'Rockets'

I sat in the living room, looking out at the porch; at the sky, as it rained. Waiting for the candles on the altar to go out before we left the house - mum was worried as usual - she didn't want to leave any chances for an accident to happen. And of course, we couldn't just blow it out. So we waited. This same living room which I actually miss falling asleep in, having watched all those Chinese New Year movies with my cousins years ago - is now desolate save for visits from my mother and me. It hasn't been the same since my (paternal) grand aunt passed away. Nowadays the house is empty, with an occasional stray cat lazing outside by the entrance. Broken windows, rotting wood, cracks in the walls, dead leaves, cobwebs and dust.

***
Amidst receiving text messages (those of the forwarded variety) from some friends - I found myself having another steamboat meal (the previous one was with some colleagues about a week ago) with mum, aunt and a few of her friends for the Reunion Dinner a few hours later. The following were some of the topics conversed as we partook of our meal:-

1) Fertilized eggs.
2) The reason why the first three dishes of any grand dinner are children's favorites.
3) The tablecloth which was used.
4) The napkins.
5) (Generally) the beneficial qualities of a banana when digested, in terms of athletic activities.
6) Golf.
7) Noodles and Boric Acid.
8) How small chicken eggs are being sold to unsuspecting buyers at the local market as kampung chicken eggs.
9) "The Year Of The Boar."

I find myself smiling at the fact that besides mother and me, none of us there were blood-related.

***
I guess it's only inevitable, that these kind of transitions take place. That one day, bumper to bumper traffic fueled by dedication and piety; the stuff of our homecomings - would cease - and in its place: new gravities, celebrations, reasons. That a time would come for all those people and places of our youth to exist solely within us; being neither physical nor tangible. Our definitions of words revised (in this case: 'Family'), with each step. But nothing ever truly lost.

***
Happy Chinese New Year!

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