special encounter

Was in the shuttle bus yesterday and up came a special child. He was small and thin, and had to be carried by his maid. He had a hearing aid on his ear. He was wary of strangers and so did not return my smile the first time. Then the bus started moving. He'll steal glances and I'll smile. But still, he did not show any response.

Then, he started making some small short sounds. Each time he did that, I'll look at him and give him a response like a smile, a nod etc. Then he pointed to the window (I was at the window seat). The window had curtains drawn. So I lifted the curtain abit and he can see the road and cars and whatever that we passed by then. For a few seconds only, and then I moved the curtain back to original position. He looked at me, I smiled at him. Then, he pointed to the curtain again (probably trying his luck). So we repeated the same thing. Lifted the curtain abit, he saw the lights outside, then I closed it back. It was like a game.

In the beginning, the idea was to give this child some form of control....since he doesn't have much control over his bodily movements.  Think he enjoyed 'remote controlling' me pretty much! Hahaa. Because after three or four repeats, he had a smile on his face whenever our eyes met.

Our journey together was short. Probably less than 10 minutes. But when it was time to get off the bus, I mouthed 'byebye' and he did the same and gave a big grin.