Bamboo People
“They pass me without a word, race up the trail, and start shooting into the trees.
I see Ree Meh running toward me as well, and soon she takes the weight of the boy’s head and shoulders in her arms. As the water curls around my ankles, I know we’ve made it. Our attackers will turn and run now. They’d never defy the Thai army by entering a camp on this side of the border.
On the far bank a crowd is gathering around Nya Meh and my mule, Mango, and … is that Sa Reh?
Nya Meh wades through the water... to us, her eyes on the boy’s bleeding, oozing leg.
“Is he alive?”
“Barely.”
“Can you carry him a bit farther, to the doctor’s hut?” she asks, taking Chiko’s swollen leg in her hands.
“We’ll use my mule,” I say.
We cross the rest of the river together, the three of us using our arms as a makeshift stretcher for the boy.
Sa Reh is clutching the rope around Mango’s neck. He’s chewing betel nut mix, as usual—his favorite habit, even though I’ve told him a hundred times that the stuff stains his teeth and makes his breath smell bad.MoreLess
I see Ree Meh running toward me as well, and soon she takes the weight of the boy’s head and shoulders in her arms. As the water curls around my ankles, I know we’ve made it. Our attackers will turn and run now. They’d never defy the Thai army by entering a camp on this side of the border.
On the far bank a crowd is gathering around Nya Meh and my mule, Mango, and … is that Sa Reh?
Nya Meh wades through the water... to us, her eyes on the boy’s bleeding, oozing leg.
“Is he alive?”
“Barely.”
“Can you carry him a bit farther, to the doctor’s hut?” she asks, taking Chiko’s swollen leg in her hands.
“We’ll use my mule,” I say.
We cross the rest of the river together, the three of us using our arms as a makeshift stretcher for the boy.
Sa Reh is clutching the rope around Mango’s neck. He’s chewing betel nut mix, as usual—his favorite habit, even though I’ve told him a hundred times that the stuff stains his teeth and makes his breath smell bad.MoreLess
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