I am an ordinary person

Chapter 3

The air in the funeral hall were somber and silent as I watched my grandfather's  stilled body in the black coffin for the first and last time before it was cremated.I'd never seen him before nor did I really want to.I didn't know him personally but he must be a good old man, right? Pity he couldn't cradle his grandchildren in this life, not from my mother at least.He had other children except her and definitely had many changes to hold my cousins in his arms with a happy expression too.

In this depressing hall, I didn't recognise anyone other than my family.Everyone was a foreign face to me, not even the so-called cousins I talked about.My clothes are dark just to fit the occasion like many others.

The funeral ceremony was completed after about two hours.The mourning period was wrapped up after three days and we stayed in my grandmother's house.

I see my mom and dad, making amends with who I believe to be my grandmother.She's a small woman with a head full of grey hair and a hunched back.My mom, her eyes looking red unlike her usual strong figure with the equally red grandmother's.It's good to finally put an end to this meaningless family feud.I thought.They were talking when she motioned to me to come to them.

I sat beside my parents, putting a gentle smile on my lips for her.Even though I didn't know them since I was a child, I still feel the need to console her for her inevitable loss.My mother introduced me and talked about my other siblings along the way.After half an hour, I excused myself to go into the toilet when in truth, I only wanted to escape them.When two people who had been separated for more than a decade met, there was bound to be a lot to talk about.I pity my father who's sitting loyally beside my mother even though he only occasionally spoke in the long conversations.

I took a breather in the toilet, it's probably not the best place for that but never mind.I scrunched my nose at the unpleasant smoky smell of cigarettes.I did never understand why people smoke and in toilet of all places too, there were obvious negative effects labeled on the cigarette box but there were still a lot of people who bought it anyway.

I left the latrine facility after splashing my face with water at the sink and rubbed my face with the tissues.Hmm, that felt fresher!

I took a stroll outside, the formalities had all been finished, it wouldn't look rude if I vanished now.While humming a catchy song that somehow got stuck in my head with broken key, I walked to the convenience store and bought an ice cream.Gosh, it was so hot.While thinking that, I fanned myself with my left hand.Because of the heat, the cold confection was fast melting.The white drop of vanilla ice cream trickled down my bare arms as I rolled-up the sleeves.

I looked around with the corner of my eyes for a moment, trying to look less suspicious as I was doing that.Dictating no other presences other than myself, I lowered my head and carefully licked the melted ice cream drips on my wrist.

"Kachak!"

I swiftly lifted my head at the sound of camera flashing.A disheveled man with a messy short pony tail walked out of the junctions in front of me.There was a camera in his hands that didn't match his appearance directed at me.Even if I was a toddler, I would know that this tramp-like man had taken a stupid photo of me licking my hand without my permission.

I moved closer to him in order to ask him to delete that picture.I would rather die before I let a stranger had an absolutely unprofessional photograph of me.But unexpectedly, the beggar-like man was very fast on his feet.His decisiveness made me suspected he had done this many times.

"Wait!" I shouted while running behind him, I stopped for a second to dump the ice cream stick into the nearby trash can then continued to give chase.Seriously, is he a Paralympic athlete? Then how did he sprint so fast? The silhouette in front of me was reduced into a dot of black before it disappeared completely.His speed made me think if he was to dine and dash then nobody would be able to capture him.Maybe Uzain Dolt can though.