The Stolen Child

“I know ! You like her.”

“Who?”

“Miss Tan. You like Miss Tan!” Boon Ming hissed into his ears. Wings was aghast.

“No I don’t!”

“Sure you don’t. You were staring at her. You sure look like you like her,” he giggled.

“I don’t,” Wings said fiercely. Boon Ming was unconvinced. He smiled magnanimously.

“Don’t worry. You’re my buddy and patrolmate so I won’t tell anyone. Alright, man, now we’ve got a secret!”

“We don’t!”

“I thought you didn’t want anybody to know.”

“It’s not true idiot! There’s no secret when something isn’t true.”

“You don’t trust me. And I thought we were brother Scouts. Scout’s Law number one says a scout is to be trusted. You can trust me and I practise keeping the Law.”

“Fat fool” Wings was exasperated. How on earth could he possible tell Boon Ming the real story behind his stare.

“That hurt,” Boon Ming sniffled indignantly. “But like true brother Scout, I won’t take revenge. Your secret safe with me.”

“Boon Ming! I don’t like her! I hate her!”

Excerpt from Colin Cheong’s “The Stolen Child”

Just finished reading the book, my second from Colin Cheong’s collection. Love the way he weaves a simple tale around common believable characters and draws us into re-living those familiar episodes of our childhood.