Boomerang

Love unlocks tongues and changes the past...

Boomerang                             by Sami S. Khalil

Faces pale as fine porcelain; bodies lifeless as nails; blank stares as vases; vultures gliding in wide arcs; clocks ticking in eternity, unfastened from the war raging around in Vietnam…The beach scene added to the mystery, after discovering none of the neatly arranged American soldiers had bullet hole signs or shrapnel wounds. Although serene looking, it was a frightening sight.

Even the placid Buddha would be awakened from his meditation to witness what befell humanity in its horrible reality and the suffering in this battered country.

As doctor Michael Moore, alighted from an army Jeep, was called in duty to solve the mystery, he glimpsed among the hundreds of faces a familiar one that clutched upon his memory; it was his younger brother among the dead. Across the beach was some sleepy store fronts, closed for business, boarded up because of the conflict, with Vietnamese women walking fast up and down, carrying fruit baskets, donning brimmed hats. The doctor took it all in as he approached closer and closer the bodies. Upon further investigation, he observed trickles of blood coming out of the ears. It was baffling indeed. But as an expert in the ways of torture, he came to the realization that concussion bombs were used by the Viet Cong, which rendered the American soldiers unconscious. Then they used sharp metal rods, like the ones used for Shish Kabobs, inserting them from ear to ear (Hence the dripping blood). Oh, what a gruesome find! It was unbearable.

The doctor became speechless, literally. Stunned, stunted, he threw in the towel, quit the profession, took a vow of silence and, upon returning to the States, filed for disability, using sign language from there on. He had seen before maimed bodies, heads cut off and placed on rifles as a psychological warfare, but this topped them all, especially including his brother. Many a nightmare ruled his nights. Life became a living hell, strewn with gloomy laments. In this instance, he saw death from the perch of pain, lost his mind, his grip, becoming nearly insane. He became inconsolable, taking full responsibility for the brave he couldn’t save. He kept unabashedly reprimanding himself and the politicians in Washington for starting this whole thing, faulting the power hungry and for-profit grabbers in a compendium of lies. For tricks and lies do endure if we believe in them and act upon them.   

 

 

He needed further assistance from God, whom was nowhere to be found, as he thought. He asked God for deliverance and guidance. As the paroxysms of sad emotions overwhelmed him, he heard a faint sound that said: “Be patient. Patience is a virtue. There are billing options to the blues of life. There are whereabouts to the commuter, broken-bladed by its edges. Everyone owns a sunshine and a cloud, a holy book and a rifle, tethered to one’s roof or basement. Wars have some heroes, many outlaws and juggernauts. Peace has soaring Eagles and gentle Pigeons. Be hopeful.”

Energized, the doctor went about his life, wandering around the Great Lake’s region in his small boat, living in a tent, hunting and fishing for a living. The idyllic charms of the lakes contrasted with his unspoken emotions.

After 20-year hiatus, political relationships were restored between the 2 countries. The doctor decided to visit the same beach, to reflect upon the past and where his brother was found. As he strolled down, on one side he saw many kids playing with Boomerangs which one of them almost hit his head before dodging it. The other side was booming with renovated shops. Caught up in his thoughts, he heard loud cries of help. A young-looking Vietnamese lady was drowning. He immediately took off his clothes, jumped in the water and proceeded to save her. Laid on the beach, doing CPR on her, he felt a bolt of energy through him. So, did she upon her waking. The connection felt like an old-fashioned charm between the two. As her eyes locked up with his, his tongue was released from the vowed silence, as if he forgot he ever made it.

He held her up, hand in hand, walking by the beach as the evening was bathed in blue and the moon glowing in red. She shared her story about how she became an orphan during the war. He shared his experience of the war, too. Few happy days passed, and they both felt inseparable. He was leaving in few days, so he asked her to put everything behind, marry him and move to the States where he will reopen his practice. To remind him, he placed a Boomerang purchased from one of the kids on his office wall as a symbol of something.

Fast forward, they lived happily ever after.       

 

Reviews

[Sami Khalil]

"He held her up, hand in hand, walking by the beach as the evening was bathed in blue and the moon glowing in red."