“That Kid With The Fingers”

There's this kid I know who had five fingers. Only five fingers for his two hands. He is the happiest little kid I know. Every time I see him he's always smiling. Some days in the evenings I would have to go outside and call my little brother home for dinner and I'll find him playing with that kid with the fingers. Like today. They're both talking about a riddle they just heard and are both trying to figure it out.



“Are you sure?” I heard my brother ask.

“I think so.” he giggled, “Let's ask your brother, he's right over there.” he said, pointing at me with his...thumb, I guess.

“Abang, am I right, or is your brother right?” he asked me, with the grin still on his face.

They both excitedly told me the riddle I've heard a million times before as a kid. I gave them the answer and they both laughed like madmen.

“I knew it was a stupid riddle!” my brother declared.

“Your brother knows everything, I wish I could be like him!” the kid exclaimed.

Then my brother went off to the swings and the kid went to the monkey bars. I watched as he gripped the bars in his funny little way. He fell down violently after two bars. I winced as he examined the cut he got on his forehead.

“I gripped it wrong.” he told me after a giggle or two.

He went again, this time holding it in a very different way. He got across in three swings, skipping the last bar.

“Did you see that?” he breathed, holding his arms in the air. “I was awesome!”
Seeing my unimpressed look, he asked me, “Don't you like monkey bars?”

“No.” I confessed.

“Why not?”

“I was always afraid of falling.”

He giggled some more before telling me, “You can't be scared of falling. I'm not. I fall all the time.”

He took another swing back the other way.

“But now, I'm king of the monkey bars!” he yelled, as the cut on his forehead started to bleed.

I watched as he wiped his head with the back of his hand, climbed down and ran to the swings to join my brother.

The kid is still smiling. I wish I could be like him.

I was never any good at this.