The Bread Maker

"Its 14th of June ." He thought to himself as he struggled to get some stretch for his legs in the small little barrel .

It was the year 1951 . The Korean war had already taken numerous lives for a year and there were no signs of this massacre stopping soon . Wang lei , a soldier from the small village of Tuvas was held captive by the soviet forces . Stuffed in a barrel like crumbled pile of clothes , Wang had been suffering for a three days in a row .

Even a little movement sent waves of excruciating pain form the tip of his toe to the last strand of his hair. With such restricted movement and no food for three days he should have died by now but the savior was the little black hole at the top of the barrel which gave way to every drop of rain it could get for Wang . Every drop of water reminded Wang of life …his life , his village , his family and....his home. Little wooden house , very small for a family for 6 …where everybody slept on the mud floor and only his father would sleep on the four legged wooden bed . OH ! how he wished he could sleep there one day. Well he had to be the bread maker of the house for that , as his mother had told him . He would think to himself " I hope I return home , so that I can get the privilege of sleeping there because now I am also the bread maker" . In that difficult position of being nearly rolled upon himself just like a sushi ,he felt proud of himself . He missed the place in the village he adored the most , the only tree on the river bank . Climbing to the top , he could see the mountains far away , witness the sunset and spend hours sitting there all by himself .

The memories of his village would flood its heart . Indeed , being in a foreign land , tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of his homeland . The very east Asian land he grew up , although torn down by huger and poverty , was very dear to him but it now was so far away .A single thought continuously hovered over his head "Will i return home ?".His heart would ache at this thought. However he couldn't tell whether the pain is because of his grief or his body that had swollen in every part possible because of the squeezing it had been through for the past 3 days .

However ,today there was a sinking feeling in his heart . " Its 14th June , the day of dragon festival ", he sighed . His body had become numb by all the pain and swelling . He just shut his eyes thinking about all the preparations at his homeland for this day , the day he loved so much …. because it was only today that his mother would prepare dumplings using fresh rice unlike everyday where there would be a bland cabbage soup for all three times of the day . Oh! how he loved the fragrant rice dumplings . He being the eldest kid mom would give him only one whereas the other 2 siblings got 2 each.

But he never complained as he knew bread makers have to make sacrifices , he would be happy at his own thoughts . All these memories piled up in Wang's head and before he knew tears started rolling down his cheeks . He thought to himself about how all the men in the village would be preparing the dragon boats after lunch , how the entire village would be gathering by the banks of the river to witness the celebration . A slight smile broke on Wang's face like a ray of sunlight coming from a gloomy dark cloudy sky . The river of tears had blurred his vision which was already minimal due to swollen eyes .

Wang had started feeling sleepy …well that's at least what he thought . No food for 3 days , he clearly had unconsciousness coming . He shut his eyes , slowly giving in to the cozy blanket of sleep which made him feel the most comfortable he had felt in he past few days .

"Wake up Wang ! Its already too late …don't u want to eat the rice dumpling I made ?" said Mrs. Lei. Wang woke up and reminded himself …its dragons festival . He got ready and had the dumplings .Mother gave him small fragrant pouch filled with dried fragrant flowers which were traditionally carried around on this day . He was too overwhelmed to receive that and placed it carefully in his pocket like a treasure of his own .

The dragon race had begun. " Wang don't stand close to the bank ." said his father . But Wang did not pay heed as he wanted to enjoy the celebrations from as closely as possible . The violent race began as each dragon boat was speeding its way through the notorious waters of the river . Everybody were yelling for their boats to win . Such beautiful boats , with vibrantly painted dragons on them . All the men yelling in coordination their motto putting forth their patriotism of for the nation . The whole scenario was a treat to the eyes of Wang . The whole high spirited scene seemed so full of life and delightful that a painter could have painted it using all the colors ever made. Hearing all the mottos , Wang had an adrenaline rush feeling proud to be a part of this culture . He also yelled along with the other fellow villagers .The boats moved swiftly along the flow of the river .The boats splashed water the banks with fountains of water and indeed Wang got all wet .

A sudden gush of water . Wang was back to his senses …still in the barrel , squeezed and rolled over as a sushi . The hole was clearly doing its job . His hands first went to check his pockets for his little treasure . He then laughed at his own action. Wang smiled to himself about the beautiful dream he just had and thought " Will I ever return home ? "

THE END