In the end, it was Wee Meng’s father who was to be blamed. If he hadn’t bought that kite from overseas and gave it to Wee Meng, Ah Chun would not be in trouble now. That stupid flashy silk kite; the mere thought of it brought tears to Ah Chun’s eyes. If Wee Meng didn’t brag about that kite in front of him, he wouldn’t have agreed to a kite fight and it wouldn’t have caused Ah Chun’s trusty centipede kite to end up in the scrap- pile.

“ Boy ah, be more obedient can or not? Don’t go and fight with that plantation owner’s son lah.” Ah Chun’s mother gave a weary sigh and ruffled her son’s tousled hair.

“ Don’t listen to your mum. She won’t understand us, men. Must fight that Ah Beng, okay?” Ah Chun’s father thumped his back.

Now, that was more pleasing to the ears. Ah Chun gave his father a bright smile and ran off. Fight back, right?, I will show that Wee Meng my prowess.

“Hey, guai kia*! Where’s your wu gong** kite? Become wu gong neng*** already, huh?” Wee Meng and his pals guffawed loudly.

Ah Chun ignored them and placed his bag on the grass patch. With deliberate exaggerated actions, he removed a kite-shaped object wrapped in a piece of cloth from his bag.

Seeing this, Wee Meng was curious about the kite in Ah Chun’s hands. “It must be another one of those cheap kites that he could just afford, unlike my foreign-made kite that could destroy my enemies in one stroke,” Wee Meng thought. He stroked it lovingly. “Still, I better check his kite out.”

From the corner of his eye, Ah Chun noticed that Wee Meng was advancing towards him with a menacing grin. He pretended not to notice and continued fiddling with his kite. Suddenly, the kite vanished from his hands.

“Why, too ashamed to show your kite ah? Still must wrap up?” Wee Meng sniggered and proceeded to remove the cloth. “Let’s see what cheapskate brand it is.”

Then, in a single instant, his smile vanished completely. A look of extreme horror replaced it. In his hands was not a kite but a square-shaped piece of bamboo. However, this was not the scary part. What had frightened Wee Meng was that the whole piece of bamboo was crawling with centipedes. Humongous, long, fat, centipedes wriggled and twisted, slowly, but surely, moving onto Wee Meng’s arms. With a rather unmanly scream, Wee Meng dropped the board and ran off, with his pals right behind him. Ah Chun looked on expressionlessly but there was a tiny part of his mind that wondered what his father would think.

*Guai Kia means Good boy, and is used in a provocative tone in this context.
**Wu Gong means centipede in Chinese
***Wu Gong Neng means useless in Chinese

Article written by: [Tan Hui Lin], [National Junior College]