The Child’s Story

Grania, Weng Chim Cheong

-Bachelor of Design-

“You are fired!” Robert calmly takes his stuff and leaves the office. He glances at his coworkers and sees everyone whispering. Eventually, he hands off his badge and walks on the street. He is so frustrated, and he doesn't even know how he walks out of the building.

Robert goes home very late, yet his wife is still waiting for him to dine. Fortunately, he has a beautiful, generous and caring wife and a smart and lovely daughter. Even though he had an unwilling career, he seems to still have a perfect family.

“Oh, darling, come and join the meal.” his wife says. He sits by her and starts to eat the dishes. He is thinking about how to tell her that he has lost his job. But it seems there is no big deal as he sees his beautiful, caring wife. “Just find another job.” says to himself. The next day, with beautiful weather, he goes off to his house just like he is going to work. Instead, he goes to the flower shop to buy some flowers for his wife because he thinks that he may neglect his wife for some days. But when he drives along to the shop, he sees his wife hugging and kissing another man. He immediately stops and gets out of the car, trying to question her. But he pauses. He doesn’t want to make a drama. When he comes back home, he sees his daughter doing her homework, and she is so surprised that her dad comes home so early. She runs to hug her dad and tells him she missed him. He suddenly thinks that he still has a daughter even though he has got cheated and fired. Later at night, when his wife comes back, the wife just acts like she has done nothing wrong and prepares them a delicious meal. After dinner, their daughter goes to sleep, and Robert asks his wife to talk. He asks her where she went this afternoon and tells her what he saw. She admitted but crying so hard, and she feels so sorry for him and the family. She is crying and asking forgiveness from Robert that she didn’t know things will go like this, that she can not control herself. She tells Robert that she still loves him, but she also loves the other man. That’s why she doesn't know what to do and feels so ashamed. Robert says he needed some time to think about it and goes to sleep, leaving his wife in the living room.

Times go on. Robert is working on another job and puts all his focus on his daughter. He spends more time with his daughter and involves more in her activities. As for his wife, they do not get divorced, but they cannot get along well with each other like in the old days. It seems Robert’s life is getting better, but it may be just the peace before a storm. 20 June is the big day for their daughter. This is the day their daughter graduated from college. Their beautiful, smart daughter finally becomes an independent woman. After the ceremony, their daughter goes partying with her friends till late. She is shocked to find out that her boyfriend cheated on her and her mother is not what she thinks of, and she was so sad and ran out of the bar. She runs so fast and has a car accident. She has a severe injury, the doctor told Robert and his wife their daughter is dying. They are so sad that they cannot accept this. Robert starts to blame his wife as he thinks that his wife doesn’t care enough about their daughter, and she is the one that makes the family not as happy as before. Again, he leaves his wife alone in the corridor.

On the day of their daughter’s funeral, Robert tells his wife he wants to divorce her.

The Child's Story

One day, a strange old lady appears in front of the door. Robert asks if there is anything he can help with. The old lady just gives him an old treasure box, Robert doesn't want to take it, but the lady insists. So, he takes the box and goes back into his house. After many days, he almost forgets the box's existence as he is so busy at work. He needs to take care of himself because he has no wife right now. One night the box starts to glow, and he opens it. Some photos appear in front of him, so he picks them up and stares at them. He cannot believe what he’s seeing. Those pictures are the happiest memories of his life till now, and below the images, there is a clock. He picks it up, and the clock starts ticking.

“Bibi, bibi…” Robert gets up from his bed. He is a bit confused and looks carefully at the surroundings, doubting if he is drunk or not. All of the things he sees right now do not make sense: the paint, the setting, or the decorations. None of them does he know or is he familiar with. He goes downstairs and calls out if there is anybody. But no one answers him. He gets out of the house and onto the street. Outfits of the people are back in the old days. As if he is a kid, so terrified and wonders what’s happening. He doesn't know if this is real or not. He panics so much and finds the house when he was little. He knocks on the door, and his parents open the door. He’s a bit shocked and happy, but he cannot say a word when he faces them. The couple asks, “what can we help?” He suddenly realised that his parents don’t know him. He looks at the window and saw that he is not their boy anymore. He is just a stranger to them, so he says goodbye and goes back to his house.

He starts to think that maybe he could use this body to become friends with himself and change what happened. So he starts to greet and make friends with his parents and himself in this world. When the little himself plays a lot instead of studying, he pushes him to study more because he knows he will need to get a better job in the future; when he first meets his wife, he tells him to try to know more about her and gives her more time that she may not be too lonely before finding another man to seek comfort; when they get married, he tells himself to get more involved with his daughter, to bring her more joy, and the family more happiness. He is thinking so perfectly, but the truth is that he can not change anything. Terrible things still happen again, which makes him realise that even if he has another chance, what should happen will still happen. This may be the laws of nature and the laws of the universe.

There is no regret in the world. People need to take responsibility for what they do, learn from the mistakes, and sometimes only grow with regrets.

“Bibi, bibi…” He gets up from his bed again. He goes back to his world. He walks in front of the table and opens the box, picking the pictures up again. Finally, he sees the most beautiful, beautiful things. He knows that no one is perfect, but what happened to him is very unique, even some are bad. Still, those are the things and experiences that he has, and he should accept them instead of denying them. Eventually, he goes back to his wife, opens his own company, and later has a miracle. They have a little angel who is going to be born. This time, he is ready enough to do what he needs to do because he has already learnt plenty of lessons.