Iwas elated to receive a letter from my sister Lan living in the States.
I was excited to open the envelope. How unusual, there was nothing inside. Seals from the two countries’ post offices stayed intact, the edges stuck properly. I stepped back and forth, pondering hard.
From the room next to mine, my sister rushed in, and said, “In her last letter, sister Lan told me she would write you and me a longer letter. Now show me your letter”.
I showed her the empty envelope.
“Don’t play tricks on me”, she said.
“It was true. Only the envelope, empty”, I said, irritated.
She went back to her room, not bothering to hide her suspicion and anger. Her husband looked at me in a different way. For many days afterwards, no talking, no laughing were heard between two seemingly remote adjacent rooms.
A month later, Lan came back from the States.
Now that everything was made clear, we here brother and sister looked at each other in shame.
- Ngô Vinh