In that drought season, I went to collect honey deep in the U Minh forest. By noon, I leaned against the trunk of a tràm tree to rest and pulled out a pack of cigarettes to smoke. Over there, about three ‘công’ away, there was a gnarled tree, or some dead tree, with all its branches and leaves long gone, leaving only a bare trunk.
This dry tree was taller than the surrounding ones. Its top was cracked and straight, with a slightly moldy black bark and a gnarled head. Strangely, whenever a bird landed on that gnarled head, it would disappear, without a trace of taking off.
I didn’t pay much attention, just shouldering my bag and carrying my knife to collect honey. By mid-afternoon, my bag was full of honey, and I was about to head back when I suddenly heard the roaring sound of fire from the wind above. In the U Minh forest, when a fire breaks out during the dry season, the flames rise high and roar fiercely, like a storm. If you encounter a fire in the forest, you must quickly dig into the ground to hide or climb up tall trees, waiting for the flames to pass since there’s no way to outrun them. At that moment, I couldn’t dig in fast enough and had to run to find a tall tree to climb. I ran, threw down my bag of honey, and discarded my knife, finally finding a tree. I hugged the tree and climbed up. It was a slippery tree, and after three jumps, I slipped down twice. But the fire was getting close, and I had to keep climbing. As I reached the gnarled head, the flames also reached me, but that gnarled part of the tree had many sharp thorns sticking out, which pricked my hands painfully. Although my hands were trembling with fatigue, looking down, I saw the fire had reached below me, and I felt a sense of delight.
Once the flames passed, I planned to climb down, but I felt the tree shaking. Then, right at the gnarled head, branches started swaying back and forth, scratching at my head. I slid down a bit further. The other tree kept sweeping down to hit my head and neck. It also smeared something slimy, like saliva, all over me. Goodness! At the gnarled head, there were two protruding areas, smooth and shining like car headlights. Suddenly, the two branches closed in, opening and making a clattering sound… My soul left my body, my limbs went limp, and I fell, losing my grip and dropping to the ground. My ears were ringing, my eyes squinted shut, and I surrendered my fate to the universe.
When I fell to the ground, I found myself lying exactly where I had been sitting smoking the day before. That “tree” over there began to crawl away, sticking out its tongue and blowing a hissing sound.
This article was submitted by Phan Công Tưởng to Khoa Học
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