Story Time

Joy was only six when her teacher picked her to perform at the K2 graduation concert. It was a big deal for her—she loved moving to music, even if she had never been praised for it at home. But there was one problem: Joy’s mum hated dancing.

As the big day drew near, the teacher started giving out concert tickets to each child. “Invite your parents,” the teacher said warmly. Joy smiled but stayed silent. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to—it was that every time she tried to tell her mum, she was met with anger.

Then, one afternoon, everything changed. Aunty Sue, one of her classmates’ mothers, bumped into Joy’s mum at the wet market and casually mentioned the concert. The words struck like a storm. Furious, Joy’s mum dragged her to school the next day and demanded that Joy be removed from the performance.

The teacher tried her best to explain, but in the end, Joy’s mum relented—on one condition: Joy had to promise never to dance again in her life. And so, Joy performed that day with a heavy heart, knowing it was both her first and last dance.

Life went on. When Joy was nominated as Head Prefect in primary school, she didn’t tell her mum. She learned to keep her achievements tucked away like secrets.

Years later, on her 21st birthday, there were no balloons, no family celebration. She sat alone in her tiny room. Her friends, the other prefects, surprised her with a party earlier that day. They laughed, cheered, and showered her with love. For a moment, Joy felt something she had never felt before—a sense of belonging. She had dedicated her life to serving others, to being useful, to being seen. This was her real home.

But when the laughter faded and everyone went back to their lives, Joy was alone again. Sitting in the quiet, she wondered if this emptiness would ever leave.

(To be continued...)