Childhood Memories

I started school in standard 2, I was the new kid in class. When recess, Din would be the one who would buy me breakfast at the canteen and would sit and eat with me. It was a normal routine, everyday, during recess. But, Din started to make friends with his classmates, and that, I guess is another story, Din's story, which I unfortunately do not have access . We went to primary school in the mornings and sekolah agama in the afternoon, towards evening, at Umi's university. I usually wait for Din to come out from his class, since he's older, so the class that he had was a bit longer than mine. He had an Ustaz and I had an Ustazah, his class were all male and mine all female. But still it was fun. We always went back to Umi's office together, crossing the wide soccer field across the Sekolah agama, going through a building that always has the smell of chemicals, and finally reaching D07; and going up the stairs, all the way to 4th floor, not even using the elevator. My kain sekolah and Din's seluar baju Melayu would always have these tiny kemucup on them and it wasn't a nice feeling, the itch and all. Din would always go back out, when we reach Umi's office; and I never knew where he usually goes, I never did ask, and it never did crossed my mind, not even once.

I stayed a bit in Umi's office, finishing my homework and reciting the Surah's that were needed to be memorized, and I practised them with Umi. After that, I usually go out and search for kittens; everywhere in the building, under the coke machine, under the stairs, inside the store, outside the building, in the dry drains and at the cafeteria. Unfortunately, there weren't many times that I found kittens that live, most of them were dead, small kittens that were found dead, it was sad, seeing them like that. Where was the mother and it's family ?, I usually think. I guess, life just goes on, even after the death of one own. It's terribly sad to think of it that way, but in the end, we continue living, keeping the memories as we do; memories are to be treasured, not forgotten.

It was a bit hard when Din was changed into the evening session, since his class had to start in the evenings, and I unfortunately was left in the morning classes during primary school. It was my duty to put Din's baju in the surau lelaki, since he had to change his attire for primary school. I started to eat alone at the canteen, sometimes I was bullied in the bus, and it was a bit hard to make friends since my classmates were loud and talkative, which made me afraid and intimidated by them. It took some time, but I finally found a friend, who, fortunately attended Sekolah agama too, and was also my classmate. I started to sit next to her since then at Sekolah agama, and I shared many things with her. I could say, she was the one who stood up for me then when the naughty boys played around. She would scold them, and pinch them if they showed even the slightest intention of bothering me. She was tall, pretty too, but a bit boyish I might add. She always acted tough. But still, she was my best friend.

She came to school with her Dad, who also worked at the university, at the gates, the Front Gate. She loved cats and had families of cats living with her. Her mom was an architect but in the same time, her parents runs a kindergarden ' Tadika Idaman'. Her mum's name was Ida and her dad's Othman, guess it was a combination of both, she used to say. It was nice going to her house, met her little brother and sisters, and they had these small trays when eating. To my suprise, she cooked, and she was also very nice and caring towards the little kids who attended the kindergarten. The tough girl outside was actually soft inside.

We remained best friends for quite some time. Even though, she changed to a different class in standard five, we always had recess together and we would always sit together during Sekolah agama. We entered the same High school, but again, we weren't in the same class. Things started to change since then. I guess it was all about growing up, every thing was different. We started to drift apart. But we still remained friends, best friend still, for me that is. She changed to a new high school, since she lived at Taman Desa Skudai, and the new high school opened up, she had to enter there, it was the order of the school. We went our different ways.

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I visited her, two years later. She was still the same, taking care of the kids in the kindergarten. But the cats weren't there, her little sister and brother had grown, she was taller, and more matured. But, I remained the same, she said.

"Same old Izzati"

To her, I looked the same, she too looked the same to me, nevertheless both of us knew, we had changed, we've grown up. (Well, maybe not much, but still a bit) .

I can stand up for myself now.