PebHmong Discussion Forum

Creative Corner => Creative Writing => Topic started by: lexicon on February 08, 2017, 12:48:29 PM

Title: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: lexicon on February 08, 2017, 12:48:29 PM
We had come to take away their fathers and sons, their brothers and their husbands. We spoke of a nefarious threat, people willing to kill them for no apparent reasons. We game them an enemy, a name and many reasons more to leave their families behind.

We plied them first with food. Then tools. We gave them a reason to trust us. And an obligation. Then with the whirl of chopper blades muffled by the closing rear door, we gave them weapons and their marching order and the village became a distant far off memory.

We nodded. Every new soldier willingly nodded in return. They nodded when they understood. They nodded when they did not.

They were to act as our guides as we navigated the the southern portion of the dingy river. As wide as it was deep, the murky waters proved too much an obstacle to conquer alone even with modern military engineering. We had lost too many of our men looking for an adequate crossing. We needed help to advance the front lines.

 

Title: Re: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: nooneever on February 09, 2017, 08:14:53 AM
 O0 Great!  There's a few minor errors here and there but it's nothing any intelligible (I say that liberally) reader won't be able to understand given the context.  I'm not sure if you're referring to the Native Americans during the early days of settlement or Chinese minorities during the days of spreading Han rule.  Keep it ambiguous, I like that.  It shows the similarity of some of these experiences.
Title: Re: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: lexicon on February 09, 2017, 08:28:13 AM
 :-[
I appreciate any feedback. I have small windows of opportunities each day that I can put my thoughts on paper. Proofreading is somewhat of a luxury. When given the time and opportunity though, I'm surprised at how terribly written it initially was. I end up tinkering with the piece and the tone and narrative completely changes. And then I lose interest  :2funny:
Title: Re: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: lexicon on March 08, 2017, 09:16:50 AM
Haircut

The little wooden bench creaked as I struggled in discomfort.

"Stop fidgeting." came the soft rebuke.

"I can't. It itches. And your scissors aren't sharp enough. They're just pulling my hair and not cutting it anymore." came my weak reply.

"Just sit still and stop complaining." There was a finality to his voice when he said this.

We had been at this for about half an hour and I was at my breaking point. My scalp was on fire. Snip and pull. Snip and pull. Snip. Pull. But it didn't matter. The more vocal I became, the quieter he got. Eventually his response came in the form of a good whack to my head. There was never a man of fewer words than my father.

The afternoon Sun continued it's crawl across the azure sky. Sweat dripped down my neck and brow, beading at the tip of my nose. I watched the drops lazily fall into the soft grass at my feet. If I kept my thoughts preoccupied enough, maybe I wouldn't notice the hair now matted into the sweat on my back. 








Title: Re: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: yubnag on March 17, 2017, 10:45:14 PM
Loved both pieces and the context. Thanks for sharing!
Title: Re: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: lexicon on June 08, 2017, 04:03:23 PM
.



Title: Re: Children of the Water Buffalo
Post by: Believe_N_Me on December 29, 2021, 02:23:37 AM
The things you wrote sound exactly what liberals do to minority communities.