Divine Day : Some moment before the decision (23/10/02)

I let my mind wander around some old memories, hoping that I would discover some way out. Exploring into past memories was such a hard work. So many piles of reminiscence I had to unfold. Pile after pile, finally, I bumped into the recent event, which was my best friend’s birthday in June 2002. A single woman, whose dream was having a pet, living alone in her spacious house needed something to fill her gap. I remembered that I had to find her a gift.

It was 8.30 o’clock in the morning; Jatujak Weekend Market wasn’t crowded just yet. I parked my car and walked through the pet section. The entrance of the section welcomed me with several aquariums containing a wide range of colourful fish. The sellers were occupied with arranging the cardboard boxes and rapidly sweeping the concrete floor. The small fog of dust encouraged me to walk away from the beginning of the section. I had no idea about what to look for—what would my friend love? I glanced as I was pacing through each shop; everywhere looked the same with small puppies and some fish.

“Unique tortoise, only one for sale” shouted the middle aged guy with a big belly from the shop on my left. My curiosity was aroused. “Young lady come here, take a look. It’s okay if you don’t buy it” I smiled and pushed myself toward the glass tank where the baby turtle was lifting up its short neck and looked at me. “This one is imported from Germany. Very rare.” The chubby bald seller kept advertising.

This little turtle really grabbed my attention. I liked its shiny chessboard-like shell, which was very curvy and blended perfectly with the light and dark brown colours. I asked for permission to feed it. This turtle was friendly and seemed to get along with me well. I especially liked its sleepy-like eyes, which always starred at me. While I was enjoying inspecting the German turtle, and was about to make a decision, I heard a continuous bang from a cage nearby. The source of the noise came from a turtle’s all time rival. I turned my face to check out its features. With its long ears, red eyes, and white puffy hair, I was tempted to touch it. Soft, warm, and lovely. “This specie of rabbit is very popular. People like to hold and play with it.” Maybe my friend would prefer the rabbit as I also started to like it too, I doubted. So, which one should I get? I asked the seller. “Well, it depends. The turtle, especially this one is hard to find. You still can play with it but it’s different from the rabbit with which you can be more intimated with.” I sighed. The seller continued, “Another important fact is a turtle lives longer, probably it will die after the owner. You’ll probably escape the saddest part of having a pet. ” He laughed. “But well, the rabbit is really cute too. I’m sure while it’s still with you, you’ll always enjoy having it. I just can’t guarantee how long it will live for. Get both!” Cheap trick.

I wish both animals could speak; I would like to know if any of them would like to be bought or not. Decision, decision, decision… Abruptly, my concentration was dispersed by the high hysterical pitch from a 5-year-old girl who dragged her mother to the rabbit cage “I want this one! I want it NOW” I couldn’t help giving her a look as my hand was still stroking on the rabbit. She started to cry, got really mad, and told me to leave the rabbit while the rabbit was also jumping away from me. The turtle was still in the same motion; still planting its eyes on me. With this threatening pressure, it eased me to make a final decision...

Long live the turtle!

That memory of gift decision-making process enhanced me to re-access my own hesitation. I nearly bought the turtle in the first instance, as I knew deep down that it would be a perfect present. I shouldn’t have been distracted with other factors. I was jealous at that young girl, who knew exactly what she wanted and was able to express her true feelings shamelessly.