Wednesday, August 17
On Wednesday morning, after dropping Justine off at college, Mom drove straight to school. She got out of the car and walked to the grocery store ... the one she went to the day before.
Today, she's got some investigation to do.
Why it was so important for her to see that red tee shirt again with the words MOON & SON, it's hard to tell. No, she can't explain it, but she had to see it again. Was there a mis-print just for her benefit?
Stepping into the shop, she must confess she was a bit disappointed to learn that the boy who attended to her yesterday, was not at the cashier. She took a quick glance around the shop. No, he wasn't in the shop. She didn't expect that. She had actually thought he would be right there at the cashier, wearing the same tee shirt.
Darn it. Now what.
The store keeper asked if he could help her.
She suddenly remembered that the day care staff had asked to buy a pack of salt. So she asked very casually, like she had intended to get a pack of salt all along, and not to uh, snoop around.
"Do you have salt?"
He said yes, and showed her to the left shelf of goodies.
She looked up and down the shelves but found nothing that was near to a packet of salt. The man came over and picked up a pair of socks from the shelf.
"This?" he asked.
SOCKS ?
Chuckle.
"No no no ... SALT-TTT," she pronounced as clearly as she could.
"Ohh - SALLL - TERRR," he said with a heavy accent.
Yeah, he's a foreigner. Can You tell? From the middle east, she thinks.
So anyway she finally got her packet of salt. After all the trouble, she decided she would take TWO packets of salt. She checked the price but there was no price tag on the packet.
She took it to the cashier.
Mom was looking at the till and wondering how much a packet of normal salt would cost. Believe it or not but she had no idea how much a packet of salt cost as she normally bought seasalt.
You must have seen your mother's eyes widen when the amount appeared on the till. :D
RM1-40 ... showed the till, and said the cashier.
She couldn't help smiling to herself. Her I AM NUMBER FOUR is right beside her. :D You must have whispered to your mother to buy 2 packets of salt for that morning zap. Never mind that the red tee was not in sight, You were with Mom. She could tell.
Yes, she could.
I know what you're up to la, Ma ... :D
she could almost hear You say.
Where's the boy with the red tee shirt, Daniel? Was that a
Moon & Son or a
Moon & Sun that Mom saw yesterday?
Mom did not know then, but You would soon give her an answer to her repeated question, in the strangest way, a week later.
Yeah, You could say that again ... OMG !
It was amazing, honestly.
Be patient, and wait a bit for that entry. It happened a week later on Wednesday August 24.
Anyway, that morning in school ... during reading time ...
Mom pulled out a book for a child to read. As the little girl was turning the pages, she came to this zap page. :D
Zap Zap ... :D
Zap Zap ???
Grin a happy grin.
Smile a secret smile.
Frown a little and ask, surely that was your doing, Daniel? :D
ZAP ZAP, Mom ... :D
She hears your lazy drawl. Are you referring to that Moon & Son inciDAN ... she wondered. ZAP ZAP. Whatever it was, You're near. She felt your presence as she listened to the little girl read the rest of the book.
Shortly after, another page of another book zapped your mother. :D
Toys Toys ...
That word sure brought your mother back to memory lane as she felt her chest constrict painfully with nostalgia.
Dad and Mom and all your aunties will always remember that this used to be your favourite word in the whole wide world when You were younger ... and even when you're older. :D
What to You want, Daniel?
Toys ...
What do You want to buy, Daniel?
Toys ...
You want something special for your birthday, Daniel?
Toys ...
How about Christmas, Son?
Toys ...
Dad would always reply back with a lil amusement,
"Toys Toys Toys, everytime Toys Toys Toys ..." :D
How we miss that enthusiastic voice of yours when it comes to that four letter word, TOYS. :D You really are right beside your mother, aren't You?
Come on ... TWO book zaps.
Hellooo - TWO???
It's so obvious. :D
Nobody, nobody but chiu. :D
After school that afternoon ...
Mom drove Grandma to the bank. The bank area if You remember, is a crazily congested place especially during lunch hour. Cars were parked on the right and left side of the road, leaving only a narrow space for vehicles to drive through.
Mom stopped by Grandma's bank for Grandma to get down, whilst she waited in the car, beside a parked car, on the right side of the road. As she was waiting, she happened to notice the petrol tank indicator that showed 14.1 km/l.
She found herself ignoring it.
No zap. No OMG. No need for photo.
A few minutes later, a man walked over to the car beside ours. It was quite obvious that he was going to drive the car out of the bay. Mom just had to smile. She had to. Of all the cars along the long stretch of road that would leave their parking bays, it was the one that Mom was right beside.
Is this for Mom? She found it quite difficult to re-park back into the bay as she could only drive forward. Just as she drove forward, a second car on the left side of the road signaled to reverse.
Oh boy, you are really good, Mom thought aloud.
She checked the rear mirror and saw that an on-coming car was quite a distance away, which means, she is able to wait by the side on the right, for the car on the left to reverse out before driving into the bay easily ... without having to worry that another vehicle would just drive into her bay. :D
Thanks for that, Son ... You really are watching us from above, aren't You? :D
Mom saw Grandma coming out of the bank, and going into a bakery. She waited patiently in the car.
Dad called.
He wanted to know where Mom was. He said he'd picked Justine up from college and they had gone for lunch, and guess what, Dad had asked. Mom could hear his smile over the phone.
"Our bill was One - Four - O ..."
One - Four - O ??? One hundred and forty ??? Mom asked incredulously. "For lunch???"
Isn't that a bit too much to be spending for lunch when there's no special occasion? What could they have had? Lobster?
Dad replied, "No lah, RM14-00 ... We went to JoJo's."
Justine's favourite flour noodle cafe.
"Ohhh ..." Mom said, and then ...
"Hey, One - Four - O ... That's my bill this morning. I bought two packets of salt for RM1-40."
You must have seen both your parents laugh at the same time. We hung up. Mom was smiling happily to herself when she suddenly caught sight of the figure in the petrol tank indicator.
OMG ... she thought slowly.
OMG ...
You've gotta to be kidding ...
ZAP ZAP ZAP ...
Confirmed - Her I AM NUMBER FOUR is definitely with her today. It's obvious. Come to think of it, it was strange for Dad to call her and tell her his bill amount and try to make a connection. That's your mother's specialty. Everyone knows that. Dad normally doesn't do that ... before.
Frankly, he's changed in this area. Grin. :D. Besides, Dad said One - Four - O ... which was inaccurate. He should have said One - Four - O - O ... Double O ... but he did not ... he said One - Four - O ... the exact figure that appeared in the petrol indicator.
OMG ...
You must have whispered to Dad to call Mom just so she would get the DOUBLE ZAP in the brief few minutes that she was alone in the car. TWO ZAPs count for something.
That's the um, rule. She can't really put a finger as to what the something is, but it sure is something special. Her Son is near. He's letting her know that. He is. She can tell. Oh yes, she can so tell. It's a mother and son thing. Mama Mary would understand that. Yes, she would. The bond between mother and son can never be severed, and it continues forever.
And ever.
As God intended it to be.
Thank You Jesus for the connection. :D
Man, that was awesome. Daily, You drop a little sign that You are near, Daniel. Keep the ZAPs coming, kay?
