Magnum Sounds of My Childhood

Prized Magnum Ice Cream. Photo by Doris Lim

 

 

When we were little, the quiet of the afternoon is punctured by the tok-tok of the noodle seller. A while later, the sharp ching-ching of the man who sold chiseled hard peanut candies. At dusk the dull heavy bell of the bread man.

I saw the ice cream man on his motorcycle with side car of Walls goodies with the "paddle pop" melody playing as I was parking. I would have preferred the sound of clear brass bell of the old uncle who used to ply with his tri-cycle of iced goodies. It feels different, now that I’ve grown up. I could peer into his ice box, and make my selection. Haggle even.

When we were little, we used to clutch our saved coins and run like the wind, rubber slippers flapping loudly on the five foot way. Most of the time, stare glumly at Uncle, my brothers would make the selection for me.

Finally, my share of the loot, the last of the Mohicans; there it was at the bottom, buried underneath less beguiling sins.... my magnum Noun: 1. a thing of a type that is larger than normal, in particular.