Dao Huy Kien

“The adventures of Nemo, the plush fish” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #243

Nemo was a plush fish with the same figure of the young clownfish in Disney’s cartoon “Finding Nemo”. He was born among other cotton animals in a workshop in Saigon. After only one day staying in the workshop, he was moved to a truck to go to the seaport, where they put his box in a container. After being filled with boxes, the container was loaded on board. Nemo asked other cotton animals where they were and where they were going but no one knew. Nemo only felt a strange taste: the salty taste of the sea. Nevertheless, he didn’t know what t...

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“Beautiful in white” by Dao Huy Kien

Minh was a reporter of a big newspaper. One day, he joined a party at a beer restaurant with his colleagues. In the party, his boss who was drunk told him. “A virgin twenty-five-year-old man like you is such a rare case. I will help you know the taste of life”  Minh was embarrassed while his boss and colleagues laughed out loud. He had some love affairs and untitled relationships but they were all pure. H...

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“The girl from yesterday” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #231

Every year, in the third month of the Lunar year, Vietnamese flock to cemeteries in the occasion called “Thanh minh” period. Seldom do they leave modern life for traditional values like this occasion or Tet holidays. It is the day for people to remember their relatives living in the world of the dead. Everybody of every age visits graves. You can see old men with snow-white hair and bent back. Yo...

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“The adventures of Nemo, the plush fish” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #211

Nemo was a plush fish with the same figure of the young clownfish in Disney’s cartoon “Finding Nemo”. He was born among other cotton animals in a workshop in Saigon. After only one day staying in the workshop, he was moved to a truck to go to the seaport, where they put his box in a container. After being filled with boxes, the container was loaded on board. Nemo asked other cotton animals where ...

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“A wedding and a love affair” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #202

I was invited to five weddings that month. But this wedding was not similar to others. It was my first love’s wedding. When I knew she would get married, I felt nothing. It made me surprise and be a little harassed. She used to be my whole world. We had a lot of memories together. I thought I would be so sad if she marries someone else but the reality was different. Perhaps, time blurred my feelings of her. I received he...

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“The days after she went away” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #196

I still remember the day we broke up. It was when the second wave of coronavirus broke out in our country. I was working from home so that I could pick her up early. Normally, I often had to finish my work early then drive as fast as a bullet from my office to hers through crowded streets so that she would not have to wait long. Now I did not have to rush but was still anxious as she had texted m...

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“The Japanese lady in Bangkok” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #191

Liem was gazing out of the car window.  “Is it your first time in Bangkok, Sir?” the taxi driver asked him. “No, I’ve been here twice” he said.  Liem felt as though it was his first time in this city, however. He did not remember anything about the city as the last time he came here was nearly ten years before. In his memory, it was just a city like any other city in this wor...

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“Beside Lake Michigan” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #183

One summer afternoon, I took a stroll along Lake Michigan. The path where I walked was behind the Milwaukee Art Museum, the icon of the biggest city in Wisconsin. It had a unique shape which looked like a sailing ship. It was 5 p.m. when the sail was almost folded down. I walked and watched the scenery around. Covering all was the magnificent landscape, in which a person felt humbler and smaller ...

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“Love potion number nine” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #176

When in high school, I was secretly in love with a classmate named Evelyn, who had beautiful round eyes, pinkish white skin and smooth black hair. She had a face of angel so that a lot of guys like her, even the guys from upper class and colleges. Meanwhile, I was neither a handsome boy nor an outstanding student. I was not a rich kid or an excellent basketball guy either, just an average teenager so that I thought there...

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“The handwritten letters” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #174

It was the first time in my life I received a handwritten letter from a girl who wanted to make friends with me. The story happened in 2005 when I was seventeen. After appearing on a TV talent show to set a new national record of football juggling, I experienced the sweet taste of fame for a while. The next Monday, the vice-principal commended me and a girl in the same grade in front of the whole school in the patriotic ...

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“She is leaving tomorrow” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #171

It was a sunny day. I caught the bus to go home from my university as usual. I picked an empty seat and listened to music from my Ipod. It was not the rush hour so that I had that luxurious comfort. I enjoyed that ordinary happiness as I had learned the way to feel happy with simple little things since a year before. Having dinner with my family and watching news on TV made me happy. Attending a class with my classmates ...

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“Love potion ” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #170

  When in high school, I was secretly in love with a classmate named Evelyn, who had beautiful round eyes, pinkish white skin and smooth black hair. She had a face of angel so that a lot of guys like her, even the guys from upper class and colleges. Meanwhile, I was neither a handsome boy nor an outstanding student. I was not a rich kid or an excellent basketball guy either, just...

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“The necklace” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #168

The platform that afternoon was as busy as other afternoons. Everybody was in a bustle with luggage. Some people ascended the trains, some descended from them, nobody wanted to stay long at the platform except a young couple. “Remember to send me your letters, my love!” said the girl. “Uh-huh”, replied the young man.

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“The girl from yesterday” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #167

Every year, in the third Lunar month, Vietnamese flock to cemeteries on the occasion called “Thanh minh” period. Seldom do they leave modern life for traditional values like this occasion or Tet holidays. It is the day for people to remember their relatives who were living in the world of the dead. Everybody of every age visits graves. You can see old men with snow-white hair and bent back. You c...

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“Rambutan” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #165

Mai was a well-known beauty blogger who was considered a KOL (key opinion leader). The 30-year-old lady lived with her Israeli husband in a luxury apartment in district 7, Saigon. Her life had been smooth until the fourth Covid wave broke out in Saigon originating from the Revival Ekklesia Mission. Like all other people, she supposed the wave would be quickly contained like the three previous ones. However, after two mon...

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