Call 71 : RED DRESS

Hello Son,

We're clearing the kitchen - laundry area a bit today. 

Dad found two school bags, which are still quite new ... 

two because if You remember, Grandma would buy You and Jus new bags every year when You both were in Primary school, and new because, well Dad has kept them well.

Dad also came across your large FISHER-PRICE pirate ship, which we bought for You on your birthday. Not sure which, but quite sure You were below 3 years old.

Here's the ship, still looking good, save for a bit of dust and the missing white sail. Whatever happened to the white sail?

Dad was mimicking all the noises that You used to make while You were playing with your pirates on board, as the little figurines go through one make-believe battle after another, and not forgetting the BOOOMPH-noises of the canon-bombing.

Dad also brought out a box that contains some of the Christmas ornaments that we've accumulated over the years. 

Despite seeing those little colorful trinkets and glitter balls, the mood to put up the Christmas tree was just not there. 

Christmas this year will be different without You, Son. 

And Christmas the next year ...

And the year after ...

And the year after that ... 

Sigh ...

We have yet to take out the Christmas tree.

We're gonna leave it until after Justine finishes her exams. 

Somehow, we'll find our own little way to celebrate Christmas together, won't we now? 

God will make a way. :D 

God knows everything that is going on. Yup, He knows.

And Mother Mary knows too.

Something wonderful will happen, You'll see ... :D


You must have detected our melancholy mood because in a very short while, You would make your presence felt among your family.

So anyway, as Mom was saying ...

About 3pm, we had a tea-break - Dad and Mom from the spring cleaning and Justine, from her books.

Dad made his famous teh tarik. 

You'd remember Dad's teh tarik, don't You? 

The one that You don't normally take, not because You don't like it, but because Mom has said, time and again that caffeine would stunt your growth. We were recalling with a sad fondness all the little things You'd used to do, and ate, to make sure You grew as tall as You possibly could.

Have You grown any taller since we last saw You, Mom wonders.

You were almost 6 foot 2 when we rested You in the shuttle. An inch taller than Dad, he said. Aunty Carol had asked You when You left whether You are taller than Jesus. :D

God and You must have exchanged a chuckle there, huh. :D

Mom thinks Jesus would be around 6' 4".

Is He?

Anyway, we were talking about going to your Garden on your birthday, on the eve of Christmas.

Hearing about Christmas, Justine was reminded about Santa, and possibly the color RED because she suddenly exclaimed, 

"Where is my red dress?"

Her red cheer-leading outfit has been missing for a while now. 

She has been looking for it ... 

Mom has been looking for it ...

Jus stopped looking after awhile ...

So did Mom ... yeah, after awhile.

The lil red dress was a forgotten chapter.

Yup, a closed chapter.

Justine had bought the red outfit for her cheer-leading routine this year, 

sometime in March, if Mom is not mistaken. 

You must have seen her in it, from your little cloud up there. 


Remember - Her RED House got first prize for the cheer and 

your YELLOW House was champ overall?

Don't You remember? 

Sure You do.

Both of You must have been really happy on that day. :D

Anyway, every now and then, when Justine remembers, she'd say, 

"I still can't find the red outfit."

 

The last time, we spoke about that, Mom reminded her again that 

she had probably left the outfit in school. 

It's definitely not in the house, Mom had said then ...  

Did we not look everywhere???

"You must have left it in school, we've searched everywhere,"  

your mother said again this afternoon. 

Yes, definitely, everywhere we can possibly think of.

For some reason, 

Dad kinda snorted when he heard the word "everywhere."

Justine made a boo-hoo sob-sniff sound ...

Suddenly ... 

Mom found herself telling Jus, 

"Why don't You ask Daniel to help You find it?"

Only a few days ago, on Wednesday 24th ...

on the day of her English Paper ...

Jus was searching high and low for her Novel notes, and was about to give up looking for them, when we called You to help ... and as we did, believe it or not, but she found them instantly! 

Yes, instantly, even before Mom could finish her sentence to You.

That was awesome!

Jus can definitely COUNT ON YOU, Son - her Guardian Angel ... :D 

Besides, she has been singing that song kinda like the whole time today. 

The tune, You can count on me ... like 1 2 3 ... I'll be there ...  

is just ringing in our heads. :D

Jus sprang up from her seat, pointed a stern finger at your portrait, 

to get your attention Mom thinks, and said, 

"Bro, help me find my red dress."

Mom said the same. Not the "Bro" part though. :D

"Help Justine find her dress, Daniel. You know where it is."

Mom said aloud, almost in a sing-song manner.

So, You wanna know what happened???

You ready??? Well ...

Jus went into the room. 

Mom was at the dining area.

Jus called out from the room, 

"I see his game boy here ..."

After a few seconds ...

"His Bionicles are here ..."

Two seconds later ...

"More Bionicles ..."

Another two seconds after that ...

"Aiyoh ... so many of his Bionicles ... they're all here ..."

Game Boy and Bionicles???

Oh, this is so not good, Mom thought. 

That confirmed it. 

It's not in the house. 

If it were, Jus would have found it INSTANTLY!

Mom didn't want your sister to be wasting her time looking for something which was obviously not in the house. 

More importantly, she should be getting back to her books.

Besides, You wouldn't be able to help her find her missing item, 

if it's not in the house.

Right, Son? 

Hey, your mother's helping You here ... 

It's a way out for You. 

Jus won't be able to find her missing item this time, even though she's asked You to help her because ... 

Well, simply because, it's - not - in - the - house. 

Mom's pretty sure about that. 

We have looked everywhere before ... 

In fact, a few times. 

Not just once.  

A few times.

Heard that? 

A few times!

Don't worry Son, Mom will explain to Jus that You're not able to help her this time because it's - just - not - in - the - house.

She sounds like a broken record now ...

Anyway, having thought of that nice lil excuse, for some weird reason, your mother surprised herself when she heard herself calling out instead, 

"Look for it after your exams. You can ask Daniel to help You find your dress later - AFTER YOUR EXAMS ..." Mom stressed firmly.

Mom went into the kitchen.

Ahh, this is the part ...

Wait for it, wait for it ...

Andddd  --- ACTION!!!

(Within a minute, or two at the most ...)

Justine gave a sharp yelp of excitement!

Mom heard her and turned to look at the kitchen door, expecting Jus to appear any moment then. 

She did ... 

... and she held out the missing red outfit against her shoulder, struck a few model-search poses for an imaginary shoot, and did a lil catwalk for Mom's benefit. :D

Oh my ...

The missing red outfit.

Where - did - You - find - it?

Jus pulled at Mom's hand and dragged her to the guest room. 

What??? 

This cupboard???

It was in this cupboard???

We hardly open this cupboard. 

As You know, we only keep linen and towels in this cupboard. 

Anyway, we have checked ALL the cupboards, including this one, right from the beginning when Jus first announced that it was missing. 

Several times too. 

Okay, maybe not as many as several times ...

but definitely more than once. 

Or twice. 

Or three times.


That would be about right - three times. :D

Justine described in great detail for Mom. 

Picture a rectangular storage-drawer.

She said, when she first opened the cupboard door, she saw something red on the right front-side of the pull-out wire-storage basket. 

She had thought that was it!

Only it wasn't.

It was a red table cloth.

False alarm.

She checked the left side. 

Nothing red there.

Anti-climax.

Then, something made her dip her hands right to the back of the drawer-basket, where she found herself rummaging through a pile of old and unused bedsheets, and there - 

Lo and behold ...

There it was ...

Her lil red dress ...

... beneath all the old bedsheets that we have not used for a very long time. How on earth that dress ended up there, we will never know.You probably would. Was it the maid? Did she mistake the red dress for a trendy table cloth?

Honestly ...

There is no way, absolutely, positively NO WAY ... for Justine to be the one to find a missing item. Not possible. She has Mom's genes. We are so not known to find things that are missing in the house. 

Ask Dad. Dad will tell You. 

As You'd probably know by now, finding items that are missing is Dad's talent and we have not once shared that lime-light, Jus and Mom. Not that Mom can remember. You are aware of this, right? Don't You remember - Mom always have to resort to calling Saint Christopher to link her to her missing things.

Let Mom repeat here that : 

There is NO CHANCE ...

NOT A SINGLE CHANCE in the world ...

... for Justine to have known where to search, and of all places -  there ... beneath a pile of unused sheets.

Of all the ...

That was pretty amazing, Daniel. 

Thank You for helping your sister, Son. :D

We felt your presence immediately. 

Suddenly, the day was brighter.

The sky was bluer.


The birds were ...


Enough Mommm ...


Yeah okay ...

Mom said happily to your grinning sister, 

"You really can count on him to be there for You, Jus." :D

She laughed, and danced her way back to her room, to hang the precious red outfit safely in her wardrobe, singing the COUNT ON ME song as she left.

When she came out of the room, she showed You (your portrait) two pistol-hand signs and gratefully said, "Thanks Bro," to which Mom's quite, quite sure You'd returned the same familiar hand-signs to your sister with the assurance :

MUSIC VIDEO : COUNT ON ME

By Bruno Mars

You can count on me, Jus ...

Like 1 2 3 ...

I'll be there ... :D

(By the way, Justine sang the above 3 lines as she's reading her Moral notes, 

at her desk, as Mom was typing the lines out on the computer table.
Oh Wow, How cool is that!) :D

Call 70 : COUNT ON ME

Hello Son,                                                      (continue from Call 69)

That Friday night, Mom was keeping Justine company as she was doing her revision. She has 4 papers to sit for in the coming week: Math, Moral, Add Math and Physics.



Justine was in a happy and cherry mood since dinner time. 



Singing and humming away as she studied. 



Don't ask Mom how she's able to study in that way. Mom just observed her quietly, but didn't comment about the singing and studying at the same time. It's a beeet too late to change her studying patterns now. 



Anyway, it was nice seeing her happy and high in spirit. 

Hmmm ... talking of spirit ...


Perhaps her spirit was soaring high with yours, who knows ...


Even Jus herself wouldn't know. 


Only You would know. <3 

Maybe You could tell her ...


Give her a sign or something ...


You'd know how ...


Anyway, at one point, she was singing the song: 
  

LIFE AFTER YOU 

Daughtry

All that I'm after is a life full of laughter

As long as I'm laughing with You

I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after

After the life we've been through

'Cause there's no life after You

Mom was on the sofa, listening to your sister singing and humming the song LIFE AFTER YOU repeatedly at her desk, and thinking ... Yeah, this was one of the song-videos that your mother had uploaded on your Facebook some time back.

Mom got up to get something, she can't remember what now, from the room. 

Just at that moment, Justine called out, "MOMMM! COME!"

Mom hurried out to your sister. 



She was sitting at her desk, as Mom left her just now, with her Moral paper in front of her. Justine pointed with her finger, and Mom saw it instantly.

 

A strand of hair ...

Justine said, "I was doing my work, and this hair just dropped right - in - front - of - my - face."



Pause.

Can You picture the both of us staring at that strand of hair like ... like we've never seen a strand of hair before? You must be making an effort to keep a straight face now, huh, watching us from where You were at the time. Where were You at that time? 



Honestly, we didn't even attempt to touch it. Justine was sitting down, Mom was standing beside her, bending over the desk.



Both of us were just staring ...

... at the One - Strand - Of - Hair!


How comical were we?

How a seemingly insignificant strand of hair could get our fullest attention like a moth to a flame, we will never know. Had anyone told Mom say, 10 years ago, heck make it one year, that someday, a "one strand of hair" is gonna play a very significant part in her life, she would have laughed herself all silly.

Now look at her ...

Wasn't she silly enough?



No one's laughing though ...



Not Mom ...



Not Jus ...



Hasn't she seen "a strand of hair" before?



Haven't we all? 



What's so unusual about that?

It's hard to explain, but this is not just any strand of hair. Justine could feel it. It was the way it made its entrance. It's like her instincts told her something - but what???



Mom knew exactly what she meant. Mom scanned her uh, expert eyes, over the table top. There were no other strands that could be seen on her white table. Her desk was clean except for her pile of books. 



Justine was looking at her Moral paper, and suddenly that one strand of hair just nicely dropped right - in - front - of - her - eyes. 



It's ... it's ... THAT One - Strand - Of - Hair. 



The one that we've established in Call 46 : HAIR MYSTERY.

The One - Strand - Of - Hair - Connection.

The time was 11:40pm.

Mom said finally, "Aww, Daniel wants You to know he's with You, Jus. He's right beside You as You're studying." 

Jus nodded. 



She was still staring at it. 



And was very quiet.





Something was kinda going on between brother and sister. Mom didn't want her to be distracted further, so she went to get the camera to snap a photo. Then, we carefully cello-taped the strand of hair in her diary. With the strand of hair out of the way of her books, Jus could continue with her revision, or so Mom thought.

Obviously, Mom didn't know what would happen next. Of course, she couldn't have known that. Something told her though, that this one strand of hair is - important. 

Or Someone ...

Just like that one-strand-of-hair in CALL 46 : HAIR MYSTERY.

Something was about happen, she just didn't know what. She could have just brushed it off the table, but something told her not to.

Or Someone ...

All the suspense, Daniel ... 



Mom feels like she's writing a Mystery Thriller of some kind. Jokes aside, Justine herself felt the unexplained, mysterious significance of that one - strand - of - hair ... and Mom understood how she felt, having experienced the mystery of the one - strand - of - hair before in Call 46.  You can't point a finger to it, but You just know there's something there to point to.

After taping the hair onto Mom's diary, Justine went back to her books. 

 

Shortly after, Justine turned to Mom and asked, 


"Have You heard of the song, COUNT ON ME?"

COUNT ON ME???



It didn't sound familiar.

Mom said, "No."

Jus said that one of your friends from church has been asking her some time ago to download this song COUNT ON ME and to listen to it, but she somehow didn't have the time to do that ...

Time ...




Mom thinks she meant SIGN ... not TIME ... Jus didn't have the sign to download the song then. There had been absolutely no signs for her to do that ...

Until Friday yesterday ... 


For some reason, Justine said she found herself downloading 50 songs into her mobile, including that new song, COUNT ON ME.

Jus waved a sheet of paper at Mom. 



Mom wasn't quite sure what Jus was trying to show her, so Mom went over to her desk. Jus showed a signature that she had just signed roughly on the piece of paper, and said she had included the letter D in her signature now, since her second name is DANIELLE. 



Jus said that looking at the D, somehow brought back memories of the times when You asked her to help You come up with a signature for your name. 



Your sister said, "Daniel doesn't know how to sign his name."



Mom listened and wondered, where was all this going? 

actual size of white paper : 1 inch X 1 inch

Mom remembers that. 



His signature.




It was a joke in the family that whenever we asked You to sign your  name (passport and IC application), You would make a loud fuss that You didn't know how to sign, and in the end, we'd have to tell You, 



"Never mind, just write your name down."

Jus said in somewhat agitated tones, "Even though I created some nice signatures for him, he couldn't follow. He just couldn't sign his name. He always had to write, he couldn't sign."

Mom listened ...



Where was this leading to?

She's upset because she suddenly remembers her brother couldn't sign his name?

Hmm ... 


He cannot sign his name. That is not unusual, is it? Surely it's not as bad as it sounds. Mom herself couldn't sign her name until she was at credit card level. That's when she found out she had to stick to just one signature. The signature part will just come some day. It's not his fault that the some day never came for him ...

Maybe now we know why ...

Maybe it's because he didn't have to put his signature down anywhere. You only need to sign your name on say, formal documents, and for him, those simply did not arise during his lifetime, except for the passport and IC applications.

The strand of hair, the signature, the memories were a bit too much for Jus to handle, and her red eyes gave her away. She had been crying softly to herself just now, Mom realized. 



Awww Jus ...



Your sister continued that, as she was wiping her tears away, she happened to catch the word "CRY" on her mobile. 



Mom was on the sofa at the time. This was before she called Mom to the table to check out the signature.




The CRY-word was from the song COUNT ON ME, she said. 



She was using her earphones at the time, but was not listening to the songs because she was feeling emotional since the one strand of hair made its grand entrance on her. That's when she started scratching the papers with her signatures, Jus said.

However, Jus told Mom that the moment she brushed away her tears, she heard the word "CRY," and that made her sit up and pay attention to the song.

COUNT ON ME

By Bruno Mars

At that precise "CRY" moment, Jus said she knew it was YOU giving her that message. YOU telling her that message. YOU singing to her that message.  

YOU, YOU, YOU ...

All YOU ...

She said, she just knew.

The song touched her deeply and she broke down and cried while relating it to Mom. Right after the song ended, she said the next one that came on was FALL FOR YOU. 


Her songs in her mobile are set to come on randomly. 


Yet, it was FALL FOR YOU that came next among the 50 songs.

The FALL FOR YOU song that has much significance between your sister and You.

That song only confirmed her thoughts even more, she said, like a further endorsement that You had made some kind of connection through the COUNT ON ME song. That FALL FOR YOU song is special because Justine and You used to sing that and play the guitar together. 


The moment she heard the song, she said, something just - clicked.

MUSIC VIDEO : FALL FOR YOU

By Secondhand Serenade

Mom said slowly, 


"Do You notice that whenever he wants to give us a message, he would do something to get our attention first? 


Like something would happen, and we'd think of him? 


Then when we are all focused on him, he'll make the connection? 


You notice that?"

Jus was nodding away even before Mom finished her sentence. 


That is so your style, Daniel, we know that now. 


That one strand of hair had a part to play. 


It didn't just drop from the sky for nothing. 


It got your sister's attention alright. 


Just when she was thinking about You, the song-message came.
 

You can count on me, Jus ...

Justine replayed the COUNT ON ME song for Mom to hear from the beginning. 



Mom listened to it on the earphones. It is a nice song, simple words with a simple tune. Mom decided to check it out the next day (Saturday). 



After the song ended, guess which one came next?

THERE YOU'LL BE ...

Oh My ...

You really do know what's going on, don't You? 



Your mother had just published Call 67 : THE SON, that Friday night, about 2 hours ago then, where towards the end of her entry, she had written:
 

"Everywhere we are, there You'll be ..."

MUSIC VIDEO : THERE YOU'LL BE

 By Faith Hill

A lyric from that song ... Everywhere I am, there You'll be.

Oh Wow Daniel ...

You really do know how to connect with us. With Justine, it was FALL FOR YOU, and with Mom, THERE YOU'LL BE.


Neat and nice, and we so got it! 


That Eureka - Link!

If your mother did not see the sparks, as Justine did when she heard COUNT ON ME, well, the minute THERE YOU'LL BE came on, she was dazzled by the sparkles of major fireworks.

Mom instantly felt your presence.

It was a special moment, Son. 

To have You send us a song-message in that way.

THE BOND definitely.


Thank You for giving Jus the message, Son. 


We know we can count on You ... 


Like 1 2 3.

"You can count on me

Like 1 2 3

I'll be there..." <3

Call 69 : FOR YOU

Hello Son,

This Friday morning, Mom has just published Call 53 : BOUNTY HUNTER on your Call-Blog. 

With that post, she is currently 2 call-entries behind todate. :D

The draft was ready last night but she kinda delayed posting it because she wanted to look for a nice music video to the song ESPECIALLY FOR YOU to go along with that entry.

This song is a dinosaur-song, she must admit, and there just weren't all that many ESPECIALLY FOR YOU videos to view to begin with. 

She delayed checking. 

She could have just added the same link as the one in Call 46 : HAIR MYSTERY, but she thought of looking for one with lyrics on the screen. She couldn't find one the last time.


Anyway, this Friday morning ... 


Mom thought, oh heck, let's just post the entry. When she has the time, she will look for the video. Deep inside, she knew she'd probably not look for it, because she had done so when preparing Call 46. Clear videos for that song were quite limited. Sorry to have to say that. Sounds negative, she knows ...

Then You know what happened?

OMG ...

Mom cannot believe it, but You somehow brought a simple and nice ESPECIALLY FOR YOU video straight to her! Honestly, your mother knew right away that YOU linked that video to her. 

Let her tell You exactly what happened.

On Thursday morning, yesterday ... 

Dad and Mom was on the road driving to the Viva office. A song had come on, a dinosaur-song, which had some nice words that Mom couldn't help but key whatever lines she could hear into her mobile to check on the video later when she has the time.

She keyed in :  


"9:50am cos v r gonna b together forever u n me always flyin high in the sky"

Friday morning today, after posting Call 53 : BOUNTY HUNTER (without the ESPECIALLY FOR YOU video), Mom thought of checking out the "forever you and me" video instead for Friday's entry.


1. In the google-search box, she typed in the words :

youtube forever you and me lyrics

and clicked ENTER.

2. A page appeared with 2 videos right at the top, followed by a list of websites. She picked the video with the lyrics on screen against a pink background. The other video had a man's face, a face that didn't quite look particularly attractive. She ignored it. Chuckle.


Clicked on the PINK video.

3. After viewing the PINK video, which was pretty okay, she scrolled down the list of related videos on the right column, and spotted one with a pale ORANGE layout, towards the bottom. Orange, pale or bright, she gotta check.


Clicked on the ORANGE video.

4. She could have used this video, but somehow she found herself checking another one. She looked at the thumbnail videos on the right, from top going down. 

First one, the unattractive man. Next.


Second one, blue video, looked boring. Next.

Third one, the same PINK video. Next.

Fourth one, BLACK video with white fonts. Clicked on it.

5. The BLACK video was okay too, but somehow she felt like checking another one. Just one more, she thought. So, she viewed the thumbnails on the right again.


First one, again the unattractive man. Next.

Second one, there's some kind of picture with lyrics. Clicked on it.

That's when the ZZZ--APPP happened!!!


When that video appeared on the screen, she was not looking at it. 

Her eyes had caught the words ESPECIALLY FOR YOU. 

The TOP thumbnail video on the right.

Especially For You by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.

OMG ...

ZZZZ--INGGGG ...

The Sparks ...

The Bond ...

The video she wanted to look for but didn't ...

It's - right - there!!!

 ESPECIALLY FOR YOU

"And now that I'm next to You ..."

Awww Son ...

You just know what to do, don't You?



You knew Mom wanted this song, and You brought it to her.


Since You had brought this link to Mom's attention, it must be a clear video. It was. 

She clicked on it and within the first few seconds, decided she liked it. 

Immediately, she added the link to her entry this morning, Call 53 : BOUNTY HUNTER.   

HIGH LYRICS (LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY)

Mom's gonna upload this version instead, and not the steamy one as above. You're under-aged for those sort, she feels. What would God think? 

By the way, she's just noticing now (at the time of writing) that, the words on the screen are : 

 Forever You And Me

Those were part of the lines that caught her attention in the first place. A coinciDANS alright. You read Mom's mind. :D

The title of this song is actually HIGH. 

 

Couldn't help but wonder with amazement the list on the page at that moment. How the ESPECIALLY FOR YOU video could have wandered to this page in the first place?

Especially when she had wanted to look for song last night but didn't ... 

Only someone knew that she really, really, really wanted the ESPECIALLY FOR YOU song video with lyrics to go with Call 53 but didn't quite know how to look for it.


Thanks Son ... <3

(continue Call 70)