24-12-24
About 20 Christmas Eves ago, I passed by 4 dogs sheltering under a vacated apartment block. There had been an on off drizzle much like today.
I went home, put down my stuff & went out again to the supermarket to get dog food and aluminium trays in preparation to feed them.
By the time I got to the abandoned block, I couldn’t find the dogs.
A sense of disappointment mixed with deepening unease crept up on me as I surveyed the deserted neighbourhood in the failing light.
At that moment of uncertainty, a voice called out to me,”Miss Ong, what are you doing here?”
I turned around. Two boys had seemed to materialise from nowhere. They introduced themselves as students from one of the schools I had worked in.
When I told them about my failed feeding attempt, they took over the trays of dog food and completed my mission.
8 years after that Christmas Eve encounter, I would be relocated to a new flat that sits on the land where I fed the homeless dogs.
And each Christmas Eve especially on a cool evening like this, I will hear the Angels loud & clear: “Miss Ong, what are you doing here?” 🙏
Lisa Ong 