Strawberry Wine

one

               It was during the middle of math class when teacher Shin came back from the principal's room, told them that the test was cancelled and that everyone was to go home immediately. Nobody cheered. Last evening, they had been listening to the president on the radio who promised that the military force stationed two towns away would not proceed further unless necessary.

"Bullcrap! Liar!" Chae Young's father had exclaimed.

Maybe the other children's parents had said the same. Everyone proceeded to pack up their books somberly. It was a warm morning in May. Blackbirds and blue jays made happy, mating calls outside, unaware of the civil tensions that loomed over the country.

The students made feeble attempts to ease the air.

"When summer break begins, we'll go to Seoul to visit Namsan Tower."

"Lets go have a picnic down at the lake this weekend. I'll bring egg rolls and pork chops."

"You should just bring a bikini."

The voices and hollow laughter buzzed ominously in the silence of the town as they made their way out of the campus.

When Chae Young reached home, she was surprised to find her father home from work. She had guessed that her brother's school would have also sent them back early, but she had not expected offices to close either.

"Ah, you're home," her father said calmly as he bent over a trunk into which he was trying to squeeze in a small blanket.

A lot of the things in the house had been packed away, and two other smaller trunks lay piled on the floor.

"Appa, what's happening?" she asked, trying to keep the worry away from her voice. "Where's oppa?"

"He's upstairs packing." He finished tucking in the blanket, stood up and turned to her. "Chae Young-ah, we're getting an early summer break. Schools won't open for the next few weeks. I have already applied for leave at the office. We'll get away from the town for a while."

"Is it serious?" she asked.

"Not right now," he replied. "But it is always better to be safe than sorry. Now, why don't you go upstairs and pack your clothes as well. Remember to take only the essentials."

"But where will we go?"

He sat down in a couch and motioned at her to sit too. She noticed how ever since their mother passed away four years back, he had aged considerably. "Your mother's parents want you to stay with them. I also agree that their village is safer than mine. Especially since you're a girl. But I can't just leave my parents at times like this either. I'll take your brother with me to my parent's home. I hope you don't mind if I tell you to go further north to your mother's village."

Contrary to his concern, Chae Young did not mind at all.

"I promise to call as often as I can," he continued, "and I'll come pick you up as soon as things have calmed down."

She reached out and held his hand. "Don't worry. I'll be ok."

Chae Young had fond memories of the two bed roomed house that her mother had grown up in. When they were younger, the four of them would stay in her mother's old room whenever they came to visit. Some of her mother's things were still scattered around the room- her old books, framed photographs from high school, cross-stitched wall hangings, make-up boxes and jewelry boxes that no longer held either. She had convinced her father that he didn't need to drop her off. She had just turned eighteen that February, she reminded him. After much persuasion, he had allowed her to make the long bus journey to her maternal grandparent's home. She arrived in time for lunch and much to the joy of her grandmother who fussed over how skinny her Chaeng had become and how the food in town was not real food. Chae Young helped clear up the kitchen after lunch and was shooed away soon after by her grandmother who insisted that she must rest. Chae Young had brought along only the essentials as her father had advised, and was glad for the books her mother had left behind. Picking one in random, she strolled out into the back porch and settled onto her grandfather's easy chair. The cushion smelled strongly of him.
The village was usually very quiet around lunch, and the distant chirrups of birds could be heard from the forest.