The designers

I had wanted to write this down for a few days already, but couldn't find the time to until now.

Last Saturday, after a badminton session, I went home all sweaty and smelly. But before I have the time to step into the shower room, my dad dragged me into his lorry and drove me to an isolated carpark.

While in the car, I finally got the chance to ask him what's going on. And he told me that we are going to build a trap.

As it turns out, a thief has been stealing from my dad's car several times in the past few months, and my dad finally had enough!

Even though my dad kept a stern face throughout his briefing session, I can't help but think that he's only joking with me!

But oh well, he did had a plan alright, and he wanted me to help him fine tune the design of the trap that is to help him catch the thief.

Hahaha

For that reason alone, I spent nearly the whole afternoon climbing all over his lorry, pulling this string and cutting that part.... Trying things down and adjusting weights... Good luck, Mr. thief!

(The exact design is abit complex. I'm too lazy to explain.)

Even though I was bloody worn by the end of the day, I didn't mind one bit at all.

It was a rare day when I gotto spend quality time with my dad.

Ever since I was 17? I can't remember. But for many years now, I've been left alone by my parents, who trusted me completely. In a way, I gained full autonomy of my life when I was 15. And slightly because of that, I've become very independant of them, some observers have even commented that I don't seem to care about them. But how wrong they were.

I never forgot the days when my dad brought us out to the beach, reserviours, parks and all the other memories he created for me and my brothers when we were kids.

Just the other day, I was still telling my brother, Raymond of how I missed those days when dad will bring us out to a deserted beach area and the whole family will dig the sand and look for clams. We'll fill a bucket full before the day ends and bring them home for dinner!

There were also the weekends when mum will cook loads of stuff, beehoon, chicken wings, sandwhiches or many other things. And we'll head out to marina for picnic and kite flying sessions. Sometimes we'll go to one of the national parks and play badminton instead. But always, our favourite was when we rode bicycles down a devilish slope that I forgot about until now.

When we were a little older, somewhere around 8-9 years old. dad will bring us to his worksite.

In a weird way, we always enjoyed joining him for work, because it makes you feel appreciated, as if you are now an adult who can take care of yourself and get work done. On hindsight, I now suspect that my father did what he did because he was pround that he had 4 sons and wanted to show us off to his friends!

I remember the days when we would climb into his truck because we were too short to get into the car normally! And then we would almost always fall asleep in the vehicle as he drove us to the worksite of the day. When we finally dismounted from the car, still half asleep, he'll make us carry some of his tools. "Some" usually meant a hammer or a electric hand drill because we were too young and too weak to carry anything heavy! The lucky person amongst us gets the job of pushing his trolley, although my dad will rotate the post so that everyone is happy.

At the worksite itself, we usually do drilling or hammering work for dad while he got the "hardcore" work done. Then when he's done, he'll usually come over and redo 40% of the things we did.....

All these memories just came gushing back to me this evening after bought a kite from Chua Chu Kang. I can't explain it, but looking at the kite is almost like looking at a physical embodiment of my childhood days. All of a sudden, I realised that I have alot of thinks that I need to thank my parents for....

For taking care of me for so many years.

For sticking with me and providing support when I when down with my mental conditions.

For trusting me completely.

For knowing when to ask me questions and when to leave me alone.

For giving me a chance to grow up in a manner that was purely dictated by myself, so that I can always look back in my life and have no regrets.

For teaching me that love does not equate to possession.

For so many other things that I can never spell out in words.

Sigh... And I suddenly feel so sorry that I wrote all this. Because I know my parents will never get to read what I wrote. What a shame!