On the flight back home to KL, I trudged my way through the narrow aisles .... as ungraceful as ever with two bags in tow. When I finally got to my seat, I found out that the passenger sitting beside me was a little girl of no more than 9-10 years old. 

3 things occured to me.... firstly, that I may probably hit her with my trolley bag while hoisting it into the overhead compartment.... secondly, she was travelling alone (I confirmed this later when some of the crew members escorted her out of the plane to the immigration)....and thirdly the little kid was occupying the aisle seat while I occupied the window seat.

This little girl quietly got out of her seat without me even asking her so that I could dump my handbag onto my seat and fling my trolley bag up onto the oh so out-of-reach overhead compartments.

I was thinking then that this girl had nice manners. Then as I proceeded to sit down, I asked her if she would like to switch seats so she could have the window seat (which is what is considered a prime seat for many people like my younger siblings). Instead of mumbling an "ok" or "no" with shy, downcast eyes (or maybe in some cases, snottier replies!), she looked me straight in the eye, beamed and said "It's ok".

I don't know why but I was pleasantly taken aback by that wide smile. Certainly didn't expect it. When the flight attendants handed out the health declaration forms to us, the kid took out a neat, black planner with her passport details, ticket and handwritten travel checklist  all nicely tucked into the folds and pockets in the organizer. She then slowly and meticulously filled out the form. I on the other hand, scrounged around haphazardly in my bag for a pen, the ticket stub and my passport which were scattered among other items in my bag.

During the flight she took out a book to read... Daddy Long Legs.. which brought back memories of Enid Blyton's weird and wonderful tales that I used to devour. The little girl had on a face mask, was neat, organized, well-mannered, really cute, and precocious on top of everything.

Despite all that I was reminded of her age when the plane went through some bad turbulence and her hands, one of which was clutching her book, grabbed at both her armrests... she was obviously scared though she didn't utter a word or a single cry.

Looking at this little girl, my maternal instincts started raging and I realize that I do want to have children. And now I'm hoping that I might have a daughter that's just like her.