bathroom at a KFC he looked at his face. It was of a dark Laotian or
Khmer. He was from a family with the last name of Biadklang from the
North. His face was as dark as the soil. He looked into the mirror.
Just with the amount of light, darkness, or expression one appeared
like a totally different person from one moment to the next.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked the reflection in the mirror.
"To Sanam Luang to see more of the kites" the reflection said.
On the bus ride to Sanam Luang he had to stand. He noticed the
other people. They were also wistfully discontent for their own
personal reasons. They wished to sit down when the space was congested
and there was nowhere to sit; and in times of sitting they yearned to
have vacant seats next to their own so that they would be free from
having to sit next to strangers and could have a little area of their
own to monopolize. They were all so petty and he told himself that he
did not want to be like that.
At Sanam Luang he bought a kite from a mendicant kite salesman.
Feeling chagrin that the forlorn child within him had taken over his
thoughts instead of the man, he flew his kite in a more obscure area.
He was somewhat relieved to find an innocent pleasure to engage in. A
half hour later the child diluted into his manhood and there he was in
full embarrassment of himself. So he reeled in the kite and sat down
on a park bench. A sidewalk salesman smiled at him.
On a rug this mendicant had six-inch motorcycles crafted from
bamboo. Nobody knew the art of a smile like the people in the Land of
Smiles. Toothless as babes they contrived smiles with the curl that
has distinguished a smile from a bite with a full opening of the mouth.
Thai infants and toddlers knew. They intuitively knew that with
enough naughty actions a toss into the trashcan was not inconceivable.
They intuitively knew big sister would be sold off to a man when she
turned 14 and the fetus that was little brother or sister had been