The day I learned that something out of place, may not be out of place after all

It was a warm day. I was in my bedroom reading the papers. They are going to arrive any minute now.

My mum has invited some of her friends over for a small gathering as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. “Ding Dong!” Ah , here they come. There were 4-5 aunties and some brought their children and babies along! (to get more ang baos I suppose! Haha) With the usual formalities done and getting ang baos, I went back to my room and continue my reading, with the laughter, screaming of the kids and loud television sounds accompanying me.

After some time, I decided to go to the toilet. I passed by my mum’s bedroom and saw this cute little baby sleeping on the bed. Oh so cute! I went in and have a closer look. Then I realized, hey, how come that pillow beside the baby, and he’s not using it. Other than this out of place pillow, the bed is in a very tidy and ‘visitor welcoming pattern’.

The auntie must have accidentally shifted it la I thought. I decided to put the pillow back in place. Done, what a nice bed and a nice baby sleeping. I continued my journey to the toilet. After I am done, I happened to walk pass the bedroom again. I cannot resist going in and taking a look at the baby again. This time, his mum came in after me. I can see that she had a little shocked look on her face. She quickly took the pillow and put it back to the same spot again! I was surprised by her actions. She turned around and look at me. ‘Jialat liao’ I thought to myself. However she asked me in a nice voice if I put back the pillow. I said yes. She then calmly explained that she put the pillow beside the baby to block the baby from accidentally rolling over and falling off the bed. So the pillow served as a barrier to prevent an accident from happening!

‘Orr’ I replied. She smiled and so do I, albeit sheepishly. I took another glance at the baby and admired his look of serenity, not knowing that someone has tried to harm him or how his mum came to his rescue.

As I returned to my room, I told myself, not bad, I learned something new. That’s the day I learned that something out of place, may not be out of place after all!