P6 Lost in the shopping centre

“Sissy, the movie was really funny!” my younger sister, Cathy, exclaimed. 

“Yes!”  I replied.  “The plot was so cool”

 We had just watched a movie my sister wanted to catch at Causeway Point  shopping center, celebrating my sister’s birthday.  The shopping centre was packed like sardines.  It was filled with children’s laughter.  Parents were busy doing their Christmas shopping.

“Sissy, you are going to treat me to pizza, right?”  Cathy asked for the hundredth time.  “Yes!  Stop asking me again or no pizza for you,” I replied in annoyance.  Cathy loved pizza.  She could eat a million slices of pizza and never be full.

As Cathy and I were heading towards the pizza restaurant that we usually dined at, suddenly we heard a cry.  Curiosity got the better of me.  I decided to find out who was crying.  The more we walked, the louder the cry. 

There!  There was a little girl.  Her age seemed a year or two younger than Cathy.  The little girl had marble-like eyes.  She was really adorable in her pink polka-dot dress but her eyes were all red and swollen from crying.  It then dawned on me that she was all alone.

Strange.

Very strange.

All too strange.

What was the little girl alone?  Why was the little girl crying?  The word “why” kept ricocheting in my head.  I looked around us.   Barely anyone cared for that little girl.  I was utterly disgusted by their cold actions.

“Sissy, why is that girl crying?”  Cathy asked, bemused.

“Why don’t you ask her?”  Cathy asked again, tugging my sleeve.

 “Alright, I shall ask her then,”  I replied.

“Little girl, why are you crying?”  I crooned, ruffling her baby-soft hair.

“I…I… can’t find my m…mummy,” she said in-between sobs. 

“Don’t cry!  I will help you find your mummy,”  I reassured as I carried the toddler in my arms.

Patiently, I explained to Cathy what was happening.  I also started asking the toddler how her mother looked like and where she last saw her mum.  The toddler’s name was Kai Ning.

Thoroughly, we checked the first floor. Nope.

The second floor.  No.

The third floor.  Yes!

Kai Ning ran towards her mother. At first, her mother looked really worried.  When she spotted Kai Ning, she dropped her shopping bags onto the cold granite floor and dashed towards her, hugging her tightly.  Just a moment ago, her face was as white as snow, but from white, it changed to pink.   She was in tears.  The mother and daughter have finally reunited.

Kai Ning’s mother, Mrs Lee, with Kai Ning in her arms, walked towards me and thanked me profusely.  She even wanted to give me a fifty-dollar-note but I turned down the offer.  I was really happy that I did a good deed.  I was so carried away that I almost forgot about poor Cathy.

“Sissy!  My pizza!” Cathy grumbled.  I laughed and was at a loss of words to think that a four-year-old kid would still remember about her pizza after two hours!

(By Raeann Lee, P6)