Pardon me?

“Everybody is raping...” says the librarian and her voice fades off as she turns around the corner of a shelf to return books back to their rightful places.

I am not sure I heard right as this normally soft-spoken and docile librarian is unlikely to make such a strong statement.

“Pardon me?” I say as I move closer to her.

“I said – everybody is taking books off the shelves all the time and I have to put them back” she complained.

I heave a sigh of relief as I realise that this is not going to be one more discussion about social crime.

.....

June, my niece, is a sincere student. She has the habit of putting up rules for herself on the fridge. While we are busy fixing dinner in the kitchen, she reads out this list.

“Number one: Read two lessons every day.”

“Number two: Finish homework on time.”

“Number three: Max should be baptised daily.”

Max is her dog.

“Excuse me? Why would you want to baptise Max daily?”

June doubles up in a fit of laughter.

Through her tears, she says loudly, “Auntie, I said ‘Maths should be practised daily.’”

.....

The alarm must have beeped as I reversed the car against a wall.

How come I didn’t hear it? – I wondered as I examined the damage.

It was then that I decided to go for an ear examination.

.....

“You have foreign objects lodged in your ears. Where have you been?” the doctor asks after she has examined my ears.

Hmmm, nobody has yet sponsored me to outer space. So I wonder what to answer.

She probes into my ears again.

“I can see circular grains in different colours” she clarifies.

That brings back a memory of an evening on the beach a couple of months ago.

.....

The sea was too tempting.

It was a hot day. Some Venezuelan friends were making merry in the sea but stayed close to the shore. My husband and daughter soon joined them. I tidied up our beach things and then casually waded in.

Suddenly a huge wave rolled me up in a powerful tumble and I touched the sand below. There was sand in my mouth and eyes.

I needed help but couldn’t call out.

I thought I was drowning and nobody knew.

Then a sweet voice called my name. It was Daniela – my daughter’s eight year old friend.

“Are you ok? Are you ok? It happened to me too. Come let me help you.”

She held my hand and helped me to the shore.

“Gracias, Daniela, you are an angel!” I said to her gratefully really meaning it.

That evening I tried to get all the sand out of my eyes and ears. But not quite.

.....

The hearing test result was not too bad. The doc tried to get the sand particles out with water irrigation. Some of them still remain and will come off with ear wax by and by.

Till then, I am enjoying the little everyday misunderstandings.

.....