The Final Chapter: Hopes and Fears.
I strained to hear what Mint was saying, but I couldn't lean
further anymore. I'll probably just fall flat on my face
trying.
I could roughly understand from her conversation that she was
talking to her mum. Beads of sweat gathered, as I tried to catch
some clues. My mind filled in the blanks for me, causing me to
panic more.
Just then, I saw Mint press the 'end call' button. I quickly took
up position, pretending to read the newspapers on the sofa.
What made me feel strange was when she appeared from the room
looking rather fresh-faced and happy. What was her cause for
joy?
"Good morning Clint!" The cheery greeting came across loud and
clear. I was going to get to the bottom of this mini mystery.
"What's with the smiling face?" I asked, not bothering to return
the simple courtesy.
"Oh it's nothing." She replied. Cleverly, she switched topics like
changing channels. "Your parents went out already?"
"Ya about an hour ago." I said glumly. There was this aura of
maddening coolness about her that made me want to confront her
about my worries. But I decided that the time wasn't right to judge
so quickly.
"Will you help me prepare breakfast?" Mint asked in a sweet tone,
which made me hard to refuse.
"Sure." I replied half-heartedly. As I was busy with the
preparations, my little sis skipped merrily into the kitchen,
wearing her matching pink pyjamas and slippers. She exchanged eye
contact with Mint. The moment I saw it, I knew that there must be
some sort of 'conspiracy' behind my back.
Ironically, Mint was also dressed in the same outfit as Kate.
When everything was settled and we got down to eating, my fear and
suspicion grew.
"Did you upsize my breakfast jie?" Kate cheekily asked Mint. She
took a look at Kate and laughed.
"Yeah, but you have to pay extra 50 cents you know?" Mint stretched
out her palm.
"Here you go." Comically, Kate hit Mint's palm as if giving her a
hi-5. I chuckled at their little exchange.
"Finally you smiled." Mint turned dramatically to me, as if
expecting that reaction. "So what's up your mind all this
while?"
I hesitated for awhile.
"Please tell me?" She held my hand tenderly. Seeing her worried, I
decided to ease her anxiousness by telling.
"I had a bad dream last night." I revealed, frowning at the thought
of it. Mint looked at me with concern. "I dreamt that you left me
to pursue your studies overseas. You know, it was so real, that
feeling of hopelessness and loss. The light in your eyes I saw
before you disappeared from my view..."
I was close to breaking down, I know this sounds silly, a big grown
up
guy like me. But hey come on, I'm still human after all
right?
"And I saw you talking to your mum on the phone. I really thought
that...thought that..." I couldn't bear to continue any
further.
Mint put her hand on my back and came up to hug me from
behind.
"Oh Clint, why would I want to leave you for?" She soothed.
"Surely you don't doubt me do you?"
"I
I'm sorry." I apologised.
"Promise me you won't think such thoughts again."
"I promise you Mint. Never again." I replied earnestly.
I was touched by her gesture, how could I harbour such thoughts in
the first place? I reproached myself for been so naive.
"I want to tell you something, promise you won't get angry?" She
gave a knowing glance at Kate before looking at me.
"Ok." I sniffed.
"Actually, I managed to convince my mum to let me stay on here. I
wanted to give you a surprise, but looks like I couldn't hide it
from you." She announced. I wasn't angry at all, a surge of immense
relief uplifted me.
"But how?" I was dying to know the main reason.
"I told Kate about our problem. And she related this little story
to me. It really changed me and made me decide to talk things out
with my mum calmly." Mint explained, nodding knowingly at
Kate.
"Well what's the story about?" I urged, this story must have made
quite an impact on her to change her overnight.
***Kate's little story***
There was once a very bad-tempered boy. One day, his dad gave him a
bag of nails. He told the boy to knock a nail into the fence each
time he felt angry. One day passed, counting the nails, the little
boy realised that there were a total of 20 nails in the fence.
Deciding that getting angry wasn't going to make him well liked, he
decided to change himself.
Slowly, days passed, one month later he managed to contain his
anger so successfully that he didn't have to hit anymore nails into
the fence. Overjoyed, the little boy told his dad about his
victory. The father then told his son to take a hammer and pull out
all the nails that had previously been embedded in the fence.
Even though the boy felt it was strange, nonetheless, he did as he
was told. When he had pulled out all the nails, he told his dad
about all the holes he had left in the fence. When it was done, the
father told his son the following words:
The nails are like the hurtful words we say in our anger. While the
fence represents our heart, though the nails(hurtful words) can be
removed, the scars and holes it leaves in the hearts of those you
truly care for will always remain.
"How did she come up with such a story?" I gasped in
amazement.
"Oh, there was a fight among 2 boys in the class." Mint said. "And
apparently, Kate's form teacher related this little story to the
class. Ever since then, things between the two have been going
fine."
I was at a loss for words, I didn't know that my little sis
possessed such knowledge. Yet it was such a touching story, it made
me want to take back all those hurtful words I had ever said to
those around me.
I was glad that very day, glad that my little sis played such a
small yet significant role in shaping the future for Mint and I.
But I can't help but wonder what fate has in store for us...
Just then, we heard the ringing of a bell coming from downstairs. I
peered out the window and saw the ice-cream man in his lemon yellow
van. Kate tiptoed to catch a glimpse of it. She looked longingly
for a few seconds.
"Can I have one kor?" She asked looking at me with that pair of
angelic eyes. How could I refuse after all that she had done for
Mint.
"Of course." I said. "I'll even buy you a truck load of it." I
joked. She leapt for joy at my reply.
"Really? You mean you'll even buy me an ice-cream that's thiiiis
big?" She stretched her arms as far as she could. Mint and I gave
each other a amused look, and we burst out in hearty
laughter.
"I promise." I replied, crossing fingers with her.
Kate skipped cheerfully over to our side and held our hands.
With her in the lead, urging us to walk faster, the 3 of us headed
downstairs
***The End***
