People go and come back. It is like a current or a gush of wind. But as a child, I did not have this knowledge. I wish I could have known better before I named a donkey as my enemy.

I do not remember the exact date, but I do remember that it was a fairly windy day. I was lying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, when my mom came out of her room, looking concerned.

"Honey, can you stay home by yourself for a few moments? I will come back home soon, I promise." Mom said.
      

"Why?" I leaped out of the sofa and was alarmed that I had to stay home alone. This would be my first time staying at home by myself. My dad was at work, and my sister was at school. With my mom gone, there would be no one to accompany me in the house. I thought of all those scary and gruesome monsters from my world of imagination. What if the monster kidnaps me when mother is gone? What if a thief comes in the house?
      

Mom saw my worried face, and she smiled, saying, "Don't worry. I will be back soon. Why don't you watch Shrek while I am gone? I will play it for you."
      

My brain did not have time to answer when mother already put the Shrek tape into the VCR. She hugged me tightly and reached for the door.
      

I urgently asked, "You will be back soon, right?"
       

She said reassuringly, "Yes, I promise."
      

"Soon, right?" I asked once more before the door closed.
      

"Of course." Then the door closed.
      

With the sound of the lock turning, I felt the tightness over my chest. I cannot believe I was home alone. I stared at the door, thinking that my mother would come right back in. Didn’t she promise that she will be back soon?

My attention was then diverted toward the buzzing television. I once again began to panic. Something that I did not have a chance to tell my mother was: I was scared of the donkey from Shrek.

I was not scared of the hideous looking ogre, but I was scared of the donkey, which everyone loved for its humorous personality. The donkey’s big, round, and reddish-brown eyes left me with goosebumps every time I accidentally met its gaze. Its exaggeratedly wide stretched mouth, its two big and yellowed buckteeth, and its big nostrils that can each fit an eyeball all frightened me greatly. Not only that, his frantic footsteps, which was meant to express his excitement dawned on me like the steps of impending evil.

The television screen turned blue, then black, and after the series of FBI copyright warnings, the screen proceed to play the movie.

I was inclined to turn the television screen off, because I knew that soon the donkey would jump out from the woods and appear before my eyes.

I reached for the television button below the screen, but at the same time I was so scared to even touch the screen in fear that I would touch the donkey. I took series of deep breaths. In and out. In and out. My fingers brushed through the buttons several times before I retrieved my fingers back quickly. Then finally, I mustered the courage to turn off the screen with the speed of light and rushed into my bedroom. I covered myself with blankets to protect myself from the chills, while my ears paid attention to the sound from outside, waiting for my mother to come back.

Suddenly, the thought of my mom caused my eyes to well up in tears. I was upset that she was not here with me and that she did not keep her promise. I then reached for the box of tissues near my bed and cried wholeheartedly. My bed was soon all covered with tissue papers and my tears, and without me realizing, I fell asleep.

I did not dream. When I woke up by the sound of clashing plates from the kitchen, I felt as if there was a period of blankness from the time when my mother left to the time I woke up. There was no trace of the disaster; the room was neatly organized with the tissue papers all thrown away.

I walked outside and saw my mom preparing dinner in the kitchen. I ran to her and hugged her. The familiar smell of grapefruit lotion from her clothes, her ticklish curly hair, and her soft warm touch were back within my grasp. The feeling of relief spreaded throughout my body.

With my head leaning against her shoulders, I thought, I will never be home alone with the donkey ever again.