End of year flowers

It has been twenty years since Uncle Tu joined the agency as a security guard. He did not celebrate New Year's Eve at home with his wife on twenty New Year's Eves. During the spring, he only went home with his wife to visit a few people nearby before rushing back to the agency to be on duty.

End of year flowers

Illustration: THANH SONG

Uncle Tu was a retired soldier, he rarely told anyone about his past battles. It seemed that for him, war was a fear and victory was never complete. On the day of liberation, he returned to his hometown with a limp on his left leg, which was still fortunate compared to many of his friends and comrades. The village was desolate, no blood relatives were left, he stayed at a friend's house. Then someone introduced him to a seamstress, and their happiness was patched together. They quickly became husband and wife. After living together for several years, the couple could not have children. Hearing people's worries, the couple decided to move to the city. At that time, the city was still rudimentary, the couple rented a rudimentary room, and then saved up to buy that room.

Since moving to the city, his wife sewed at the boarding house, and he was hired as a security guard for this agency. Twenty years later, the streets were crowded, but his family was still isolated, single-parent. Whatever money the couple earned, they spent on daily meals. Every now and then, his leg would get sick and he would have to go to the hospital, so there was never any surplus. Uncle Tu consoled his wife, saying, "Oh dear, we don't have any children, so why bother setting up a house?" Guests didn't have much money, so why bother being luxurious. His wife loved her husband, so she tried to joke around, saying that he had the biggest three-story house in town, and he could open every room in it. Then the couple hugged each other and laughed happily. The couple, who were almost fifty years old, still called each other brother and sister sweetly, probably because they didn't have any children, so they thought they were still newlyweds.

In the office, there are dozens of conferences, anniversaries, and celebrations every year. Actually, the office's ceremonies are few, but other departments rent the hall to hold them. Uncle Tu is also in charge of decorating the room and the displays. Then, people train a few dozen people. Everyone praises Uncle Tu for his enthusiasm and his many talents, from cutting letters to arranging flowers. He smiles and says that being a soldier, you have to be quick to learn everything. During the difficult times in the jungle, we were able to organize as many grand ceremonies as we could.

Every time the work was finished, there were always a few flower baskets left in the hall. The bouquets for personal gifts were taken home, but the welcome flower baskets were left there. Uncle Tu finished cleaning the hall, then stood still in front of the flower baskets, not knowing what to do. It would be a pity to throw them away, fresh flowers cost money, so it was a waste to throw them in the trash.

The flower seller at the market stopped by and asked Uncle Tu to let her take it home. Uncle Tu asked why? She told him to fix it up a bit, remove the red cloth and have a new flower basket to sell. Uncle Tu rolled his eyes and said no, that would be like selling the banana bunch we offered at the market for people to take home and offer. The flower seller defended herself, bananas are different from flowers, uncle. The bananas people offered were enjoyed by the ancestors' souls, so offering them back would be disrespectful. But these fresh flowers were only for looking at, and who knew that the people who came to the conference would look at the flowers, they were just listening. So these flower baskets were like tables and chairs, carried back and forth. Uncle Tu heard what she said and it made sense, if he didn't give it to her, wouldn't it be a waste of God's gift to throw it away? So he told her to take them.

Once, two conferences were held one day apart. The flower basket the next day was the same as the previous day, only the cloth band was changed and the words were different. Uncle Tu knew right away but didn't say anything, thinking to himself, well, people sell wholesale, every penny is worth it. But these flowers were only displayed for two hours, so it was better to have them a little fresh than to display them with fresh and beautiful flowers and then throw them away.

The traditional New Year is also the beginning of the solar year, so there are even more ceremonies. This department organizes a summary of the old year and orientations for the new year, this committee holds a conference to honor typical examples. In our country, there are festivals all year round, traditional festivals are not enough, but on Tet, other festivals suddenly appear. Well, on Tet, no one can stop people from making each other happy. Flowers were brought into the hall one basket after another. Uncle Tu stood watching, silently counting, five "xi", one "chai"... Money, money. Flowers are one price on normal days, but on Tet, they cost three or four more. His monthly salary as a security guard is only equal to the price of a flower basket that lasts for two hours. Suddenly, Uncle Tu felt so miserable, no wonder people were out here and there on Tet, while he was sitting in a corner.

After twenty Tets, he realized one thing: each year the ceremonies were more frequent, and the flowers for each ceremony also increased. The woman who asked for flowers back then now had grown children, and Tet brought two more children to bring flowers to the stall to be fixed up. Looking at the fresh yellow and red flower baskets, he suddenly felt sorry for his situation of renting. Every Tet, his wife bought a few Dalat chrysanthemums from the market and brought them home to put in a vase on the small altar in the house. But in the middle of the table, there were no flowers. The small table, with a plate of candies and a teapot, was full. On Tet, his family only welcomed about five people from the alley to visit, so why bother with the arrangements?

* * *

This year, Uncle Tu intended to bring a basket of flowers from the last ceremony home to display for fun, and also to please his wife. He loved his wife so much, during Tet they could only see each other for a short time, just like the war and bombs when they were separated. But how would he explain that basket of flowers to his wife? If he said that the flowers were used by someone else and he brought them home, his wife might be sad, thinking that he was using other people's leftovers. If he said he bought them at the counter, his wife would probably regret the money all Tet days. Well, he could also lie to his wife and say that someone gave them to him. But, why would anyone give flowers to a security guard? For example, the agency would give them? It was hard to believe, the agency would give them a kilo of sugar, a package of jam, a bottle of colored wine, which would be more practical. Uncle Tu thought for a long time but could not come up with a good reason to bring flowers home so that his wife could still feel happy and at ease. Meanwhile, the flower seller had carried the last basket of flowers to the hall door.

- This!

- Uncle Tu called softly as if to hold her back.

She turned back, surprised.

- What's up, Uncle Tu?

- Leave it to me... - Uncle Tu paused as he spoke. It would be too embarrassing to ask her to leave it now. He had never begged like that before. Oh my gosh, he had never asked anyone for anything in his life, but now he had to ask for a basket of flowers, which was supposed to be his, and he found it difficult. It was then that he realized being an honest person was not easy at all.

Then he blurted out:

- ... Oh, never mind, it's nothing.

The flower seller didn't know what he was talking about, stood there for a moment, then nodded slightly to Uncle Tu and carried the flowers out the gate.

That day was the last working day of the year, the afternoon ceremony was the office's New Year's Eve party. Which meant that now if he wanted to bring flowers home to Uncle Tu, he couldn't have any, unless he went to the flower counter to buy them. Buying flowers, he felt sorry for spending one, but his wife felt sorry for ten. Stop making a fuss.

From afternoon to evening, he kept thinking about flowers. Well, this year was like every other year, the same old rented room without any Tet decorations. Knowing that, I would have taken a risk this afternoon, endured a little "humiliation" and brought the flower basket home.

Outside the street, the scent of incense wafted. In the last hours of the year, he stayed alone at the office, feeling less sorry for himself than for his wife at home. It was almost New Year's Eve, wasn't it? He asked himself, then glanced at the clock. Eleven forty-five. It was still time to run home. It was impossible that on New Year's Eve people would break into this office and cause trouble, so he had to be tired.

So he ran out the gate to go home. He ran as if someone was chasing him. On the street, there were a few people coming home late, and they saw him running and looked suspicious, but no one paid any attention, in the atmosphere of spring approaching like this.

While walking and running to make it in time for New Year's Eve, his mind kept thinking about flowers. He felt tormented and regretful, knowing that this afternoon he would have risked buying a basket of flowers to bring home, his wife would have been very happy. And he imagined how cold their rented room would be now and throughout this New Year because of the lack of flowers. There would be another spring in a room without flowers. His eyes were wet, not because of the dew of New Year's Eve, nor because of the sweat from running. He cried, relieved with regret and self-pity.

At exactly twelve o'clock, the neighbor's TV started to emit the sound of fireworks exploding. He knew he had arrived home just in time for New Year's Eve, but he was still surprised. He stood in front of his rented room and saw his wife had finished preparing the fruit tray and was leaning her arm on the chair, looking sleepy.

Seeing her husband, the wife could only say a few words and choked up, "You just came back..." Uncle Tu smiled and nodded. Looking over at the table, he suddenly saw a very large, beautiful, and fresh vase of flowers. Looking at the petals still flat and soft, Uncle Tu knew that these flowers had just been unwrapped from the plastic. Before he could ask anything, his wife spoke up:

- There is a vase of flowers in our room for Tet, right? This afternoon when she brought it, I was so surprised, I wonder if they got the wrong address. It turns out she said she was the daughter of the flower seller at the market, Uncle Tu bought the flowers and asked me to bring them home.

Uncle Tu was surprised, he didn't ask anyone for any flowery favors. Before he could recover, his wife continued:

- I also wanted to buy some flowers to decorate the house to create a Tet atmosphere. But... I was afraid you would blame me for being too expensive, so I stopped. Unexpectedly, you bought them.

Uncle Tu also intended to say the same thing to his wife. But never mind. Why say it when spring is so full of love and flowers.

Hoang Cong Danh

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