Chapter 8: A day of terrors - P2

Dung was still lying there. But Toàn had gotten up. He had always been mocked as a crybaby who would wet his pants at the first sign of danger. We even thought of not allowing him to join us in this trip.

 

“You stay home. You’ll be a nuisance, for sure”, I’d said. But when the challenge arrived he showed us what he was made of.

“Hey Dung”, Toàn came up to her slowly and whispered. “Get up Mai. Stop scaring me!”

He gently touched Mai’s shoulder with one finger and then stepped back. He burst loudly into tears.

“Hey Dung, you shouldn’t be dying. Please don’t scare me like this!”

Then he acted as if he was possessed. He held Mai’s arm and shook her, gently at first, and then really hard. Dung half-opened her eyes. He tried to lift her, but her body wouldn’t obey him.

“Will somebody please lend me a hand?” Toàn stared back at us.
“You’re all cowards!” he shouted.
“Is she still... still... alive?”
“Yes. Come on. Hurry up!”
“Really? Don’t you fool us, will you?”
We inched towards her. Toàn shouted his order, “Go and fetch some water. Hurry up!”

 

 

 

Tí looked as if he had just woken up from a trance of his own. He ran to the nearby stream, took off his shirt, soaked it in the water and ran back. Then we squeezed the water all over Mai’s body. After a while she gradually came to.

We were overjoyed. “She’s coming round!”
Dung burst into tears. She held tightly onto Toàn when we helped her in under the roof.

 

It was raining now. In fact it wasn’t so much raining as pouring. Water fell in torrents. The stream was overflowing and started coming up to our legs. It was freezing cold. We hugged each other. We pressed against each other. The warmth passed from one body to another, and to top it all we all started crying again.

I was the first to cry and then the rest joined in. I thought of Lan who was alone somewhere else in the woods. Who would she be holding? She must be so cold. Did she know how to make a roof out of twigs and branches? Or had she fainted like Mai. Or had she made her way safely somehow to the edge of the woods?

My tears dripped onto the backs of my friends. How I missed Mom and Dad. They must be so worried by now. They must be looking for me. Mom must be crying. Mom had always cried whenever I got hurt. Then I thought of Miss Hà. I wondered if I’d be seeing her again. Would I ever be able to make it out of here and get back home?

The raindrops started to get under my skin and I began to get very cold. And I started to feel ashamed of what I’d done this morning, telling Toàn not to come with us. Did Toàn hold a grudge against me? Did he despise me for it? By now my feet were going numb. Then the numbness gradually crept up my thigh and before long I was shivering all over.

“I’m going to die!”
“So am I!” the others exclaimed in unison.
Then Toàn said, “Why sit here and freeze to death? Let’s do something to warm ourselves up.”
“I don’t know how to warm myself up.”
“Well, let’s just do some jogging.”
“But I can’t jog”, Dung moaned.
“Don’t worry! I’ll carry you”, Toàn said.
“Will you carry me, Toàn? Oh, how grateful I am to you!” 

 

And so, in spite of all the rain and wind, we started jogging. Toàn led the way and we followed him. Then everyone started volunteering to carry Mai on their back, and we ended up taking turns to carry her.

It was getting dark overhead and an eerie atmosphere enveloped the woods. The trees reminded me of my garden, though I was afraid I would never see it again. My knees got weak and I was about to faint. I saw the woods rocking from side to side. My friends appeared to be rocking as well. Then everything became blurred and merged into the rain. Then I saw a figure fall down in front of me. It was a very familiar figure. I couldn’t see anything. I stopped and wiped the rain off my face. 

 

Finally I realized it was Toàn. He was kicking and squirming in the mud.
“Oh, my leg...” he said.
“What’s the matter?”
“Just move on”, he whispered.
“But what’s the matter with you?” I had to wipe away the rain continually from my face.
“My leg seems to be twisted. Go home and call my mother. Hurry up!”

 

I tried to get him up out of the mud but we both fell over. I made a big effort and managed to get up. Toàn was crying like hell. We put our arms round each other’s shoulders and moved forwards, step by step. We kept going like this as if we were in a dream.

Then I heard somebody calling. It was a very familiar sound. Could it be Dad? I shouted, “Daddy!” But there was no reply. I looked around and there was nobody there either. Then Toàn collapsed again.

 

“Cường, I think I’m dying.”
“No! You mustn’t die! If you do you’ll become a ghost!”
“Yes! I think I’ll be turning into a ghost really soon!”
I shook him, “I warn you, if you become a ghost I’ll run away from you!”
“No, no, you mustn’t leave me.”
“OK, I won’t leave you. But did you hate me this morning?”
“No.”
“Tell me the truth.”
“No.”
“If you don’t hate me because of it, I’ll teach you the step-guessing game.”
“OK.”
“But I’m so cold.”
“Me too.”

Toàn and me hugged each other. Then we both sat there crying. We cried and cried until it stopped raining. It was so cold our teeth chattered. I was in a dreamy state, yet I suddenly managed to recognize a familiar scent. It kept circulating in my nose and reminded me of my garden. It reminded me of my parents, my village, and everything that was so very familiar.

 

 

I shouted, “Jasmine flower!”
“What?”
“Jasmine flower! Can’t you smell it? It’s coming from this direction.”
“Yes, he’s right,” someone said. “We saw those flowers on the edge of the woods this morning.”

 

We dragged ourselves towards that jasmine scent. As we got nearer and nearer to the scent the thickets gradually began to thin out. Soon we were able to see the lights from the houses.

And my, how lovely and dear I found those houses! I would love any being that walked out from them. I wouldn’t care whether it was someone I knew or not, I would just hold tight to him or her as soon as they came within reach.

 

Never before had I found the jasmine scent so lovely. I knew now I‘d never ever be able to dislike it. And I’d never ever be able to dislike Toàn either, the way I’d come to know him in the woods as I knew the jasmine scent.

 

We gazed at the lights coming the houses as if they were stars. They were the brightest stars of that evening. More and more stars appeared and they joined each other in a stream of lights that moved towards us. This meant rescuers were on their way. It was thanks to Tí’s group. They’d split off from us, made it to the houses and told the grown-ups the news. They’d immediately set out in search of us.

In the same evening Lan was found in a heap of rotten leaves. She cried till she lost her voice and so did we. It was all such a memorable day for me. After it I knew in my heart that we could never part.

 

Dad said, “Only during hard times can you learn the lesson of love.”
And I believed he was right.