Family

Jan: " I'm so bored! Can we play a game?"
Me: " No."
Jan: " Pleaseeeeeeee, da jie. Pleaseeeeeeeee..."( pulls really hard on my sleeves)
Me: " Fine. Let's play the quiet gam-"
Jan: " No~ We always play that game."( tugs on my sleeves harder)
Jo: " How about the silent game?"
(Janice stomps foot and glares at us.)
Me: " I have an idea. How about the 'let's pay attention to the road game'. "
Jan: " I don't want ! I'm not even driving! Daddy is. I want to play 'Simon says'."
Me: " Okay then. Simon says be quiet."
Jan: " Not fair~ I want er jie to be Simon."
Jo: " I know! Let's play I spy. I spy with my little eyes...something green."
Jan: " So easy la! The trees."
Jo: " No."
Jan: " The grass?"
Jo: " No."
Jan: " The plants with flowers?"
Jo: " No."
Jan: " Your face? (Jo shakes head) Your eyes? ( shakes head again) Your hai-"
Me : "Your booger-Ow! Why did you pinch me?"
Jo: " No!"( gives me the evil eye) "It's the gates! See?"
Jan: " Ohhhh. Ceh."
( We reach the restaurant. Sits down and waiter comes to take order)
Jo: " Here's another one. I spy something that looks like a pyramid."
Jan: " Nasi lemak!"
Jo: "Nope."
Jan: " The lantern?"
Jo: "No."
Jan: " Um-"
Me: " Ugh!" ( throws up hands) "This game is so boring! Can't we just be quiet and ignore each other like a normal family?"
Jan: "Da jie!"
( waiter appears with a plate of Nasi Lemak. Places it in front of Janice )
Dad: " Eh, eh, kita tak ada order ini."
Waiter(shrugs and points to Janice): " Dia yang order tadi."
Dad: " Tak Ada la. Mana Ada. ( turns to Janice)Janice, you got order or not?"
Jan: " Where got? I didn't! "
Dad: " Dia cakap tak ada. Boleh ambil balik tak?"
( waiter grumbles and takes plate away)
Me: " She did say you know. In the game."
Family : "..."
Me: " What? It's true!"
Family: "..."
Me: "...."
Jo : "...Let's just quickly eat and get out of here before they find out."

Girl behind the cherry flower tree

There she hides,
Behind the cherry flower tree.
Her eyes bright and full of innocence,
Her smile shy and speak of hesitance.
You'll never know that,
She writes out your name in the sand,
Over and over again,
Only to be blown away,
Scattered and lost, like dead leaves in the winter.

(She still writes anyway.)

There she hides,
behind the cherry flower tree.
You caught her by the hair, pigtail and all,
Together, you tumbled, crashed, rolled and fall.
You'll never know that,
The moment you leaned in,
She was holding her breath,
Counting to ten,
Wishing you would just kiss her already.

(And you did.)

There she hides,
Behind the cherry flower tree.
The day you left without saying goodbye,
Was the day she woke up from the tangle of lies.
You'll never know that,
She took all your pictures,
gave them one last look,
all your perfection,
all your imperfection,
Until the lines blurred and shapes were just shapes.

(She lit the match.)

There she hides,
behind the cherry flower tree,
Like the good friend she was, she kept her promise and showed up at your wedding,
Like the good old times, you laughed and you talked and she even gave you her blessing.
You'll never know that,
She sneaked out the back door with a bottle in hand,
She had a sip,
and then another,
and then another,
Before she knows it morning has came and she was all alone in her apartment that suddenly felt too big for her.

( Life sucks.)

There she hides,
behind the cherry flower tree.
You'll never know that,
The girl who loved you so, was me.