Page 355 - Xuan Giap Thin 2024 FINAL 2

Everyone feels that tomorrow will be apart and does not know what fate should be made.

The party was full of sadness.

Around 4 a.m. On December 23, Meng and I, our youngest son, left home for Woody

bus station in Lu Province. Through many arduous roads, arriving in Chau Doc in the

dark, we hurriedly got off the ferry to buy train tickets to the border. We avoided going
to Hong Ngu because the police there were very strict controls. Hong Ngu Prison was

packed with people suspected of crossing the border. Lying on the roof, waiting until

midnight, the time the train departs. The water was dark in the sky, and several stray
stars crossed the top of the sky. I felt myself drifting in a tunnel leading from one

dungeon to another. Avoid the buffalo head at one door; you won't meet the horse at the
other door and the demon porcelain around you! I arrived at the grass dune at 2 am. The

grass dune emerged in the middle of the Mekong River thunderstorm, with only weeds

growing. People use this place as a relay station. Passengers disembark at Con Co and
rent a sampan boat, a split boat, to take small groups of passengers past two border police

stations. One of Vietnam. One of Cambodia. The two stations are only about 1 kilometer

apart. Police stations have regular patrols on the river, ready to open fire on any boat that
does not turn to shore when called. Setting foot on the forked ferry, we entered the creepy

path of death. The oars gently waved the water in the empty night. The sampan boat
floated in the middle of the black river, waiting for the people to leave the country.

The headlights on the tall hut shone down on the river. The sound of the cruiser's

explosion echoed steadily. Occasionally, gunshots were interspersed with screams.
Everyone lay down on the floor of the chairs to avoid the police view. We were passing

by the Cambodian border police station when we were spotted. The headlights shone in.
A shriek of bossy command forced us to turn our noses to shore, where the checkpoint

was. The boat is drifting, not stopping. Thinking we were not obeying orders, the police

opened fire on the chair. The bullets tore through the river, splattering everyone's shirts.
Frightened, the rower pushed his nose against the opposite bank. We jumped into the

water, hid in the riverside grasses, and dragged the boat into the middle of the reeds.
The patrol boat rushed forward to catch the other boat in the middle of the river, and

they pressed it back angrily, forcing that boat into the post. After waiting about an hour,

the four sides were silent; we quietly boarded the boat and headed deep into Cambodia.
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