“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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