MOM

It returned with a smile full of satisfaction, a face as happy as spring coming to life. In its hand was the photo of its new idol that had been autographed at the last concert. It was eleven o'clock at night, the lights were still on. The pungent smell of smoke in the kitchen filled the house, making it stifling and uncomfortable. The figure of its mother was still busy, busily cooking sticky rice to prepare for tomorrow's market sale. It happily walked in, holding the photo in its hand and kissing it repeatedly! Innocently showing it off to its mother with a carefree laugh.

It held the photo, dancing and singing in the utmost joy of overflowing excitement. Perhaps tonight would be a good night's sleep filled with happiness! Because the long-time dream had now come true. To meet its idol in real life, not on the small screen it often watched. And to receive an autograph from its idol himself! Maybe tomorrow it would go to class and show off to its friends for the honor. It still kept a smile as it entered the room and slammed the door shut! Only its mother was left alone by the red-hot stove. Its mother looked at its thoughtful expression, just like a child. Innocent and naive, even though she knew she was sixteen years old. Its mother smiled with her eyes filled with sadness, filled with thoughts, because it had to worry about life and food and money, not carefree, indifferent, just letting it go! That was very different from children. It turned its back and went downstairs, grumbling! Its face was no longer as bright as when it came back from the show. Standing at the door looking down at the kitchen, he shook his head in frustration. The pungent smell of smoke was overwhelming him, making it impossible to sleep. He hated this smell so much, every night he had to endure the kitchen smoke until his eyes watered and his nose felt so thick it made him suffocate.

It angrily turned away! Mom's face was filled with a pitiful sadness. This sadness was not because of your attitude! But because besides selling sticky rice, Mom didn't know what else to do to earn money to pay for it. Many nights, she woke you up miserable because of the kitchen smoke! Mom felt sorry for you! Because you studied far from home, cycled dozens of kilometers to get to school, and long-term insomnia would not give you the strength to continue going to class. Mom felt sorry for you! Last summer, you asked for a few tens of thousands to go to meetings and fan meetings in the district. Mom sold a package of sticky rice for only a few thousand dong, but she spent all that money on you like many other parents who had the means. What's more, it was money for medicine in case your mom got sick. As long as you were happy and willing to study, Mom would give you anything without regret. To be more precise, the education of children is always the most important thing for parents, a priority above all else. Even though we understand that education is the future of every child, it is not the parents'. Although poor, my mother does not let me be inferior to anyone at my age with my own interests and passions.

Mom still wore the old, wrinkled dress, tanned skin, two-toned hair, never neatly groomed like other women. Sometimes he felt inferior about his family background, embarrassed to stand in the middle of the market to help her carry the goods home! Afraid that his friends would see and then criticize and ridicule him. Mom understood! So he did not order her to do anything in a crowded place in front of the public. Many times people saw that Mom was too hard-working and advised her not to spoil her too much, causing her child's thinking to deviate in a direction contrary to what her family circumstances allowed. Mom just smiled silently, because she understood that she had lacked a father's love since she was nine years old. Well, giving her child enough was like compensating for some of the misfortune she was suffering in the storms of life.

He was sleeping soundly, still holding a photo of a singer right in the middle of his chest to show his admiration. He loved this artist very much. He often asked his mother for money to buy music CDs to listen to. His mother only had a few thousand dong for breakfast, but she gave him more than that amount to buy CDs to satisfy her passion. One morning, the sound of roosters crowed loudly around the banana bushes behind the house, the fog was still thick on the distant rows of trees. Like the days when on his mother's shoulder was a heavy carrying pole, her steps were quick, the familiar cry echoed everywhere in the streets "Who wants to buy sticky rice?"... in that cry contained a feeling of hardship, the hard work and sacrifice for a warm family. The cry only had a few short words but it penetrated the hearts of so many people. Understanding the hardships of struggling to make a living in the rush of life. Oh, beloved mothers! Where did you get such extraordinary and boundless strength? You carry the earth and sky, and even your whole life.

On a Sunday, he had a day off from school. It was also a joyful and happy day full of anticipation. Every day off, he organized fan meetings, interacted, sang each of his idol's songs to each other, and he could last the whole day without feeling bored. His friends and fans wanted to come to his house to have fun. He was confused and didn't know how to handle the above request, the house was too simple because of poverty. His mother's hair was messy, and she always dressed in a disheveled manner. Her body always gave off a sour smell because her face was often soaked with sweat, soaking into her shirt. Especially when she was cooking or just coming home from selling. Very different from her friends' parents. He was inherently a person of dignity, and had the most outstanding point among fans. For that reason, he couldn't lose his own bright image. A thought came to him: he had to borrow Oanh's house and tell his friends that it was his house! The fans would definitely respect him more. Because it was a rich house, very large and majestic, with all the amenities! I often came to listen to music so I knew that clearly. Moreover, Oanh's parents were at the store doing business until late at night. I told Oanh to keep it a secret and temporarily play the role of the homeowner's daughter! I did it right away.

The next day, accept the offer. Bring your friends into the house, assuming that it is the owner. When entering, everyone is amazed at how grand and spacious it is, wishing to be like it. A real noble lady that your friends have only now known and witnessed with their own eyes. Most of your friends live far away, study in the same class, have the same hobbies and idols, but no one knows anyone else.

Outside, it was raining. A sudden heavy rain, covering the road, making it slippery and wet. He looked out and saw his mother walking hurriedly as if running to avoid the rain. Carrying two baskets of goods, her steps were steady and in sync with the swinging rhythm of the shoulder pole on her heavy shoulders. Suddenly, his mother slipped and fell! The two baskets of goods were scattered in all directions. He saw it but had to ignore it because he was singing his idol's hit song to his friends. It also meant he couldn't let go of the emotions at that moment. Moreover, it was raining! Even if it wasn't raining, he still couldn't recognize that person as his mother. His mother struggled to stand up, her body covered in mud! She picked up the goods back into the baskets and continued carrying them home! Her face was still grimacing from the pain after the fall.

At the end of the song, he was delighted with the applause of his friends, because the way he sang was exactly like his idol. He looked under the table, there was a newspaper that had been there for some time. On the main page was a news article that brought tears to everyone's eyes! The headline said that their idol had a traffic accident while performing at a big music festival. With the help of the people, he was taken to the hospital last night. After reading it, everyone cried like rain. They discussed going to the temple to pray for their idol, so that he could recover soon and perform again. Despite the rain, they went to the temple to explain the incident to an old monk. After listening, the monk was extremely surprised, looking from one to another in confusion! People only go to pray for their family, who would pray for a stranger? The monk silently shook his head! Each of their faces had a small picture of the singer pasted on their cheek, showing their admiration.

The monk told us sacred stories about mothers: “In this world, there is no idol like mother. Mother is so great, mother is as vast as the earth and sky! Mother is full of talents that no one in this world can compare to. Mother is also a singer - mother is also an actress. So why not idolize? Go back and look into mother's eyes, look at her hair, look at her figure, feel for a long time to love mother more”.

They bowed their heads at the monk's words, their eyes saddened every time they looked at each other. They all said goodbye and walked away! Their emotions were filled when they heard stories about the lives of mothers, so vast and great. Like Maudgalyayana, on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, he made offerings to the Triple Gem to gain merit to save his mother according to the Buddha's teachings.

He returned home and smelled the pungent smell of smoke! Remembering the monk's teachings while praying, he felt relieved and no longer felt uncomfortable. He hurriedly went down to the kitchen to see his mother to look into her eyes and hair as the monk had said. As soon as he went down, he saw his mother lying motionless on the ground floor for a long time, her clothes still covered in mud after the fall in the rainy afternoon! The stove fire was still red hot, the pot of sticky rice was also burnt black. He panicked and shook his mother's body and screamed for help. Neighbors came together in large numbers and took his mother to the hospital in time. He had never felt as confused as he did right now. He ran after her with a heart full of worry! Everyone reassured him, but he felt that he was not at ease. He looked at his mother lying there on the hospital bed with her eyes closed. Her limbs were still bleeding from the fall in the rainy afternoon. Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes and rolled down her small cheeks, then fell onto her new white shirt. He blamed himself, “If he hadn’t gone out and stayed home close to his mother, things wouldn’t have been as bad as they are now! If something happened to her, who would he live with?”

Looking back at her mother's shirt with its worn-out shoulder! Also because of the heavy shoulder pole that had rubbed against it every day! She cried even louder! People told her to go home and cook rice for her to eat later, but her legs didn't want to move as if they were stuck together by glue, her eyes always looking towards her mother. She quietly left, her sobbing voice still on the road. When she got home, she saw it was empty, the stove had long since gone out, only a few red coals still burning. Suddenly, she longed to smell the smoke from her mother's cooking. Seeing the shoulder pole that her mother always left on the bamboo bed! A boundless love arose again. It was this shoulder pole that had raised her from a young age until now. The effort was entirely hers, with all the hardships and difficulties, with the drops of sweat soaking into the gray-black shoulder pole. Understand why the shoulder pole had a curved shape and not straight like when it was first opened? Because of the weight of the two ends pressing down, it gradually becomes the shape of an arc.

He remembered what the monk said when he went to the temple to pray for the idol and felt very sorry for his mother. Thinking back, it was so true! His mother was like a singer! When he was a child, he would cry and not sleep, so his mother sang him a lullaby all night long, and then he slept peacefully. The lullaby painted beautiful dreams! Beautiful like a fairytale garden, brilliant with thousands of colors. The lullaby was sweet and cool like a wind blowing into his soul, so wonderfully wonderful. His mother was the best lullaby singer in the world.

Mom is no different from an actress! When I don't eat when I feed her, Mom immerses herself in acting out one role after another! From the smallest to the most adorable, it's always her favorite role! Only when I eat will Mom stop. When I cry, Mom does all sorts of things to make me laugh. When I grow up a little, I ask Mom about everything in life! Mom is not a fairy that knows everything! Mom is not a teacher that asks about every lesson! But Mom always answers lovingly. She suddenly realizes that in this world, no one is as talented as Mom. Why not idolize and admire those who never gave birth to her, never rocked her, never raised her for a single day? Two lines of tears flow down when she realizes Mom always smells bad because of the sweat and tears that stick to her salty and sour clothes from carrying goods early in the morning and late at night. Mom walks unsteadily because the carrying pole has weighed heavily on her small shoulders for decades. Mom's hair is messy because she has been exposed to the rain, sun and wind day after day! Worried about earning money to raise her children! No time to look neat and tidy. Her room was filled with pictures of her idols, but not a single one of her mother. She quickly went in and took them all down, from now on she would no longer idolize anyone in the world except her mother.

The sound of motorbikes and headlights in front of the alley, people had brought Mom back. She ran out to the alley and hugged her! She leaned her head for a long time in sobbing, as if there was no unpleasant smell. She kissed her mother's posture that she often criticized as looking strangely ugly while walking crookedly. She held her skinny hands and cupped her cheeks! The hands that she often said had rough skin and looked extremely disgusting! Now they were so peaceful and warm.

Mom was only away from home for a short while, when she was in the hospital. Yet it felt as if no one was by her side. If one day Mom left this world, what would happen to her?

He hugged his mother for a long time and then whispered, sobbing, “Mom, I’m sorry for the past months! I love you the most in the world.” Mom smiled! The smile was accompanied by two lines of tears falling onto her old shirt in extreme joy. Mom gently stroked her head and whispered in the emotion of boundless happiness, “My child has really grown up now.”

Mother and daughter quietly walked into the house. Leaving behind the moonlight of the seventh month of Vu Lan in front of the yard. The moonlight illuminated the filial footsteps walking on the path of gratitude to their parents! The stars twinkled in the sky like floating lanterns on the river of the full moon night of Vu Lan season of filial piety. Oh, how happy life is when Vu Lan season comes and red flowers are pinned on the radiant chest of the shirt. Oh! How unfortunate it is when white flowers are pinned on the shirt with tears. Whether white or red flowers, parents ask for a lifetime of gratitude.