Narrated by Slippers
That morning felt… normal.
Too normal.
Mi wake up, stretch out mi paw dem, take a deep sniff like mi checking if peace still alive.
Socks and Shoes deh quiet.
Bubbles floating like him meditating.
Lady Dee in the kitchen humming Beres, tea in hand, and one pot bubbling soft-soft.
Mi seh:
“Today might actually be peaceful.”
Mi jinx it.
Lady Dee pick up her phone and call her mother in Jamaica.
Everything start off sweet:
“Yes Mummy, mi good… mi house calm now. Everybody finally learning how fi live together.”
Mi tail twitch.
Di moment mi hear dem words… mi feel something coming.
Mi barked once. A warning. Nobody listened.
Next ting mi hear?
BOOM!
Shoes fly from the curtain rod like him trying fi leave the country.
Socks start squawk like siren.
One feather land pon mi nose.
Mi sneeze, spin round, and knock over the mop bucket.
Bubbles fling a fake coral reef across the tank and blow one big bubble that seh:
“So dis a di kinda house mi move into?”
Lady Dee freeze mid-sip.
She lower the phone slow… and seh:
“Mummy, mi call yuh back.”
Mi look at her.
She look at me.
We both knew what time it was.
She didn’t yell.
She didn’t bawl.
She just walked to her room, calm calm, and come back with one red suitcase.
Mi blink.
Shoes flap once.
Socks perch silent.
Bubbles hiding behind a plastic plant.
Lady Dee open di suitcase like soldier packing for war.
No hesitation.
Just Milo, bun, slippers, scarf that seh “Good Vibes Only”, and one blue dress mi know is her airport outfit.
Then she pause.
Turn round slow.
Point her finger at all a we and seh:
“Mi cyan’t tek it. Mi gone a Jamaica. And all a unnu coming wid mi.”
Mi tail drop.
Mi belly shift.
All of us?!
Socks and Shoes look stunned like dem realise passport nah stamp fi bird.
Bubbles blow one more bubble — mi swear mi see steam inna it.
Mi just lay down pon di floor, face flat, and seh to miself:
“This woman really carrying di whole zoo to di airport.”
But mi knew better than fi argue.
She had dat “mi done talk” energy.
So boom…
Next morning, we reach airport like a whole marching band —
Bubbles in him tank,
Socks and Shoes in dem cage,
and mi strapped up like mi heading to war.
Lady Dee sweating, dragging one suitcase, one carry-on, and one whole bag of regrets.
She seh she going Jamaica fi peace…
But from we reach check-in, mi know seh peace stay home.
Airport Drama? CHECK.
- One bird chirp too loud — customs ask if dem emotional support parrots
- Bubbles strike again — blow bubbles through the lid like him vex
- Mi get pulled aside ‘cause mi ID seh “Slippers” and not mi real name (which is Slippers)
- And Lady Dee? Arguing over her Milo, bulla, and ‘Bae 2 in 1’ oil
“Dis a culture, not contraband!” she bawl
Then we finally board.
Mi seat was under one suitcase.
Shoes get air sick.
Bubbles refuse fi float — him tilt sideways like him deh pon hunger strike.
Mi seh to miself:
“Yuh sure we not flying into more problems?”
Coming Up Next:
Episode 6 – Scene 2: Island Breeze & Pet Peeves
We land in Jamaica.
Mi seh… not even the birds ready fi what a gwaan next.
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