Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodia)

• Solina Sok, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2013

The year is 1975. The Cambodian city of Phnom Penh bustles with life as people rise to be the first in line for their breakfast of hot noodle soup. The people of the city bask in the beautiful early morning weather, the sun barely tickling the ends of their toes. The sounds of motorbikes, bicycles and cycle rickshaws lining the streets drift through the bedroom window of a young boy watching the busy city below him. As with most of the residents of the city, he has thick black hair and tanned skin darkened by the harsh sun. The noise of the traffic below is abruptly overpowered by the sound of several loud, sputtering trucks kicking up dirt from the dusty brown road. The boy stares at the trucks in wonder as he watches the soldiers on the back of the trucks proudly cheering at the crowds gathered along the edge of the street. The boy runs downstairs in time to hear an announcement on the radio:
“The government has surrendered. We ask all soldiers to put down your weapons and return home to your families.”

The city breaks out in celebration as people flood onto the streets, laughing and cheering with each other as the soldiers slowly drive by. The streets are shrouded with white as people raise their fists, triumphantly waving any piece of white material they can find as a gesture of the surrender in the war. The boy joins in the celebration as he grabs a white shirt off the ground and joyfully waves it through the air. Now that the war is over, he finally has the chance to fulfil his dream to visit the sacred temple of Angkor Wat.

Hours after the radio announcement, the soldiers return and crowd the streets. They are no longer cheering but are yelling instructions to the citizens,brandishing guns and repeating the same phrase to everyone they can reach. Their message is clear:
“You must leave the city at once! There will be a bombing on the city! You may return in three days!”

The city morphs into a scene of chaos. The euphoric happiness from only hours before is replaced by a panic spreading from person to person like a disease. The boy watches wordlessly as people rush around frantically, desperate to find their loved ones and pack their belongings. You must leave the city at once! There will be a bombing on the city! You may return in three days! The words meaninglessly run through the boy’s mind over and over again as he struggles to understand the situation. Suddenly, his mother is at his side, sliding a backpack onto his small shoulders. She grabs his hand as they slowly make their way through the crowd, leaving behind the city and all thoughts of Angkor Wat.