Tree seeds…

Today is Sunday, Mr. Tam’s family eats dessert after lunch. Thai jackfruit, rambutan, mango, all kinds are sweet.

Huy picked up jackfruit seeds, rambutan seeds, and mango seeds, put them in a plastic bag, and went to the corner of the yard. Contrary to popular belief, it did not put it in the trash, but carefully tied the bag and put it close to the lemon tree, where there was shade and moisture from the faucet the whole family used to wash hands and feet when coming home from work. – Why did you leave it without putting it in the trash? – Yes. Leave it there, I’ll take it later. Later, when the whole family took a nap, Huy took the book out and laid it on a cloth hammock tied under the acorn tree in the corner of the yard, a memento of the time when he was in the army. The afternoon was strangely quiet, only occasionally heard the sound of the wind blowing the flags planted on the side of the road. Huy turned each page of the book, reading attentively. When his father’s car took the whole family to the supermarket to buy things, Huy looked out of the window. – Daddy! Stop the car! – Stop the car for what? How are you?” – Dad, just stop for me! Mr. Tam pulled the car over to the side of the road. Huy put his hands on his stomach and stooped down. It says quickly: – I’m waiting for you! I go to the other side! Looking in the direction it pointed, Mr. Tam was a bit bewildered. – You go to the forest? What are you doing? – No… He pulled his hand close to his body, crossed the road and came to the place where the B40 wire fence circled around the city parkland. Huy heard from his father that this forest has existed since the city was founded. The area of ​​​​a few dozen hectares of land with some remaining forest trees is located in the center of the city. Ba Huy is an employee of the Provincial Urban Environment Company and together with other uncles and aunts protect and take care of this forest. Since Huy went to kindergarten, every time he went to school, his father drove him here. Coming from the sunny road, people will feel cool because the sunlight has to filter through the canopy of large mother-of-pearl rows by the roadside. At noon, the sun was so intense that the dark green leaves were shining as if they were about to fall. But under that tree, the air is still cool, and people’s eyes are also less dazzling. Ba Huy and the aunts and uncles in the team still often water the trees, fertilize and guard the forest. As a result, plants grow very quickly. Once, Huy asked to follow his father to wade into the forest, but his mother did not allow him to follow him because he was afraid that the grass would cause itching and “make him tripped up”. Only at the beginning of last year, the city began to rebuild the gate and renovate the amusement park, preparing it for visitors. When he passed by, Huy liked that his father walked slowly so that he could see the green trees. It kept imagining that in that forest there would be squirrels, rabbits… living. Then maybe in it there will be a murmuring stream with schools of fish swimming around. Huy collected the bag in his hand and climbed through the fence of B40 net. It looked around. Here it is. Between the two rows of trees, there is a trench in the ground that people make an incision. Probably to sprinkle the plants with compost. He picked up a dry branch, poked a few small holes, and put the seeds in the bag. Hearing the car horn, he threw the remaining seeds into the trench, picked up some hay, and then crawled through the fence to get out. – You want to be a planter? Dad asked with a funny voice. It was a bit unexpected. How do you know it buried tree seeds? – Mom told dad. Huy’s mother spoke confidently when she met his questioning eyes. – When I saw you holding a bag of seeds, I guessed it. – Yes. He spoke softly and looked at his mother with grateful eyes. Whenever he did something wrong, his mother would gently remind him. Dad is always strict. It’s so tight that sometimes it’s confused not knowing if I did what my father said or not. Also, my father used to make fun of it. Therefore, he did not dare to tell his father about the fact that he buried the bag of tree nuts in the forest. This idea came to him with a group of uncles and aunts in the project of rural book chemistry, and then “Journey across Vietnam books and trees” to donate to the library a secondary school in a remote district. The leader of the group (heard to be a very good doctor) said that every time you eat a fruit, you should throw the seeds into the fields along the stream, along the hill, along the road to the field… Who knows, tomorrow will grow a tree and the forest will grow. flourished from there. His words reminded him of the woods where his father worked. Once during extracurricular time, the teacher in charge showed a video of the city seen from above. Between the rows of high-rise buildings is a beautiful green forest. So it kept smoldering in my head, I would collect tree seeds to plant in it. It dreamed that one day the tree that grew from the seed it sowed would grow. It will go there to visit and take pictures for souvenir. – Oh, so cool! A small voice right next to my ear. It awakens. – Did you just plant seeds? Why not let me plant together! What are you laughing at? Still smiling, he put his arm around her shoulder and gently: – Yeah, I planted the seeds. Tomorrow, the forest will add more trees for more shade. Next time you let Ut plant together. – Enjoy, like! Then a few days later I came to see how the seeds grow, Mr. Hai hen! Remember to take us in, Dad! – Yeah! His father laughed and said. Mother put her arm around the shoulders of the two brothers. Dad glanced at his mother. The two looked at each other with sparkling eyes. His father turned on the music player button. “Forest! I’m back …” – the clear, cheerful melodies softly sounded… . Bich Thiem’s ​​short story