%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
Talay has been found. He was never lost, just... no one knew... |
| Colors of Chiang Mai The DNA test was conclusive. He was family, 20 years old and living in Chiang Mai. His name was Talay — the sea — far from any sea, as far as could be. Yes, possibly Ander's nephew — but how? Erik needed to find out before he told Anders. He found a picture on line. Not tall, not blond, a bit scrawny, light eyes. He looked Euro-Chinese-something, not Thai; yet... obviously he was. Just average in many ways. Did he look like his father? Anders didn't keep pictures of his family. Too painful, he said. He still had vivid memories of family fights and laughter. He always smiled as he said that, no need for pictures. Anders said he could see them when he closed his eyes. He murmured their names in his dreams. Erik told Anders he was flying to Chiang Mai for a day. He left out why. ... Talay stood in front of him, rigid as his aunt at her husband's funeral, speechless as a waterfall in April1. He had an uncle? In Thailand? Someone who knew his father? Family? Erik kept silent. Better to wait and let Talay process the moment. The fragrance of plumeria surrounded them, begging them to stay; the aroma of grilled chicken interrupted. "Have you eaten yet?" Erik used a phrase more common than hello or goodbye, hoping to break through. "Yes." Silence is golden they say. Talay stood as solid as iron pyrite; false gold by any other name is still shiny but useless... They had met at a Café Amazon. Erik was thirsty. "Could I have a cold coffee, please. What would you like Talay?" At least he was polite enough to accept a cold drink. Outside, a young woman wearing a smile approached and lightly touched Erik's arm. He smiled back and softly said, "I have a jealous boyfriend." She turned her smile on Talay but he didn't smile back, shrinking into himself. "I'm thinking about becoming a monk." Erik nodded. "I like the green silence of the forest." The silence broken, Erik had hope. "Let's walk to a quieter place. I know a juice bar near here." ... They walked through the ruins and not-quite-ruins that rose up like white lotus in a swamp. Erik reminisced. His hometown was a center of modern Buddhist thought but didn't have as many temples. The modern city enveloped this former seat of the Lanna Kingdom with new concrete towers and busloads of Chinese visiting the main tourist sites. The sois2 felt a bit neglected. They crossed a bridge over a klong3 where rafts of indigo water hyacinths provided a perch for hungry herons. Talay didn't say much to Khun4 Erik. He seldom spoke unless spoken to. He pondered over his uncle having a husband: tall, a bit pale but definitely Thai, soft-spoken, welcoming. He may live in the south but his accent showed traces of Isaan. With his mother gone, grandparents gone, he had no one. He wished they had had more family. Maybe if he did his mother wouldn't have worked so hard to support her parents, leaving him to their care. She'd never complained to him, but he knew. She said she had gone to Phuket when she was young to get as far away as she could. She'd scurried home with him in tow. Talay. She'd named him Talay to remind her of the sun and sand of the sea. She didn't talk about his father though. He was curious about that, and the family he didn't know existed till now. ... "I'm so glad to have found you." Talay didn't smile. "I was never lost." "I meant..." "What was my father like?" "I wish I knew. I only met him twice, briefly. Everyone in his family loved the sea. They grew up by the sea." "I grew up in the mountains. I've never been to the sea." Surrounded by green mountains and white temples, they sat with their silence in Khun Kae's Juice Bar, both in their own thoughts. Erik tried to remember his time in the temple during Phansa5. How the rains drowned out the laments of the soaked chicken vendors, the joy of the ever-thirsty rice fields, the low of a buffalo. He missed his family in Khon Kaen6. Some tourists walked by. Loud, a bit too giddy, in a hurry. They were ignored by the locals. "This too shall pass" was one of the lessons Erik had to learn as a child. It wasn't always necessary to respond. It wasn't always necessary to be offended. He'd learned to let go of other people's disrespect and misbehavior. Mostly. His year living with his father's cousin in Norway tending to bleating goats had taught him other lessons. Talay might be shocked at his father's Swedish roots. "Your father was Swedish. His family lived by the sea. They learned to swim before they went to school, learned to fish and row a boat as a child, learned to sail before they were ten. Your uncle has no clue how to grow a potato, cook soup, tend a garden. My grandfather7 family in Norway grew potatoes and carrots and made cheese so they wouldn't starve. My father left as soon as he could. My mother's family lived in a ban8 surrounded by rice fields before moving to the city in search of jobs. They knew how to survive by eating anything that didn't run fast enough. I still remember ant eggs." Erik laughed. "When my father ran away to find a warm place and met my mother... well, here I am." Erik motioned for another drink. "Your father's family was more privileged. They ate herring, a type of fish, went to a bakery for bread, a market for meat and vegetables. They all loved pizza but never learned how to make one. Your grandparents were never poor, never rich, always had enough. Anders never complains. His family never did. I doubt your father ever did." "Is my uncle loud like those tourists?" "Only when he was younger... and drunk. He doesn't drink much any more. He's almost as quiet as a monk these days. Learned from me." Erik had to smile at that. Neither of them would make good monks but Anders had calmed down, and was basically content except on anniversaries; he missed his siblings. Erik had two sisters he kept in touch with and three nephews he saw now and then, but he didn't miss them. He had Anders, Gung who lived with them, and her children Max and Bank. He'd never felt lonely, never been alone. Would Talay want to be a part of that? "Your uncle still mourns for your father. He walks along the beach but won't go in over his knees." ... Talay mentioned how he had an aunt that lived far outside of town. He had a group of friends growing up but they had gone to university. When his mother died everyone helped but he only had one friend left and they both had to work. Talay delivered food on his motorcycle. "I've lost my kwan9". Erik nodded waiting for Talay to continue. Patience was a virtue. He had plenty. Erik sipped on his second red apple, carrot, passion fruit smoothie. Paradise, they called it. Talay looked past his glass... at nothing. "I thought about going to the forest to find it." ... Erik asked Talay to show him around the Old City. He'd been here many years ago but wanted to see it through the eyes of someone conceived by a tsunami. 20 years... They walked 70 meters to Wat Lam Chang. "The elephants remind me that I'm not chained. And the nagas10 make me feel safe." The found a quiet spot to sit. "Do you always wear orange on Thursdays?" Talay finally smiled. "Yes. I was born on a Thursday. It's also my favorite color." "My grandmotherยาย, mormor, mother's mother would say 'the traditional colors help keep time'. She was fond of pink even though she was born on a Sunday11." "My mother was born on a Wednesday and given the name Khajee12. Talay paused. "She was hit by a car two years ago. I come here to make merit for her on my birthday, the day before Mother's Day.13" A calico temple cat approached them asking for a rub. It jumped up to sit between them. All three sat there for awhile in the shade until it began to rain. A good time to find a place to eat. Talay chose a restaurant known for its khao yam14. He avoided fish and flesh. Erik loved som tum15, extra spicy, but decided to try the khao yam. "ข้าวยำสองจานครับ" (Two plates of khao yam, please). Talay had that look of 'starving teenager' that Erik knew so well. Oh, to be skinny again. Anders didn't mind; but... Erik jogged every evening when it cooled down a tad. He was allergic to mornings. They slowly walked from one temple to another stopping at 7-Elevens for juice, chatting about this and that. The clouds played with the sun. Erik carried his umbrella for both sun and rain. Talay seemed oblivious to both. "Would you like to see the sea? You could visit us in Hua Hin.16" "When can we go?" "There are no flights today but we can go tomorrow or Sunday." "What time?" "3 in the afternoon." It was hard to read the emotions crossing Talay's face. He stiffened, hands clenched, unclenched, now certain. "Yes. I can be ready by noon." ... Night set on the temples as they had for hundreds of years as the clouds parted to reveal the sunset. The sun said goodnight behind the mountains here, like in Hua Hin. In Phuket one could sit on the beach, watching the orange sun setting in the Andaman Sea to the west. An orange sea at sunset was magical. Would there be stars to wish on tonight in Chiang Mai? Tomorrow in Hua Hin? Tomorrow, Anders would find out that he still had family. © Kåre Enga (August 2025) WC ~1670+ Prompt Revised version. Shorter original from August 28th: "Orange Sea At Sunset"  Footnotes |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
