Page 500 - Thorn In The Heart

Thorns in the Heart I

At the left side of school was Mr. Huan's coffee plantation. It had
full white flowers, and the scent of the flowers was wafted through
the air in the classes room by the flowering time.

Behind Mr. Huan's coffee plantation was the elephant racing
park and the small spring on the foothill. Most of the time after a
class hour, Nguyen and his friends came in this spring to swim in the
cold water or played soccer ball on the elephant racing park.

Nguyen and his friends were the seven grade year level on the
first day of Nguyen-Truong-To high school. Again four years late the
school changed its name to Ban-Me-Thuot high school. It moved to
another area and closed to L-19 Air Force, on Ba-Trieu street,
because the student was continuing to come to school and it must
open more classes.

Nguyen remembered all of the names of his teachers and his
friends of the same class at the year 1960 and ten years late, Nguyen
cried to many time when he heads the bad news of his friends, who
was died on the battlefield, missing in operation or lost a part of
their bodies. Nguyen counts on his friend's names, who were alive
on his finger-joints. In a moment of emotion, he felt sad, and his
tears ran on his cheeks because his friend's names were not full his
finger-joints like he had a count before.

Now... ! Maybe it was Long's turn...! Foreigners, North, and
South dirty politician... Goddamned... Fuck all of you... so many
people were dying... and the whole country had destroyed because
you're dishonest, your passion and blind... I hate all of you...!

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After Nguyen and Phuong went home from the Binh-Minh
restaurant on the Doc-Lap street, Nguyen sat on the sofa in the living

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