Page 123 - Thorn In The Heart

Chinh Nguyên

His family fell into a deeply depressed after two days
Nguyen's mother had followed Mrs. Huong going to another
village area. His Grandma cried and prayed to Christ for the
safety to her daughter-in-law every night. Grandpa had changed
his habit, stayed late at night, wake up early and walked out his
room late. He always sat on the chair at the corner of the front
yard and quietly.

One night while Nguyen lay on his Grandpa bed. In
suddenly, he thought of a woman, who was raped and tortured to
die by five Viet-Minh soldiers in his Grandpa storehouse a year
ago. Then he was a worry to think of his mother, cried in the
dark and sobbing all night long. Nguyen's grandpa sat on the bed
beside Nguyen; he thought a lot of things that crossed his mind
with the troubles, which came from Vietminh and French
colonials. He was as a foolish duck looking at the problems but
could not do anything to solve. He was renting his heart to hear
the sobbing of his grandson in the quiet to let the sorrow as the
dark that fills up the room and his soul.

Suddenly, there is the rap of hurry at the front door, made all
the family members jumping of afraid for the bad things.
Nguyen's grandpa is very frustrating, slowly put his feet out of
bed, looking for his rubber sandals in the darkness and
grumbled: "Only the Vietminh's terrorist agents knock at the
door at midnight time! This family has nothing more to you
asking! Did you came here to kill me...! I do not care". In an
angry voice, he said.

The cry broke up at the front door, and the emotional voice
of Grandma echoed in the house:

"Oh... My God, Are you Trinh? How could you escaped
from them?"

"I will tell you late. Where is my Son?"

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