BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

I was sitting right by the open window.

That day was a typical spring day. The sky was blue, the wind was breezing, the feeling was like no other season. Spring is my most preferred one in Vietnam because the temperature is relaxing. Just imagine yourself surrounded by a magical garden filled with green grass, where you can feel the wind, the seemingly endless brightness, where the scent has the taste of welcome, where you can sense happiness coming merely from nature. That’s spring in Vietnam. And whenever I feel a spring day, there would be some invisible factor spurring me on to take my motorbike, go outside to the crowded city, and explore.

Back to me sitting by the window. It was the same feeling, the same yearning to go outside- either with friends or by myself. But I couldn’t.

I have been staying at home for 3 months due to the dire effects of the coronavirus. This means my daily routine is going to bed, breakfast(or not), study, lunch, study, bath, dinner, study, bed. In 3 months I have been living in my small bedroom, sometimes looking through the window to see the outside and hope I would be able to go out when it is still spring.

Spring is ending, though. I have missed all three months of this magically beautiful season. 3 months ago I made a clear plan of where to go, what to write, events to do in Hanoi. Right now, I look at those plans sketched and scribbled in my note, feeling helpless, mumbling:” Well, I hope I would be able to do them in summer if I have one.”

I have never truly embraced the moments I get the freedom to wander around the city of my own accord. Going outside has always existed as something we teenagers can definitely do any time we want. These times of not being allowed to go out have made me cherish the moment of liberty to travel and hang out more than ever.

I was sitting by the window, looking back at my adventures when I was able to sneak outside at will when I realized that there should be nothing to be taken for granted. Maybe everyone should take a minute or two to look through the window and reflect, just so that we can start to cherish every second of the present more.