Screams In The Night

Well, keep asking! I've checked all the ropes. Unless they swallow them, I don't know what to do... Oh, maybe I should go back and cut some of those women's ropes. They might have swallowed the gems...

***

Sitting in a small boat on the river, I clung tightly to the edge, my eyes wide open looking at the dimly lit night sky with the moon shining. We sat crowded in the boat's cabin. Two big men rowed the boat lightly tapping the bow as a signal that we had arrived at a temporary safe place, where we could move a bit. The boatman used a leaf to cover his nose while looking inside.

"Now we have to walk a bit, I'll take two women first. Split up so we won't be spotted. Others just sit and wait for their turn, remember not to talk loudly."

A man guides two women across a path of low trees. His hot breath hits my face as he leans in to whisper, holding a sleeping child. The husband stumbles, carrying the baby on his shoulders like a heavy load of rice. He nearly falls, grasping for the child and stumbling before regaining his balance.

At first, sitting cramped in the hold, I felt suffocated by the smell of human breath, muddy odor mixed with stinky stagnant water at the bottom of the boat. Two rowers made us hunch over, almost lying down, crushing the green banana bunches on top of dirty sacks covering everyone's head. The journey was slow and seemed endless, but fortunately, nothing happened.

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The guide returned and asked the wife and sister-in-law to join him. I suddenly smelled a strong musky scent from his shirt when he leaned in towards his wife. His voice became muffled, and I couldn't see his face clearly in the darkness. The scent was strange, and his breath was heavier. I whispered to Phong after he left.

"Do you smell that?"

"What? What do you smell?"

"A musky smell."

Phong shrugged it off.

"It's just the mud.".

Phong gestured to me to dive down into the water. Hearing what the person on the boat said, I prepared myself to inhale without choking for too long. A bullet flew past where I stood. Phong carefully walked underwater and I followed, stumbling upon a deep hole that made me grasp onto his hand tightly. Unexpectedly opening my mouth, water rushed in and I gasped for air. In front of us was a pile of dead tree branches stuck in the mud. We submerged ourselves under the water, sitting at the bottom where it was shallow. The shadow of the boat passed by distinctly. Their voices echoed loudly.

"Forget them, they've gone back. Have you packed yet?"

The deep voice responded as if not affected by the chaos of bloodshed just now.

"Well, I've checked all the bodies. Unless they swallowed something, I'm done... Oh, maybe I'll go back and cut some of the women's throats. They might have swallowed a pearl..."

The other voice grew more aggressive. "Why didn't you say that earlier? Damn it. Everything is up to you. Wait for the two of them to finish... It's almost dawn, no need to mess around anymore. Damn it..."

"It's almost half past four now. What should we do?"

 Now, I understand that with all the victims devoured by the riverbank's mournful silence, who will tell the tragic stories? How many similar scenes have been witnessed by this deserted riverbank? I wiped the tears on my damp shirt and lay down on the ground. Phong followed suit, placing my head on his hand for a pillow. In the dim night, I touched Phong's face with wet fingers as it passed his eyes. I immersed myself in Phong's embrace, feeling grateful and immeasurable pain.

However, the sound of an animal cry and the pain from the tree branch were both real sensations that I experienced.