When I was five, there was an annual rummage sale at my kindergarten. On the day of rummage sale, there was no class, and the children were invited to arrive at the rummage sale at certain hour depending on their age.
My mother left for the kindergarten early that day. She was supposed to be in charge of one of the stalls. A few hours later, my father, my little brother and I walked to the kindergarten together. I was excited thinking about what I would find in the rummage sale.
Upon arrival, I was surprised by the total transformation of my familiar kindergarten. Both the front garden and the classrooms were bustling with people of all ages, and there was merry music in the background. Deeply impressed, I changed my shoes and went inside.
In the back corridor, just in front of the staircase, I saw a small pool of water balloons. As I went closer, I realized that the person who was selling the water balloons was my mother. Crouching over the pool, she was talking to a group of boys showing different water balloons. I had never seen my mother selling things before. She looked cool selling those balloons. I purchased two balloons from my mother, one for myself and one for my brother.
Then I searched for my father and brother, who had gone to explore other stalls. As I passed through one of the classrooms, I found a stall of stuffed animals. Being a fan of these fluffy toys, I decided to have a look. Among them there was a large dog plush, which looked like a real dog. I loved the size and the texture. The parents who were selling the stuffed animals helped me to pay the amount, and I walked away with a new dog plush in my arms.
In the front garden, I finally joined my father and brother. My father had purchased some street food and a bag of popcorn made and sold by my teachers.
“Are we done?”
It was a brief visit, but we all got what we wanted, so we left the rummage sale and walked back home. On the way, we sat on a brick wall to eat the snack my father had bought for us. As we sat and ate, I showed my new dog plush to my father.
“This dog is really cute. I’m so happy I got this.”
I eagerly told my father. After looking at my purchase for a moment, he gently said,
“I think this is a fox, not a dog.”
“A fox?”
I was surprised. I had never seen a fox in my life. My father explained to me that a fox had a long and fluffy tail and a pointed nose. Indeed, the animal in my hand had a fluffy tail and a pointed nose.
“I got a fox.”
I repeated to myself. In any case, the fox plush was very cute, and I was very happy about my purchase.
After that, the three of us all went to watch buses on top of the hill near our house which was a place for the local buses to stop over before their scheduled time. My brother loved to spend time there to watch his favourite buses. Once we were there, not interested in buses, I sat on a metal pipe and watched my father and brother entertain themselves with the comings and goings of the buses as I held my new fox plush in my arms and helped myself to a bagful of fresh popcorn.