The hot sun was heating up the zinc roofs of our houses so much that it was hard for us to stay indoors in the afternoon. The wind was blowing gently outside and the temperature was much lower. After lunch, my brother and Ah Peng’s two elder brothers decided to go to the farm not very far away from our houses to catch butterflies. There were many at the lotus pond near the pig sties. The butterflies often came out at this time of the day.
So, it was decided and that if Ah Peng , her two younger sisters and I were to tag along, we must walk hand in hand. We were to obey their instructions and not to cry. We agreed eagerly and were excited to start. As we headed towards the farm, we were joined by another two boys who lived down the street. They were about my age and I had never spoken to them before but they were my brother’s friends. The first part of the journey to the farm was fun. We talked and laughed as we walked. The nearer we were to the farm, the faster the pace of the older boys. They were running after the butterflies, trying to catch them and forgetting about us. We had to quicken our pace and soon we were no more holding hands but moving at different speeds.
I was the last in the line. I was not a good walker due to my plump body and extra weight. Everyone had gone ahead of me and was enjoying the sights. I could hear them shrieking in laughter and someone was exclaiming in surprise of having caught a fish. I dragged my heavy body towards the pond and by the time I reached it, I was hot and panting. What was left was a muddy pond; the other children had scooped the water to catch the fishes and poured back again, stirring up all the mud from the bottom. They had just left, and I was left behind, staring after them. Where is the fish, I demanded to know, but they were too busy running off to look at the pigs to answer me. Oh, the lotus is beautiful, I thought. I tried to use the farmer’s scoop to pull the plant a little closer so that I could get my hands on it but to no avail. The scoop was too heavy for me. I shouted to my brother to help me but he was nowhere to be seen.
Unwillingly, I left the pond with no fish to see. I rushed off to join the rest at the pig sties. As I went nearer, I could smell the awful stench. I started to complain and would not want to join them. I hated it when the others seemed to be enjoying themselves so much. They were laughing hilariously. That made me wonder what was going on but I refused to go any nearer to the filthy, smelly sties. What they did at the sties made the pigs squealing so much that the farmer’s dogs started to bark. The farmer came out of his house which was quite a distance away. From there, he could see us. He shouted at us and was about to ride his bicycle over when we all left the place running as fast as our legs could carry us.
Ah Peng and her younger sisters took off their large slippers so that they could run faster. I would not want to go bare footed because I was squeamish about the muddy path. I had to trudge slowly behind them. Not long after that, the rest of the group could not be seen and I was left alone. I was getting angry with Ah Peng and everybody else. I was indignant about the whole thing and thinking about it made me cry. As I walked on home, I cried. Halfway, I was almost scared out of my wits when something landed on top of my head. It jumped down to the ground and flew away as I screamed and bent my head. I thought I saw a monitor lizard.
Back home, I complained to my mother about my brother for not having taken good care of me and that he had ran off leaving me behind to face the crazy barking dogs and the very angry farmer.
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