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"Let's go to the Jurong Birdpark," Jessica's father
suggested one bright, sunny morning. "The Birdpark?" the children were surprised. Their
father had never liked to go out on weekends. It was his
usual practice to stay at home and work on his computer
the whole day long.
"Yes, get changed quickly and be ready in half an hour's
time."
The children disappeared and within minutes, they were
ready for the unexpected outing. Jessica and John had
helped to dress up their five-year-old sister. Hats in
hand, they jumped into the car to wait for their parents
to take them to the park.
The amphitheatre was packed. Hundreds of people were
milling around looking for seats to watch the `All Star
Birdshow'. Suddenly, Jessica realised that Janet was not
with them. She told her parents about it. Her father
immediately started yelling, "Jan! Jan!" Mum was equally
frantic. She went around and looked into the faces of
any young girl who resembled Janet. "Sorry," she
apologised repeatedly as she moved from one child to
another.
Jessica's father scrambled onto a bench to look for
Janet. The two children joined him, keeping an eye on
their mother who was moving desperately, turning
children around.
Soon, the show started and except for Jessica's family,
the audience was seated. "Please take the seats and make
yourselves comfortable," the trainer, Jeanie, announced
over the microphone. Jessica's father was about to step
down when he saw a red hat hanging on an umbrella held
high above the heads of the seated audience. "That looks
like Jan's hat," he exclaimed.
"Janet! Janet!" Jessica and John shouted. It took some
time before they reached her. Janet was sobbing. A woman
was trying to console her. She was holding up the
umbrella with one hand and wiping Janet's tears away
with the other. What a relief !
It had been their mother's insistence that the children
bring along their hats on family outings to protect
themselves from the sun. It turned out that hats do have
other uses as well. |
