I Can Imagine
By Katrina Hidalgo
In grandma’s house, there is no iPhone or iPad. There is only a television, and the three grownups are already watching something. Grandma and mom are lying on the big queen size bed and Tita (aunt) is sitting on the famous family solihiya weave rocking chair. What can I do? I’m bored! I don’t want to go outside, it’s hot out there in the sala (living room). Here in grandma’s room, there is air conditioning. I climb up on a baul (a Filipino chest or trunk) with elaborate carvings. It’s made from solid wood, and it is varnished dark brown and has a shine to it. Immediately, I am somebody else…
I am high up in the clouds, I am a care bear! My friends call me Tenderheart Bear. I grab a rag and start to wipe furniture around Care-a-lot (our home). I check the Care-o-meter (a device measuring the level of care still present on earth). Oh no, it is almost down to zero! I call Bedtime Bear, Birthday Bear, Cheer Bear, Friend Bear, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear, Grumpy Bear, Love-a-lot Bear, and Wish Bear! We board our cloud mobiles and rush down to earth. A young boy ran away from home and ended up in Professor Coldheart’s castle (the villain)! We got to rescue him before Professor Coldheart turns him into a goblin and teaches him how not to care! We arrive in our cloud mobiles and carefully make our way into the castle. We almost reach the place where Professor Coldheart is keeping the young boy but there is a deep crevice! Cheer Bear steps in and plants a rainbow over the crevice. We all slide onto the rainbow, and we make it! Too late, Professor Coldheart has already turned the young boy and a few other children into goblins. We huddle together and prepare to do the care bear stare. Then, I say, “Care Bears, get ready to care, prepare to stare, stare there!” Beams of hearts, sunshine, rainbows, flowers… emanate from our belly areas. We aim at the goblins and watch them turn back into caring children, yay!
And so today, whenever I would see a person who does not seem to care, I remember that bear and I try to care and then I prepare to stare.
Katrina Hidalgo is an aspiring positive Psychologist who loves journaling, coloring and taking loooong walks. She has been based in Singapore for 14 years as a Pre-school teacher.
