Airbnb

“Ooooo… new small square-shaped couch” I think and head over to give it a go. I clamber on top, grab the new soft material and pull myself up. This would be a great place to try jumping off. I add this to my list of awesome ideas to do later. As I explore the new space, I can see Papa (Dad) steadily unpacking the car, walking back and forth just like the ants I see at daycare in the playground. But instead of carrying bits of a broken biscuit another kid dropped, it's a whole lot of different shaped and sized bags.

I also notice that Mummy too is walking about, in and out of the various rooms in the house. Disappearing and reappearing with phone in hand, commenting on how nice the rooms are and which ones we might sleep in. With both my parents engaged, I continue to look around at this new house and the lounge room.

Everybody seems too busy to play with me or so I thought. In the corner of my eye, I notice some movement, it is Tata (Grandpa) waving me over to the large couch to join him and Mama (Grandma). He leans over, points at a toy truck on the ground, and asks me "What is this Leon?". Silly Tata! He should know what it is by now and so I tell him with my loudest voice “Truck!” I see both Tata and Mama grow the biggest smiles.

*Click*. The sliding door to this house closed shut. Papa has finished his little laps to and from the car. The kitchen floor is now littered with bags of all shapes and colours. Papa then proceeds to raise the curtains around the home and what was left of the sunny day starts to filter in from the outside. I notice the string Papa is pulling on and they look just like the one at home. At this point, I start to wonder why we are in this strange new home. Is this our new forever home? It does seem very far from daycare.

What's more, is that Tata and Mama have been with us all day! Normally we say our goodbyes and then we head home to play and sleep by about now. This house must be special if we're all together for so much. While I was daydreaming, Tata and Mama moved to the dining table. I dropped my truck. The toys can wait for now I think to myself and I can see so many cool new dining chairs! I gotta see how they feel when I climb them. I push myself up off the ground and run over to the dining table.

I pull the chair back and it's much lighter than the ones at home. They are white and have strips of what looks like thin wood, like our laundry baskets at home. I grab the sides of the chair and start to pull myself up. My face squishes onto the chair as I continue to squirm my way up. “Leon, come see your bedroom!” I suddenly hear Mummy calling but from where I’m not sure. So I go back to concentrating on climbing this cool new chair. Now standing up on the chair I can see Tata on his phone. I try to see what Tata is checking on his phone. I wonder if he's watching some cool videos about fire trucks or diggers since he's concentrating so much.

“Leon! Come!” I hear Mummy's voice again but with increasing volume. Papa suddenly appears out from the hallway from one of the rooms and gestures with his hands to come on over. Something must be waiting for me! I hurriedly jump off their chair and run in their direction into a new room. "Careful little one!" I hear Mama exclaim from behind me as I jump off the dining chair to join my parents.

As I enter the room, my feet are met with cuddle toy-like softness. And I can see Mummy patting the bed “This is your bed Leon!” I feel so confused because surely it can’t be my bed, I can barely see the top of it. I see Papa entering a smaller room connected to this room. I hear the sounds of a tap running. Through the sliding door where the water noise is coming from, I can see colours pink, gold, mirrors, and shiny stones.

It seemed that Papa too was impressed about this home because he then went from room to room looking at things that seem so boring. He called out to Tata to come to look at walls, and windows and even nodded about the sinks. Before long I notice Papa resuming his pattern of moving bags to different rooms. I wonder how he knows everybody’s bags? I only know my own bag.

Back playing on the couches, I’m now with Tata and Mama. They keep pointing to my toys and asking me what they are. “C'mon Tata and Mama, I know what these are! Can you just play them with me without asking me so many questions?” I try to tell them but it doesn't seem to register.

I look back at the kitchen window and the previous rays of the sun are now replaced by some shadows cast by the moon shining high in the good night blue sky. I sit down on the floor where all my toys are scatted in a corner of the room. I play with my favourites. My yellow digger truck and my magnetic tiles. I lose track of time.

Like at home, I can suddenly smell the warmth of rice and tasty soups being heated in the kitchen. The kitchen is massive and stark white with many drawers. There are also many fun-looking chairs near the bench that I need to explore later. I wonder why the family has to eat when the sunny day disappears. Will something bad happen if they eat too early? This might be something I’ll learn once I grow up.

After food, there's less activity and everybody is relaxing in the lounge. A few lights in the home start to be turned off. Things still feel a bit foreign but in a good way. The one thing I've noticed is that I get to stay up super late and keep playing with everybody. I really like these special homes, it’s always different but the fun parts are the same because everybody in the family is together. And being together I think that is my mostest favourite thing in the world, even more than my digger truck.