Ellen Cheng and Tan Yuting
Ellen Cheng:
“Wow! So many..!” Jing exclaimed, as she stooped down to scoop up some seeds from the Flame of the Forest tree. “Ah, these seeds…!” Jing smiled as she recalled how she used to compete with her siblings in winning as many red seeds as she could. A player would throw a fistful of seeds on the ground, select two seeds which were in close proximity, make a line with one forefinger, and then gently use that forefinger to push one seed to the other. When the two seeds collided, the player took ownership of them. Jing smiled gleefully at the recollection of her wealth of seeds, as she sat under the tree to rest, after a long morning walk.
“Gosh, my hair’s in a mess!” Jing reached into her waist-pouch for a rubber-band to tie up her wind-swept hair. “Rubber-band- oh yes! I used to use rubber-bands too for a skipping rope!” Jing grinned as she recalled how she hooked rubber-bands together to form a colourful skipping “rope”. It was a flexible rope which could be lengthened by adding more rubber-bands or removing some of them. Jing used to keep it in her school-bag or pocket, ready to challenge friends to a skipping competition. It was good exercise too!
The wind was building up, getting stronger and stronger. “A perfect day for kite-flying!” Jing mused, “Higher! Higher!” Her older brother would yell at her, as she tried to hold the kite as high as she could, while waiting for him to tug hard at the string. “Let go, let go!” Jing released her hold, and watched proudly as the kite rise into the sky, with its fanciful tail swaying vigorously in the wind. Jing had helped her brother make that kite. She had painted it with her favourite colours of red, yellow and blue. The tail with jagged edges was done by her. Oh, how she loved helping to make kites and holding them for their take-off.
“Oops, a stone!” Jing stepped on a little stone. “Ah, five stones! I can pick five of them to see if I can still be as good as I used to be at playing “Five Stones!” Jing exclaimed. She used to play a game of throwing a stone into the air to catch it in her fist. Then with it, caught the next one and the next, till all the five stones were all in her hand. Grandma thought the stones were too hard and rough, and made her sets of “stones” from her left-over sewing materials. The little small, triangular pouches were filled with small green beans. Jing even learnt how to sew those pouches and made sets of five to give to her cousins and friends to coax them to play with her.
“Tr-ing–Tr-ing–Tr-ing!” The shrill ringing of Jing’s mobile shook Jing out of her reverie. She fished her mobile out of her waist-pouch. “Are you coming, yet?” boomed a voice. It was Lula, another septuagenarian who was her childhood friend and former neighbour. They had made an appointment to have breakfast together that morning. “Yes, yes! Lula, give me ten minutes!” Jing yelled back. As she was putting away her mobile, Jing’s eyes fell upon an empty tin can on the ground. “Tin can mobiles.” Jing’s eyes lit up as she recalled how she used to communicate or rather talked to Lula via two empty tin cans connected by a long string. Jing chuckled, as she kept her mobile, and left to meet Lula.
Tan Yuting:
“Jing, over here!” Lula waved excitedly from the fitness corner in the park. Jing quickened her footsteps to join her friend, who had already started to do her warmup stretches before they began their weekly walk around the park. Meeting at the park was a weekly affair for Jing and Lula in their childhood years, when they were neighbours.
Whoosh! A shuttlecock flew past Jing and landed right in Lula’s path. “Remember how we used to play badminton every Friday evening?” Lula exclaimed as she picked up the shuttlecock. “Yes! You were on the school team and was such a good badminton player. Always gave me a hard time on the court!” Jing replied with a laugh. A teenage girl with a badminton racket rushed over to retrieve the shuttlecock and the two longtime friends were on their way.
“Careful, Lula!” Jing pulled her friend to safety as a bicycle zoomed past. “Phew! Thank you Jing! I didn’t even realise I accidentally walked onto a bicycle lane! Speaking of cycling, remember how we used to go cycling at East Coast Park on our off-days from work?” Lula replied as she caught her breath. “Yes! I looked forward to those days the most, especially on tough days at work,” Jing reminisced as they continued walking.
As the sky soon turned grey, Jing and Lula walked to a nearby void deck to seek shelter. The tinkling of piano keys echoed faintly through the whistling wind and the pitter-patter of the rain. “Do you still play the piano these days?” Lula asked. “Sometimes. I do miss playing with our band. Remember our monthly jam sessions with Karen and Ann?” Jing replied.
“Look! There’s a talent show coming up!” Lula pointed at a flyer on the notice board. “Ooh, maybe it’s time for you to pick up that old guitar of yours!” Jing teased playfully. “Hey, that’s actually not a bad idea! Why don’t we gather the old band for old times’ sake?” Lula suggested. “Sure, I’m up for it! You ask Karen and I’ll ask Ann. Let’s get the band back together!”
