Talking

The other day I was watching the telly when my niece came and sat beside me. After a while she started talking to herself, obviously engrossed in some play-acting. I think she was in a hospital, playing the role of a doctor tending to her patients, because I heard words like "doctor", "headache" and "cucuk". Naya sungguh pi hospital ni. Sakit kepala sikit dah nak kena injek.

And she went on talking and talking and talking. Well one thing I need to tell you guys about my niece is that she is blessed with the gift of the gab. Give her any topic and she can yak for hours. And when she's in her fantasy world, she takes play-acting to another level. Misalan kata la kan, kalau dia berangan jadi cikgu sekolah, she'll make sure she acts out her pupil in another voice. And sometimes in another language. Like the other day I was eavesdropping on her conversation with one of her "pupils", I was surprised to discover that she asked a question in English but her pupil replied in Malay. When I asked her why, she told me that the teacher didn't speak Malay because she came from England. Ambik kau.

Well anyway back to the story. So she was talking to her patient and I interrupted her, asking why she was talking to herself. She said no. I said yes. There was nobody else around us talking to her.

Then she turned to me and said, "Mak Long, I'm not talking to myself. I'm talking to my imaginary friends in my head. If there was nobody in my head while I'm talking, now THAT would be crazy."

Nah. Ambik kau. Sekali lagi.