Eraser

The boy’s eraser was well used. Its once pristine edges made blunt by friction. The Turkish flag on top smudged with pencil lead.

The boy readied himself. He only had this one eraser. With a delicate flick, he sent the eraser airborne. The eraser did an awkward somersault before landing triumphantly on Ah Seng’s Singapore flag eraser. The boy raised his hands in triumph as Ah Seng groaned at his loss.

A few tables away, the girl observed the commotion. She had a box of flag erasers in front of her. Her mother had bought her an entire box at her request. There was an empty space which the Singapore eraser once occupied. She had wagered that eraser in a duel with Ah Seng a week ago. She had lost.

The boy took the Singapore eraser. He ran to the girl. Extending his hand, he offered her the eraser.

“For you.”

The girl looked up. She smiled at the boy.

“Don’t you want to keep it for yourself?”

“It’s okay. I won it for you.”

The girl accepted the eraser. The boy smiled a silly smile. He scratched carelessly at his head before he headed back to join the other boys.

Ah Seng was unhappy. He challenged the boy to another match. The boy hesitated. He had already achieved his goal and won the Singapore eraser back for the girl. He took a look at his old eraser. It was barely two thirds its original size and the school term was not even three weeks old. He did need a new eraser. He accepted Ah Seng’s challenge.

Rummaging through his collection, Ah Seng selected his favourite eraser. His champion. The Saudi Arabia eraser. He had won seven eraser duels in a row with this treasured piece.

Ah Seng got the first move since he lost the last match. The Saudi Arabia eraser encroached aggressively on the Turkey eraser. The Turkey eraser moved defensively backwards and to the side. The Saudi Arabia eraser moved forward still. Undaunted. The Turkey eraser flipped forward, but failed to land on top of the Saudi Arabia eraser. It was now too close to the Saudi Arabia eraser. With a forward flip, the Saudi Arabia eraser came to an easy rest on the Turkey eraser. The battle was over.

Ah Seng took the Turkey eraser gleefully away from the boy. He looked at how dirty the Turkey eraser was and decided that he would throw it away on his way home. He had lost three erasers to the Turkey eraser, but it did not matter. His mother could always buy him more. He had disarmed his enemy. The losses were worth it.

The boy sat alone at the table. Ah Seng had left with his friends. They had cheered loudly as Ah Seng proudly held the dirty Turkey eraser aloft and saundered away.

The boy took out his Math homework for the day. He just had to be careful and not make mistakes. He had no eraser for rubbing away mistakes.

A delicate hand placed a Singapore eraser on top of the boy’s Math homework. The boy looked up to see the girl standing in front of him.

“For you.”

“But I won it for you.”

The girl sat down in front of the boy.

“But how do we duel if you do not even have an eraser?”

The boy smiled. He accepted the eraser.

The girl placed a Japan eraser on the table and moved it forward.

“We are not playing for keeps!”

The boy laughed and nodded. With the gentlest of touches, he moved the Singapore eraser towards the Japan eraser.