I Will Always Remember You - Hmong Sad Love Story

Chapter 6: What A Lovely Name

For what felt like an eternity, I slowly opened my eyes and I was still in the farmhouse but there was a fire camp and food on the bench, it was like someone had made food for me while I was still asleep. I went outside to check and the sun was up, I can hear the roosters crowing and seeing the families already getting up to go carry water. I looked around me but noticed that the girl was already gone, I tried to think about what happened but I couldn't really remember since my head hurts so much and I still haven't recovered from the pain when Grandpa Va left me. I went back to Grandpa Va's empty house and fixed everything back up again. I then remember there was some food at the farmhouse that someone left me, I ran back to grab the food and ate it. Before Grandpa Va left me, he left his tools and stuff for me to use so I grabbed some of his farm tools and went to farm. As tired as I was, I knew that I have to keep working hard and watch over his cows. "Hey Cheenou! Over here!" I heard a familiar voice calling my name as I turned around to see that girl from earlier again. She smiles as she gets closer to me. "I'm sorry, you didn't tell me your name." I say to her. "Oh sorry, how rude of me, my name is Crystal." She says. Wow, she has such a nice and lovely name. I put my tools down and signal the way to go sit down by the door. "Hey Crystal, who are you again and where are you from?" I ask. "Not sure how I will tell you but I'm from over there." She says before pointing her finger in the direction of the river that's located close to Grandma Va's house. "O-oh ok, is there a town or village over there?" I asked awkwardly. "Yes but only if you really live there." She says. She is making me really confused but I just shrugged it off and handed her a cooked fish. We talked and talked until it got dark again. "Crystal, it's getting dark, are you sure you can go home without being scared? I can help walk you home if you want." I say to Crystal. "Haha it's fine Cheenou, I can go home by myself but thanks for your help." She says back as she walks off slowly before turning back to smile at me and waves. I wave back and smile as she disappears into the darkness. The next morning, I woke up feeling better and happy ever since I met Crystal. I still had no idea where Crystal even came from or why she knows so much about me but all I know for now is, I should worry about my future and go pay my respect for Grandpa Va. "Hey Grandpa Va, I'm here to pay my respect to you and I hope you are doing well. Although you aren't actually here with me in person anymore, I just wish you are doing better than when you were with me." I say to Grandpa Va's grave as I put down some packed food for him. I get up and start heading back to the farm. It was a very long and tiring day for me. I had to hunt for animals and go fishing so I will have something to eat later. It felt like hours had gone by and I couldn't even kill a single squirrel or deer but the next thing I know, I was already under a tree exhausted and passing out. Before I passed out, I remember seeing a white deer approaching me as my eyes started closing. "There you are, I was looking for you everywhere but I couldn't find you, why are you here all alone, Cheenou?" Crystal asks as she walks closer to where I was resting. "Oh hi Crystal, I was just looking for some food since I got nothing to cook later. How did you find me in these woods? And are you not scared or afraid coming here just to find me?" I ask back. "I wanted to hang out with you so I came looking for you but you weren't back there so that's why I came here and saw you resting here." She says. We talked for a while and it was getting a bit dark. "Hey Cheenou, I will come back later, for now I must go back home since my parents might be looking for me and be careful on your way back home." She says as she walks out of my sight. Who is this girl and why is she not scared at all? She must be a ghost or dragon. I just shrugged that thought away as I woke up again seeing that the sun was setting. As I look to my side, I see 5 dead squirrels and 5 fishes laying down next to me. I was confused at how all these animals got here or who put them here. But at this point, I'm already starving to death and I needed any food I could get so I took these animals home and cooked them for tonight. I got back to Grandpa Va's house and lit the fireplace.