Living

by Hang Nguyen (Vietnam)

I didn't expect to find Vietnam

My friend said “she is lucky to see you”. “No, I am the lucky one” I replied. Every day I hear people complaining about their lives even when they own expensive houses, cars and family. They seem to never be happy with what they have. I might be one of them. Sometimes too busy we forget that happiness is just having food to eat and clothes to wear. Escaping the hustle and bustle of city life, we left for an island called Ly Son which is located in the middle of Vietnam. As many other trips before, we loved beautiful beaches, enjoyed seafood and discovered local cultures. There was nothing special until the fourth day, we went to the most beautiful place on the island named the Archway. People come here for stunning sunset view. It was my original plan as well. But no, I did not see any sunset, I did not see any archway… “Hello, how are you?” I smiled and asked her - a tan skin girl wearing ragged clothes. She looked at me shyly and said nothing. She was carrying something heavy. I followed her and quickly realized that her mother was one of seafood vendors near the Archway. “Sit down, sit down, sit down” her mom enthusiastically persuaded me. I took a seat on a small red plastic chair without backrest beside a small red plastic table, like toddler’s toys. The little girl helped her mom to wash dirty dishes, carefully scrubbing each spoon and chopstick. She had messy brown hair, probably because of the sunshine and sea salt. Her eyes looked sad and empty. I came and tried to start a conversation but she does not bother to say a word. “She might be 8, 9 or 10? Why does she look so sad? Maybe she…?” “Hey, Glutton!!!!” my friend reproached me for not taking pictures with them. They interrupted my train of thought. When we left the vendor after having dinner there, I smiled and waved my hands at the little girl “goodbye!”. She waved back, but still not a smile or any words, then continuously cleaning up. Back to the hotel late at night, I thought about her for a moment but then fell asleep because of tiredness. The next morning, a couple of hours before leaving, we went to the local market looking for some souvenirs. I was surprised and wondered myself “What is she doing here? She should be in class this time?” It was a sugarcane juice vendor. The owner was not her mom. “Or the woman yesterday was not her mom either?” I kept asking myself. She ran back and forth serving customers, cleaning tables and washing glasses. I came over and ordered a glass of juice with the intention of approaching her. It was still that messy hair. It was still those empty eyes. It was still old torn shirt yesterday. I felt sad, really sad. “Come on! We have to go! Now!” my friends urged me from across the street. I felt like I had to say something to her before leaving. I quickly grasped her hands and said “Hey, I do not know if you go to school or not but I hope you can go to school and study hard, I believe in you”. I ran fast and headed straight to the ferry. I knew I could not hold my tear if I ever looked back. We quickly boarded a small local boat. “Sister! Sister! Bye bye!!!” I heard a beautiful voice and I turned around. It was her, my little girl. She smiled and waved at me. A smile might be more beautiful than sunset in the archway that I missed yesterday. I was so happy that I screamed out “Goodbye! Take care!” We were leaving. I kept waving at her until her shadow faded away. She did not know how grateful I am to see her. My friends enjoyed reviewing the pictures while I looked out the open sea. I dreamily heard her reading aloud in class: A B C D….