I see the boy at the top of the slope just as he is coming down. His bicycle has a bell – rrring – rrring – rrring. His white shirt is blowing, the wind is in his hair, he has the widest smile. Rrring – rrring – rrring. Oh, how I wish I could do that! I lean forward on the balcony to see him speed by.
I see the bus coming at the bottom of the street. I hear the crash, but I can’t see because Ah Seem has grabbed me against her tunic. I know the boy died. I feel the horror filling up inside me. It makes me sick. No one says anything about the boy.
The next morning, when I go with Ah Seem to the park, we pass the crossroad. Ah Seem pulls me along quickly, but I look back and I see the bloodstains on the road. The horror comes back.
I am not yet three. How can I know death, why do I feel that horror? But even when I learn these things later, I would never again feel horror in the same way.
I become sick. I remember Dr. Gomes with a big needle I don’t want. Then a lot of darkness, of shadows, then my mommy’s face, then my daddy’s. Dr. Gomes is here too. They smile, but they are not happy. They blur, and I go back to sleep.
But I wake up. I learn a new word: crisis. It’s what I came through. I get a lot of hugs. But I still want to sleep.
Weeks go by. One day, a man carries a bushel basket into my room. Look, Ah Seem enthuses, your godfather, the big judge, sends you a big present!
I am too tired.
Ah Seem reaches into the basket. Look! There are many pretty packages! She holds out a brightly wrapped little package.
Too tired.
She opens the package and sets down a little pink glass pig with a curly tail. Then she puts down an even smaller pink piglet with a curly tail. There are two more. They are so cute. What else is there?
Ah Seem hands me a package. I want to know what’s inside. You can open it, she says. Soon we have little goats, buffaloes, dogs, swans.
I pull aside layers of soft tissue and find a glass dragon with many colors. Ah Seem laughs as she holds it up and makes it dance. Good fortune! Good fortune!
The dragon sparkles and reflects a shaft of sunlight into a million dancing lights. I want to go outside with my dragon and make it dance in the sunlight and show everyone.
The Glass Dragon
Recent Comments