The story began with a man and a woman walking along the
street. They both looked over 60 years
old but still healthy. They seemed to be husband and wife. The woman started to
talk:
- - We walk about one hour every day, but I do not
see a single inch of fats disappear from my body.
- - The walking is to keep us fit and our heart
healthy but if we keep on eating then walking won’t help much, replied the man.
- - I know but unless we eat at home every day and
follow a strict diet, it is difficult not to gain weight. The restaurant always
serves us double the amount of food we can eat and it is a waste if we do not
finish or take out home.
- - Let’s walk up to the second red lights and then turn
around the block, ok? Said the man.
- - Ok, agreed the woman.
There were a few minutes of silence between the two of them as they
walked. Their pace was not very fast.
The street lights started to spread its dim brightness around them. The
only noise came from cars speeding by with their headlights on. The woman
started to talk again:
- - Do you think our son will be back this week-end?
- - I don’t really know. He always announced to us
at the last minute; replied the man.
- - Kids nowadays are always like that. It is really
a blessing that he still thinks of us and comes back to see us more often; said
the woman trying defend her son.
- - You know. I am worry about him, started the husband
in a sad voice. Life is getting more and more difficult. The economical situation of the country is not
very bright and jobs are rare. I wonder how he manages to live. We can help him
but our resources are limited ever since we stop working.
- -
We will have to help him until he finds a
job. Our parents made a lot of sacrifice
to give us an education so that our life won’t be too bad. It is our turn to do the same thing for our
son. He is going to school for the moment and it is hard to find a part-time
job. Come to think of it. Our son is
brilliant and smart. Do you think that his funky artist look has something to
do with it?
- - It certainly does count, replied the man. On a
job interview, good presentation is a number one element. The first impression
is very important but knowledge and self-confidence play an important role as
well.
- - I pray to God that he could find a job that
suits his dream and that he has a happy life.
Silence fell again between them as they walked along the street. The
stores started to close their doors and turned off the lights. The streets are
getting darker. The only lights that
shed some brightness are the street lights and the head lights of the
cars. As they walked by a close-out furniture
store, the woman got closer to her husband as she saw the homeless preparing
for their night sleep along the front porch of the store.
- - There are more and more unfortunate people in
the streets; started the woman. I feel sorry for those homeless but at the same
time I am scared because some of them might use drugs and lose their reasons,
said the woman.
- - Most of them are harmless; their only sin is
being poor. But sometimes, when one is
too desperate, one can commit unexpected crimes. It is up to us not to tempt the devil.
Let’s cross the street and walk along the
other side, there are more lights coming from the 24-hour stores and the night
clubs.
As they crossed the street, music came full
blast from the night clubs and added up to the noise of the cars speeding by.
-
This corner is too noisy, commented the woman.
To-day’s music is no longer sweet romantic melodies about love that we used to
listen. It only encourages young people to move and shake.
They
tried to walk faster to get away from the noise. The weather was fresh and the
moon was at its full state. One could
enjoy a nice quiet evening if it isn’t for the noise. As they walked on, the noise began to fade away
behind them.
- - You know how long we haven’t been to our native
country? -almost 20 years. Such a long time! We have lived too long outside of
our country and now we do not know which one is our country any longer. We live happy now but there are always something
missing. It is the memories of our childhood living with our parents and
surrounded with close relatives, started the woman.
- - It’s true. I still remember like yesterday all
the mischievous things that I did when I was young.
- - I understand that you were quite a bad boy when
you were young, weren’t you? Questioned the wife.
- - Yes, I was quite mischievous but I was a very
good student; replied the man. Since I lived away from the family in the city
for my schooling, my father had a hard time knowing where I was. Every time he
needed to see me he had to question my close friends or went through all the boarding
schools to find me. I had a friend who was the son of a movie theater owner, so
I went to the movies all the times without paying. That guy liked to show me a
whole bunch of free tickets he got from his parents; I grabbed some and used
that for the movies. I wondered how I could be a good student when I spent a
lot of time at the movie.
- - I was a good student too but I studied for my
parents. I wanted my father to be proud of me and to show me off to his
friends. We are only two sisters in the
family and my father had always been longing to have a boy. So I wanted to show
that I could be good or even better than a boy. For each class that I took, I always
obtained the prize for the best student at the end of the year. What are your
best memories of our country?
- - I have a lot of best memories, replied the man,
I could even write a book about them.
One of my favorites is about crossing the river. I used to hang around a
lot with my friends. So one day, we decided to play along the river. There was that guy who followed us everywhere
we went, but he was not like us, tough boys. He did not know a lot of things
and one of the bad things for him was that he did not know how to swim. We were
playing when suddenly someone detected some fruit trees at the other side of
the river. This is the countryside so there is no rule about picking up fruits
from the tree. We all decided to cross the river to get the fruits. Everyone
could swim except that one boy and he insisted on following us. So we decided
to help him. We attached him with palm leaves to help him float, and then two
among us would swim across pulling him behind.
He crossed the river all right but he almost died because of all the
water that he drank. It was a bad experience and it scared us to death.
- - Wow, you guys could have killed him; said the wife.
- - It is true but we were young and we did not even
think about that, replied the husband.
- - My best memory was the time I spent when I was
about 8 years old. There were many civil wars in the city so my parents sent us
to the countryside to our grand-parents who lived along the Mekong River. The
houses were built on stilt in order to avoid being flooded during the high
water season. That was the best
countryside I have ever known. I
remember we used to play hide and seek around the mango trees full of mangoes
that hung down to the ground. By looking
through the wooden floor of the house during the flood season, we could see
shrimps and fishes swimming under us. I
used to follow my uncle in a small boat to go visit the rice fields during the
flood season or ride on the back of the buffalo. Life was so easy and pleasant
in that part of the country but I am sure things have changed and we could no
longer experience that same emotion again to-day; commented the woman in a
regretful voice.
- - I also remember my school day. We had a math
teacher that we liked to tease a lot. One day, one of the boys put a shoe on
his desk. He took the shoe and waited until the end of the class. He was very
sure that he could catch the culprit without any problem. The whole class gave
out the words and as soon as the bell rung, everyone walked out with only one
shoe on the foot and one bare foot. The
teacher was so mad so he decided to put the whole class to come back on Sunday
as a punishment. We also had to write a hundred times the line “I must respect
my teacher and do not play in the classroom”. continued the man.
- - " For my school years, my most memorable souvenir
was my Greek mythology club. We studied
Roman & Greek mythology at that time so we decided to create a club with
each one of us taking a goddess as our mentor. We met every Wednesday and
invented stories about God & Goddesses.
Aphrodite (Venus) was my goddess. She was the Goddess of Love and
Beauty. I did not have a choice at first
because my friends were faster than me and took all the other goddess names but
I am glad I had her because she was not very much loved due to her tumultuous
life and morality but it gave me a good chance to defend her and to do further
research on mythology about her and the other gods and goddesses" went on the woman.
- - When it comes to school years, I think I can
write another book about that; said the husband.
- - So many good memories! We’ll have to save money
to go back to visit our country some day.
Hey, where are we now? We were so busy
talking that we went too far. I do not seem to recognize this place, do you? asked the wife.
- - Me neither.
But we haven’t been turning a lot, I am sure we can find our way back.
May-be before midnight! The husband started to joke.
- - Don’t get me panic! I am already scared that we
might get lost. We never walked this far before and there was no one around for
us to ask our way; said the woman in a shaky voice.
- - Let me use my good sense of orientation to get
us out of this situation. Too bad the
sun is not around for me to orient my directions. We were talking about walking
around the block so did we or did we not turn? I don’t remember. Let’s first find a crossroad. This could
help.- said the husband.
- - I remember that we turned twice. I did not
understand why we turned though. Let’s walk up to the red lights in the
distance, we might recognize something but I am really tired- complained the wife.
After that, both of them tried to walk up to the red lights. Their steps
were slow because they were both tired.
- - I wish I could find a shopping cart, the man
started to speak.
- - What do you mean a shopping cart? Are you crazy,
at this time of the night? Don’t you think, we would be better off finding our
way home, replied the woman.
- - A shopping cart for me to lean on so that I do
not have to walk a lot -- laughed the man as though he didn’t care much whether
they got lost or not.
The woman looked furious but she did not reply because she knew her
husband too well – any occasion could be a reason for a good laugh. As they
arrived at the red lights, they saw in the distance about 4 or 5 police cars
blocking the street. Many cars had to turn back as they arrived to the blocking
point. There seemed to be a crowd of
people around that area.
- - Let’s walk over there to ask our way home, we
might find a police man or someone who could help, said the woman.
They
dragged their feet up to the blocking area. As they approached the blocking area, they saw
four police cars blocking the street. There were banners blocking the sidewalks
as well. It must be a big operation. There were no helicopters on sight
though. They tried to find a police man
but there was no police man in sight but on the spot, there was a crowd of eight
to ten persons talking to one another, so the husband started to ask one of the
persons of the group:
- - What’s going on? Why are there so many police
cars blocking the street? asked the man.
- - I have just joined the crowd and wasn’t sure but
I heard that the policemen are trying to catch criminals. answered one of the passers-by.
- - I do not think that they were criminals but
illegal immigrants, replied another man.
- - No, there
was a murder in one of the houses. A husband caught his wife with another man
and shot both of them down with his
gun.
Nobody seemed to know exactly what the problem was.
- - Criminals or immigrants, I do not care, said a
lady loaded with shopping bags. I have been trying to get to my house since
6PM. We are now 9PM and I still could not get through. My house is in the
blocking area. I walked around the block trying to get from the other side but
it was useless.
- - You have a choice of trying to find a policeman
or to find a bus stop bench and stay there to wait for the event to be over
started to say the husband laughing.
The lady did not appreciate the joke, gave him a dirty look and tried to
get closer to the blocking area.
- - Could you be a little more serious for a while?
The lady was unfortunate enough to get stuck and you added up to her
misfortune. Let’s walk back to the red lights; said the wife.
The husband did not want to leave. He wanted to stay there to see the end
of the story but his wife insisted so much that he followed her with great
regrets. As they arrived to the red lights again, they realized that they did
not ask for the way. Fortunately, they saw on the side street, half the
distance before the second red lights a store still opened.
- - Let’s walk to the store. We might be able to ask
for directions, said the husband.
So they walked up to the store. It turned out to be a café. The café was not big but all the four walls
were equipped with televisions. Each one was showing a different channel. The Olympics game was playing in full. There
were eight or ten young people sitting around drinking coffee and talking. The
couple was so glad that they could finally rest. They found a table and sat
down.
- - How could they watch so many channels at the
same time? This is incredible! Whispered the wife. By the way, did you bring
any money with you? I didn’t.
- - I just bring enough for coffee. Don’t order
anything else ok? Said the husband.
- - But I am starving with all the walking we did,
replied the wife.
- - Then you’ll have to just hold on until we get
home.
So
they just ordered coffee and at the same time asked the waiter their way home. It turned out that they made more turns than
they thought but they were not too far from home. However, the blocking area
was a short-cut to their house and they could not take it. They took note of
all the turns they had to take to get back and started their way home. They
stopped twice at two different bus stop benches to rest their feet.
- - I just saw a catering truck across the street.
They seem to sell tacos. How much money do you have left? Asked the woman.
- - Two or three dollars. Let’s cross the street and
see.
So
they crossed the street and walked towards the catering truck. There were young
people waiting to buy food and drinks.
They talked loudly and seemed to be very happy. The husband looked at the price list and
said.
- - We can only buy one taco and one drink. So let’s
buy that and share it. OK? They might think that we are cheap but we have no
choice. This will give us some force to walk back home.
So
they bought the taco and the drink. The young people looked at them and giggled
as they crossed the street, walked to the nearest bus stop bench and shared
their taco. They looked very much like
two homeless.
- - This is the best half-taco I have ever eaten,
said the wife. This could serve us as a lesson. Next time, we’ll have to bring
a little more money in case we need to take the bus or a taxi home.
- - I don’t mind sleeping on this bench. At least.
We’ll have fresh air. Look at the full moon. It’s bright and shining. Is it
pretty? We can clearly see the man on the moon leaning on his miraculous tree.
- - You know that it is only a legend. There is no
man on the moon; replied the woman.
- - Legends are the heritage of a country. They help
people remember their roots no matter where they go or live. We must start to
tell our son all the legends of our country so that could help him remember his
origin.
- - It is true.
If you asked any of our countrymen their origin, they would say that
they came from the same ancestors and that we are all brothers and sisters.
This explains the reason why so much money was sent back to our country to help
parents and relatives who live there.
Let’s walk back home, it’s getting late. We could spend hours talking
about our country and get lost again; urged the wife.
- - It’s too bad. I am starting to get sleepy and
think that this bench is a good place to lie down and rest, said the husband.
- - If you want to get picked up by a policeman and
go sleep at the police station, it is your right but I need someone to take me
home because I am scared to be alone in the dark.
- - I thought that you have a very strong mind and
you are scared of nothing; the husband
started to joke. I often hear you say that you aren’t afraid of anybody or
anything.
- - Could you quit joking! Let’s go home. I am
tired. Next time, we will not walk outside of the residence, that way, we won’t
get lost and don’t forget to bring more money with you!
They
started to walk home. There was a small distance yet to go. They walked hand in
hand. The husband started to talk:
- - After all, it wasn’t too bad. The night is fresh. The moon is in its full
phase. We even witnessed a police raid.
All this is going to be a souvenir to remember. I am glad we got outside of our residence
this time otherwise it will always the same routine, taking the same path , seeing the same houses
around us and even listening to the same
dog barking.
- The
wife just smiled and said to herself: “I am glad I have a husband who is always
in a good mood no matter what happens.
May-be this is what keeps us together for so long and keeps us happy in
any circumstances.”
As
they crossed the gate of the residence, both of them felt exhausted but happy
to be home. The husband said:
- - We are going to have a good sleep to-night with
all the walking back and forth.
- - Thanks God, we are home! Home Sweet Home! Replied the wife. Let’s go to bed. I am no
longer hungry.
