Angel Spotting

Television: A medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well done. ~Ernie Kovacs

Angel and I sat glued to the TV screen. The TV had been on for the past two hours, which was a rare sight. When their father isn’t around, we seldom have the TV on for more than a couple of hours per week.

The news anchor was speaking in her normal slow and steady tone. How I wished there was a fast-forward button then.

By the way, Angel and I were fixed on the news as the news crews had gone to Angel’s class earlier that day to shoot on a new teaching method employed by the school. They were informed that the clip will be shown on the 10 o’clock news at Channel News Asia on the same night.

Nonetheless, we started to watch ALL the news broadcasted that night, be it the 9 o’clock one on Channel U or the 9.30 news on Channel 5.

The clip wasn’t shown on Channel U.

We waited impatiently for the 9.30 news. The first half had gone with no avail. After the advertisements, her school was on TV!

I watched each screenshot intently in case I missed the part she was in, not forgetting asking her all the time if she was in that shot.

Out of a sudden, Angel was exclaiming right beside me.

“There! Me! Me!”

I searched the screen frantically while Rachel scrambled into the room as fast as she could.

“I saw Angel!” Rachel spotted her the minute she laid her eyes on the screen.

“Where? Where?” My voice was panic-stricken. How I wished there was a pause button then.

Both of them pointed to the same place at the same time when the screen switched to the next scene. I thought I managed to catch sight of her backside.

“Did you see me?” Angel was jumping up and down beside me and doing her little somersaults.

“No. But never mind. There’s still the 10 o’clock news. I know where to look out for you now,” my voice couldn’t hide my despair. If only there was a rewind button.

My best friend called me on my mobile phone at that very moment.

“I saw Angel! She’s the one with the two ponytails right? She was at the right hand corner leaning forward onto her desk…”

My jaws simply dropped open. I had informed my friend just a couple of minutes ago about Angel’s appearance on TV that night, and had asked her to watch out for her. I hadn’t carried much hope that she’d be able to recognize her since she hadn’t really had a chance to see her very often.

“I didn’t see her!” I was in total anguish.

“What? Are you serious? I spotted her the moment the screen came in. I even pointed out to my boy who saw her too! Are you sure you didn’t see her?”

Oh well, oh well. Now it seemed like I was the ONLY one who couldn’t spot MY daughter.

“I’ll wait for the 10 o’clock news. I know where to look at now,” I muttered as if in a trance.

“But how could you miss? She was right there! I could spot her the moment she came in!”

“It was too fast…” But Rachel managed to spot her the moment she ran into the room too.

“Oh yes. You have only two seconds to spot her when you watch the 10 o’clock news later. Come on, even I can spot her. Not to mention that you are her mother…”

“I was looking at the wrong side! I’ll definitely spot her the next time round!” I was in deep torment.

“Be sure to keep your eyes open! Focus on the right hand corner!” I wanted to push on a mute button.

“I know, I know. I saw her backside just now. I’ll get to see her face, you’ll see,” I was agonizing over my incompetence.

The same news was broadcasted again at 10pm on Channel News Asia. I dared not let down my guard and concentrated on the screen attentively, fixing my glare over the spot I was certain Angel would appear.

“Mummy! There!” As if both of my girls knew how muddle-headed I could be, both of them pointed to the exact position at the same moment.

To my aghast, I had been staring at the wrong girl! I flicked my eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of Angel against her desk, before the scene was lost.

“Did you manage to see this time?” the two girls asked me at the same instant.

“Yes,” my voice came out as a feeble squeak.

My friend called again to jab on me.

“Did you see her this time?”

“Well, yes, but not before I realized I was looking at the wrong person. I managed to take a glimpse somehow.” I hope that was a convincing answer.

“Hopeless.” I could almost see her rolling her eyes.

My self-assurance was near crashing.

Give me an eject button please.