People and shadows - Thai Nguyen Electronic Newspaper

He stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie, looking out the door, frowning. At this hour, a shiny black Camry would have been waiting. He muttered:

- Why hasn't that guy shown his face yet?

He impatiently opened the door and stepped out. His wife had just returned home from jogging and was surprised:

- Where are you going dressed up like that?

He paused, suddenly remembered, quickly turned back to take off his suit, and placed his briefcase on the table.

He has been retired for several months but somehow he is “sleepwalking” like this. He thought he was still working, still serving the people and the country. But to say he regrets the benefits of his time working to the point of sleepwalking is really unfair to him.

After many years as a leader, wherever he went, he was surrounded by officials and servants. As soon as he had an intention to do something, someone would guess and serve him immediately. Even his colleagues knew what dishes he liked. Many times he bragged to his wife: "The colleagues in the agency are very humane." Living among people who understood him like that, how could he forget that rhythm of life?

The boy walked out of the room, excited:

- I don't have to go to work today. I'll take my parents out for breakfast later.

The best chicken noodle shop in the city was always packed. After finishing his meal, he looked around and was surprised to see his former employees sitting a few tables away from him. Seeing them, he felt nostalgic. They lived with him so affectionately, they must miss him a lot now. Thinking so, he quickly stood up and walked towards them. This was the opportunity for him to ask about the situation at the office since he left. As soon as they saw him, all four looked up and looked straight at him:

- Hello boss! Wow, since I retired and my boss took care of me, I've gotten fat and white.

He forced a smile. Back then, no one dared to look him straight in the face, no one spoke to him in such a vulgar manner. He sat down to ask about his old office, but all four of them stood up:

- Sorry we have to go to the office.

Having said that, they hurried out the door. He stood still, muttering:

- Yes! It must be time to do it!

* * *

This year was the first Tet he left his post. When he was still working, he was very busy during these times. At the office, it was a given, but when he returned home, before Tet, during Tet, and after Tet, his house was always crowded with visitors. Only the lucky ones could meet him, the rest were lucky to meet the "boss's wife". Yet on the 28th of Tet, all the offices were closed but he had not seen anyone come to visit. Even the staff who were very "old" had not seen any of them. Perhaps they were waiting for the first or second day to come and wish him a happy new year. While he was still guessing, he suddenly heard voices outside the door and hurried out. It turned out to be the old security guard and the cleaning lady. Both of them were happy and spoke at the same time:

- Now that you're retired, we have the chance to meet you! During Tet, we call for a package of tea and a bottle of wine to burn incense for our ancestors.

In his life, he had never received such a simple gift and felt so moved.

That day, he waited during the day, and turned off the lights very late at night, in case someone came to wish him a happy new year and saw the lights were dark, he would hesitate to call. He swore to the light bulb that he didn’t need any new year gifts. His family had plenty of money. But the new year gifts were about love and affection…

But that year, his old office's only guests were the old security guard and the cleaning lady who came to wish him a happy new year.

* * *

Six months after retirement, he left the villa to his son and returned to his old house in the countryside with his wife. People who understood his situation said that perhaps he was offended by his old co-workers and so he hid himself away from life.

Since returning to his hometown, every morning he has had the habit of sitting and drinking tea by the glass window, looking out at the kumquat tree.

Today, like every other day, he held a cup of hot tea and sipped it, looking out at the garden in front of him. Suddenly, he saw a woodpecker on the window sill, looking at him intently through the glass. The glass was clear, so he could clearly see the woodpecker's two tiny legs, like two toothpicks. It tilted its head to look at him, then flew up to a kumquat tree branch, chirping chirping...

A moment later, it suddenly flew straight into the glass frame and then flew up again. It repeated this action several times. He drank his tea and watched. Perhaps the transparent glass frame made it think it was a space, so it kept flying in. Strangely enough, the woodpecker appeared every day and repeated the same action as the first day.

From the day he "met" the woodpecker, he felt happy. And just like that, he and the woodpecker became friends without realizing it.

The weather was sunny these past few days, but why didn't he see the woodpecker by the glass window like usual? He sat quietly, holding a cup of tea, waiting. One day, two days, three days, the woodpecker still didn't appear. After making a pot of tea, he quietly walked outside, looked up at the top of the kumquat tree to see if he could see the woodpecker's silhouette there. Disappointed, he looked around. Suddenly, he discovered the dead woodpecker with its wings spread out close to the wall under the glass window. He sadly bent down to pick up the dead bird.

When he looked up, he was startled to see his shadow looming in the window frame. For a long time, he had never seen his shadow when looking out from inside the house. Today, looking out into the darkness from outside, he saw his shadow clearly on the glass window. He thought about it and realized something. It turned out that for many days, the woodpecker had mistaken his shadow on the window frame for a friend, so he tried to rush into the glass window hoping to make friends. But sadly, he collapsed from exhaustion. He sighed softly. Alas! Could it be that it was like him, unable to distinguish the real person from his shadow?

He quietly dug a small hole, placed the dead bird in it, filled it with soil and planted a branch of portulaca in it, feeling sad and sorry.

This year, he celebrated Tet in his hometown. On the 28th of Tet, he received a phone call from his son. He said that an old security guard and a cleaning lady had brought two bags of cheap Tet goods, and if his father gave them to anyone in his hometown, he should take them home, otherwise he would just throw them away. He answered the phone as if talking to himself:

- You must bring those two bags of gifts back immediately, because they are the light that distinguishes humans from woodpeckers.

Of course the son was stunned and did not understand what his father said.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202503/nguoi-va-bong-f7e0711/