The Boy with a Snake in his Schoolbag by Bob Ong

Author:Bob Ong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 2022-12-30T00:00:00+00:00

I wasn’t the type of kid who puts stickers on any old surface in the house or scribbles notes on encyclopedia pages or tears out pages of books and magazines. It was an important rule in our house to take care of and respect our belongings. So, when an activity in fourth year of high school required us to cut out a picture of us and our parents, I simply used photos that were lying around of my father’s co-workers abroad and made them my “parents.” Friends at school who knew my mother and father smirked, knowing I was pulling off another crazy stunt. Although all I really wanted was to not waste a good photo of my parents for a silly assignment. It was just another disposable homework task, after all, not a school project or anything that would affect my score or class standing.

Sadly, my own parents weren’t pleased when they discovered my other “parents.” My mother felt sad thinking I was ashamed of them, which was a what-the-heck moment for a teenager who had a very different take on the situation. As baffling as the robot Christmas present was, I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t appreciate my intention to preserve their photographs. And just as the robot Christmas present took me a long time to understand, it took me a while to realize that what I did had disappointed my mother. And I never felt more sorry.

I am blaming this on inexperience. If I could have another chance at the detestable homework today, I would reprint our entire family album and submit it with a dedication to my teacher: “Here you go, Ma’am. Have a blast!”

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