Yesterday, after class, I went over to the chinese restaurant located at the base of Block A.

As usual, I made my order, and I waited.
I saw that the old man who sold fruits at a little corner nearby smile at me. I smiled back and walked over.

He seemed to be in his mid 50s.
"Hi girl, want some fruits?" I nodded and replied, "Hi uncle, yeah sure, I haven't seen you around in awhile."
"That's because Uncle finished selling all the fruits early. So I go back earlier la."
I noticed that he has quite a few last pieces left of the different kinds of fruits in his container filled with ice.
I made my decision and promptly told him, "Uncle, I want one of each fruit here."
He took them out, sliced them neatly and pacakged the accompanying condiments for me.
After he was done, I noticed that thre were only 4 slices left in his container.
That ought to sell in less than half an hour, I thought to myself, so that he could go home earlier.
I sat down with him, and we had a little chat.

"Uncle won't be here on Sunday, got to fetch my son to Sunday school.", he says with a strong pride in his son.
I beamed back.  It was all the encouragement he needed.
"Very smart boy, my son. He can speak 3 different languages. Only 7 you know!"
"He must be a fast learner then.", I replied as a form of encouraging him to continue with his words.

"Yeah he is! He's a good boy, this one. He speaks Mandarin to his mother, English to me because I con'tknow Mandarin. He can speak Malay too you know! And he won a trophy for Best Handwriting in the entire school when he was in kindergarden last year! Entire school you know! His handwriting is all of the same size and length, all round, like it was printed from the computer and identical!"

I smiled at his obvious pride and glee at how well his son is doing.

"What to do, Uncle married late. Put so much focus on my career, married late so my son is only 7 now."
"I hope that I will live long enough to see him succeed in life."

As I pondered upon his words, the auntie called me, letting me know that my meal was ready.
I smiled at the Uncle and paid him for the fruits.

"Sorry, I didn't ask, what's your name, girl?"
"It's Lynn, Uncle. My name is Lynn."
"I'm Albert. Nice to you meet you Lynn, see you again yeah."

I then picked up my takeaways, and walked away feeling contented as the wind teased my hair into disarray.

Afterall, RM 6 is a small price to pay for company and a worthy conversation with someone who was probably lonely.

I hope I made his day, like he made mine.