Shop Till Ye Drop

Physical strength is measured by what we can carry; spiritual by what we can bear. ~Author Unknown

Rachel was out with her friends to the mall.

Mervin was staying over at my in-laws’ place.

That left Angel and me staring at each other’s pupils till our eyes ache.

“What about a trip to the supermarket?” I cocked an eyebrow.

“Huh…” Boredom ogled back at me in her huge brown eyes.

I tried a doleful look on her, “But we’re running out of tissue papers.”

“Oh yes…” She started to ponder. My doleful look seemed to be working. “There’s only a box of tissue papers left and I need them to blow my nose.”

She plucked yet another piece of tissue paper from the remaining box of supply as mucous trickled down from her stuffy nose once more, simply oblivious to my distorted facial features. Apparently, she was merely thinking through her nose.

Anyway, we ended up lunching at the mall (coincidentally the same one Rachel was meeting her friend) and enjoyed a moment of free movie in front of a video shop. I glanced around nervously for the sight of Rachel and her friends. If she was going to discover me there, she might think I was there to spy on her. I didn’t want to breach the trust we have for each other.

“What have the world come to?” I rolled my eyes as the thought crossed my mind.

We finally landed at the supermarket shopping for our important resources. Along with the tissue papers, we picked up some snacks, two packets of instant noodles, some canned food, a packet of dog snack, a box of cereals and a tub of margarine. As we passed by a stack of popcorns on sale, we halted. I looked at the groceries in my trolley then at Angel and myself.

“How about we put some of the stuffs back and get the popcorn instead?” I countered.

The little lady nodded her head most eagerly.

After much contemplation, we decided to trade the two packets of instant noodles for the big tub of popcorn.

On our way to replace the instant noodles to the shelf, we threw in another promotion pack of two cartons of milk and a carton of fruit juice. Out of the corner of my eyes, I say yet another promotional item which tempted me so much. A five-litre bottle of Dynamo detergent banded with a small bottle of softener. The price was tempting but the weight wasn’t. After a couple of minutes of tug-of-war in my head, the detergent landed in my cart.

“Ok. I think we really have our hands full now,” I beamed at Angel who was busy figuring which items she could carry for me. “Let’s check out and head for home… What’s this?”

I was looking at the Dreyers ice-cream selling at a special price for two tubs. I looked at Angel, then at the ice-cream, and back at Angel.

“Mummy…” Angel almost wailed.

“I’ll carry these myself!” I threw her a quick grin and loaded the two tubs into my cart before she could protest.

The journey to the interchange was tormenting. Angel was helping to carry the light snacks and tissue papers while I tried to juggled the rest of the items in my arms. I slung some of the plastic bags over my arm, cuddled the detergent like a baby on my waist and carried the others in my other free hand. When Angel was beginning to pant halfway to the bus stop, I offered to carry the snacks for her as well.

“Just help me to tap the ez-link card when we board the bus, will you?” I puffed between breaths.

Reaching home had never felt better. The instant I dropped all the baggage onto the ground, I felt light as a bird and almost floated to the ceiling. I tried lifting a hand to smooth out my wind-tousled hair but the two limbs weighed like lead after the ordeal. I chuckled to the amazing feat I had accomplished and thanked the little helper for her invaluable assistance too.

I looked at the formidable-looking detergent now cowering at a corner of the kitchen.

“You thought you could intimidate me, did you? Got you, didn’t I?” I smirked.

As I tenderly stashed the two tubs of ice-cream into my freezer, the wheels of my mind kept turning.

“Got you too, didn’t I?” I purred.