Miav, a young hmong woman, living peacefully in a small village in the mountains of Laos. She had 3 kids and lived in a small straw house. The oldest child is Keej, who is 6 years old, Chue, who is 4 years old, and then Ying, who is 2 years old. Then one day, Miav heard a loud noise, “BOOM!” Then she hears people running, crying, and seeing blood everywhere. She grabbed her kids, started running with the other hmong people into the jungle. 

They were in the middle of the war of vietnam. They couldn’t stay in Laos,  and had to cross the Mekong river over to Thailand. There were many hmong people who died from either drowning in the water or getting shot in the head by the vietnamese soldiers. The river would have these huge catfish that can possibly swallow a whole child. There were many people, especially children drowning trying to cross the river. But Miav didn’t have any choice, but to cross the river with her 3 kids. 

It was daylight, she was hiding in the jungles of Laos. She saw a hmong man trying to cross the river. But then one of the vietnam soldiers shot him straight in the head. He fell down, his body slowly falling in the deep water. Miav and a couple hmong people were crying and praying for their lives, praying that someone would come save them. “Mom, are we going to be okay?” said Keej. “Don’t worry, we’ll be okay son.” Miav said, trying to keep her smile. “We need to cross the river by tonight.” Miav said to her children. 

That night, the hmong people were planning to cross the Mekong river without getting caught by the Vietnam soldiers. Miav and her kids quietly came out of the jungle, to the river. “Okay, Ying I’m going to put you on my back. Hold on tight and Keej, and Chue hold on to Ying.” Miav said to her children. Miav carried all of her children on her back, then started to swim. The river was freezing cold, and the further she went, the deeper it got. It was also harder to swim because the river current was pretty strong.

Miav was barely halfway through the river, and the current was strong. Chue was trying to hang on tight, but the current was pulling him away. “MOM! I can’t hold on!” Chue said. “Hold on, I’m trying to pull you up!” Miav said. Miav tried to hold on to chue, but she couldn’t. The river was pulling him down, he couldn’t hold on anymore. He let go. “Mom!” Chue cried. 

“Chue!” Miav yelled. She tried to look for him but it was way too dark. She dived in the water without even thinking. Trying to find her son in the water, but then she forgot that Ying and Keej were on her back. She could still feel Ying holding tight to her, but wasn’t sure if Keej was there.

Miav couldn’t find Chue, then she tried to swim back up to the surface for air, but the weight of Ying was pulling her down. Miav couldn’t breathe, so it got even harder to swim up. But the river current was pulling her, and she doesn’t have the strength anymore to pull herself up. She felt Ying let go of her, and the river was too fast, Miav couldn’t grab Ying. Miav didn’t have any strength anymore, and she was struggling to breathe. She closed her eyes and was pulled by the river, then sank deep into the river.