Mrs Tham announced that the class was to complete a project. Each group must be in a buddy team. Before Bobby could ask Sharon, Anna had tagged her proclaiming to those who could hear that Sharon was her group mate. Turning around, Bobby saw Daniel sitting quietly as the rest of the class shouted to one another. Daniel looked at him blankly. Bobby went forth to ask if he would be his buddy for the project. Daniel simply grunted.
Unsure if it was a positive, Bobby asked again and got another grunt, this time, louder. Confused, he looked around and realised that only him and Daniel were unpaired. Once everyone had settled down, Mrs Tham went on to the project’s details. They were to present a poster encouraging everyone to be environmental friendly. They had to display 3 different ways of recycling and a real product that was recycled.
They were to submit the project in 2 weeks’ time. Bobby invited Daniel to his place to discuss the project and received a grunt. He was starting to feel irritated by the grunts that didn’t really answer his questions. A simple “Yes” or “No” would have made everything clearer.
After school, Bobby walked towards Grandpa smiling. “Grandpa! I invited my friend today! We are going to do a project on helping the Earth!”
“Wow, Bobby, that’s great! Where’s your friend?” Grandpa looked around. Bobby turned around and found that Daniel hadn’t followed him despite his grunt. Slapping his forehead, Bobby realised that the grunt meant “No”.
“Forget about him,” Bobby frowned. “He never answer me except grunting as if he’s lost his talking ability. I don’t even know if it’s a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ each time.” Grandfather and grandson walked him together in silence.
Two days later, when Bobby greeted Grandpa, Grandpa asked, “Is that your friend?” Bobby turned around to find Daniel close behind. They hadn’t spoken at all since Bobby was often frustrated by grunts from Daniel. Bobby nodded and the three of them walked home.
At home, both boys sat at the table with a pen and paper. Bobby asked,”Do you know where to start?” He received a blank stare. Struggling to keep cool, Bobby drew some objects that was related to recycling and included a logo that he found in the newspapers the day before.
After he had completed, Daniel took the pen from him and started drawing and writing. Eventually, the paper looked different and it was better than Bobby’s with improvements. Bobby smiled. “Daniel, that’s great! Shall we do it now?” Another grunt. “Daniel, can you even speak at all? All those grunting makes no sense! I don’t know what you are thinking!”
Daniel ignored him, started packing and left the house. Bobby’s face was red from the anger and it nearly made him burst out again at being ignored. Grandpa was watching the entire episode and felt it was time to make his move. “Bobby, let’s have dinner. We’ll clean this place later.”
It was Friday when Daniel followed Grandpa and Bobby home. He held a large bag and refused to let anyone take it. When they had settled down, Daniel took out the stuff that was meant for recycling and placed them neatly on the table. Bobby watched quietly as he didn’t know what he had in mind. After everything was placed on the table, Daniel sat down doing nothing. Bobby waited. Ten minutes later, Bobby reached out to take one of the items and followed the drawings on the paper that Daniel had added that day.
When Bobby finally finished, Daniel took the items and started dismantling them to make the changes. Bobby frowned, “What are you doing? Isn’t that what you drew?” No answer. “Look, are you dumb? What exactly are you doing? I don’t know what’s going on! Your silence and grunts are confusing me!”
Daniel continued building and left after he was done without a word. Bobby screamed in frustration. “Grandpa,” he cried. “Why can’t he simple talk? It makes things so much easier!” Grandpa patted him. “I don’t know what he wants either! If he at least tell me what and how he wants it to be built, I would know and I can help! I feel so useless!”
“Bobby, perhaps, he prefers to do it his way. Just let him do it and maybe he’ll start talking.”
“He better start talking. Grunting doesn’t really tell me anything at all!” Bobby snuggled into Grandpa’s arms. Grandpa smiled and patted his grandson assuringly. It was the day of the project to be handed in. They had to do a presentation and Daniel suddenly stood up with the poster and product in his hands. He strode purposefully towards the board and did a great speech. Bobby was shocked at his change.
After class, Bobby went to Daniel but before he could speak, Daniel spoke, “I’m sorry. I don’t talk a lot and I don’t like to make people angry.”
“Well, you did a great job. Just don’t make me confused again!” Bobby shook hands with his partner.
