Spider

My wife's sling bag always reminds me of the vulnerability of adults, and how easily we can be lured into the shortsightedness.

The bag looked fine until I made a careless splash of ink on it (when I hand-painted a T-shirt). So, what can be done to the blemished bag? The answer: not much - at least not immediately. A small voice inside me said, “Let's forget about the ink.” But the wounded part was less comfortable. It said, “Excuuuuuse me? What's the matter about the two black dots?”

My wife didn't throw away the bag but I still feel bad and guilty, and, if the truth be told, rather uneasy about the stain. I was worried, but not for long. It has made a heck of difference when my daughter Jasmine looked at her mum's tote bag. She smiled and pointed to the two dots of black ink. And, oh yes, she uttered a few words "dah dah." I didn't know what she meant until my wife nodded her head and sang the children song "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Bingo. The two dots look really like two little spiders. Amazing spiders. I almost laughed my head off as Jasmine pointed to the two "dah dah."