Chapter Twenty-Six: Bangkok:

Now we go from Israel to Thailand. Karen is all the way from Bangkok. Do they celebrate Christmas in Thailand? Well, yes and no. Most of Thailand is at school or work on Christmas. Only the Christians took it seriously. Karen wasn’t one of them but she just wanted an excuse to relax.

Her cell phone rang in the afternoon.

“Hello?” Karen asked.

“Hey, darling!” an old man said on the other line. The young woman sat up on her bed.

“Grandpa! How have you been?” she asked.

“Good,” he said. “How have you been?”

“Great. A little bored, but great,” she said. Karen looked out the window. They were calling for snow tonight. She shook her head. When was the last time it snowed here? Whatever.

“Well, your grandma and I could use a little help in the market,” the old man said. Karen twisted up her face into a confused look.

“Don’t you have Daw to help you?” she asked. Her grandpa sighed.

“She had a baby, remember?” he replied. That sentence made his granddaughter even more confused. Daw had a baby? She had a baby? She had a baby? The light bulb slowly clicked on.

“Oh!” Karen shouted. “That’s right. She did have a baby.”

“Are you going to go see them?” her grandpa asked.

“Of course,” she said. “I will swing by later to see them.” Another thought crossed her mind.

“What about the other cousins?” she asked.

“They are working today,” her grandpa said. Karen looked over at the calendar on the wall. Christmas was in two days.

“Oh yeah…” she said in a flat tone.

“Is that going to be a problem?” her grandfather asked. She shook her head as if he could see her.

“Oh, no!” Karen said. “What time do you need me there?”

“About three,” he said. She looked over at the clock on her nightstand. It was only ten in the morning. Karen shrugged to herself.

“Sure,” she said. Then an idea crossed her head.

“Hey, do you and grandma want to have lunch downtown?” Karen asked. There was a pause for a moment. She could hear whispering on the other line. The young woman raised her eyebrow.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Yes,” her grandfather said.

“Is… everything okay?” Karen asked.

“Of course!” he said. His granddaughter narrowed her eyes. Right…

“So… are we still on for lunch?” Karen asked.

“Of course,” the old man said. The young woman perked up.

“Great! I will see you at three,” she said. There was another pause on the other line.

“That’s right, of course,” her grandfather said. “Three. See you then.” He hung up before he could say another word. Karen stared at her phone. She narrowed her eyes. That was strange. It sounded like her grandparents were planning something. Karen had a feeling that she probably wasn’t going to like it. She was going to have to keep an eye out on the family during her stay. They wouldn’t be plotting something bad, would they?

Karen shook her head.

Nah, they wouldn’t do something like that. She was looking too deep into this. Karen laid back down on her bed and went back to sleep.