Closer (Short Story‪)‬

When I run, I think of a country with three seasons. A tropical climate in the south, monsoons in the north, and an area of mountainous jungle slightly larger than state of New Mexico. A country that borders Cambodia, China, Laos, and has over two thousand miles of coastline, stretching to the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and the South China Sea. These are the facts of Vietnam. They are what I think about as I run over the pavement, the gravel road, and the dusty trail through the woods. The complete loop from my house, past the highway and horse farm, over the coulee and back is five kilometers, and I try to guess how many days it would take me to run from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, betting I could do it faster than most, except for the fact that I hate to run in the heat, and from what I've read, Vietnam sounds a lot like the hottest days of July in the Midwest, when the Mississippi is slow, thick as soup, and stinking offish. It's the beginning of August now, and the only time I can stand to run is before the sun rises. The flag of Vietnam is red with a yellow five-pointed star in the center, and their independence day is September 2, the same day as my father's birthday. My birthday is September 12, 1975 but my father died in April that year, eighteen days before the war ended. I've never liked even numbers.