pink school bag

Adik grabs the pink school bag of the table.

“Let’s go, Bang…I’m late!”

I couldn’t help but wonder how little that voice has changed over the years. To me it was still the annoying voice of the 13-year-old girl crying excitedly (and repeatedly):

“First day of school! First day of school…!!”

And yet how different it is now:

“Hellooo? Bang, why you termenung like that?? I’m late-lah…!”

Behind the anxiety there was a maturity in that familiar voice.

It was that of a woman; no longer a girl.

For 3 years Adik was my schoolmate.

Those 3 years I would watch Adik enter the school gates, her pink school bag bobbing up and down behind her.

It hasn’t been too long ago, actually…two years since I left those gates for the last time as a student. But how things have changed in that time.

How different Adik is now:

She has left her ponytail for a fringe.

Her tracksuits for short skirts.

And Barbie dolls for make-up sets.

How I would like to remind her as she steps out into this crazy world...

That guys are never as innocent as they seem.

That family comes first.

That beauty is more than skin-deep.

That her brother will always be there for her.

But those things are left unsaid. As I watch out of the window of my car Adik stepping into the building for her first day of work.

The pink school bag which she still wears bobs up and down behind her.