It was rather hot two Saturdays ago, so I ordered iced lime tea for breakfast, as oppose to my usual tipple, warm lime tea. Umar was talking to me about things that he finds embarrassing. It was a very animated conversation and I remembered him saying, “I would be mortified if I walk naked in public….” I was shocked with his usage of mortified and wanted to be sure he was saying it right, so I asked him to repeat.
He didn’t answer, so I looked at him and saw him looking at his sister, eyes narrowed. “Why would you ever be naked in public, Um ?” I asked. He raised his palm at me, asking for a minute and asked, “Ti…. Did you swallow some seeds ?”
Elsa slowly released the straw from her mouth, a slight confused look on her face and said, “No….”. Umar frowned. “I thought I saw you swallowed the seeds…..” He said again. Elsa shrugged her shoulders.
“Mummy… will she be okay even if she swallowed the lime seeds ?” Came the very expected question.
“Well….. I wouldn’t know…. Worse come to worse, she is growing a lime tree in her tummy and when it is grown, we have to chop it down lah….”. Elsa laughed but Umar, again predictably became more apprehensive.
“Will she be okay ? When they operate her ?”
“Well… she should be… It just a matter of chopping the tree….. Then they will sew her up again….” Mummy is good at appearing nonchalant.
“That is why I do not like drinking anything with lime. It is the seeds, you know… So dangerous….Blah, blah, blah….” Mummy and Elsa rolled our eyes.
I again ordered the same beverage last Saturday. It is usually iced tea for the kids to share and sharing produces a lot of fights and promises of a scuffle. Maybe that was what motivated Elsa to again grab my drink.
But surprise, surprise (actually not really…) Umar stopped her from reaching for my glass and pushed the glass of iced tea to his sister.
“Ti… drink this…. Don’t drink Mummy punya…..” He said, with a frown and a lot of authority. It was an order.
Bewildered, Elsa took the offered drink and sipped gratefully.
He didn’t answer, so I looked at him and saw him looking at his sister, eyes narrowed. “Why would you ever be naked in public, Um ?” I asked. He raised his palm at me, asking for a minute and asked, “Ti…. Did you swallow some seeds ?”
Elsa slowly released the straw from her mouth, a slight confused look on her face and said, “No….”. Umar frowned. “I thought I saw you swallowed the seeds…..” He said again. Elsa shrugged her shoulders.
“Mummy… will she be okay even if she swallowed the lime seeds ?” Came the very expected question.
“Well….. I wouldn’t know…. Worse come to worse, she is growing a lime tree in her tummy and when it is grown, we have to chop it down lah….”. Elsa laughed but Umar, again predictably became more apprehensive.
“Will she be okay ? When they operate her ?”
“Well… she should be… It just a matter of chopping the tree….. Then they will sew her up again….” Mummy is good at appearing nonchalant.
“That is why I do not like drinking anything with lime. It is the seeds, you know… So dangerous….Blah, blah, blah….” Mummy and Elsa rolled our eyes.
I again ordered the same beverage last Saturday. It is usually iced tea for the kids to share and sharing produces a lot of fights and promises of a scuffle. Maybe that was what motivated Elsa to again grab my drink.
But surprise, surprise (actually not really…) Umar stopped her from reaching for my glass and pushed the glass of iced tea to his sister.
“Ti… drink this…. Don’t drink Mummy punya…..” He said, with a frown and a lot of authority. It was an order.
Bewildered, Elsa took the offered drink and sipped gratefully.
"We still have to see if the tree is growing in you..." He grumbled.
He he……
He he……
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