Drenched throughout, I got into the car, grumbling about the rain. There were tiny worms in my hair, possibly a product of the deluge that I had just gone through. However, a tiny part of me could not help feeling happy. A corner of my mouth lifted, and I started to smile as I remembered the unique experience that we just had…
We had visited a park that we had never toured before. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, our outdoor activities had been limited for almost over a year so I was ecstatic when my dad announced that he had enough of being cooped up inside. He decided to take us to Woodland Park.
Long rides never entice me, and I frequently get a strong urge to doze off. So, to keep my eyes and senses awake, I kept chattering impatiently, heaping on a thousand questions that made my mother yawn instead. I had donned my best sport clothes and brought along a football and a frisbee. When we finally reached, I raced out of the car. Em followed me, walking at a much more leisurely pace as she was saving her energy for later (as she told me), but the moment she saw the bridge, she ran from one end to the other, not even stopping for a breath. She would have run us to the ground! We walked along the long bridge, pausing to take photos. We could see cargo trucks transporting a variety of products back and forth between Malaysia and Singapore. Since the park was at the tip of the island, we could see Johor extending out in front of us. Skyscrapers towered over the sea, and I took in the sight with awe. The clouds were starting to turn an angry grey, so we made our way to the playground. I trotted very carefully, as from the dense greenery, centipedes were making their proud appearance. I hate centipedes! Who likes those thousand-legged tiny creatures?
The moment I saw the swings, I raced towards them. I was tall enough to push the swing on my own with my feet. When I was younger, I hated going too high. Now, I leaned back on the swing and went to the highest I had ever been. Suddenly, my dad threw a ball towards me, and if it weren’t for my reflexes, I would have gotten smacked in the face☹. Em continued swinging as I ran over to play football with my dad. Without any sense of direction, I kicked, and it sailed over my dad’s head in an arc. Impressively, he managed to kick back, while poor me went running for the ball. Em tripped over it several times. We were enthusiastically engrossed in the sport when it started drizzling. Honestly, I could not recall when I had last gotten drenched in rain, maybe a few times when I had forgotten to carry my umbrella to school. The feeling of being soaked had never been pleasant. But that day, we continued our sport in that downpour and the experience was exhilarating. Finally, accepting my mom’s advice, we all headed back to the shelter, soaked thoroughly, but laughing excitedly. We could not do any other activity due to the torrents of rain that came crashing down. Hence, we planned to return home.
During our walk to the taxi stand, I spotted a beehive and all my joyfulness evaporated. When a bee hovered over me, to save my face, I covered it and… I yelled in disgust. There was a small green worm on my face. My mom noticed that there were WORMS IN MY HAIR! Tiny, green, creepy crawlies. I shuddered. As soon as I got home, I washed my hair, silently cheering about the fact that the worms didn’t win this time😉. The trip to the park was a short but a rewarding experience.
Signing off…