Bay in the rain

Here, it rains for over two hundred days each year, with the rest of the days shrouded in gloomy clouds. The sun rarely appears, and the moon only shows up a couple of times during the rare dry periods of the year.

Perhaps that's why this place is called Blue Moon. It makes me think of a distant and beautiful dream.

Illustrative image

Thuy said that the first time she saw the painting "Bay in the Rain" on display at the Fine Arts Museum.

They were both in their fourth year of university at the time, and their dates took place in familiar places like the library, bookstore cafes, or free art exhibitions.

During that last summer of their student life, Vinh promised Thuy that he would spend his first vacation after starting work traveling to many places with her. The first place she thought of was a small town by the sea.

Vinh is now on his way there, but he's alone. Ten years have passed since he graduated, and his job as a construction design engineer has taken him to many different places.

But strangely, he never had the chance to visit Blue Moon; the promise from years ago had faded into some corner of his memory, covered in the dust of time and forgotten.

Yesterday, the project manager called Vinh to discuss a few adjustments needed in the construction drawings for pier number 5. He will work directly with the person in charge on the partner's side to reach a consensus before the official meeting takes place at the head office.

This morning, as he drove out of the city and onto the highway, his mind was still preoccupied with the issues arising from the contract. It wasn't until he turned onto the coastal road and passed the first road marker, when his car was suddenly engulfed in a blinding white rain, that he remembered that ahead was Blue Moon.

The town has changed its name, but the rains continue to fall incessantly throughout May.

* *
*

The representative from the partner company was engineer Le Hoang Vu. He was of average height, with neatly trimmed hair, and although his face showed signs of age, he still exuded a very special elegance. They met at a cafe on the covered patio of a hotel. In the distance, the lighthouse was shrouded in a hazy curtain of rain.

"I'm very sorry for interrupting your holiday so abruptly," Vinh said sincerely as they shook hands.

The old engineer smiled faintly:

- No problem at all. Last night I read through the documents the secretary sent me, and this morning I still managed to go swimming at the beach as usual.

He looked slightly surprised:

Swimming in this kind of weather must be a very different experience.

- That's normal here; the sea is warm and the rain is very light in the morning. You should try once to immerse yourself in the tranquility of the waves and feel each raindrop fall on your face, of course, after we've reviewed all the issues that have arisen in this project.

They spent most of their time discussing work, but he also managed to learn a few things about engineer Le Hoang Vu. He had worked in this field for nearly thirty years and was a renowned expert sought after by many corporations. Recently, he had begun to consider retirement, even as soon as negotiations for the construction project of pier number 5 were completed. Before officially leaving work, he wanted to take a few days off to reconsider everything.

"As you can see the results," engineer Hoang Vu tapped his pencil on the paper, "I didn't even get a chance to visit that lighthouse."

The rain seemed to have subsided, and they could see the lighthouse rising majestically from the deep gray sea. In a fleeting moment of memory, Vinh suddenly remembered seeing it somewhere before, its appearance very familiar. Yes, it was the same lighthouse that appeared in the painting he and Thuy had gazed upon together that distant afternoon. Actually, at that time, only Thuy was intently absorbed by the painting, while he was engrossed in admiring her, the girl with eyes as vast as the water beneath her long, curved eyelashes.

- It seems some artist once painted this lighthouse. I saw it in an exhibition at the Fine Arts Museum a long time ago; the painting was titled "Bay in the Rain."

It was as if a wave had just surged from the depths of their hearts, and the two men silently gazed out at the curtain of rain.

* *
*

There was no way to reach the lighthouse; it had been abandoned since a modern signal tower was built on the other side of Cape Rock. Engineer Le Hoang Vu was involved in designing that structure. During his time in the bay supervising the construction, he witnessed Trang Xanh transform from a bustling and prosperous town into a place of oblivion.

The rocky mountain ranges extend right to the sea, forming a magnificent arc embracing Blue Moon Bay. This is also where two ocean currents meet, carrying countless plankton that serve as food for shrimp and fish. Since ancient times, Blue Moon Bay has been famous for a particularly valuable seafood: rain-fed fish. They appear in large schools after each rain, providing the main source of income and wealth for the town.

Fishermen fish for rain almost year-round, except for the rare dry nights during the full moon, when the tide is highest and the fish begin their breeding season. At those times, no boats go out to sea. They gather on the shore, light large bonfires, and sing and dance together all night long.

However, that year, to meet the unexpectedly high demand, some villagers broke centuries-old customs and went out to sea throughout the lunar cycle. Others, seeing their boats laden with fish returning, couldn't sit still either; they spent all their time sailing and casting their nets, sweeping across the sea.

That was the last year the town saw a blue moon. After the eclipse, the moon turned a deep, blood-red color and disappeared behind dark clouds. The rains began to fall, but the fish never returned.

"I stayed in this town throughout that dreary rainy season," engineer Le Hoang Vu continued the unfinished story as they had lunch together in a small restaurant on the outskirts of town. "During its decline, the town was almost deserted, boats rotting along the shore, and people leaving for cities in search of new opportunities. Only the lighthouse keeper's family remained; he said he would stay until we finished the signal pole on the other side. I spent most of my free time visiting them; his daughter is an artist."

- A star artist - Vinh began to feel suspicious.

Engineer Hoang Vu nodded slightly:

- That's right. She's the one who painted "The Bay in the Rain." It's possible that's the same painting you saw at the art museum exhibition that year.

"Did you ever see that girl again later?" he asked hesitantly.

- As soon as this project was completed, I was urgently reassigned to another project far away. I thought I would return here soon, but then work just swept me away like a whirlwind. Once you embark on this profession, you have to travel to many places, meet many people, and also lose many things. Only now do I realize that I have lost the most precious thing at Blue Moon.

A sudden gust of wind arose from across the bay. The sea roared and cracked in the rain.

* *
*

Vinh finished his report and submitted it to the project manager late at night. The rain continued to fall steadily outside the window, its gentle yet persistent sound like a stream seeping into his mind. He had once told Thuy that he couldn't live in places with so much rain; the damp, humid air made him feel suffocated. Thuy turned to him with a worried expression:

But will you still take me to Blue Moon?

"Of course," he said completely sincerely. "I'll definitely go with you on our first vacation. It's just that I don't understand why you always want to go to such a strange place. A place with so much rain, where you can't swim, even walking is incredibly difficult, and everything is shrouded in a hazy mist."

- Because there's a lighthouse there. Don't you realize that? Even when everything changes, the lighthouse is still there. It gives me a sense of security amidst life's uncertainties and heartbreaks.

At that moment, he held her slender, delicate fingers in his warm hand for a long time. Thuy had told him about her sad childhood. After her father died in a tunnel collapse accident during construction, her mother managed to hold on for a while before taking her to live with her paternal grandparents. She was only six years old at the time. Her mother told her to wait there while she took her to the bookstore. But she waited and waited, and her mother never returned.

Thủy spent her childhood in solitude and quietude. Even in university, she maintained that quiet demeanor amidst the boisterous and colorful female students. Only when giving presentations at forums and student scientific conferences did she reveal the sharpness of her intellect and confidence. He met Thủy and fell in love with her when they were assigned to work on a joint project. Those were incredibly beautiful years.

Shortly after graduating and starting work, Vinh was entrusted by his superiors to participate in a major project in the south. He was the youngest engineer in the team assigned to that task. When he informed Thuy of this, the most surprising thing was that she didn't seem as happy about his small progress as she usually was.

Are you worried that we'll have to be apart for a while?

Thuy remained silent for a long time. Finally, she spoke:

I'm pregnant.

It happened so suddenly that he was stunned for a moment. Finally, he hugged her tightly, his emotions in turmoil. That year he was only twenty-five and she was twenty-four. They were at the beginning of their careers, and although they had been in love for quite some time, neither had thought about marriage. After days of agonizing thought, countless messages he intended to send but then deleted, he finally timidly asked her if she could give him a little more time. He was afraid he wasn't ready to be a father.

- I know this will be a difficult and painful decision. But we'll have other opportunities later, and I promise I'll spend my whole life making it up to you.

Thuy looked at him with a very strange expression. Then, suddenly, she smiled:

- I was just kidding. I haven't done anything yet.

Her calm demeanor left him flustered and embarrassed. The next day, he went to her rented room to apologize, only to find out she had just left. When he went to her company, they told him she had resigned. He frantically inquired with all his friends but received no news. He went to Thuy's hometown, but the villagers said she hadn't been there in a long time, and her grandparents had passed away several years ago.

Thuy had vanished from his life forever.

As time went by, things gradually calmed down. He met a few other girls, but all those relationships ended, and only his work remained as his sole solace.

* *
*

What the artist was thinking when she painted the lighthouse in the rain, engineer Le Hoang Vu could never understand, even though he had spent countless afternoons on the balcony of that small house watching the girl apply paint to each line. That year he was very young, and the signal pole at Mui Da was the first project he participated in.

Perhaps that's why, before retiring, he wanted to come here to see it one last time. Like the ancient lighthouse, the lamppost still stands there, weathered by countless storms. Only the artist he knew back then has moved abroad with her husband.

"So, you'll be retiring after completing your consultation for the 5-star port project?" he asked, puzzled.

"With your experience, you must have realized the problems that exist when we adjust this design to maximize profit," engineer Le Hoang Vu said slowly. "I will present that opinion at the upcoming meeting between the parties before leaving. They may or may not listen, but it is my responsibility to the profession I have chosen."

- Last night, in the report I submitted to the company, I also noted these points, hoping that my superiors will consider the matter comprehensively.

After a moment of silence, he continued:

Excuse me if I'm being a little nosy, but what do you plan to do after you retire?

The old engineer turned to look out at the sea. The rain continued to fall incessantly. The gray water occasionally churned with a white wave.

My wife passed away a few years ago, and my children are all grown up, so I don't have many ties to my hometown anymore. Maybe I'll start doing things I didn't have the chance to do when I was younger, like painting, for example. You know, I used to dream of being an artist, but my parents steered me toward becoming an engineer because they thought it was a more financially stable career. It's funny how I've come a long way in life only to want to return to where I started.

This moment suddenly reminded him of that sunny afternoon in the grounds of the Fine Arts Museum, when Thuy stopped in front of the painting "Bay in the Rain." What would have happened if he had kept his promise to go to Blue Moon with her that day? The lighthouse would still stand there calmly waiting for them in the rain, only people's hearts would have changed.

* *
*

On his last morning in town, it rained as usual, but Vinh decided to go swimming. Crossing the cool, damp sand, he touched the edge of the waves and slowly ventured further out. Just as the old engineer had said, the sea was warm, and he enjoyed the feeling of immersing himself in the calm, gentle waves, letting the water droplets fall on his face.

Returning to the hotel, he unpacked his belongings and went down for breakfast before leaving. While waiting for the waiter to serve his meal, he suddenly noticed a small bookstore across the street with unusual souvenirs.

He planned to go there after dinner to buy a few things to decorate his empty apartment on the fifth floor. After all, Blue Moon was a special place in his memories, and he wanted to preserve the memories of that place.

Then, after finishing his meal and heading to his car, he suddenly remembered he'd left his umbrella in his hotel room. There was no parking space in front of the shop across the street. The distance from here to the sidewalk was about six meters; the street was deserted, but the rain was still falling steadily. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to start the engine and leave.

"I can visit again another time," he thought as he drove along the coastal road toward the highway, leaving the town shrouded in rain behind.

That same morning, the woman who owned the bookstore woke up earlier than usual. Normally, she would have breakfast with her ten-year-old son at the shop across the street, but since it was the start of summer vacation, she decided to prepare some breakfast for him herself. As she went down the stairs, she paused briefly at the painting hanging on the wall. Ten years ago, when she decided to leave the city with her unborn child, she had brought this painting with her to live in Blue Moon.

The painting is titled "Bay in the Rain".

Source: http://www.baogiaothong.vn/vinh-bien-trong-mua-d595089.html