could An say to Mr. Gua, to Lo Go land, to the Vam Co river? Could An say that his heart had forgotten this land? The sunset began to darken the riverbank. The boat drifted downstream back to Lo Go station. All around was silent. Well, it was silent since An softly said that tomorrow he would return to the city. The border guard was startled and then quietly started the boat engine. The waves rippled the cajuput trees along the river. The border guard softly sang a song about the red-soiled East. His voice mixed with the wind and hung in the air. An's hair flew along, tangling his sad eyes. His singing voice echoed the waves of the sacred forest.

Early in the morning, before the sun had risen, the border guard brought An a bag of ripe fruit. The soldiers didn’t have anything, they just showed him some wild fruits. Oh, and there was this one too. These green leaves were really funny, they couldn’t burn. I… well, I… arranged some funny pictures for the teacher to see if she liked them!

Sitting behind the border guard's car on the way back to the district market, An turned his head to look at the dusty land bordering the border. He felt as if a branch of compassion for this forest had sprouted in his heart. On the bus, An opened the bag containing the photo. A ring made of lovage leaves. The bus carrying An home that day was filled with many emotions. An closed his eyes and dozed off, hearing in his ears the sound of singing that afternoon by the Vam Co River...