Midnight Caper

The last few months had been pretty quiet, if not depressing since the movement control order was imposed.  Life in the temple goes on but Head Nun has made it very clear that nobody is to go out at any time for safety reasons and had arranged for our groceries and other necessities to be delivered to the temple.  

Ning is very unhappy over the whole situation and grumbled the other day that he is bored to tears.  The Long Tails Club had closed for the past six months and he has nowhere to go for his "happy hour".  As for me, it's prayers, meditation, inspection rounds for naughty rats, more prayers and meditation.  But I suppose we should not complain, we are lucky in that we have food to eat, a roof over our heads and some entertainment from the old TV.  However, the televised virus statistics in the country and around the world are getting most of us down, so many of the nuns prefer to retire to bed early rather than watch.

On one such evening, with nobody around, I also decided to go to bed early but it was difficult to fall asleep at such an early hour.  It must have been around midnight when I finally dozed off, only to be awakened by a noise in the kitchen shortly after.  I peered into the darkness but could not see anything. I got up and crept stealthily towards the table where the sounds were coming from. I then saw that it was one of the nuns, the one they nickname "Ah Pui Kor" (Fat Nun or APK for short) because of her plump stature.   

"APK, what are you doing?" I hissed.  She looked down at me, startled and said, "Sssh, Vege Cat.  Please don't make any noise."  I jumped up onto the chair next to the table and saw to my surprise that she was eating ice cream!  "Please, Vege Cat, don't tell Head Nun, I've been dying to eat ice cream for months ..."  I was horrified. If APK had sneaked out to buy ice cream and Head Nun found out, she would be in hot soup. She pleaded with me to keep her midnight caper a secret and feeling sorry for her, I said, "Alright, I won't tell Head Nun but you had better finish your ice cream quickly and go to bed......"

Even as I spoke, the lights in the kitchen suddenly came on.  It was Head Nun.  We both froze where we sat.  "On my God, I'm finished," whispered APK.  Head Nun came over to the table and saw the carton of ice cream.  She looked at both of us, then said, "Well, well, looks like you two are having a ball."  

APK jumped to her feet and stammered, "Head Nun, Vege Cat has nothing to do with this and please don't misunderstand.  I didn't go out to buy the ice cream, my mum sent it to me just now after dinner cos she knows how much I miss having ice cream ....."  Her voice trailed away.  

For a while, Head Nun said nothing, then, "Well, what are you standing there for?  Aren't you going to share your ice cream with me?"  APK looked at me, then we both looked at Head Nun, then all of a sudden the three of us burst out laughing.   

I never knew eating ice cream with Head Nun in the middle of the night could be so much fun. We heard many tales of her childhood days in China and how her family was so poor that they could not afford to buy ice cream. We also heard about the kind ice cream man who would give her a small cup of chocolate ice cream f.o.c. whenever he came by.   

It was a night to remember and I'm sure APK will remember it too for the rest of her life.  Bless you, Head Nun.