“Oh no. Why are they gonna hit me? Did I do anything wrong again?”
“Come here. It’s okay,” says whoever that is.
“Who are you? What do you want?’
I need to nail this leap.
“Can you go behind that wall, right past that curb?” the other asks.
Here it goes.
“On the count of 3. 3...2...1...gotcha!”
“No! No...ouch! It hurts...”
I should probably just go through it all over again.
“Be careful. There’s something wrong. It’s okay...you’ll be fine.”
No, I won’t. I have to fight. I will not lose this time.
It was just like any other Christmas months. I watch my shadows tap dancing on the rough pavement to the beat of car horns. My smile lightens up reflections on parked cars. I pass them as I search for colorful stars to watch for the night. Weirdly, I don’t seem to see any clusters this year.
It’s probably because I’m too early? Nah...they’re late.
In hopes to find those glistening stars, I continue on. Right before another road going to someplace I don’t know, is where I’ll be spending my next few hours.
“Oh...how long have you been here?” the lady I love the second most says. “You’re always here every year.”
“Where are all the stars? I miss them so much.”
“You want food? Aw...I couldn’t let you in. Our shop isn’t selling anything this week. Wait here.”
And so, I waited patiently...I mean who doesn’t want free food?
She immediately pulls the cranky wooden door towards her and disappears. “Nak oh, here you go!” she exclaims as the door bursts open. Large chunks of rice and bite-sized pieces of pork fill the water-stained plastic container. Tiny rocks rub its bottom as she places it on the ground. Her old eyes watch me for a while and she walks away without a sound.
From a distance, she brings out this black rectangular thing.
“Hello? Can you help me? He’s been coming here for several years now especially during the Ber months. I don’t know... Yes. He’s here now at my shop. Oh sige. Salamat po!”
After several minutes... a van pulls up and three people jump out of it. “Good afternoon, po! Were you the one who called?” says one of them.
“Yes,” the lady replied.
I woke up with people in white and a blue cover over their mouths surrounding me. Surprisingly, I’m not feeling any pain, only that of my leg.
Why are they wrapping my leg in tissue?
“Can you hold this for me?” one asks the other.
I didn’t understand anything that’s happening. All I know is that I was laying down on something with adults trying to preserve my left leg.
I nervously ask, “What are you guys trying to do...?”
“It’s ok. We’re almost done,” the person on my left assures me. She was holding snippers and was snipping the tissue.
If I were her, I would just tear on my own. What are they doing now?
“Okay, everything’s bandaged up. Let’s place him in an empty cell,” that same person on my left says.
Oh no... They’re gonna place me in that same old jail. What wrong did I do? I didn’t destroy anything.
They left me all alone, miserable, in a tiny place with metal bars. There were others like me who were also there. I didn’t understand. I’m not used to all of these. I couldn’t trust them at first. As a long time passed, I became comfortable and there was a person who wanted to bring me somewhere.
“Apollo! Come here! Someone wants to bring you home,” the one taking care of me says.
And yes, Apollo’s my name. I don’t know what to do, so I just followed them like what a good me would do.
Once the car stopped, the guy driving went out and left me for a while then opened the door beside me. He led me outside onto spiky stuff on the ground. And then through another door.
“Welcome home, Apollo!” he exclaimed. “We have everything you want. Just tell me if you’re hungry, okay?”
As it opened, tiny people were jumping up and down and screaming. It freaked me out and forced me to find a hiding spot. I stayed there for a week or so.
Christmas day came, my most favorite day of the year. This year is very different. I feel more lonely, I don’t know why. The people here at “home” seem friendly.
“Christmas is boring this year,” a young girl says. “Even the house looks boring,” a younger girl agrees.
The guy who drove me here exclaims, “Oh I actually have parols in the storage room.” He asks, “Do you want to hang them outside?”
“Yes, we want to, daddy!” the girls excitedly reply.
He brings out these dull looking stars. I became curious at these and carefully watched them hang the stars all over the outside of the house. Seeing them reminds me of all the joyful memories.
Not too long passed, the skies dimmed. And these colorful stars were shining brightly against the dark surroundings. Everything around me turned colorful.
Is this my family now?
“Daddy, look! Apollo’s tail is finally wagging!”
Literature by Jasmine Ngo
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