Our Little Runaway

We anticipate a lot of things when we take a child to the boarding house for the first time. We suspect that the child would thump its nose at the school food for the first few days, until hunger brings wisdom. We anticipate that the child would be home sick for many days and keep counting the days till he or she can return home and do all within its power not to return to the ‘God-forsaken-place’. We worry about bullies and even sexual predators.

We anticipate a lot of things probably ‘cos they are reminiscent of our own feelings and experiences in our own first days in the New World. Some things however do not cross the mind at these times.

Exactly a week after taking Eruhwvun (my 9 year old sister) to her new school, we heard a knock on the gate. The person on the other side turned out to be the last person we were expecting…scratch that.. ‘cos we weren’t expecting her at all. No, it wasn’t her Principal come to tell us that she had been crying inconsolably the whole week. It was my Sister herself!

I’m not lying…my 9 year old sister turned up at the house unescorted a few days after being safely deposited at her new school…the island she is supposed to be stuck on till her parents come for her. The story surrounding her journey home is best imagined as it’s spun around public transportation and long treks in the dark night.

I’m torn between admiring her bravery and being angry that she would take the risks that she did. Of the many qualities that I possessed as a child of 9, I doubt that the kind of bravery involved in her escapade was a strong point. It occurs to me that she might have been oblivious of the dangers that lurk our cities. She apparently knows nothing of children going missing right on the streets their families live on. Now, this quality I did not lack as a child; I have always been wise in the ways of the world.

There is the school that was vested with the obviously cumbersome responsibility of keeping the child safe. I’m wondering, “if they couldn’t keep her for a week, however are they supposed to manage for 6 years?!” Should I start sending mails to members of their PTA informing them of this breech in their responsibility?

They have a right to know don’t they?! *(Mischievous Grin Here)*