It was the last working day before the New Year holidays and the atmosphere in the office was chaotic. Some people gathered in small groups while others were typing away on their keyboards. Upon a closer look, none of them were actually working. In fact, neither was I. This year, like the previous ones before, my friend Orin was planning our group’s traditional New Year’s trip. They had always invited me to join in but I would often think twice since the timing was the peak travel season and there would be so many holidaymakers travelling.  All the interesting places also would be very crowded with tourists, hence, I was quite reluctant to go. The experience to visit new places could end up being more maddening than fun.

“Hey Tim, will you join us? We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning,” Orin asked me during lunch at one of our favourite restaurants around the corner from our office.

“Frankly speaking, when I think of the crowds, I don’t feel like going anywhere this time. I think I would rather spend the time enjoying the Christmas lightings in town this year,” I answered, hoping that Orin would interpret this correctly as a polite decline to his invitation.

“Come on man, I’ve put a lot of effort into planning our trip for this year and avoiding the popular and crowded destinations. I guarantee you, there won’t be too many people there. Actually, my plan is … to have no plan at all.”

“What!?” exclaimed our friend Sun.

“Yeah … what do you mean, Orin?” asked Kate, Sun’s girlfriend, who was another member of our traveling group.

“It’ll be an adventure, man. I recently bought a tent big enough for two the other day, and borrowed another one from my aunt. This will be for you and Sun,” explained Orin. “So, brothers and sisters, there’ll be no room reservation for this annual trip.”

“What!? No room reservation! And we have to sleep in a tent!?” said Kate, with a terrified look.

“I’ve not been on a camping trip for ages. I’m not sure if I can bear it,” she added.

“Kate, I think it’s a good idea. I’ve been on several camping adventures when I was in college. It was fun!” said Sun. I saw an expression in his eyes which might have reflected a naughty thought …

“I’m calling this trip ‘The six-days, five-parks, and four-hills conquest.’ Isn’t that cool? We will sleep in tents at the camping sites of the National Parks,” Orin told us his plan which he had thought up a few days ago.

While Orin was chatting away about the details of the trip, I noticed a girl of around eight- or nine-years old standing outside the restaurant, bathed in the bright sunlight at noon. We were seated at the darker end of the restaurant which made the little girl outside seem to glow brightly like an angel. She was handing out some magazines to the pedestrians walking by. I took a few pictures of her with my phone to later post them on my Instagram. I took a moment to check the pictures on my phone. When I looked up again, she was standing very still, looking straight into the restaurant.

Without thinking, I stood up and walked outside towards her. When I stepped out of the restaurant, I realised why the scene was so bright: the midday sun was blazing so hot and bright that I felt it could burn my eyes and skin.

“Free magazine, sir?” the girl said as I reached her.

“Can I have one please?” I asked, without even considering why I wanted one.

Without another word spoken, she handed me a copy …

It was a thin publication on teen fashion, and it was quite popular in this neighbourhood of Bangkok. I took a cursory look at the cover and then tucked the magazine under my arm. I was about to ask her another question, but when I looked up, I saw her back turning around the corner of a building. I was about to call out but thought otherwise and went back inside to our table.

“Where have you been?” Orin asked me when I sat down.

“I went out to get this free magazine,” I answered, already anticipating their reaction.

All three friends turned to look at me.

“Oh, come on, you went out just to get that?” asked Orin.

“OK, let’s not talk about it, I’m not even sure myself why I did it,” I quickly replied, cutting off any further questions.

That whole afternoon Orin kept sending pictures of his planned destinations and cheerful messages to our group chat, encouraging us to join the trip. I didn’t respond because I had made up my mind not to go anyhow.

Before leaving the office after work, I glanced again at the magazine that the girl had given me. I didn’t intend to read it, but my hands spontaneously flipped through the pages. As I had expected, I saw nothing interesting. Since it was a free magazine, most of the content featured only advertisements for clothes and handbags. As I was about to turn to the last page, a small, three-inch image caught my eyes. I quickly flipped the page back and studied that picture closely.