Ne Win Myint - The Black Heron and Other Short Stories

The rain was pouring down heavily. The rain was falling in torrents, making Win Yi and her little tent move. The first one to step out of the rain was Mother Nyo.

"Winry... pops up..."

"Come here, mother, I'm looking for a rice bowl."

As Win Yi spoke, she stepped out into the rain.

"Mom... it's cold"

Winry wrapped the plastic around her back and pulled it forward slightly. In her hands, she had a sieve, a rag, a bucket for washing clothes, and plastic containers for pouring oil.

"For God's sake, let me leave today."

Mother Nyo was praying to the city for the betel nut. But the rain was still pouring down.

"Mother Nyo didn't even invite us, Win Yi and I are the ones who will be the best daughter-in-law."

Ama Kyi is a mother.

"My dear brother, now... I have to tell you, everyone is shouting, now... everyone is calling, soon he will be there, I will be there"

Mother Nyo put on her short skirt and looked at Amara. Win Yi went back to the huts. She called out to each house. Only some of the children came out. Some of the huts were empty and she couldn't follow them.

"It's too much to include very young children, they can't do anything and they can't give a share."

Amar Kyi was rubbing her exposed upper chest with the rain and water.

"Amarkyi... as much as we can get from each other."

Winry was persuasive.

"Oh... don't be a good person, there are fourteen or fifteen people, and if you get one gallon, two gallons, you'll only get eighty or ninety cents apiece."

"Hey, I don't know where you live yet."

Mother Nyo led the way. The neighborhood considered Mother Nyo's family a squatter. The people were also scattered. Their personalities were diverse. It was not known where they came from, but they all had the same business. The same business. At first, they started with one house, then two houses. Now there are about 20 houses. They collect and sell used fuel oil that flows down the drain from two large factories near their squatter houses. Fuel oil does not come out every day. When it rains heavily or when the sun is hot, it flows down the drain from the oil tanks. It is easy in the rainy season. Oil comes with the rain. It is necessary to collect the oil that floats in the water. It also takes skill to collect it. In the summer, there is only a small amount of water from the factory, so the work of collecting oil is easy. In the rain, the water that was pouring down like a sewage pipe was also pouring out with great speed. Then they had to fight hard. Then, Win Yi and his group didn't know how tired they would be. It was fun.

"Hey, hey, they're doing it, rags, rags, hey, give me a sieve, put the bins in order, it's not good.... I'm just smoking in case, you know?"

The person who was squeezing the water squeezed it. He was afraid that the oil that could not be squeezed would come out. The people around him were in a commotion. He caught the thick black oil floating on the water with a thin cloth. Then the oil stuck to the cloth. The cloth was full of oil and when it was full of oil, he squeezed it into the bucket. When he squeezed it, he did not squeeze it all at once. The cloth still had karma. He squeezed the water out until it was completely empty. Squeezing it was also wise.

Make sure that no oil gets in. Once the water has drained, squeeze the cloth into the bucket. Squeeze until not a drop is left.

Next, collect the oil from the water and filter it. Squeeze the oil into the bucket. If the oil comes out too much, if not too little, you can get twenty gallons of oil from a square iron bucket (about four gallons). Sometimes you can wait a whole day and not even get a bottle.

Of course, oil is not always around the oil tank. When the oil tankers come to add oil to the boilers, they check the oil tank for water before adding it. Then the oil will be cloudy. Another way is when oil overflows while adding oil to the tanks. Even if you know in advance and close the oil bar, twenty or thirty gallons will still leak out. Since it is a machine-driven system, sometimes it overflows. Sometimes, when the oil pipe breaks or the oil pipe breaks during the addition, it will leak out. No matter how it falls, the area around the oil tank is cleaned to prevent oil from accumulating. However, the oil that falls remains in the sewage drain. As mentioned, when a lot of water falls with force, the oil flows out of the factory along with the water.

This oil is what Win Yi and his family have to wait for. They have to wait and wait for the oil to come out of the creek outside the factory. No one knows whether there is oil near the oil tank in the oil well or in the sewer. They also can't go inside the factory to look. Only those who come out and wait and wait.

Some enter the factory without the security guard's permission. They boldly enter the oil storage tanks. If they escape, they steal oil. If they are caught, they are punished. Some steal not only oil, but also other things. Therefore, those who have been to the police station, the council office, the factory manager's office, the court, the fines, and those who have been imprisoned are all innocent. Ko Maung Sein was recently released on bail. Khin Sein spent a month and a half in the women's ward. Win and his family are just as stubborn as they dare not to do anything.

Not very big, not very feminine, just a little bit of natural oil. Eat as much as you can.

Therefore, they can be said to be similar in nature to the five-billed herons. But they are not beautiful white-faced birds. Look at them. They are always oily. Their faces are greasy and dry, their ears are not attached, their faces are not even. That is why they are called black-eyed.

They reached the mouth of the stream and Winry started to descend into the stream. She looked inward from the top of the factory ditch that connected to the main stream. Her sharp eyes searched the ditch for oil. She found none. Only water was rushing out at a rapid pace. Not a drop of oil was seen.

"How are you, girl? Are you awake?"

"I asked someone standing at the top of the hill. They were waiting for Win Yi's answer."

“I can’t find it. Some of you, please go ahead and look over there. We’ll wait here. Mother Nyo, go with me, Nga Soe. Take me.”

Win Yi was managing from the river. Amenyo took Nga Soe and Thukha. The only ones left were Win Si Ama Kyi, Ma Sein Hla, Mya Aye and Soe Nyunt,

"Mother Nyo... if the machine comes out over there, let's move together."

Ama Kyi stepped forward. He was shouting at Amenyo. Win Yi winked.

"I've done it again, it's so strange, they know it too... but it's not that bad."

"I can't say enough"

The rain is pouring down heavily, but the black herons are still waiting. Even their skin is turning blue. Even their lips are trembling. Even their fingers are already curling up.

Anyway, the rain stopped in the evening. When they and Mother Nyo added up, they had about three gallons. Ten bucks a gallon is thirty. Eight people. Four kyats a head. It was already dark when Win Yi returned to the tent.

( 2 )

"Mom"

"Daughter"

Win Yi called her mother into the tent. Mother was lying on a cushion in a corner, a worn-out blanket spread out under her. The seams of the blackened pillow were frayed, and a part of the blanket was covered with a blanket. Nearby were bottles, medicine packets, a kettle of hot water, and three plates.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"That's right, my daughter. My daughter, hurry up and get dressed, I'm going to be cold."

"The cold won't get worse for you girls," Winry said, trying to reassure her. "It's really cold. It's so cold." She looked at the wood stove. There was still a faint glow. Winry put on a shirt and an old T-shirt. Then, in the faint glow, she could feel her hands roasting.

"If Amar Kyi comes, I'll give you four kyats worth of food, Mom. Saya Maung also ordered it. I also ordered twenty fish pastes. Mom, are you hungry?"

"Mom, I'm not hungry yet, and I don't feel like eating. Do you still have rice, daughter?"

"Yes, Mom, I still have two left from the two I bought yesterday."

Win Yi is preparing to cook rice. If Amar Kyi comes, he will bring fish paste soup. We will finish it tonight with fish paste soup and toppings. As for toppings, just boil the leaves of the yam. This is not the reason. He can eat it. It is only a problem for the mother. The main thing for the patient. I want to cook some dried fish and some rice. I want to serve some catfish and fried fish. Win Yi is confident that one day I will be able to serve it.

Darkness has settled in the tent. I took out a kerosene lamp and struck the wicks with a stick. It is called a kerosene lamp, but it is now called a diesel lamp. Occasionally, I get a little kerosene, but I sell it at a profit. Even diesel is sold here and there. .

As soon as the fire was lit, a red light shone faintly inside the tent. The light reflected red on Win Yi's face. The wind from the field blew into the tent. The flame from the fire pole flickered. The flame swayed in the still air. It grew dimmer and brighter.

Win Yi looked at her mother. Her mother said, "One day, one

My mother was already covered in skin. Her hollow ears were very deep. Looking at the flickering flame and the inheritance, Win Yi was sobbing. When my father was there, my mother was not sick or sick. At that time, Win Yi and I lived in a small village, not in this neighborhood. Although my father, mother, and Win Yi were a family of three, it was not enough for my father to do the work. My father divided plastic bags. He washed plastic. He also worked in a rice cooker. He also fried rice. My father wanted to drink a little alcohol. At that time, Win Yi was only ten years old and had been a cook at home until the fourth grade. After that, the culprit who caused the family life to be shaken up was my father. He drank a little alcohol, but he drank a lot. He only looked for alcohol in the sand. In the morning, he fell victim to alcohol without knowing it.

Win Yi is a teenager. Win Yi is shy. She doesn't even talk to her father. My mother thinks it's because of her father's abuse. She says she's upset and depressed. She's a little stubborn. I think these things are the beginning of life's bitter experiences. Win Yi can't bear the pain of the world very well. But I can say that she's gradually becoming mature. Because she doesn't talk, Win Yi has to shoulder the responsibility of the big family.

Carrying water in the neighborhood. Pushing the chest. Picking up candied fruits. Cooking for rent. Sixteen years old, the blood is just beginning to grow, the love is just beginning to awaken, the age to try and find answers to the unknown and unexplained secrets of life, but Win Yi is not interested in these things. The life of finding food first. Win Yi's personal affairs are deeply immersed in the life of living. Is Win Yi also with blood and flesh and heart? Sometimes, the love that seems to be hidden, or missing, wants to wake up. At the same time, the father left the incomplete life of the three of them. As a slave to alcohol, he left the world completely, accepting the suffering of the environment and family. Then, the two sons and mother had to go through the world alone. My mother was a calm person, so she was not good, but Win Yi was afraid because she was young. Therefore, when she woke up, she accepted Mya Toe as her life partner. At that time, Mya Toe was a pharmacist at a tobacco stand. What kind of tobacco stand was he? When Mya Toe went to the tobacco stand in the morning, he often met Win Yi carrying water at the top of the road. At first, Win Yi looked like a dark and thin man. Win Yi thought that he looked like a bamboo stick with fish paste. One thing is for sure. He always laughed. No matter what he said, he would get angry. Even if Win Yi said something mean, he would laugh.

"Winnie, I'm so tired."

"None of your business"

"Oh, it's hard, you said it out of pity."

"No need to feel sorry, my lord... I don't feel sorry at all."

"Oh, cool, maybe you'll regret it later?"

"Will you die?"

However, in the following days, Win Yi felt sorry for Mya Toe. She always wanted to see her smiling face like Win Yi. She only wanted to hear her sweet words. Win Yi tried to read the letter that Ma Toe had given her that day. She read it at night, without her mother knowing, by the lamplight. I don't know who wrote it to Mya Toe. There were shooting stars in the letter. There were also some brooks that parted. It said that Myint Mo Mountain had collapsed. Win Yi wasn't interested in these. She was interested in just one line of the letter.

"We love Win Yi very much." I don't know who they are. Isn't she the only one who loves him? I don't know who he's dating. I'll have to ask Mya Toe carefully. Win Yi couldn't sleep that night. In the morning, I met Mya Toe.

"You... who are we in the letter you gave me?"

"Huh..it's me"

"Hmm... you said we're still here, so are there any other people?"

"Ha... Winry, don't you know that? They write like that now. Don't you read books?"

"I know"

"That... how is it? Tell me."

Win Yi didn't answer. She just smiled. Mya Toe asked without hesitation.

"I love you"

"Who said that?"

"Hmm... you are"

"Mya Toe, laugh."

Win Yi ran away while talking. Mya Toe, as usual, was left laughing. That's why love is a beautiful thing. Even though we are lovers, we don't have to make an appointment, meet, and enjoy ourselves like other lovers. In the morning, Mya Toe went to work, Win Yi went out to carry water, and we just had a moment. Just a little order. Just a little thing to say. Just a little thing to make our hearts flutter. Just a little thing to make our hearts flutter. That's it. It can't get any more than that. Sometimes, Mya Toe would call us to go to Mae Lamu Pagoda and Shwedagon Pagoda.