i don't know how it got there...

Just now when I went downstairs in search of food (hehe... org Jawa panggil "men-tong"), Papa had a worried look on his face. He was searching for something... angkat cushion, check dalam pocket... jalan around the house.

"Kenapa Pa?" I asked.
"Kunci kereta Papa... I cannot locate it" he said, sambil mata melilau looking around.

He jalan sana sini mencari... while I sat menikmati murtabak ayam.

I tried to jog his memory... retracing each step that he took since he last had the keys in his hand. "Papa letak kat tangga macam biasa, then went to the kitchen to tolong Mama masak".

"Ntah ntah you terbuang sekali masa you buang sampah tadi kut?" Mama said.

My poor dad pun pergi lah kat our tong sampah, selongkar habis... no avail. Semua lampu pasang, cari... tapi still tak jumpa.

"Masa Papa masuk Papa cabut tak kunci drp pintu?" I asked him. He didn't reply. Mama pun terus jump in "Haa... kut kut ada orang nampak kunci terpacak kat situ and ambik". Trust her to jump to such conclusion. [My mom FYI has this fear about orang masuk rumah. Sampai mengigau lah if we are away from home for an extended period of time... mimpi orang masuk rumah]

Papa had an even more worried look on his face. He would never say it but you can tell from his air muka that he is concerned that it might be true. He re-traced every step balik... with hopes that such was not the case...

After about an hour of mencari and tak jumpa, we gave up. I went upstairs and started to simpan kain yang baru dilipat. Lepas dah habis, tergerak hati... Looked into my handbag yang ternganga luas. I saw my keys, my phone, blackberry... what's that in the corner?

Papa's keys!!!

Wallahualam macam manalah kunci tu boleh masuk my handbag. What I do recall is that when I got home I was sleepy like hell (dozed off several times while driving... masa berhenti tengah traffic jam, boleh terlelap... sampai one point tu, the car in front of me dah jauh ke depan). I letak my handbag and newspaper kat tangga, buka tudung, tanggal pas, buka jam and terus headed for the sofa to baring. It was 6:50pm I think... sempat lah catch 40 winks.

As usual, lepas iftar, we all solat Maghrib jemaah and lepas tu I grabbed my stuff and went upstairs to take a shower. Agaknya masa tu kut kunci tu termasuk dalam my handbag (or could I have absently picked it up and put it in there?)

Dengan tersipu-sipu I went downstairs... keys in hand.

"Papa... Papa..." I called out.
"Ye..." he answered from the kitchen, his hand deep in another sampah plastic bag. Aiyoo... kesian my dad. He was really doing all he can.

"Nah... Along jumpa"
"Kat mana?"
"Inside my handbag... tak tahu macam mana ada kat situ. I didn't take it."

A smile broke on his face... clearly relieved. He even laughed. "Cheh... penat Papa cari dalam sampah", in a cheery voice. I didn't get any *scolding*. I think he was just so relieved that he doesn't care. The smile still there.

"Ma... Along dah jumpa. Inside my handbag"
"Haaa.... alhamdulillah. Mama baru ingat nak telefon Wak suruh dia datang tukar kunci pintu besok". She too was smiling broadly. Relieved...

"Papa nak berak... dari tadi tahan ni..." my dad declared.

I left them and went back upstairs... disaster averted :)