Khanh+Linh


 * Memories

**

“Hurry up, move, move! We have new prisoners. You, take care of this guy! The guy over there is bleeding, you, go! “- Hà, the leader of the clinic is shouting. She’s about 30 years old, a strict person, but just while she’s working. Everybody knows how affectionate she is. She takes care of everybody, even from very little details. She wants to make sure that they’re healthy and happy. With her, they’re all young and need protection from older people. But she doesn’t want them to know. She always is the last person to go to sleep, the last one to eat. She checks around if somebody need blankets. She won’t eat until everybody else is finished. Sometimes, some people see her still awake at the middle of night to mend their t-shirt or socks. “We need more bandage over here! And you.....”, Hà suddenly stops. She’s staring at that French soldier. In front of her eyes, there’s a white, blonde haired man. Even his face is pale because of the wound in his head, he’d lost a lot of blood; it makes her feel familiar and warm. “Are you ok, madam?”, A nurse asks. “I’m ok! Bring this man into the resting room! Find a comfortable bed! Clean the blood from his face. I’ll come in right away.”  ><><><><><><><><><><><  She cures him tenderly and very carefully, more carefully than she ever does. The way she looks at him, everybody can tell that there’s something between her and him: it’s so soft and affectionate. She’s smiling, but her eyes, her face are full of sadness. She sits down, caresses his white, soft skin, then his long eyes and stop at his lips. She bows slowly, kisses him… tears flow down on her face.  ><><><><><><><<><><><><

//Ten years ago //

//Hà is twenty years old, full of vitality and dreams. She dreams of a beautiful love story with some handsome, rich guy and at the end of the story is a happy ending, a big wedding; they’re going to live happily ever after, like in all the romantic novels that she’d read. Then, he entered her life, the one who turn her world upside down, the one who teaches her real happiness and even the painful, harsh realities of life are, Nicolas. Hà's father is the owner of one of two biggest corporations in Saigon. They met each other while Nicolas helped his father in family’s business. He is 26 years old. Nicolas’s beautiful blue eyes attract Hà and Hà’s good behaviour and manner catch Nicolas attention; it’s love at first sight. They start to go out with each other. For them, it was a really hard thing to be apart, even for just hours. Nicolas decides to move to live in Vietnam. Hà teaches him Vietnamese and Vietnamese’s culture. He teaches her how to speak French and French culture. There are some little, very little arguments between them then, because of differences like she doesn’t like cheese and he doesn’t like Pho, but they were always work it out, someway. Everything seems so perfect and wonderful. They believe that nothing can ever separate them. Hà’s family don’t want her to marry a foreign person; even though they know him very well. They always tell her to stop going out with Nicolas, of course, she never listen to them. They try to introduce Hà with Vietnamese guys but it doesn’t work. They start to give up. //

//><><><>><><><><><><> //

//Nicolas is going to the restaurant, the perfect one that he has chosen, to propose to Hà, tonight; they have been going out for a year anyway. But then the phone rings, his father’s health is become worse; he has to go back to France, immediately. He left without any message for her. Hà didn’t know anything, she came to the restaurant and waited until it closed. // //One day, two days, three days and then a week, a month… still nothing from Nicolas. Hà started to feel confused and scared. She afraid that he’s already forgot about her, but she still waiting for him. With her, this time is like hell, for her family, this is a great change to make her forget about Nicolas. // //“Darling, are you ok? Poor my little child! When will you stop waiting for that guy? You have to go out, meet new guys and forget about him. There are so many good Vietnamese guys around here. Why don’t you choose them? Or do you want me to find you some?”, Hà’s father says. // //“NO, dad! I’ve told you so many times! I’m not going to marry anybody except for him! I don’t care if he’s a Vietnamese or French or whatever! I LOVE HIM! Do you understand that?” // //“If you still stubborn like that, I afraid that I have to tell you the truth about Nicolas” // //“What truth?”,Hà’s heart starts to beat faster. // //“Do you know why he went back to France? His family just told me yesterday, he went back because he’s getting married to another girl in France. Her family is much richer, powerful than our family. Her relationships can help him with his business in the future. And she’s French.” // //“No…You must be lying!! There’s no way that he could ever do that to me! You liar! No way am I going to believe you!”, Hà says. Her heart is beating so fast that she feels like it’s going to explode. She tries to catch her breath. She can’t stand still anymore. Her father gives her a picture, picture of Nicolas, with another girl, in their wedding clothes. Her heart is broken. Everything around her is breaking down; all the memories about the happy time that they’d spent together is coming back. This time, it disgusts her. She runs to her and slam the door really hard. From the outside, people can hear her crying. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Three days after she imprisons herself inside the room, she comes out. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">“Finally! I’m so worried about you! Come here, try to eat something! M ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: VI;">ười ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, make something good for her!”- Hà’s mother says. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Have you thought about things that I said the other day?”, Hà’s father says. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Yes, father! From now, I’ll listen to everything you say”, Hà says, with a soulless face. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the end of the year, Hà married a man that her father chose for her. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hà and Nicolas never met each other again. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">><><><><><><><><><> //

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Madam, madam, wake up! The French soldier is awake, but he seems still very weak. ", a nurse says. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; text-align: center;">><><><><<><><><><><> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “Hi!”- Hà says; her voice is cracked. She’s standing very close to him now. “Is that you, Hà? It’s you!” Hà turns around; plans to run away because she’s about to cry. After years, she thought that her feelings for him were over, she thought that if she met him again, she would smile, to show him how strong she is. But now, when se’s fhacing him like this, she knows that she was wrong. “Please, don’t go!”, Nicolas says, grab her hand. All the feeling that she tried to keep deep down inside her heart now is explode. She cries like the very last time when her father tells her about Nicolas. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; text-align: center;">><><><><><><><><><><> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You’re still the same! When you started to cry, you would cry whole day! So lucky! My darling hasn’t changed!”, Nicolas says, smiling. He tries to move his hand and touch Hà’s face. “Why did you leave me?”, She asks, about to cry, again. “I had to go back to France because my father’s health. His will before he died was for me, marry Christine, the daughter of a very big corporation in France. But because of you, I came to see her and said that I couldn’t marry her, and then went back to Vietnam. When I arrived here, I came to find you, but your father said that you already married a Vietnamese guy. So, to prove that I’m stupid, Christine married me.” “My father…So it was him all the time…” “It’s ok, it’s ok! I’m here now. I’ll never leave you again.”, Nicolas says, kisses her hand. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; text-align: center;">><><><><><><><><><><> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">BOOM! “What is that sound!” “France’s army is outside! We have to leave now!”, A Vietnamese soldier says, Hà looks around, then looks at Nicolas. “No, you just go! Make sure everybody is leaving this place! I’ll stay here!” “But….” “I said, GO”. “Why don’t you…”, Nicolas says, surprised. “I’ll stay with you! I’ll never leave you!”, She kisses him, smiling.

They holding each others hand. A bomb is coming, straight to the little clinic.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">THE END Nguyen Hoang Khanh Linh

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