...“Why are there 2 geckos now?” you might ask. Well it hopped too! ...

Unexpected guest...

 

 

 

                                My gecko drama took place in a very hot day at a national park in Lopburi. The park’s name was long gone from my memory…unlike the rest of the story. We usually have our annual science camp either in a conference center in Bangkok or a comfortable hotel somewhere in outskirt provinces. That year we decided to do something special. Finally, we, almost 50 Bangkokian high school students and ten staffs, ended up in a pavilion with one wall and no chairs or a proper screen for our presentations. We were literary in the middle of the jungle.

 

 

                      "No problem!!"  My friend assured us.

 

 

              He used the only wall we had as a temporary screen for our projector without any difficulties. Moreover, we were too happy and excited about the fun waiting ahead from all activities we’d prepared for the camp. The students had been told to sit on the floor. It was a bit dirty but no one seemed to care that much. The students too couldn’t resist the fun occupying the camp's air. Everything was going well …but…I must say that there was a sign….a big one.

 

 

                      My friend and I were standing outside the pavilion observing the ongoing presentation. Then we heard a very faint dull sound of something hitting the floor. It was a house lizard baby. It must have fallen from the roof. As I mentioned, it was scorching hot. That poor thing stayed quietly on the ground when we bent down to have a closer look.

 

 

       “Isn’t it a litttle too big for a house lizard baby?” my friend questioned.

 

 

Yeahhhh he got a point…and …the house lizards are quick guys. It could have run away for safety the moment it hit the ground. But this fellow guarded the spot while stared back at us bravely. We exchanged a horror look.

 

 

      “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?   I borrowed B1 and B2 catchphrase.

 

 

My friend solemnly nodded in agreement and said

 

 

“ Wellllll dear friend, the baby is here..meaning the mommy is somewhere up there…spying us”.   He looked up at the ceiling curiously while talking.

 

 

“ And so is the daddy”   I added and moved a bit further from the roof projectile. I'd rather not risk my sanity with the gecko bomb.

 

 

                          It got dark real fast in the jungle...naturally. By 6 pm, our temporary projected screen on the wall stood out brightly in the dim hall. It attracted all kind of insects like crazy. I almost forgot about the gecko business when one student shouted.

         

                                      “GECKO!!! GECKO!!!!”

 

  There!!! dear readers!!! there it was…at the corner of the screen. A colossal gecko ever walk the earth appeared from nowhere and, in a blink, marched confidently to the center!! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! then THUD! With this last “thud” it stopped right in the middle. The huge and colorful body left us in awe.

 

 

                        No one made a move. Maybe my Bangkokian kids were overwhelmed by the unseen sight. Or maybe they were too scared to move. The idea of sitting under the roof that might be full of geckos sent a shiver down my spine. I don’t have any lizard “phobia” problems but I'm not a “mania” either. We agreed not to turn on the only ceiling light. It was better to play safe not to attract any others to the middle of the crowd.  Now we could hear giggles from the audiences as the presentation was then going on in the gecko's hunting field so to say. Or maybe its dinner table might be a proper way to put it. The weird combination of words from each slide and the gecko itself created such a ludicrous effect.

 

 

                      With that happy orange pogadot gecko on the screen, making swift moves now and then,

 

”The properties of polymer”

 

could be read as

 

“The properties of “gecko” .

 

“Ceramics have major advantages due to their high resistance to chemicals, heat and pressure”

 

turned to be

 

“Ceramics have major advantages due to their high resistance to “gecko”, heat and “gecko”.

 

 

“Why are there 2 geckos now?” you might ask. Well it hopped too!