The Time in Between by David Bergen

choice.”
    Kiet said he was thirsty. Could he take a drink from the stream?
    The youngest soldier agreed. The other two said no. An argument broke out. The oldest soldier said that the story was almost finished and he wanted to hear the end. The thin young soldier said that if the teller of the story was thirsty, certainly he should be able to drink. And besides, he was not sure if the story was nearing completion. He asked if it was.
    The three soldiers looked to Kiet, who shrugged and said that though all endings were elusive, a conclusion was inevitable. In the distance, beyond their backs, a small black figure ran toward the group, brandishing a gun. He was not noticed by anyone except Kiet, who thought it might be a comrade of the three bandits, or another wandering madman, or perhaps someone sent to save him. In any case, understanding that fate could not push him any nearer to death, he said nothing until the figure in black, who turned out to be the farmer, stood before the five men, pointed his gun at the oldest soldier’s head, and asked who had killed his pig.
    Kiet was aware of the sun behind the farmer’s head. He was aware that the first to speak would save himself. And so, he spoke. He said that he and his blind friend had been lost and had come across these three men feasting on this pig. He motioned at the pig, and then at the soldiers, who stood and backed away. Their guns lay on the ground and they glanced at them as if gauging distance and opportunity.
    In a rage the farmer shot above the heads of the soldiers and chased them off. Then, without another word to Kiet and the blind boy, he contrived a way to carry the dead pig home. As he tied a rope around the pig’s rear legs, Kiet took the blind boy’s hand and led him down the stream and out of sight.
    “We are alive?” the blind boy asked. Kiet said that they were, though barely.
    IN ORDER TO PUT DISTANCE BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND the farmer, they walked through the day and the night until heavy rain forced them to take shelter in a cave. They stayed there for three days with a monk who was traveling south. The monk did not speak for the first two days and on the third day he woke from what appeared to be a deep sleep and he asked Kiet and the blind boy where they were going. Kiet talked about finding the blind boy and he told the story of the three soldiers and the accusation of desertion and the blindfolds and the rescue.
    The monk listened to Kiet and then, as monks are wont to do, he spoke in riddles and half-truths. He wondered why it was always necessary to cover the eyes of a man you were going to kill. He said that sight was not everything; in fact, the blind often saw more than those with two good eyes and it was unfortunate that this was not understood. He talked about life and death. He said that there is always a yes and a no and that you cannot have one without the knowledge of the other. He said that life feeds on death and death on life. “Look around you,” he said. The monk had some fruit and some cooked rice and the three of them shared this food until it was gone.
    At the end of the third day the monk disappeared; Kiet woke from a sleep and saw the blind boy lying on his back, but he did not see the monk. The boy said that he had heard him leave several hours earlier. Then the boy asked Kiet to complete the story of the woman and the baby.
    Outside the rain had stopped. The leaves were still dripping but the sun was shining and Kiet saw the light as it fell through the trees. He said that there was nothing to tell. The story wasn’t finished yet.
    The blind boy considered this information and then said he preferred stories that had doors on them, so that when you were finished, you could shut the door and be done with it. “Did you make it up?” he asked.
    Kiet said that the story was true.
    The blind boy nodded. He did not speak for a long time after this.
    Four days later, in a small village outside Dong Hoi, they passed a