”FAMILY TIME” (A story not just for children) 1. Almost midnight, in a residential area near downtown Bangkok, it was getting quiet except occasional noises from three-wheeled Tuk-Tuks taxis speeding through the narrow lanes. Inside a spacious apartment, brother and sister cockroaches cautiously stuck their heads out from under the kitchen cabinet. They were looking for mother and father cockroaches. “Where could they go?” sister began to worry. “They must be hiding somewhere,” brother replied. “You know, parents sometimes need to be alone.” “I heard someone talking.“ Sister perked her ears. They traced the murmuring sound down to a corner near the refrigerator. Oh yes, mother and father cockroaches were right inside a flat paper box. Their antennas caressed each other . But their bodies stayed apart in an odd shape. 2, “Surprise!” the children jumped into the box before mom and dad could stop them. Immediately they felt something very sticky under their feet and couldn’t move a bit. “Oh, I got stuck on a bubble gum,” sister yelled. “But it doesn’t smell like one,” brother replied. Mother and father were shocked, “Why are you here, children?” “Why are you here?” brother and sister replied in one voice. “We are…eh,” father hesitated for a second and then said, “TRAPPED!” “What?” the children couldn’t believe their ears. Father felt very distressed. “I didn’t know it was a cockroach trap and got stuck first. Then your mom tried to rescue me and couldn’t move herself. Now all of us are here.” “We couldn’t find any way to get out?” brother became really mad. “I’m afraid not, son,” mother said in tears. “The more you try, the deeper you’re into it.” “This kind of trap looks and smells different,” father said.. “It must have been brought in from the US or Japan.” He cursed his luck for bringing the whole family into such devastation “Dear, it’s not your fault,” mother tried to comfort him. “You were only trying to get us some food.” 3. “Great!” sister cockroach said cheerfully. She didn’t quite understand the real danger they were in. “Now we can have some family time.” Father and mother sighed. They didn’t know what to say. Indeed, for a long time the whole family hardly stayed together. Everybody was busy with something. Sometimes they couldn’t even join for dinner. Weekends were the worst. There were different activities, different friends and different bedtimes. They had to use a blackboard to leave messages for each other. “Yes,” brother replied calmly. “Tonight I’ll play games with you, as long as you like.” He was almost sure that they would be stuck in the trap forever. He felt bad that he did not play with his sister much in the past. “Yeah! Let’s do a word game first,” Sister suggested. “I’ll start with food. Cereal.” “Chicken,” brother followed.“ “Cherry”. “Beef.” “Banana.” “Broccoli.” “Band-Aid.” “Hey, that’s not food.” …… Mother and father watched lovingly. They realized they had worked too hard. They should have spent more time with their children. It was true that their family had a quiet life. But something was missing. It was caring for each other. They didn’t have much time to talk or ask what others were doing. End-of-year vacation became the only time when the four of them would stay in one place and did all kinds of fun stuff together. 4. The refrigerator behind the door made a sudden noise and scared the cockroach family. “Mom, what’s inside that monster?” sister asked, pointing to the fridge. “Food and drinks, dear,” mother said. “It could hold enough food for all the cockroaches in the world.” “Wow!“ sister was really impressed. “When I grow up I’ll get one like this for our family so that nobody needs to look for food any more.” Sister promised. Looking for food had never been a problem before. There was always something for everybody. Mother liked pork bits left in the sink. Father loved chicken soup spilt on the cooking range. Brother and sister enjoyed looking for sweet cereals scattered around as much as their Easter egg-hunting. Brother even boasted that he could tell which one was made locally and which one was imported. A few weeks ago, however, a Thai maid came and started around the clock clean-up. Even the garbage was bagged before the cockroaches had any chance. Since then the cockroach family had to go to bed without little in their belly. Father became so desperate that he would jump at anything eatable. But he forgot about the cockroach traps. 5. White moonlight poured into the kitchen. “It’s bedtime, children,” mother cockroach said finally. “I’m afraid tonight you’ll have to sleep like this.” Sister was excited, “I’m so happy tonight. I want more family time tomorrow.” Then she remembered something. “Dad, will you wake me up early?,” she asked. “I have a playday with my friend next door.” Brother looked at his sister, mother and father one more time. “I’ll always love you all,” he said calmly. “We’ll always love each other,” father answered and turned away. “Could you sing us a song, mom?” sister pleaded. Mother held back her tears. She gazed at the sky and began to sing: “Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.” Father joined her and they sang softly: “Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are……” Father and mother touched each other with their antennas. They knew this would be the last night for the cockroach family. But they didn’t feel panic. After all, they stayed together and were happy. Nothing else mattered. The next morning, the cockroach trapping box was picked up and thrown into a garbage bag. Before the cockroach family opened their eyes, it was all dark again.