Home > Author > Kien Nguyen
1 " No longer did she look like a shy little maid who was trained to censor her thought before it reached her mouth. These past few days had turned her into a reserved yet intelligent young woman. "
― Kien Nguyen , The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood
2 " An hour later, a group of men from the funeral home arrived. With my grandfather's help, they cleaned my grandmother's body and marinated it in rice alcohol. When the wine had straightened her limbs, which had stiffened from rigor mortis, they dressed her in new clothes. Using a thick red thread, they tied her two big toes together to prevent her spirit from wandering. A cheap red lacquered coffin was brought into my grandparents' bedroom. A layer of sand was spread at the bottom to cushion the body. Rich families would use tea leaves instead of sand. The more expensive the tea, the richer and higher in status the dead were. We covered the sand with coarse, loosely woven cotton gauze. After my grandmother's body was laid inside the coffin, a small dish filled with burning oil was placed on the ground beneath it to keep her spirit warm. Incense in a large urn perfumed the air. It was time for friends and relatives to pay their respects. "
3 " Hit me again, and I'll report you to the authorities. Follow me to my bed one more time, and I swear to the gods, I'll search for the most painful way to murder you. "
4 " I can't go to America. I don't want to go to any foreign land where I don't speak the language or know the customs. I'd rather die here by the Vietcong's hands, among my ancestors, than live like a ghost among strangers. You go! "
5 " If you want to ever achieve happiness, don't dwell on the past. Instead, start living. What is the point of obsessing over something that has already happened, and that you cannot change? Live! And be merry. "
6 " Come up here. Tell us your story. "
7 " But as much as I tried, I couldn't forget my past. The events that had shaped me continued to weigh on my soul. "
8 " A full moon hung across the heavens like a pregnant belly. "
9 " In all of my years doing this job, I have never given the drug to anyone over three months pregnant; not once, because everybody listens to me, except you. "
10 " What happened to you, boy? Miss the boat to Heaven, so you stop to visit Hell instead? "
11 " Finally, the rain stopped. The sky draped like a large, starry blanket over the world. The moonlight painted the tiny waves around me the color of my grandfather's hair. I lifted my hands and laughed hysterically. My fingers dripped lustrous, metallic water like mercury. Specks of light danced on the ocean surface, beckoning me to join them. Time melted into space, letting me flow with it into oblivion. "
12 " Take a close look at your life if you dare. Do you understand why you allow your children to harass mine? Jealousy, that's why. You are jealous of the fact that all of your fourteen children could never measure up in Daddy's eyes as much as one half-breed of mine. It hurts, doesn't it? Knowing that your children can never be good enough. But how could they? Just look at them, and the parents that gave life to them. I sincerely hope that I never have to see your face again. "
13 " Lying half-asleep in his embrace, I looked up and saw on his face the same expression I saw on countless lonely faces every day. It was the homesick look of the children who were lost in the chaos of warfare, witnessing death and disaster, longing for a meaningful touch. "
14 " Instead of relishing life, people merely existed. Such was the case with my family. "
15 " Never had I beheld such despair. "
16 " I don't have anything to give you, except to show you a way to better yourself. "
17 " In the sallow afternoon, I watched her get dressed. "
18 " Take me instead,' Mrs. Dang said, holding on to my arm tightly. 'I can fight if I have to. Leave my boy out of this.''Not a possibility,' he told her. 'In the old days, whenever I tangoed with Death, I needed my men. Death is here right now, and your son will do just fine. "
19 " I was scarcely aware of the angry hands scratching and pulling at me from all directions. Instead, I closed my eyes and wished silently for death to free me. "
20 " Far beyond the trees, the sun peeked its carroty face over the dark blue water, sweeping away the silvery darkness. "
