An Embarrassing Incident
Peter was browsing through the newspapers and he saw that there was a book fair in Sunshine City. He loved books and this was definitely a good opportunity to go. Furthermore, Sunshine City was within walking distance from his house. He changed and set off for the book fair.
As expected, when he reached there, the fair was crowded with people from all walks of life. He went in and began to move around, looking for suitable books. He started by looking for his favourite author. He was delighted when he found that the books by his favourite author were on sale! They were going for as cheap as two dollars a copy! He took the four latest books and then moved to another table where there were other books.
He found some recipe books which he thought his mother would like so he purchased two books. He looked through some other books but decided that he would not need to buy them now so he headed for the cashier to pay for his purchases.
There was a long queue and he was very pleased with himself. All the six books for only twelve dollars! When it was his turn, he went forward and the cashier packed everything into a bag.
“Twelve dollars, please,” the cashier said. Peter reached to his back pocket to get his wallet and to his horror, his wallet was not there. He felt around his back pockets again and then dug into his front pockets. He really had forgotten his wallet!
By then, the cashier was already tapping her fingers impatiently and Peter could feel many eyes staring at him from behind. He went red with embarrassment when the cashier barked, “Hey, boy, what do you think you are doing? Are you going to buy the books or not?”
“I am… er… sorry,” Peter stammered. He explained that he had forgotten his wallet and he asked if she would mind putting the books aside while he ran home to get the money. To his disappointment, she said they did not do reservations. All the books would be placed back. He could come back and try looking for them later.
“Let me help you,” a voice interrupted. Peter turned and saw his neighbour, Mr. Wong. He smiled at Peter and patted him on his back.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he fished out a ten-dollar note and a two-dollar note and passed it to the rude cashier. Peter felt immensely relieved. He took the books, turned around, and muttered a soft apology to all those behind him, and then left with Mr. Wong.
As they walked home, he explained to Mr. Wong what had happened. Mr. Wong chuckled and said it was alright to be forgetful sometimes. He told Peter that it was good that he loved reading. When Peter reached his house, he told Mr. Wong to wait for a while and he ran to get his wallet. He handed twelve dollars to Mr. Wong and once again, thanked him profusely. He was very grateful to Mr. Wong for rescuing him from that embarrassing situation.
