Melor 4

“Are you sure this is the house Fique?” asked Raju looking at the big double storey bungalow house through the iron gate. The two of them were standing in the drizzling rain admiring the architecture design of the building. It looked posh and modern with a large landscaped lawn to boast on. Rafique and Raju had lived in Rembau throughout their lives and they had passed that house countless of times to go into town but this is the first time that they had actually stopped in front of it.

 

Rembau is a small area, with a small town and a few numbers of villages in it. The people were friendly and they lived in a community where everyone knows everyone….Well, the elder villagers though. The younger generations like Rafique and Raju tend to keep to themselves.

 

The two young men had heard of the owner of that house. He was a rich businessman and a well-loved philanthropist. Kind hearted and soft spoken was what the town people said about him and his family.

 

Rafique rang the bell again. The big gates open and a man wearing a gardener hat stepped out. He was wearing a worn out jean and a thorn black I LOVE PD t-shirt. They couldn’t see the face through the big hat.

 

            “Can we see the owner of the house?” asked Rafique. The man nodded and gestured for the two men to go in. The man nodded again and hurriedly walked out the gate.

 

            “That was weird,” mumbled Raju to Rafique as he knocked at the door. There was a loud commotion inside the house. Angry voices could be heard, doors open and closed loudly and they could hear people calling out Malek. The two of them looked at each other. What had happened?

 

Finally, the door opened and a maid stepped out.

 

            “Hi, I’m Farouk’s brother. I have a prescription for Malek, can I see him?” asked Rafique. The maid shook her head.

 

            “Everyone is searching for Malek right now. He is not in the house,” whispered the maid. There was a loud crashing sound coming from inside the house.  The maid looked nervous and hastily closed the door on the two of them.

 

            “What is going on here?” asked Rafique. They walked out the gate. Raju suddenly stopped and grab Rafique’s arm.

            “Ouuww! What?”

            “Wasn’t it raining heavily this morning and it only started to drizzle just a while ago.  What gardener that would come to work when it is still wet?” asked Raju . The two of them looked at each and said the name simultaneously “ MALEK!”

 

            “Where do you think he is going?” asked Rafique looking at his friend.

“My guess is to find Melor. Let’ go back to Sof’s house and quickly!”

 

 

            “Stay calm, stay calm,” I whispered more to myself as I held firmly to Melor’s hand. Farouk was busy talking on the phone. The midwife was called to another house and had to leave.

            Mom wiped the sweat on Melor’s forehead and went to change the basin. Farouk was looked worried. Melor’s condition was getting worst by the hour. He had already called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital in Seremban town. Melor was getting weaker and Farouk could hardly hear the baby’s heart beat.

 

            Melor pulled me closer and whispered weakly to my ear.

            “I have to go back to my home; I can’t go to your hospital. The baby and I won’t be able to make it if we do. Please Sofia, you have to do something!”

 

            I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I couldn’t possibly drag the heavily pregnant Melor outside and what will everyone say if I walked out with Melor in her condition? Should I dare tell them the whole story? Would they possibly believe me?

 

Farouk put down the phone and went to me.

 

            “I have to go for a while; it seems that there is another emergency in town that I have to look into. I will come back as soon as I can. The ambulance will come soon and I’ll try my best to rush back. In the mean time, what you can do is talk to her, keep her warm and calm. Give me a call on my mobile once her contraction comes. I will come back as fast as I can.” Farouk squeezed my shoulder gently, grabbed his bag and rushed out of the house.

 

            Melor mumbled something which I couldn’t hear. She looked so tired and weak.

 

It sure was taking Mom a long time to change a basin of water.

 

Panic, I called for Mom.

            There was no answer……I called again. Probably Mom was at the back of the house hanging clothes on the clothing line.

 

I walked to the bathroom. The door was wide opened. I looked inside and screamed!  There, was Mom lying unconscious on the floor! A hand clasped my mouth and I was dragged away from the bathroom. Another big hand was grabbing my neck in a chokehold. I was roughly pulled into the living room where Melor lay asleep.

 

            “What did you do to her?” a male voice asked me harshly from behind. He had taken his hand away from my mouth.

 

            “Melor’s not well. She’s in labor but something is not right with her.”

            “Liar, you drugged her!” The hand on my neck was getting tighter.  He was squeezing my windpipe.

            “No! We …..Didn’t do anything to her.……She has to go back she is not feeling well in our world!” I shouted. I could hardly breathe, I struggled as hard as I could to get free but my captive seemed like he was made of bricks.

 

I was feeling light headed when I heard shouting’s behind me.

            The next thing I knew, I was on the floor beside Melor and Rafique was wrestling with the man beside us.

Raju came into the living room, saw the two men and pulled Rafique off of the other man.

 

The loud noises had woken Melor. She opened her eyes and looked at us. Her gaze fell on the man still lying on the floor.

 

            “Abang Malek?” she called out weakly.

Malek quickly rushed to Melor who flung her arms around him. Both of them talked and cried at the same time. Malek told her how much he missed her and that he had never forgotten her. He told her how his family did not believe his story and had kept him away.

 

The three of us were looking at each other awkwardly. It felt like we were interrupting a lovers reunion.

 

            “Ahhhhh!” screamed Melor touching her stomach. Her face was writhing with pain.

 

            “Oh my god! “ said Raju. There was blood on Melor’s sarong, on her clothes and also dripping on the floor.

 

            “We have to take her back! “shouted Malek carrying Melor  “Do you know where the portal is?” Melor shook her head. Sweats were forming on her forehead. She was focusing on her breathing to ease the pain.

 

            “The ‘sena’ tree, “said Rafique softly. I was looking at him.

 

            “You had that dream too?” asked Raju looking at the two of us. Weird, how the three of us had the same dream. That had to be where the portal was.

 

            “It’s at the Sena tree in front of the house,” I said. Raju and Rafique just nodded their heads.

 

            All of us rushed out of the house. The sky was still dark and the ground was wet. The Sena tree looked even gloomier then it normally was. Malek and Melor stepped closer to the tree .Malek extended his hand towards the trunk, instead of touching the trunk, it disappeared like in a magic show. I sighed in relief; I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath, praying that we were right.

Melor’s looked so weak and pale. There was no time to loose!

             The two of them looked back at us. Melor clinging feebly to Malek , gave us a weak smile and nodded her head. The two of them disappeared into the portal.

 

We stood there for quite some time, expecting Melor to peak out, automatically feeling better once she entered her world. But no one came out. It was just the three of us facing an old ‘Sena ‘ tree.

 

Rafique went up to the tree and extended his hand. It did not disappear like Malek; his hand touched the tree trunk ….Everything was back to normal.

 

That was that…….We wouldn’t know whether Melor had made it or what child she had given birth too. 

 

            Mom had woken up on her bed with a throbbing headache. She did not remember anything that happened. Farouk had checked her and there was no concussion. We told her that she had fell and hit her head on the bathroom floor.

 

It was funny that nobody remembered Melor, not even Farouk. It was as if, once Malek and Melor went into the portal, an invisible cloak was pulled over the whole town of Rembau and nobody remembered anything of those two. As far as Malek’s family was concerned, their son was still  missing and they were still searching form him.

 

            A week later, Mom bumped into Malek’s mother at the wet market. She was smiling and looked happy. She told Mom that she and her husband had dreamt of their son. In that dream, Malek introduced them to his wife and baby boy. He told them not to worry and that he was well and happy. He told them that they will meet again in time and loves them very much.

 

Things were getting back to normal. The three of us sometimes talk about Melor but most of the time we were too busy discussing on studies, projects and classroom assignments.

            After hearing what Mom said, we were happy that everything had gone well for Melor and Malek. We hardly had any dreams now about Melor and her Bunian world but we did miss her, terribly, even when we only knew her for a short period of time.

 

It was on one windy evening, the three of us wanted to study underneath the old ‘Sena’ tree. Rafique was studying the bark and smiled.

 

            “Hey Raju, Sof, come and look at this.” The both of us stood beside him and saw a small carving at the bark of the tree. It was heart shaped with three of our names engraved on the bark. Written in [1]Jawi were the words THANK YOU signed by Malek, Melor and baby Tajol. …..

 

THE END

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

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[1]Arabic alphabet commonly written in Malay in Malaysia.

Melor 3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------         “DaulatTuanku!” Dozens of voices echoed in unison. I looked around me. I wasn’t in my room anymore. I was in a court hall with half a dozen men sitting alongside of me and half a dozen men sitting across me. All of them were sitting on a podium. They weren’t from this era; they were wearing clothes that the Sultan noblemen wore during the kesultanan Melayu, centuries ago. The noblemen were wearing different designs of head dress to show their status, baju melayu and keris inserted in between the songket at their waist.  All of them were facing the Sultan sitting on the throne.

 

            “Have you found my princess, Laksamana? “asked the Sultan looking at a man kneeling in front of him in the court. The man bowed his head, both hand clasp pointed towards the sultan, he raised it to his forehead in a solemn sign of respect.

 

            “I haven’t Tuanku, but rest assured I have a few of my men scouting the village for her.” Nobody seemed to notice I was there.

 

            Was I dreaming?

 

I stood alongside the Laksamana and still no commotion was made. Everybody looked worried.

 

            “Where has she gone, Permaisuri has not been able to eat nor sleep worrying where she is?” sighed the Sultan.

 

            “Maybe if we have spread word that you have accepted her husband, then she might come out of hiding. Youngsters now are too sensitive, she will return home once her anger subsides,” said an elderly man wearing a white baju melayu with snow white beard sitting on the right side of the Sultan.

 

            “Thank you, Tok Guru, I hope that is the case. I shouldn’t have been in a haste to send her and her strange husband from the istana. Permaisuri has fallen sick since then,” sighed Sultan.

 

 

            “Strange husband? Surely he didn’t mean Melor?” I whispered to myself. Suddenly the Tok Guru looked at my direction. I was still standing beside the kneeling Laksamana. Tok Guru got off the podium and walked slowly towards me. All the noblemen and the sultan were looking at him curiously but nobody said a word. They couldn’t see me.

 

            “Who are you, young lady?” asked Tok Guru. I was stunned. He could see me! The Laksamana had gotten up and was looking at my direction but he couldn’t see anything.

 

            “Who are you, young lady with your strange clothing?” I was wearing my pink teddy bear pajama.

 

            “You can see me?” Tok Guru nodded.

            “You’re not from this world.” I nodded. “Where is Puteri Melor? Is she with you?” 

 

            I couldn’t answer him; I wasn’t sure whether he was talking about our Melor.

 

            “Answer me!” he raised his voice.

 

            “We’re…..we’re searching for someone,” I stuttered. Tok Guru looked at me, studying me….somehow reading me.

 

            “Find Pak Pandir. “

 

 A hand grabbed my shoulder roughly. I screamed at the top of my lungs…

 

 

            “Aaaaarggghhhhh!!!!!!”

 

            “Wake up…..wake up!, “Mom screamed. I was trashing on the bed. Mom was standing above me looking as startled as I was and then when I had calmed down, Mom shook her head.

 

            “It’s almost 8 am, what kind of girl would wake up this late. Hurry up and take your bath!” scolded Mom with Melor peeking over her shoulder.

 

It was a dream….It was just a dream…. Or was it?

 

 

 

            “So you’re a royal princess,” said Rafique for the gazillions time. All of us gathered at Pak Hassan’s nasi lemak stall for breakfast. It was Saturday morning, there were no classes and Mom had to go to Kuala Lumpur to visit a sick aunt. We sat there trying to figure out how to find Malek while indulging ourselves to the sweet spicy coconut rice, wrapped in banana leaves and drinking steaming hot teh tarik.

 

I told them about the dream that I had the night before. Rafique was so excited that he was meeting a real life princess.

 

            “Yes.”

 

            “Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Raju.

            “I didn’t feel it was time to tell you. Father didn’t approve of my marriage and I didn’t want to be separated from Malek.”

            “That’s why you left the Istana.”  I said. Raju was eating his rice quietly.

            “Aloooo Raju, what’s on your mind?” asked Rafique .

            “What I don’t understand is why did Sofia dream about the Istana?”

Melor shook her head.

            “It wasn’t a dream, it happens to most humans that wander into our world. It’s a temporary side effect, where the soul is connected to my world either subconsciously or unconsciously. We have humans that can find their way into our world after their first contact but it only last a few days or, most is a week. In Sofia’s case it was unconsciously. When you sleep your soul will leave your body and wander the earth. Her soul was pulled into the other world, my world. Since she has been in contact with me longer than you and Rafique, her soul must have been pulled to my place of origin which is the palace.”

 

            “What about the old man’s message about Pak Pandir?” I asked. Melor perked up.

 

            “He asked to see Pak Pandir? That’s good, we go now?”

 

            “Pak Pandir exists?” asked Rafique intrigued. Melor nodded her head.

 

Pak Pandir was a famous folktale character. I used to listen to my grandmother when I was small telling the story about Pak Pandir and the Giants. Fool and idiotic as he was, his character was loved by many. It had always been a fable but now Melor was claiming that he actually exist…..

 

            “What are we waiting for, let’s go,” said Rafique getting all geared up. The four of us left the nasi lemak stall and followed Melor . We headed back to our village, [1]Tanjung Kling.

 

I have to admit, for someone who was pregnant, Melor had great stamina. We walked past the corn fields, passed my house and clambered up the railway track. Melor stopped and looked left and right.

 

There was a train coming towards us from a distance.  Melor was still looking around.

 

            “Hold hands,” said Melor and walked on the track. I held Melor’s hand; Rafique grabbed mine and Raju’s hand.

 

            “What are you doing? There’s a train coming!”Screamed Raju .

 

            “Don’t let go!” cried Melor and walked towards the direction of the incoming train. All that I could remember, was, we kept walking forward, there were flashing bright lights, a horn bellowing and just more bright lights.

 

 

            “I’m dead! I’m dead!” cried Rafique.

            “Woi! You’re sitting on me! Mak Andih! Help me!” cried a voice.

My vision was coming back to me. We were in a kitchen, an old fashion kitchen, where firewood was used for cooking and the stove was made of rocks. Rafique was definitely sitting on a short, old man, wearing a songkok and a weathered baju melayu. He was flaying his hand and shouting for his wife. Raju and I quickly pulled Rafique off of him. I helped him to get up but he was muttering and calling out for his wife, Mak Andih.

 

            “Mak Andih is not here Pak Pandir,” said Melor. When he saw Melor, he stopped screaming for Mak Andih and smiled.

 

            “Ah yes, she is in town.”

 

            “Then why are you calling for her?” asked Raju.

 

            “She might hear me.”

 The three of us looked at each other and shrugged. It was THE Pak Pandir; gullible, clumsy, naïve and lovable at the same time. He was holding on to a bunch of unripe bananas and there were a few bananas colored black.

 

            [2]“What are you doing Pak Pandir?” asked Melor. Pak Pandir was rubbing the bananas with ashes underneath the stove.

            “I’m grilling the bananas, Mak Andih is not around and I’m hungry,” said the little man. Rafique wanted to say something but was stopped by Melor.

            “Even though Pak Pandir is in a different realm, any changes now will change the stories that everyone knows so well,” hissed Melor. Pak Pandir held out one ash-colored banana to Rafique.

 

            “Do you want one?” Rafique vigorously shook his head. Pak Pandir shrugged and popped one small banana into his mouth. I felt like I wanted throw up. Pak Pandir munched slowly trying to figure out the flavor.

 

            “Hmmmm…..Funny. It doesn’t taste how Mak Andih used to cook it.” He took another banana and start rubbing underneath the man-made stove.

 

            “What can I do for you, Puteri Melor?” All of us were fixated at Pak Pandir’s actions.

 

            “I was wondering whether you have seen my husband.” 

 

            “Ahhhh, the wanderer. Yes…….Yes,” said Pak Pandir gobbling up another banana. All of us moved closer to him. Had Pak Pandir really seen Malek?

 

            “Where have you seen him?” asked Melor impatiently. Pak Pandir didn’t answer immediately, he kept eating.

 

            “Oh my, my stomach hurts really bad, “moaned Pak Pandir. He wanted to rush out of the house but Raju stopped him. If the fable was correct if we let him out we will never see him again. Pak Pandir was restless and his face was getting red.

 

            “Please, let me out.”

            “Where did you see my husband?!” asked Melor sternly.

 

[3]           “I wandered out of the human world, I was going to bury my child you see, and on the way back I saw this doll. Then I heard shouting’s, I was scared and I hid in the bushes. I saw this man being dragged away by three big men, shouting and screaming. I wouldn’t have known who he was, if he had not screamed your name Puteri. He said that you are giving birth soon and he has to get back to you.  I would have thought it was some crazy person.”

            “Do you know where they took him?” I asked. Pak Pandir shook his head, he was holding his stomach, and stamping his feet impatiently like a little child. Without warning he ran to the window and jumped out. All of us couldn’t do anything.

He was pretty agile for an old man.

            “Should we chase after him?” asked Raju. Melor shook her head.

            “How is it possible that Pak Pandir is in the Bunian realm, he’s just a myth, a folktale?“ asked Rafique .

            “But any tale has to begin from somewhere and it has to be told from someone at the very beginning. Pak Pandir and Mak Andih love children and what they love most is telling stories, so they will tell their stories either through dreams or to little children.”

 

We left the realm and got back to our world. We didn’t get out at the railway track. We landed at a small muddy stream across the cornfield not far from my house. It was dark and none of us had brought torchlight with us. It seemed that time had moved fast in our world while we were in Pak Pandir’s house. We asked Melor why time didn’t move this fast when she first brought us into the Bunian world the other night. But Melor smiled and said that none of us noticed that we were moving far faster than normal when she took them to her old hut in the forest. Her people can manipulate time if they want but they find it too tasking and it drained their energy. They would rather live a simple life without any speed and any care in the world. She pointed out that; Bunian time and Human time are polar opposite. A day in her slow peaceful world would mean a month in our world. Raju was walking in front of us making sure there was no danger in the dark. He stopped suddenly.  Rafique nearly collided into him.

 

            “What’s wrong Raju? Is there any snake?” asked Rafique looking at the dark bushes fearfully.

 

            “How long did you know Malek?” asked Raju looking at Melor.

 

            “About a year, in my world.”

 

            “So we are trying to find a man that has been missing for 10 years now. Didn’t Pak Pandir say he was roaming into the human world? Do you think they might have gone through this way?” We were all looking at Melor. Was I imagining things or her stomach was growing bigger within a day?

 

 

            “It’s possible, the portal normally shifts within the area.”  We were looking around us. We know this stream; it runs down the hills behind us, passed through Tanjung Kling and bends around Rafique’s house. So that narrows our search to a few places, my village, Rafique’s house, the police station, the hospital or the grave yard. Melor told us that Malik had disappeared a week ago. Seven month in our world, anything could happen within seven month. Judging from the size of Melor’s stomach, which was growing every minute, we didn’t have much time!

 

            I dreamt again that night. It wasn’t the same dream that I had the night before. This time I saw a big Sena tree, not like the one that Melor had taken us into. This was big, ancient, but strong. I walked to it and it loomed above me. The leaves were big, shading and protecting anything underneath it. There was a gentle stream that passed by one of its gigantic roots, nourishing it. Behind the tree lay fresh paddy fields, stretching across the horizon. I saw children running around the tree, laughing loudly. Little girls in baju kurung, while the boys wore baju melayu with pelikat clothe slinging on one side of their shoulder. I had seen this tree before except that it didn’t look as majestically as in my dream. The bark was drier and it was rapidly peeling off the tree. There were lesser leaves now ….And the tree lay in front of my house…….

 

            I knew that something wasn’t right the minute my eyes open the next morning. First, I woke up with a terrible headache. I could hardly turn my head. When the pain subsided, I noticed that it was raining outside. Second, Melor wasn’t up yet and it was 7 am. That was weird since she was normally the first one to wake up in the house for the morning prayers. Melor was lying on her side and she wasn’t moving when I called her name. I shook her shoulder and noticed how warm she was. I gently turned her to lie on her back. Her clothes were drench with sweat. Her face was deathly pale. I touched her forehead and it was burning hot. I quickly rushed to find Mom. Together we changed her into drier clothes and put a wet clothe on her forehead to reduce her temperature. Melor kept calling Malek’s name.

 

Mom rang the village midwife to the house.

            The midwife was an old lady in her 70’s who like to chew on tobacco. She sat beside Melor and checked her pulse. She asked Mom to get a basin of water.

 

            “Is she going into labor?” I asked.

            “It seems like it but she seems so weak and the baby is not as active as it’s supposed to be, “said the worried midwife. “I think we need Farouk here as well.”

 

Farouk was Rafique’s brother and he was also the Rembau town’s doctor.

 

            “Yes, give him a call Sofia. Poor man, no minute of peace. He stayed up all night because that strange man has been acting up again. Yesterday he tried to escape and wrestled one of his relatives. They managed to sedate him but he was shouting and screaming like a wild animal. Farouk had to make sure he was stabilized.”

 

I was dialing Rafique’s number when I heard all of this.

 

            “What man?” I asked the midwife. The midwife told me that there was a man in town that had disappeared almost ten years ago without a trace. His parents and sibling had searched for him everywhere in Malaysia, and even the neighboring countries. They couldn’t understand how he could vanish into thin air. They didn’t believe that he had run away. Malek was a responsible man and work hard to care for his family.

 

            Huh, so it was his name.

 

The last time they saw him, he was heading to one of the lakes in Rembau with a fishing rod in hand. They had never seen him again. Seven month ago, he reappeared but he was rambling about his wife and a beautiful place where everyone was nice and friendly. He rambled that he was in an istana and the sultan wasn’t in favor of his marriage. People had seen him wandering around town and villages looking through trees and bushes searching for a door. His family thought that he had gone mad. They summoned a ‘bomoh’. The bomoh told them that he had disappeared into the Bunian world and had lived among the people. Fearful, that they might lose their son again and not believing in the Bunian stories, his parents had him locked up in the house. It was only a few days ago that the man had been having dreams and started acting violently to get out of the house. Farouk was called in to restrain him. The family was thinking of moving him to Kuala Lumpur to get medical help.

 

            “Oh no we can’t let that happen,” I whispered softly. I quickly called Rafique’s house. Thankfully, he was the one that picked up the phone. I explained about Sofia’s condition. I tried as briefly and quietly as I could, to tell him the story of the man in town. It was definitely the Malek, we were searching! I put down the phone and waited.

             It was in the hands of Raju and Rafique to bring Malek back to Melor.

 

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[1] Now most people would have thought there’s one Tanjing Kling in Malacca but there is another village known as Tanjung Kling which not many people know it exist which is in Rembau. It is in the shape of a cove , in the olden days it was surrounded by padi field but now since the padi fields has dried up, farmers plant corns. There is a railway track passing by the village hence where it got its name due to the sound of kling king when the railway first started. There are a lot of sena trees and also small muddy streams there.

 

[2] There is one story of Pak Pandir, he loves to eat ripe bananas.  MakAndih grilled the unripe bananas and Pak Pandi found that he liked it even more. One day ,MakAndih was away, Pak Pandir took some unripe bananas wanting grill them. He didn’t know how to cook them and saw the ashes in the stove and thought that was how it was cooked . It tasted differently  but since Pak Pandir was dim witted he finished the whole bunch. He had a stomach after eating the bananas and rushed out off the house to do his business. He stumbled and fell on a jar of sticky fluid. Pak  Pandir tried to get up but couldn’t as MakAndih used the sticky fluid to trap birds that eat their crops. Later Pak Pandir was covered with birds and unluckily for him, the birds flew away, bringing him with them. (story was taken from a blog : scarlettj1.blogspot.com/2010/06/last-story-of-pak-panir.html)

[3] Another famous story  Pak Pandir is Pak Pandir and the giants, where he accidently killed his son in boiling water. He wanted to give the boy a warm bath and thought that he was happy playing in water until Pa Pandir  realize the boy was dead. Mak Andih had asked him to bury the boy. He wrapped the boy with a mat and the body had slipped out. Pak Pandir buried an empty mat and on the way back saw the body thinking it was a doll.

Melor 2

“Budak bertuah! Where have you been!” I felt a sharp pain as someone twisted my ear.

 

            “Mom? Ow!Ow!” I shouted in pain. I didn’t have any time to explain as I was dragged home by Mom. Rafique and Raju looked dumfounded. There was a large crowd in front of them.

 

It seemed that when I didn’t arrive home at 10.30, Mom had gotten worried and called my cousin. My cousin had crumbled under my mom’s interrogation and when mom found out that I never actually was there, all hell went loose…..

            Now, my mom was the daughter of a police sergeant, she was a no-nonsense and discipline person, a polar opposite of her own daughter…..Me.  Mom had marched up to the village head’s house and within minutes they had gathered a few of the village young me  to go searching for me. Words spread that I had gone missing and soon they got news that both Raju and Rafique were not around as well.

 

            “Who’s that?” asked someone from the crowd.

 

Raju’s mother was busy scolding him when someone pointed to a figure behind Rafique.

 

Everyone turned and there was Melor looking scared. She had followed behind us to make sure that we found our way back.  It was too late for her to slip back into the tree as all eyes were on her now. The villagers nudge and whispered among each other when they noticed her bulge.

 

            “My cousin, she’s my cousin,” cried Rafique thanking his lucky stars that his brother wasn’t in the crowd. It would be awkward to lie to him when they don’t actually have any other relatives aside from the two of them.

            “She came visiting from Kuala Lumpur and the bus dropped her off. I told her to wait for me at the bus stop but I was late and she went wandering off by herself and got lost. So, I didn’t want to go searching for her by myself, that’s why I asked Raju’s and Sofia’s help.” Raju looked at his friend with surprise. Rafique said it will full conviction that even Raju believed the story.  The villager looked at each other and they whispered between themselves.

 

            “Is that what happened, boy?” asked Raju’s mother smacking his head for good measures.

 

            “Oww! Yes, Ama.” Pak Abu, the village head nodded his head.

 

            “I guess there’s no threat here tonight and we have found Sofia, Raju and Rafique safe and sound. I would suggest that everyone go back home. I would however advise you boys to please tell your family where you are going. It is improper to drag Sofia with you at night, “lectured Pak Abu. The two young men nodded their heads. Soon the crowd dispersed leaving, Raju and Rafique behind with Melor.

 

            “I think you better go home now Melor, “advised Raju. Melor nodded her head, looking cautiously around to make sure there were no other people around, Melor stepped into the hole.

 

Melor stepped back out looking puzzled and tried to go back in, after a few seconds she came back out.

 

            “What’s wrong?” asked Raju.

 

            “The portal’s closed. It must have shifted to another location when your village people found you here.”

 

            “Can you find where it is?”  Melor closed her eyes.

 

            “I can’t feel it in the forest. It must be somewhere else. We put a protection spell on the portal. Whenever there is danger, the portal will shift to another location. Only my people can sense our way to the portal. But I’m pretty sure it is no longer in the forest.”

 

Raju and Rafique looked at each. What were they going to do now? Both Rafique and Melor didn’t like the idea of going back to Rafique’s house. They also cannot leave Melor alone by herself in the forest.

 

There was only one thing to do……

            Raju, Rafique and Melor sat uncomfortably on the sofa in my living room facing a still fuming Mak Tijah, my Mom. I came in carrying drinks and sat a distance from them. Mom was still not happy that I was found with the boys, I thought it was wise not to aggravate her even more.

 

Raju was appointed the spokesperson and he told about Melor being Rafique’s cousin and why I was with them. The problem was that,  Rafique’s brother was away and it would be awkward for her to stay with Rafique, so the next best option would be my house. Mom wasn’t pleased at first but looking at Melor’s condition and the fact that it was already late, she finally gave her consent.

                                                                                                         

            “Where’s her bags?” asked my mom.

            The four of us looked at each other.

            “She got mugged on the way hear so she’s only left with a little money and no clothes” said Rafique. Serious, that boy can be a movie director!