The stunning beach soccer team
Piece 1: The letter from my grandfather.
So, I went living with my grandpa and grandma in that extraodinary (incredible, horific, stunning, eventful, unbelieveable) summer. It was not supposed to be just a summer holiday leave. It was supposed to be for years, at least, until I go to the secondary school.
Sitting next to the wind shield, I farewelled my mother and father as the bus slowly rolled on. Yes, it was true. Grandma and I would go to Nha Trang. I went living with my grandpa and grandma.
Here was granpa’s email on the yesterday:
“Dear Lex (my name), Linh (Linh is my father’s name) and Lala (my mother’s name),
Great greatings from the Mad Old Man in Nha Trang! (my grandfather’s moniker, MOM in abreviation. So I sometime call my grandfather, “MOM” and he likes that very much),
I’ve found them, the aliens. This is the 13th fishing village on my journey along our country. And it works. The beach here is picturesque. The village is not too crowdy (which is the English word opposite to “crowdy”?). So I rent a house with fare price, even though it is hard to find a good house here. Not many empty good houses in such a countryside area, you know, except very detoriated abandoned ones.
The house next to my rented house is exactly a very detoriated abandoned house. The host went to the Saigon city 7 years ago, and haven’t come back. The neighbourhood whisper to each other that likely he is dead, and there is a ghost in the house that look exactly like him, hahaha. Grandma must be crazyly enjoy it.
But the great news of them all is, I’ve found the aliens! Yes, they are right here, in this village. They are real. I catched their radio wave talking to each other in YAHWEH language. Want to see? Send Lex and Lex will show you that is the true.
School is not far from here. Market is also around the corner. There are garden in the front yard, and garden in the back yard. And the beach is just 10 stone throws to the East. In the night I can hear the strumming of the waves. It is awesome. I’ve send you some pictures. It is awesome place to live.
Send Lex immediately. Prepare yourself to take off from that horrible city (My parent and I and my grandma was living in Hanoi then). We will raise a dog. We will raise a cat. We will get in touch with the alient. And who know, we will go to Mars or Jupiter someday, I swear!
”
Photo: I am in the front yard with the UFO
At first my mother said to my father, hold on, we should wait until the right day when you and me can both has a week off on leave, then we will go together. Father is the Mad Old Man anyway.
But my father said, no, father is a stunning man. (amazing man, wonderful man, man from the future, Doc Brown) Ask Lex, I am not sure what is the best to do ...
I was then 6 years old, about to go to the 1st grade. You readers might think I would loved to stay with my parent, but surprise surprise, I said “Hura, I go. Send me, please. I want the aliens! I want to be with them and grandpa! Let me go!”
“When” my mother asked.
“Tomorrow” I said. “I can’t wait!”.
Photo: Grandpa and I, grandma is behind
“This story is really weird” I bet you readers must be thinking. “Fantasy stories can be made up, but the emotion of its people, it should be real. No way a 6-year-old boy decide by himself to leave their parent to go living with his grandparent!” You readers must be itchy to tell me off: “Look at all the fantasy stories, there are giants, witches, lions, gods, monster. All are imaginations. But the emotions inside them are real like normal people, (except for monsters). Otherwise, the story can’t touch people’s heart, and it will be ignored, forgotten, dumped. Your story is weird right in the first event. Trashes!”
Hold on, my writing is just for practicing English. So surely, my stories are weird!
Word of the day: AWESOME vs WONDER
Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous. On Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions awe is modeled as a combination of surprise and fear.
One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: [e.g.] in awe of God; in awe of great political figures."