Of Bario and Relationships Built #1

Photo credits to Jeremy Chin

This is me and Dom walking to the morning market, Tamu Ria. On the first day I met him, we just got along so well even though he was shy at first. As he is nine years old, he has that 'boy-germ, girl-germ' mentality like all kids. I think he realized after a while (after I played with the mud dug up while weeding and gave people affectionate hugs and touches with my muddy hands) that I wasn't the general type of girl he expected me to be. Well we bonded, and I really enjoyed spending time with him. We made mud balls and played Catch, took a walk to the longhouse while I piggybacked him, pretended to be spies, played with baby Nawan, took random videos of people, he slept on my lap... Then came the last day. Early in the morning, we were getting ready to leave for the airport when his mom asked me, 'Have the three musketeers (her three children, including Dom) said goodbye to you yet?'

I said no, and she told me that they were awake in her house, which is nearby the longhouse we stayed. Anyone looking out their window after that would have seen a figure clad in red sprinting down the road as though ten Kerbaus were behind (I'm being a little bit dramatic here).

So I went into her house, out of breath, and asked her other two children if Dom was in. Her daughter shouted in Kelabit, 'Dom, Gloria is here!' and then I heard the thundering of footsteps on the wooden floor. A door burst open and Dom ran out, then slowed down a little sheepishly. I said goodbye then decided to hug him, even though he was a little shy when affection was shown, especially from a girl. What surprised me was that he hugged me back, real tight. I had to go off immediately after the hug because we had to walk to the airport, but that hug stayed with me.

After getting back, I emailed his mother, Aunty Nicole a message for her to add to her guestbook. I wasn't expecting a reply, so I had a pleasant surprise when the email came through. In the email, she said that he repeatedly asked when I was coming back. A little string tugged on my heart, bringing me back to Bario, to the time spent there with Dom and so many other people.

I miss him a lot, and when I go back (no ifs for this!), I'm definitely going to spend time with him, cooking up mischief again.

Matching sweaters!

Written by
Gloria Dayang Ngu