Page 117 - Thorn In The Heart
P. 117

Chinh Nguyên

                Nguyen stood up to look at them walking  away from him
            with  his  angry  eyes,  and  he  wished  to  kill  them  all  in  his
            possible, but he could not do it. He was crying and sat closed his
            uncle body, squeezed his uncle head tightly that broken up by
            the bullets of French militarist soldiers in his arms and crying
            loudly.


                The villagers became poor and poorer after a year under the
            control  of  French  militarist  and  Viet-Minh  agents.  The  houses
            had devastated by the bombs and cannon shells of both sides still
            there with the sorrow time and tearful in the people's souls. They
            saw every day the smoky brick walls, columns reduced, a chunk
            of  woods  and  bricks  to  feel  renting  their  hearts.  All  the  sad
            things of war were still lying on the ground beside the big bomb
            holes,    made  the  threaten  effective  on  people  live  and  always
            scratched on their memories.


                Nguyen's  mother  went  back  home  with  her  hope  that  she
            will take Nguyen going to Hanoi in safety. She heard a  lot of
            worse stories, which happened for all the people in the village
            by the actions of French soldiers and Vietminh agents. She saw
            all the sobbing painful of the villagers' live that occurred to them
            at any time in the village. It effected on her thinking and afraid
            to  get  caught  by  Vietminh  agents.  Therefore  most  of  the  time
            she hid in the collapsed house, which uncle Cao had temporary
            repair it for Nguyen and his grandparent living together.

                One  night  Uncle  Cao  left  home  without  a  word  to  any
            family  member,  and  nobodies  know  his  reason  for  leaving.
            Nguyen’s grandparent was always sorrow, sobbing and painful
            about  the  death  of  their  youngest  son,  who  killed  by  French
            militarist  on  the  muddy  rice  field  on  Nguyen's  front  eyes.
            Sometimes  their  eyes  were  full  of  tears  and  discussed:  Why
            Uncle  Cao  left  home  without  telling  anybody?  Where  was  he
            living?    What  was  he  doing?    Most  of  the  questions  that  his
            Grandparent brought up in their minds were unsolved! Because
            uncle  Cao  was  an  acting  person  but  quietly  in  his  words,  he
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