PodCastle 623: Caring For Dragons and Growing a Flower

* Author : Allison Thai

* Narrator : Jennifer Tran

* Host : Summer Fletcher

* Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh

*

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PodCastle 623: Caring For Dragons and Growing a Flower is a PodCastle original.

Rated PG-13, for found footage and lost loves.

Author’s dedication

I dedicate this story to my grandfather and father: one who I’ve never met and one I’ve known since I was born, yet both are men in my family who have my eternal respect and admiration.

Caring for Dragons and Growing a Flower

By Allison Thai

31 October, 1974

Dear Thi,

Sleep easy tonight, darling. I’m well and alive at the barracks the Party had seized in Sóc Trăng. Because I had sided with the enemy, I expected to be shot, or be assigned to clear the mines. Instead, the commander told me that medical training is like imperial jade: a precious resource and hard to come by. It would be wasted, with a bullet to my head. So I renounced the treacherous ways of the enemy, and I was given the honor of caring for the dragons of the People’s Army. They’ll be the key to winning the war and driving out the American invaders. Every day we inch closer to victory and uniting our country. Every day I thank the Party for my spared life. I will henceforth contribute my efforts to the glory and prosperity of the Party.

How are things back home in Hà Nội? Have you been taking care of the seed I gave you on our wedding day?

Sincerely, Cương

30 November, 1974

Dear Cương,

I’m grateful for the commander’s mercy. I heard that dragons aren’t easy to tame. Please take care. I’m relieved the Party gained possession of all the dragons in Vietnam before the enemy could get their hands on them. Americans can’t even handle chopsticks without spilling food all over themselves, so the thought of them trying to handle dragons, our national treasures, makes me sick. The dragons are in good hands. Your hands.

As for the seed, it hasn’t sprouted yet. I’m so sorry to tell you that the lovely pot you put it in for me has a crack underneath. That’s why it leaks when I try to water the soil. I’m sure the pot you gave me was flawless. Bombs dropped by the enemy make the ground shake, so that must be to blame for the crack. I need to move the seed to another pot. A bigger, stronger home that won’t crack or leak.

With love, Thi

31 December, 1974

Dear Thi,

I’m treated well at Sóc Trăng. The pillows and blankets are so soft that the commander must’ve ordered clouds of Heaven to come down just for me. Nothing soothes the aches and chills from work in December better than hot claypot catfish and sweet potato shrimp fritters. Yours are the best, of course, though food served by the camp cooks is a close second.

These luxuries, however, only come when I fulfill the duties expected of me. You’ve known me since I moved to the city so I could learn how to treat people, but I’m back to caring for animals. Life has a funny way of returning me to my roots after I’d been branching out. But these dragons aren’t my family’s livestock — thinking that would be a mistake. I’m not fattening them up for slaughter. Instead, I must always keep them lean and sharp, in top fighting form. That means feeding them rations of red meat — parts of pigs and cows — to nurse their thirst for blood. Work up an appetite for enemy soldiers. Weaning dragons from their natural diet of fish is challenging.