Crying Plate

I am a plate. My color is white. I was made by plastic. Several months ago, a woman got me dumped in the dumpster in a market. She separated me from other trashes and thought that I still could be used. Immediately I was washed and placed in a dish rack as soon as she arrived at home. Her kitchen was quite cramped and smoke smelled.

One day, she was cooking rice with firewood stove, when her child picked me from the dish rack.

"Mom, I want to use this new plate for lunch", said the child.

"Alright, help me to prepare the dishes in the living room", said the woman.

"Yes, Mom." the child immediately picked three plates including me, and two glasses.

Some minutes later, the woman came to the living room with a bowl of rice and a fried fish.

"Hani, Could you please call your father?"

"Yes, Mom.", the little girl went outside and walked toward the beach. It was only about 20 meters to find her father was sitting with other men. They were taking a rest after pulled some boats to the beach.

"Dad, the lunch is ready", said the little girl. Then they went back home together.

Mother divided the rice into three plates. The girl poured water into two glasses. One glass for father, one for her and her mother. No spoon or fork because they like to eat with hands. The only side dish for them is a fish. Father divided the fish into three slices. The tail part for mother, head part for father, and the belly meat for the daughter. I felt so pity on them.

I remembered the family who ever had me before this. That time I was placed in luxurious kitchen. They used to eat red rice with delicious and various meats and vegetables. They had some juice to drink and cakes as dessert. Their daughter loved to use me to placed her strawberry shortcake. What a wealthy family. That time I was very happy to be there until they dumped me just because I get etched accidentally by a knife.

Saw how the poor family where I live with now, I felt so sad. I was crying so the fish that eaten by the little girl became more salty by my tears.

"Mom, I think this plate is crying and make my fish more salty", said the little girl.

"It's funny, plate can not crying, Hani. Would you like to add ketchup?" said the mother.

"No, it's OK. Even this plate is crying, I still can enjoy it.", she was smiling and keep eating.

I stopped crying and smile. My heart was touched by their modesty life. I am not the crying plate anymore. Thank You, little Hani.

Bird's Eye View

One day, I saw a bird on a sidewalk. The bird was greenish yellow. I stepped closer slowly and tried to catch it. Suddenly the bird spoke to me! "Hello little boy, do you want to fly with me?"

"what, you just talked to me? yes, I want to fly! but how?" I was really surprised.
"hold this rope, I will lift you up", said the bird.
I held the rope, then amazingly I found my feet off the ground and I could touch the air!

"Where are we going? and what's your name, little bird? My name is Firdaus", I held the rope very tightly, I thought we were flying at 15 meters high.
"Well, you can call me Cikrak. We will see mountain, forest, river, and houses from a bird's eye view. Do you like it?", the bird flew higher. "Of course, it will be fun! Let's go...", I screamed aloud.

"Hey, look that. It's like a cone that has a hole in the middle. What is that?", I asked Cikrak.
"That's Merapi Mount and the hole is called crater. Me and my family live in the forest around this mount.", he said. "Great, is that the forest that you mean? It is like a green carpet from this view. But some trees grew taller than the surrounding. It is an uneven carpet. haha".

We kept flying until suddenly we got dazzled by a light. "What was that?", I asked.
"Oh, It was sun light that reflected by the river." We followed the stream.
"Wow, subhanallah, the river looks like a long snake because it meandering. I want to touch the water. Cikrak, can we get closer, please?" I stretched my hand down.
"Yes of course", we flew lower so I could touch the flowing water.
A minute playing water then we moved on, "Let's continue our flight..."

"We are above the village, now. What do you see, Firdaus?", Cikrak asked me.
"Hmm, I see the wide rice-field area. The color is like you, greenish yellow, haha. And look at the houses! They are squares that spread irregularly. The colors are red, black, orange, and even blue."
"Which one is your house?"
"That one, the red square. Wait, I can see how close my home to Ali's, tough usually I get there by a bicycle. I thought it was far.. I wonder why?"
"Yes, because from this height you will see things get smaller, it's called perspective effect. So the long distances will looked so close.", Cikrak gave the explanation.

"Thank you, Cikrak. You gave me knowledges and this unforgettable experience. Now I know how the bird see the world from up here. Praise to Allah for this beautiful earth. Nice to fly with you...", I thanked Cikrak and we went back to touched the ground.
"Anytime. Take care of our nature, so that we can always see how wonderful it is. Good bye, Firdaus.."
"Good bye, Cikrak...".

"Firdaus... come on wake up, sweetheart. It is five o'clock.", suddenly I heard my mother's voice.

Ups I was dreaming, actually...
what a dream :)

Apple Baby

Saturday morning, my mother got a phone call from Uncle Ahmad. He said that her wife has just gave birth their first baby. My mother was so happy to hear that. She said she will visit them as soon as possible.

Yesterday, my mother asked me to go with her to the hospital. We were going to visit the new little baby of Uncle Ahmad and Aunt Gina. We went to the baby shop for a while, to bought a gift. I chose the gift. It was a sweater which shape looked like an apple. I chose it, just because I like apple. "Good choice. it is very unique, sweetheart", mother said to me.

When we arrived at the hospital, Aunt Gina was holding the baby. She was so glad for our visit. I went directly to her and tried to see the baby. My mother lifted me up so I could see the baby clearly. "What do you think about the baby, Rahma?" my mother said to me. I touched the baby's face and said, "it is so cute, mom. is it a girl?". "Yes, she is a girl, you are smart Rahma", my aunt said.

"Oh Rahma, give the gift to the baby, please", said my mother. "Oh yes, this is the gift for the baby, auntie.."
Aunt Gina and Uncle Ahmad said thanks. "Can we open it now?", Aunt Gina asked me. "Sure, I also want to see if it is suitable for the baby", I answered. "What a sweet sweater. The shape like an apple, isn't it?" Aunt Gina directly dressed the baby with the sweater. "Look, she is like an apple baby", I said.
Hahaha, everybody in the room were laughing and happy.