Someone missed her ride home

Date: Feb 9, 2007
Time: 12.40 pm
Venue: My cube, the orange building

Boss: Have you had lunch?
Me: Nope.
Boss: Let's eat. We'll go to the nearest mamak stall.
Me: Okay. Gimme a sec.

Half a minute after that, the phone vibrated and rang. Michael Buble's voice was as yummy as ever. Deli was on the line.

Deli: Kakak missed her school bus. Her teacher just called. Can you go and fetch her?
Me: Huh? She missed her bus? How did that happen? Is she okay?
Deli: She's fine. She's at the canteen.
Me: Okay. I'll call you once I've picked her up.


Me: Sorry Boss, i'll have to cancel. My daughter missed her bus and i have to fetch her from school.
Boss: Okay.


Venue: School canteen
Time: 1.15pm

Kakak: Hi mummy!
Me: Kakak, what happened? How did you missed your ride?
Kakak: (in a very soft, pity-me-it's-not-my-fault voice) I was thirsty so i went to the canteen to get something to drink.
Me: What happened to your Ribena?
Kakak: Earlier on, i saw a kitten and he looked sad. I gave him my Ribena and some fried rice during lunch and he finished off the rest of my Ribena. He's such a cute kitty, mummy.
Me: -speechless-
Kakak: Mummy, i'm starving. Can we go and have lunch?
Me: Yeah, okay.

I tell ya, she's really good at this. Sneaky girl. Using an innocent kitten as a cover-up. How can i nag at her about feeding a stray kitten when I know i'd do the same? Sigh.

Apparently the bus left when she was busy getting some drinks at the canteen. When she got to the assembly point, her friends told her that her bus has left. The brave girl didn't panic or cry - considering this is hre first incident and she's only 7 for crying out loud!

She went to the school office and told the staff that she missed her bus and gave them Deli's crumpled business card from her bag. They called Deli and told him the whole story.

We are proud and amazed that she could stay calm and know what to do in such situation. Most importantly, we're thankful that she's okay. Somehow i have a feeling that there will be more of these episodes. I just do.

The damsel in distress.