Then

"Lavender's blue deellee, deellee,
Lavender's green;
When I am king deellee, deellee,
You shall be queen,"
1990
With red dresses and make-ups, we sashayed on the stage. The boys wore school-uniforms but had little bow-ties to make them look a little dressed up. He took me to the venue that day. It was my first parent's day function and I was in kindergarten. He watched me from the back, from behind all the parents who were present. My mom was in the crowd.

"Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curd and whay..."
1991
I wore a cream-coloured dress and my cheeks were bright red from the lipstick that was used as a blush. I had a ribbon on my forehead and little wings, all matching to my dress. I was a fairy this time and my class was enacting the 'Little Miss Muffet' play. I was in class-I and this time too he stood watching from the back. After the function, he took me aside and asked his friend to click a photo of me holding the prize I'd just won, for 'best attendance' that year.

"Shepherds! Shake off your drowsy sleep,
Rise and leave your silly sheep;"...
1992
This time I was an angel. He had worked so hard on my wings that I in fact had the best wings amongst the angels. That day, unknowingly, I had worn my wings upside down so before our play he told my mom to fix it for me. I was called outside and my mom adjusted the wings for me. Again, he stood watching from the back.

5:00 A.M
1994
I woke up earlier than usual. That morning we were running a cross-country race. At the beginning of the race, I ran fast. But I slowly tired down and by the end of the race, I was half walking. Later at home, he told me he had waited so long to see me run up to the spot close to where he was watching.

"Animals in Captivity"
1996
I chose this topic for an elocution competition. He was way excited than I was. The night before the competition, he made me practise on and on. My eldest sister was just as enthusiastic and so they eagerly took me to my uncle's place. They wanted me to practise in front of my cousin who is good at this sort of thing. The next day, I won first prize. He gave me ten bucks as a reward.

"You're the first in class"
1998
It was an aunt who told me my examination result. None from my family had the time to go and pick up my result as he was bed-ridden. He smiled when he heard this and sat up on his bed. This would be the last time that he was going to give me his support, the last time that he would beam whenever I accomplished something, the last time that he would ever hear about me.

A week passed. Then he was gone. My father, who always gave me tremendous support, was no more. On that fateful day in May, I lost my special spectator who never tired himself of watching me from the back, from behind the crowd.