A SLICE OF LIFE ( SHORT STORY -1)

HOT

by

Zahariahrin

            In 1987, my first born son was only aged one and  a half year. He was tiny, cute and very curious. Everything that he saw, he would play with it. I was staying in a rented house in Kampung Datuk Keramat in the outskirts of  Kuala Lumpur. My kitchen was a tiny one and I had a kerosene stove which was located on worn out table. The table was such because of all the four legs of the table  had been shortened by the previous tenant. My cute little son, Yusof, could reach the stove when he stood.

            Every morning, after boiling water in a kettle, I would leave the hot kettle on the stove. He came to me in the kitchen and started asking questions such as, “ What’s this?” Usually, before I could turn around, he would start to touch , pick up the things and started playing with it. So, whenever he came to the stove, I would say, “ Don’t touch. It’s hot.” This had been going on everyday several times a day.

During the school holidays, I went to my sister’s house. Yusof ventured into her kitchen and when he saw the kettle on my sister’s stove, his cute little mouth spitted out  the word “ hot!”  The whole family laughed.

“What have you been teaching your son, Rin?” My sister asked me.

            I was speechless as I hugged Yusof.