Autumn is like a young girl in her prime. Autumn has a gentle breeze, but sometimes enough to make us shiver, to make us secretly miss and long for a hand to hold. Autumn is the season of falling yellow leaves, making our hearts nostalgic and yearning for old things, but still holding us with optimism and hope so we don't fall into sadness.

Autumn comes, falling leaves are like a reminder that time still beats in a cycle, seasons still follow seasons, and we are gradually leaving behind many meaningful things that we have not yet realized, many plans that have not come true, and all the rashness and impulsiveness of our youth...

The yellow leaves sway in the early morning wind... Illustration photo: qdnd.vn

This year, in the pagoda village in the low-lying rice fields of Kinh Bac, there are gentle faces hidden along with the very light sound of falling autumn leaves. There will no longer be the bent figure of the old lady at the gate of the house opposite who has long been a companion with the cart like a shadow, with the clacking sound of the cart wheels echoing on the small alley, deep in the shadow of time when she stood waiting at the afternoon market at the beginning of the village. There will also no longer be the majestic appearance, white hair, cheerful, carefree laughter of the retired Army colonel, whose house is on the other side of the fence, who every time he sees me coming back to visit my hometown, always smiling and asking: "Are your parents coming back with me?"

Having settled down and lived far away from home, every time she heard that a neighbor had just passed away, my mother would smack her lips and mentally calculate, then recall the familiar faces that had now faded into oblivion. She remembered the difficult days of the past, when the rain was pouring and the wind was blowing, the smoke from cooking rice was thick in the small kitchen, making her eyes sting; when there was a shortage, neighbors borrowed each other's rice to get through the day; when the lights went out and we helped each other... A time of hardship and poverty, but human love was always abundant.

The seasons pass quietly, and the silhouettes of people follow each other along with the seasons. There are silhouettes that make us sob when we reminisce. There are silhouettes that remind us to slow down, to share, to be patient, to be tolerant, because time is still vast ahead...

In the countryside garden, the grapefruits hanging on the branches, remind me of the full moon shining brightly on the Mid-Autumn night, with the sound of frog drums, the excited voices of children waiting to break the feast. In the corner of the garden, the star fruit flowers are still purple with nostalgia. The jute patches have lost their leaves after a lush season, their stems are full of dry round fruits to send to the next season. The long bean trellis is also gradually fading... Reality calls back memories. Somewhere, it seems like the old long bean trellis with its purple flower clusters and a lot of flat fruits - the type of bean that I have been searching for every time I walk on the country roads but have not seen again. The red dragonfly wings flutter, pulling the footsteps of children running all over the garden. The silhouette of my grandfather is still there diligently scooping mud from the dry season pond to pour on each banana tree. The silhouette seems to still be here, but he has passed away this autumn, marking the 24th year...

In autumn, leaves fall silently and the sky is a heart-wrenching blue. Autumn brings nostalgia, autumn calls back purity, autumn also evokes hope, so that new buds will sprout again after a season of falling leaves...

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc-nghe-thuat/mua-la-chao-nghieng-890548