Gunfire was heard on three sides, only the side facing the highway was quiet. But Khanh knew it was a fake silence. They wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave one side open for him to escape. Khanh’s task force had three people, but two had sacrificed themselves to block the enemy’s path so he could safely transport the documents back to the base. The situation was urgent! There was no base in this hamlet, and it wasn’t completely dark yet, so where could they hide? Hiding behind a banana clump in a garden, Khanh heard Captain Bao shouting outside:
- Whoever captures Khanh alive, I will promote him two levels! If I don't capture Khanh today, I swear I won't come back.
Khanh checked his weapon. The gun was out of bullets. This situation... Khanh was thinking urgently when he was startled by a voice behind him:
- Come hide in my house! Trust me!
Khanh turned around. In front of him was a young man in a tank top and military pants. A thought flashed through his mind: There was no other choice. He said quickly:
- Please show me the way!
... 8 p.m. In military uniform, Khanh plays the role of Lieutenant Do's orderly. The two of them go out for coffee.
Khanh said goodbye to Do after a tight handshake. A chance meeting like fate during wartime that Khanh kept hidden in his heart.
***
March 1975
In the midst of the chaos, Khanh saw on the side of the road, next to the body of a young woman, a man with blood all over his shirt, holding a baby in his arms, crying hoarsely. He stopped.
- Please... s.a.p... sal...
Khanh sat down. Suddenly, memories flashed... His face... a huge mole at the end of his left eyebrow and a gaping hole in his left ear... Before he could say anything, the man tilted his head to the side and collapsed on the woman's body.
Khanh removed the man's hand and hugged the child. His two hands simultaneously touched something bulky in his breast pocket and the child's bib. He took it out. Some papers and two identical photos wrapped in two plastic bags... He put everything in his pocket and hugged the child, about to leave when a thought flashed through his mind. He put the child on the ground, picked up the bodies of the two unfortunate people and placed them in a shallow shell crater nearby along with a photo wrapped in a plastic bag. Then he picked up his helmet and tried to dig the dirt back in.
***
Three days after old Khanh passed away, teacher Thuy called Luom to carry out the old man's request. Thuy really wanted to know what the old man had entrusted to him that was so secretive. He remembered clearly that before giving him the entrusted object, the old man said: "I should not have sealed the object I entrusted to a trusted person. It is really rude, but I hope the teacher will understand." At that time, the entrusted object had been kept in a private cabinet by Thuy. But today, his curiosity was aroused more and more...
Teacher Thuy pointed to a plastic bag on the table and said:
- This is the relic your father entrusted to me. He said he would give it to you when he passed away. To keep my promise to the elders, I didn't tell you all this time... Whatever he gave me, I kept. You bring it home and open it to see.
Luom picked up the strange object and looked at it, wondering: "What is this?"... He raised his eyebrows and looked at Teacher Thuy, thinking very carefully. Why would his father give someone else the thing he wanted to give back to him? So his father must have trusted the teacher very much. So what was there for him to keep secret from the teacher? He said:
- My father trusted me, why would I keep a secret from you. Let's see what it is.
Luom tore open the plastic bag and opened the outer paper. In front of them was a laminated photo, some typed papers, and a handwritten letter.
Luom picked up the picture to look at it and then read the letter.
The night was chilly, but sweat was beading on Luom's forehead. His face was sometimes pale, sometimes red... Then he dropped the letter and sobbed: "Oh my God!"
Luom's attitude surprised teacher Thuy. He leaned across the table and shook Luom's shoulder:
- Luom, Luom!... What's wrong?!
Luom silently opened his hand and pushed all the objects on the table towards teacher Thuy.
Thuy quickly picked up the letter and read:
“... I apologize for hiding this from you for more than forty years. Your wife died from bombs and bullets in war. I was afraid that when I found out the truth, you would leave me, even though deep down I believed you would not act like that. Because you are the flesh and blood of a person who values human life. There was a time when your father and I stood on opposite sides of the battle line, but we did not kill because we held murderous weapons in our hands.
Please sympathize with me when I give these relics to teacher Thuy to give to you on the day I pass away. I buried a photo similar to this one with your parents. I hope that in this life there will be a predestined relationship...".
Teacher Thuy put the letter on the table, picked up the photo and looked at it. A distant memory suddenly came to mind...
In the summer of 1990, Thuy and his family went to reclaim land to build a coffee garden. The night in the mountains and forests made people think endlessly about all sorts of things before falling asleep. But strangely, when Thuy closed his eyes, he heard a voice in his ear saying: "It's too hot! It's too hot!" The voice seemed far away, yet near, faintly. It continued like that for three nights in a row. He told his father about the story. Surprisingly, Thuy's father also heard it. He burned incense, prayed, and then continued his normal work. The next night, Thuy and his father dreamed that under the mound of earth where the stove was placed, two people were coming and going. The next morning, Thuy's father decided to find the truth. After praying sincerely, Thuy's father dug up the mound of earth and discovered two human skeletons and a laminated photo wrapped in a plastic bag. Feeling the dream was clear, Father Thuy prayed to the spirit of the deceased to close the coffin, arrange the remains properly, bury the body properly, and ask for a photo to be used as a memorial photo, and to take the day of the exhumation as the annual anniversary of his death. As soon as the prayer ended, the incense stick popped and then the ashes curled into a circle. Father Thuy said the spirit of the deceased had witnessed and sincerely fulfilled his prayer immediately...
Teacher Thuy stood up, leaned across the table, grabbed Luom's hand, and said excitedly:
- That's right, Luom! I know where your parents' bodies are! Come with me! Come to the Central Highlands with me!
A week later, with the help of teacher Thuy and his son, Luom's parents' remains were brought back to be buried next to old Khanh's grave.
Before the three graves filled with incense smoke, Luom could not hold back his tears. The tears kept flowing down to the ground, tears of gratitude to his parents, to those who raised him... Next to Luom, Father Thuy prayed softly with the belief that as thirty years ago, the spirit of the deceased would appear in his dreams. After death, what remains is the part of the living...
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