Familiarities

6.30am, school children walking to-and-fro. I parked my car near my ex-primary school. Got down, walked to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. Had a glance, the school has expanded with a few new buldings. The gate is built bigger and higher. It is no longer the same old school crafted in my memory.

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I stepped into the coffee shop. The coffee shop which I used to go regularly to catch breakfast before I was sent to school. It had been a while since I last visited. A long while, says 12 years.

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Alone. I chose a corner seat, sat on a shabby, heavy wooden chair. The same chair that required me to pull with all my strength 12 years ago. And now I can easily drag it moving. The arrangement has not changed much. The char kuey teow stall is still there. Wan tan mee uncle has gained weight. And the chee cheong fun granny still looking young. The price remains RM0.40 per piece.

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I munched on my fried bee hoon while observing the customers came one after another. A few tables were occupied by school children with their mothers. The bages on their uniforms were familiar. So as the two pony tails. Every scene recollected the memory that was stored long ago. I sat at almost all tables before and each table spoke its own story. I remembered my mother loved the iced lime tea. My siblings and I would loyally go for milo or barley.

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The shop owner noticed a new comer. She approached me and asked where I from and where was I heading to in such an early hour. I answered accordingly. She was surprised when I said I met her before when I was young.

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Life has changed so much. Every person, everything. Felt so comfortable with the familiarities. I miss those time. I miss my mother.

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Stayed in the past for 15 minutes. Rushed off.