continue facial story

Alooo....

Back to my story :)

A lot of things has happened lately.

1. I went for facial

2. I went to a spa

3. I ruined all of the rejuvenation by being trap in subang square parking lot while mpsj was fogging it. I believe that a fly would have died mid-flight seeing the heavy fogging in the basement parking lot! Luckily no vehicle and human were injured during the incident >P

Ok where was I ..... Oh yeah the facial story.

Of all my 30 ehmmmm years in this planet, I finally made the decision to go for facial. Yes it was a great mark in my life.....infact they should have entered it in the Malaysian Book of Records!!!!!. Heheheehehe ...Truthfully it took guts -meaning that 3 times i made a 180 degree before I actually entered the centre and request for an appointment.

4 o'clock ....dong....dong.....went into the room where I was supposed to do my facial ooohh the name of the facial - Golden Facial (I know sounds like goldfingers : )) There were three massage beds in that room. The lights were dim and it had a bali air to it especially with the soft balinese music in the background and the balinese carving on the partition that seperate each bed from one another.

The girl asked me to undress and my eyebrows shoot up. Undress? I thought I was going for a facial! The girl gently explained to me that I might dirty my shirt plus their giving a neck and shoulder massage for free. She pointed to a cute tube (loong tube) which shows my bare shoulders so I was actually wearing modestly :P

There I was laying comfortably on the bed, with my face being massaged and pampered. Whatever cream they applied it was nice and I could feel its the cooling affect. It was sooo relaxinnnnngggg untiiillll it came to the blackheads.

First it was the vacumming part...which was really nice but what came afterwards was painful. Siince I haven't don't any facials before and I never actually took care of my face - (my facial wash is a bar of soap and no tonner (I know guilty to the bone)) imagine the black heads!!!! The vacuumming didn't help to remove all the blackheads so out comes the long sharp needle. I didn't think plucking blackheads would be painful but maaaann does it hurt especially the nose. I was like trying to be really macho holding back the tears but after 15 minutes a lone tear went down my cheek. No more plucking I tell ya!!!!!

Aside from that the rest was relaxing, I had a free eyes massage also.

You should see my face, its so soft and clean :P

On to the next story.....SPAAAA.....

It was my aunt's birthday (two weeks ago) The children treated her to a spa treatment...Seeing that the package was reasonable and I had extra money I decided to tag along . The spa was in Ampang.

The package include a foot massage , a steam bath, a body massage , body scrub and herbal bath along with herbal drinks . The price was way below RM 200. Cheap right :P

Most spa had a balinese theme, so this spa was not excluded. We were led to a dim corridor, with balinese plank floorings. Our 'room' or pangkin which was like a patio with curtains at all sides. After we had changed to robes (me and my cousin had the same room) , we were led back to the corridor. There were two wooden jati chairs set at the side of the wall with two basins infront of them. We were told to soak our feet in the basins filled with warm water and i think a combination of soap and herbal ointment. There we were in our robes, soaking away for ooohhhh about 15 minutes when the two aids came and massaged our feet.

It was wonderfuuuuuuuuuullllllll.

The next step was the steam bath . That was when I realized that I have clastrophobic. We were brought into a small wooden room. Imagine a small closet with two stools and an arm length between you and the wall infront. If you can imagine that then imagine a lobster being steamed.....ALIVE...!!!!! That was how we felt.

The temperature was soo hot at first and I could hardly breath with a lot of steam coming into the room. Me and my cousin kept fidgeting , sitting and standing until both of us couldn't stand it anymore ....we pushed the door open. Both of us were bathing in sweat and my vision was all foggy even when i stepped out of the room for a while. Then one of the aid went to check on us and saw us step out of the room. I guess she took pity with us , she lowered the temperature but we had to go back and endure the heat for another 10 minutes. My imagination kept running wild. I began imagining that someone was subotaging us and increased the heat and that the door was locked shut and we couldn't get out and then the aids will find us all motionless in that room and well cooked and than it turned out that they were carnivorous and was waiting to eat all of us like something out of the hansel and gratle movie!

Told ya I have a wild imagination. But it was all good. After 10 minutes they came for us. I guess we were so tender that it was easy for them to massage us :P

Can I say it again ....the massages were really good. you could feel your body relax.

Bake, Cook and Facial

Hmmmmm....the title says it all.

I'm in a roll!!!! I have been in the kitchen more then I spend time infront of the computer. I know it's a miracle! I can even see the spotlight beam shining down on me like the intro in a Mr Bean sitcom and the sound of an angelic "Laaaaaaaaa" chorus in the background.

Ok I'm jumping the story...... I , have successfully baked a chocolate cupcake (without it exploding in the microwave. I have to admit there was some false alarms and some burn cupcakes but I had the hang of it ) Phew! it was hard work I tell you. I had to manually turn the cakes around so that the heat would level on all the cakes.(ehmmm waaaa I'm using kitchen jargon now) Our microwave rotater broke down every 5 minutes. It was almost an impossible feat to dash from the stove , where I was melting chocolate bars for the icing to the microwave. Imagine elvin's desk to the registration table. Alas there was some casualtes lke burn chocolate icing but hey.....nobody complained :P or didn't dare to complain......bwahahahaah . I gave everyone at the office a sample and so far I am happily to report that nobody has been hospitalized or mutated after eating the chocolate cupcakes.

Next story......this work I experimented on making roti jala. Yes...... you heard it correctly......roti jala....Where did I get the recipy.....From a reliable source....

.youtube :) It took me nearly 3 hours to do it.What!!!!3 hours !!! your saying? Yup. I had a few touch and go....a few unedible,globby piece of mush which sadly to say I had to throw it away. Even the stray cats won't go near it.

To make roti jala thow there is a special instrument that we have to use. I don't know the name but it looked like a cup with ffive small cones attached to the bottom. Each cones has a hole to it to ease the mixture to flow out and create the net designs on the pan. I wa a real artist the first time round.....I put too much water on the mixture that it couldn't create the strings of net but instead a big glob of dropping, like a pancake which has been runover by a streamroll :P

OOOOh I even cook meat curry for it. Left hand was mixing the curry, the right hand was pouring the mixture on the pan while my mind was rapidly praying that either one of the food would be burned or that somehow the fire from both stove won't combust me !!!!

The roti jala didn't look like much as I put some of it on the plate. It was a sorry sight as it lay flat there with its striking yellow color (yes I accidently poured tooo much tumeric on it :P) BUt hey, my dad ate it anyway and so far he is still at the peak of health. I have decipher the greatest mytery of all time......how to make your parents content...for us women it is to spend a lttle bit of time in the kitchen (oooohhhhh say 1 hour but if you burn the kitchen down, my suggestion is to run like mad :P)

I'm getting pretty sleepy and a bit gibberish as I swallowed a flu pill. tell you about the facial tomorrow.

nite

Chapter 8

 

Chapter  8

 

 

      Najib, Sofia’s classmate dropped them off at the clinic and sped back to class promising to come back an hour’s time to pick them up.

 

 Sofia was searching for her friend during lunch and found her sitting in the cafeteria , looking dazed, her eyes glassy and the bowl of noodle soup in front of her was untouched. Sofia hadn’t seen Sharifah for the past four days since she last dropped by on Thursday.

She tried to make small talk with Sharifah but what she got was incoherent mumbling. Sofia felt Sharifah’s forehead, it was burning hot. She immediately hassled Najib and his girlfriend Anna to take them to the clinic.

 

The young Indian  lady at the counter greeted them with a smile. Anna went to the counter and registered Sharifah’s name while Sofia gently led Sharifah to the waiting area.

There was no other patient except the three girls. Anna was busy reading one of the health magazines while Sofia was looking at a poster on diabetics.

None of them notice the man coming out of a back room at the far end of the waiting room. Sofia was the first one who notices him when she felt someone standing beside her. She looked up and saw a handsome Chinese man. Sofia’s mouth dropped she didn’t think she was drooling, which she was (Anna told her later the she had to restraint herself from wiping the drool from Sofia’s face)but his feature was in the level of Lee Hon and a young version of Andy Lau. But the man didn’t pay any attention to Sofia or Anna. He was looking intently at Sharifah who was oblivious to his presence.

 

     “Hello,” he said softly. Sharifah looked up , frowning at first and then gave the same watery smile and the same glazy look that she gave  Sofia earlier. There was a look of concern on his face. He turned to Anna.

 

     “What’s wrong with her ?” he asked.

     “We don’t know. She’s been like this since morning. Who might you be?” The young man smiled and extended a hand to Anna. Cutenye, thought Sofia.

 

     “I’m Michael. I’m Rafiq’s doctor,” said Michael shaking Anna’s hand and turned to Sofia. Sofia gasped, he looked so handsome. Sofia didn’t realize that she was staring until Anna coughed. Michael  smiled at her and shook her hand.

 

     ‘Rafiq, that name sounds familiar,’ thought Sofia but her brain wasn’t functioning especially with Michael still smiling at them. Anna had to smack her with the magazine she was reading to get Sofia’s attention. That was when everything hit her (not including the magazine) RAFIQ! All that Sharifah had told her came in a flash.

     “How is he?” asked Sofia to Michael (momentarily forgetting her attraction)

     “He’s back in ICU. He had another seizure last week. It just happen so sudden. There was no signs of irregular heart beats. The nurse on duty had just checked on him and took his blood pressure, 15 minutes later he had a seizure,” said Michael. He bent down and took Sharifah hand and felt her pulse.  He stood straight and looked at the two young girls.

 

     “What are you doing here?” asked Sofia.

     “Dr. Adibah and I are old friends. I wanted to ask her out for lunch  It’s my day off so I thought of coming here early, seeing that the highway from KL to Shah Alam can be slow moving in the afternoon.”

 

     “May I know what happen to your friend?” asked Michael looking concern. “She looked like she hasn’t slept for days and also haven’t eaten anything. She’s running a fever. Don’t tell me your cramming for an exam?”

 

     “Well, we are in our final year and our GPA points are a big factor in our overall result,” said Anna. Michael scratched his head.

 

     “During my study years, we didn’t get sick from exams. We concentrated in class and then just brush up in our rooms by light reading. We didn’t burn the midnight oil or got all stressed…..well there was some stress but not to the level that it would effect our health.”

 

     “Yelah, orang pandai,” said Sofia under her breath but she didn’t count for Michael to hear her. He turned and looked at her. There was nothing harmful about his look, he wasn’t glaring or giving icy stares but Sofia felt uneasy and walked to the far end of the room and pretended to read the poster on……. pregnancy?Sharifah didn’t say anything during this interaction. She just lay back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

 

She felt so tired. So..so tired, she couldn’t think, she couldn’t sleep. It was as if she was looking at her friends from a window, she was there but she wasn’t there. She tried to find words to talk to her friends and he wanted to greet Dr Michael but her mind just couldn’t register. She didn’t have much sleep these paths few days. How she wanted to doze off into a dreamless sleep….

 

Sharifah sat up on the mattress, hugging her pillow and looking widely around the room. She wanted to rush out to her roommates, watching television in the living room. She didn’t realize that she was shaking…

 

     “It was your imagination Ifa, it was just your imagination,” muttered Sharifah to herself but she wasn’t convince. The voice calling her name felt so real. Still shivering Sharifah allowed herself to lay back down on her mattress. She hugged the pillow tightly to herself. She closed her eyes still muttering to herself that it was just an imagination.

 

She opened her eyes when she heard the door open behind her. It was quiet outside. The rest of the girls must have gone to sleep. She didn’t bother to look at the alarm clock .

 

     “Pukul berapa sekarang, yek?” asked Sharifah in Malay to nobody in particular. It was with Aida and Sofia that she normally speaks in English.

     “Pukul 3.45 pagi,” answered a male voice. Shairfah was so surprised that she turned so fast, that she felt dizzy from it. Immediately she sat up.

 

No…No….No this was not happening again. She was on a familiar bed. Beside her was Rafiq sitting up straight , facing her. His feet was dangling down the bed.

 

“Apa khabar?” he smiled broadly at her. Sharifah was speechless. Why was she there again?

 

“I didn’t see you these path few days,” said Rafiq in perfect English. I though that you had been discharged.”

 

“Why am I here?” asked Sharifah. Rafiq frowned, he raised one of his eyebrow. Sharifah would have found that sexy if it was not the fact that she was in another dream.

 

     “You had an accident.” Shairfah looked at him as if he was mad.

“I was going to bed. I was not even near any type of transportation be it motorcycle, car, bus, lorry, army tank, bicycle or even kereta lembu. How could I possibly meet with an accident!” cried Shairfah indignantly. Rafiq shrugged his shoulder and took out a deck of cards under his pillow. He started shuffling it and held the cards infront of her. Sharifah was confused. Why was she dreaming playing cards with him? How bizarre was that! Sharifah took one piece of the card from him. Rafiq smiled and walked over to her bed and made himself comfortable at the foot of the bed. He shuffled again the cards and through 8 pieces in front of her. Reluctantly she picked it up and saw Rafiq smiling happily..

They were in the second round of the game with Rafiq having an upper hand,when there was a gentle knock. Both of them looked up. There was Rozita standing at the door. Sharifah couldn’t help smiling, whenever Rozita appeared there was a strange but nice peaceful aura surrounding her. Sharifah half expected chirping birds and little rabbits with big cute eyes accompanying her. Rozita had the same effect over Rafiq, he immediately changed to a lovesick man whenever she appeared. Sparkly eyes and stupid grins. How dorky he looked in front of her.

 

Wait…. Was she feeling jealous? Sharifah shook her head hopping to shake the thought away. Rozita was wearing the same baju kurung that she wore the last time she saw her. Rafiq was turning his full attention to Rozita, he had completely forgotten about her. Sharifah coughed to get their attention. They were ogling each other at the foot of her bed which was very nauseous.

Sharifah turned her attention else where, it was just a few seconds, when she turned , Rafiq was alone busily looking at his cards. Where was Rozita?

 

     “Rozita mana?” asked Sharifah.

     “Ada…She’s around,” muttered Rafiq not looking at Sharifah. He slammed his cards down hard on the bed.

 

     “I won again!” cried Rafiq in delight. Rafiq withdrew his hand. Sharifah looked at his cards. They were picures of burung hantu (owles), a baby in mothers womb with its umbilical cord, a picture of a grave and lastly of a small boy hiding in the shadows, crouching trying hard to hide himself from the son. There was one piece of picture face down, as Sharifah looked longer at the pictures, something dark came flowing out of the pictures and spreading on the bed clothe. Rafiq didn’t notice it but it was spreading across the blood clothe, thick dark red colors sipping through the clothe, on Rafiq’s white hospital clothes. It was surrounding him, spreading on his hand and face. Like an alien being leeching itself to Rafiq. Sharifah screamed and bolted up. It was dark. Gone was the white colored room. Sharifah looked around her room in fright Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it even though she was breathing really hard.

 

      “Astaghfirullah,” Sharifah muttered those words over and over again trying to control herself. She was having a very bed headache. She reached for the clock she placed above her head. She looked at it, 3.45 am. Sharifah wiped the sweat on her face. She walked to the bedroom door and softly opened it. She looked out at the living room. Her roommates were sleeping peacefully. Ina had her foot on Seni’s back while Ida was snoring loudly. Sharifah closed the door again. Her head was hurting badly. Sharifah leaned her back on the cod wall, still holding to the pillow. She tried to close her eyes.

 

     Sharifah..

Shairfah opened her eyes and her hands griped tightly to the pillow.

 

The next day Shairfah was unable to go to class as her headache was unbearable.

 

The dreams didn’t stop there. The next night Sharifah didn’t know she could doze off, one moment she was doing her Economics assignment on the study table, the next she was in a dark place. Sharifah opened her eyes feeling cold. Her head was laid against the window sill. There was another seat beside her. Somehow everything looked so familiar. Sharifah stood up. She was in the commuter again. The lights had turned off. All of this was so familiar. Shairfah slowly turned behind he expecting to Rafiq sleeping peaceful on the seat behind her.

 

Sure enough there was Rafiq. But he wasn’t a sleep. He was looking out the window.

 

Oow…Ooww…Rafiq looked up. He wasn’t looking at her but something behind her. Sharifah followed his gaze.and gasped. There across the aisle, perched on top of one of the seats, was an owl. It looked at them curiously, tilting it’s head as if inspecting ach one of them  and then it flew across the lane and disappeared once it reached the sliding door connected to the next carriage.

 

Rafiq let out a big sigh and put both hands on his face.

 

     “Are you alright?” asked Sharifah.

 

     “I’m tired of this,” he said softly.

 

     “Tired of what?” asked Sharifah. Rafiq nodded towards a seat at the end of the carriage. Sharifa couldn’t see what was there.

 

     “Go and look what’s there,” said Rafiq softly and haggardly as if he was carrying a heavy wait on his shoulder. Sharifah glance at him nervously and looked at the seat where he pointed. She didn’t want to go but she was curious. Sharifah walked slowly to the seat. As she approached it she saw someone’s head. She walked closer and saw that it was a woman. She was pregnant and her face was twitching in pain. Sharifah’s eyes dropped to her  bulging stomach. She could hear a soft thumping. She looked again at the stomach and to her horror she could see the baby inside. It was moving and getting substance from the umbilical cord. It  moved and suddenly  turned its head towards Sharifah. She gasped and stepped back, thumbling onto something.

 

She picked herself up and noticed that her hands were full of dirt. Sharifah could feel herself again. There in front of her was a grave. Sharifah yelped when she felt someone touching her shoulder.

It was Rafiq.

 

     “How did you know where the pregnant woman was and why are we here?” asked Sharifah.

 

     “I’ve been to this place over and over again.” The way he said over and over again seemed to echoed around the graveyard.

 

     “Place?”

 

Rafiq nodded.  “Sometimes when I’m with Rozita and my parents, happy… I would hear voices. Strange voices, all around me and I could a sharp pain on my chest. There would be flashes of images and always….always I would be in this place. It would be the same thing…The owl, the pregnant woman, the grave…the boy.”   

 

     “Like in the pictures,” said Sharifah remembering the dream she had the previous night. Rafiq nodded and sat on the ground.

 

     “What about the last picture. The one faced down. What was that picture about?” asked Shairfah but Rafiq didn’t answer her.

 

     “Why am I here Rafiq?” asked Sharifah.

 

     “I called you.”

     “Why?” asked Sharifah curioused. Rafiq didn’t say anything. Sharifah saw a piece of paper on the grave. Sharifah walked nearer and tried to reach for the paper when a hand came out of the grave and grabbed her wrist. Sharifah screamed and fell back, except that she fell into an endless pit.

 

Sharifah bolted from her sleep . She had screamed louder this time and all her roommates ran into the room.

 

     “Kenapa ni?” asked SEni reaching her hand to comfort poor Sharifah who was shaking from head to toe. Id supported Sharifah to her mattress and sat her down.

 

     “Dia demamlah,” said Ida touching her friend’s forehead. It was hot. Ina rushed to get a wet cloth to put over her friend’s forehead.

 

SHarifah had calmed down after a few minutes and lay on her mattress. Seni was still sitting beside her mattress. She had made a glass of warm Milo and put two panadol pills in her friend’s hand. She pulled her mattress beside her friend and watched Sharifah fall asleep again.  Sharifah didn’t have a peaceful sleep. Seni woke up a few minutes later hearing her friend muttering something in her sleep. Seni moved closer and could hear the words Burung Hantu repeatedly.

 

Sharifah’s temeperature was back to normal the next day. But she was still plagued by bad dreams and restless sleep. Always RAfiq was there. One time happy with Rozita and his parents and ripped away from that place back into a cold hard place and the images from those pictures would be there haunting him and sometimes scaring Sharifah……….

 

    

  Dr Adibah’s door opened and the mother and the son that went in earlier walked out. The same Indian lady looked around the waiting room.

 

     “Sharifah.” Sharifah got up and went into the room. The door was about to close behind her when Michael called out,

 

     “Hold on I’m with her.”  Michael went into the room. Anna looked at Sofia who was still pretending to read the poster.

 

     “What was that all about?” Anna asked.

     “What?”

     “He just went inside after 10 minutes knowing Sharifah?” Anna looked at her friend hoping to get an explanation but her friend merely shrugged her shoulders and continued to be fascinated by the picture of a woman’s womb. Sofia didn’t feel like telling Anna, she didn’t know where to start. She couldn’t help shake the feeling if she hadn’t left Sharifah that Thursday…. or she could have been a little bit helpful instead of waving everything as something natural even the fact that Sharifah had just had a fight with Aida. The two of them were inside the doctor’s room for almost half an hour. Anna had browsed through all the magazines on the  small table. Sofia was sleeping peacefully on the sofa. 10 minutes path by, Anna paced in the room impatiently while Sofia……Sofia was still sleeping. Finally the door opened and Sharifah and Michael stepped out. Michael was still talking to Dr Adibah at the door. Sharifah nodded at Anna and sat beside the sleeping Sofia. Michael went up to them. Anna kicked Sofia’s feet to wake her up. Sofia looked at them groggily.

 

     “What did the doctor say?” asked Anna to Michael.

     “She told her to get some rest. Her blood pressures quite high 130 over 100. Not good for somebody who is only 23. Sharifah’s running a fever. I think she should get a couple of days rest. You should wait for a while, there’s some medicine Dib is giving Sharifah.” ‘Dib?’ thought Sofia now wide awake.

 

     After they had taken the medicines the three girls waited outside the clinic. There was no sign of Najib, it was more than the one hour promised. Sharifah was siting at the sidewalk.  Michael came out of the clinic and walked to the three girls. His hand was in his pocket.

 

     “My lunched date just got cancelled. Dib can’t make it. I was wondering wether I could help by sending Sharifah home. She’s in no state to go back to class.”  Anna and Sofia looked at each other. They had promised Najib that they would wait for him. Neither of them had a handphone, which was a shocking fact to the rest of their friends, where mobile phones were being used by everyone from pre-schoolers to garbage collectors. To Sofia, Anna and Sharifah they had any used for the phones except to call their parents.

 

     Sofia talked with Anna and the both of them decided that Sharifah had to be sent home as soon as possible, she didn’t look so good.  Sofia should follow Michael in sending Sharifah home while Anna would wait for Najib. Sofia went to get Sharifah sitting at the sidewalk. She had a small piece of stick and was scribbling on the mud in front of her. Sofia took her hand and gently pull her up but her eyes felt on the scribbled writings on the mud. Owl, baby in womb, grave ,boy. Sofia frowned, what did that mean?

 

     “So…..”said Michael glancing at Sofia from the drivers seat. Sharifah had fallen a sleep at the back immediately after they had put her into Michael’s black Waja. Sofia was looking at the houses they passed by and looked at Michael when he talked.

 

     “Yes?”

 

     “Has Sharifah talked to you about Rafiq?”

     “Not much except that she visited him in the hospital and ohh she’s been having dreams about him ever since. She also told me about your theories.”                                         

     “Theories? Those are facts, although I haven’t told his family, I didn’t want them to be upset. We might not know when he might wake up,” said Michael making a turn towards Sharifah’s apartment area at Section 6.

     “If he wakes up. Sharifah said that your did a PET scan on him.”

     “I was worried. There was no sign of improvement, I was worried whether there was a blood clog. Besides PET scan we did an MRI . There was no lesion. The only thing that we noticed was his eye movement as if he was dreaming. “

     They had already gotten out of the car and were walking up the staircase to the third floor. Sofia was holding on to Sharifah’s right arm as her left hand was holding on the railing. Sofia was afraid her friend would tumble back.

     “Did you also do an EEG? I read that was one of the testing if you had brain injury?” asked Sofia in between breath walking up the stairs. Michael was behind her.

 

     “Yes it is. EEG monitors the brain activity from wires that we put on a patients scalp.”

     “There was nothing abnormal….Wooo…apa you nak buat?” asked Sofia. They had reached Sharifah’s apartment. Sharifah had obediently took out the key from her bag and unlocked the door. Michael was about to follow them in when Sofia stopped him.

 

     “What?” asked Michael confused.

     “You can’t come in. I’ll help Shairfah to her bed and we’ll talked outside.”

     “Why?”

     “As you notice none of her flat mates are home and there are two girls and one guy. I don’t feel comfortable in an empty house with a male that I hardly know. Apa orang lain akan cakap?” asked Sofia looking directly at him. Michael looked at the other  three flats on that floor. All the doors were closed and the metal grills in front of the door were padlocked. It didn’t look like there was anyone around.

 

     “What orang lain?” asked Michael gesturing around but one look at Sofia’s stubborn face, he sighed and went to sit at the stairs.  A minute later Sofia went out, putting a stopper to the door so that it would be wide open for both of them to hear if Sharifah called for them. Sofia joined Michael and sat down beside him.

 

     “We did an EEG when he first came in to detect any brain damage along with the PET scan we couldn’t find anything except only a small bump on his forehead. The reading was only 8 to 10 cps.” Michael looked at Sofia who was trying to digest what he was saying and trying her best to look like she was taking everything in but from the creaseline on  her forehead, Michael knew that she didn’t understand what he was saying.

 

     “When the brain is resting or in this case sleeping the brain activity would slow down , we can monitor this through EEG. 8 to 13 cycle per second can be considered normal. But when you have a seizure your brain activity will spike up making a rapid diagram of zigzag lines up and down.” Michael  motion with his hand moving it up and down rapidly.

     “But can you detect a seizure before it happen?”

     “ Base on the brain activity yes we can, but in Rafiq’s you have to remember that he’s in a coma. His brain activity is constant and sometimes peak with his rapid eye movement.” Sofia had her confused look back on.

     “When you descent into a deep slumber and started to dream, that’s when your rapid eye movement occur.”

     “So what your saying if he’s having a dream, it will effect the momentum of he’s brain activity, right?” asked Sofia. Michael nodded. “If he’s having a bad dream or a nightmare it will effect his EEG reading, am I right? Dreams are linked to our emotions. Put a person that is in  an emotional state and if that person in this case a vegetable like Rafiq, it could lead to a seizure.” Michael bent down  brushing an ant off his shoe. When he looked up Sofia saw that he was smiling politely at her.

     “What are you getting at?”

     “I don’t know,” said Sofia scratching her head. “When was the last time he had a seizure?”

 “Last week.. I think Wednesday.”

     “Sharifah and Aida visited him after the seizure , that was when Sharifah started having her dreams. Do you think he’s trying to reach out to someone ”

     “

     “Sofia, you’re a smart girl but you’re reading too fiction books.” Sofia felt her face going red.

     “Don’t you feel that something is not right here?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

art gallery

Village view ...

 

 

beach view

 

 

 

 

 

 

ocean view

 

Kiddies

Babbies, todlers, kiddies..........cutie pies, honey poos call them whatever you like sure their adorable as hell but don't be full by their innocent demeanor (demeanor? ok I got to check the dictionary!) Behind those angelic eyes and rosey cheeks with smooth uncorrupted complexion (ok I better stop now before I really go over board) lies a very intelligent species. They know how to strategise even without reading Art of War , they can crawl into any tight spaces at lightning speed and with sheer confidence which can put the US Navy Seals at shame. Their greatest weapon......is their alluring smile, dazzling innocent eyes and adorable foreign gabbles that cannot be found in any alien planet in this universe.

I , unfortunately had fallen into their trap and became an object and amusement by them. Lucky I got away , exhausted but unscatch from the event.

It all happen a few month ago , when my cousin came to my house for a family gathering , bringing his twins which was , at that time, 11 month old.

Ohhhhh they were the cutest thing ever, all smiles and no temper tantrum. It all started when their parents wanted to eat dinner and gave the honorable duty of baby sitting the little  kiddies to yours truelly.

It happen so suddently , the two of them were looking at each other like a telepathic conversation, on was trying to make a dash (well actually a crawling dash !) to the cloth teatable and started to pull it.

I yelp and dragged the little oneaway and notice the other brother was heading for the stairs.

After handing the little misfit to my little brother , like a animal life photographer I followed the other brother up the stairs not daring to startle him just in case he decided to do a back flip !. OOOOoggggliinggg,goooggggling  and gagging , he kept me pretty much pre occupied going up and down the stairs 20 times. (I only went once on the stairmaster at the gym! Mind you!) My knees felt like it was going to fall off!.


I tried to bribe him to come down the stairs , but he just giggled, showing off his two baby teeth (another weapon! melting our hearts in the process without me realising that we had reach up the stairs again, and then he made a 360 turn as if to say "Oopsie daisy, silly me, I forgot something downstairs) I tried to carry him away, but he gave an irritated piercing scream which would have been a start into the Opera industry. "

If you think my little brother had better luck than me, think again, the other twin that he was with was scrabbling into any nook and krannies he could find, under table, behind the piano , underneath the dinner table, head banging with the my uncles' and aunties' feet.

We were release from our agony when their parents had finally decided to call it a night and carried the two boys to the car. The two boys were still giggling as their minivan drove out of sight.

Gosh , I don't think the DURACEL Bunny would have that much energy! They could be in the CIA.....Gosh my knees weew killing me!


Anywho that's my babbling for tonight. Night Night

Soul Asylum Chapter 7

 

CHAPTER 7

 

 

Aida put the book slowly on the shelf near the bed. It was 5.00 o’clock in the evening. They had moved Rafiq to the normal ward on level 4. Zarina promised to accompany her but there was no signed of her anywhere. Aida straightened the few hairs that had fallen on Rafiq’s face.  She felt her heart pounding every time she looked at his face. He was sleeping peacefully.

 

She had talked to Dr. Michael, Rafiq’s condition was stable and there was nothing to worry. He encouraged her to talk to Rafiq as often as she can. Unconscious patients were alert to whatever happening around. If Rafiq could feel her around, it could speedup his recovery.

 

Aida took his hand.

 

     “Hello Rafiq. It’s me again. I hope you can hear me. Everybody’s praying for your recovery. Pak Ngah, Pak Long, my dad are taking turns conducting prayers at their houses every Thursday night. Mak says she’s sorry she couldn’t come, she had additional orders for Baju Kurung this month, she’s pretty busy. Zarina said she wanted to come but there’s no sign of her.”

 

     “I’m staying home more often nowadays then at the flat, which is good because I needed some space to study.” Aida took Rafiq’s hand and rubbed it gently. She leaned forward and whispered in his ears. A nurse came to his bed. Embarrassed Aida let go of his hand and sat at her chair pretending to tidy his blanket.

 

The nurse smiled at her. Aida returned the smile, she recognized the nurse as one of the nurses in the ICU ward.

 

     “Dr Michael asked me to check up on him. I’m off duty and since I was headed down I thought of stopping by,” said the nurse. Aida smiled stiffly and muttered thank you. She didn’t like the way the nurse was looking at Rafiq. She could help feeling jealous and protective.

 

     “Your friend was here this afternoon,” said the nurse casually. Aida looked up at her confused.

 

     “She came here with you before.”

 

     ‘Sharifah? Why was Sharifah visiting Rafiq without informing her?’ thought Aida. …………..

 

 

 

 

Sharifah climbed up the dark stairs tiredly. Her arms and waist was aching terribly and she was soaked wet. Why oh why did she go kayaking by herself when she didn’t know the proper technique to paddle.

 

It was a terrible experience. She had to be rescued by a group of UiTM juniors who were also kayaking at the Shah Alam Lake. It was a hot spot for those who like water sports. You can rent a kayak for RM 10.00 half an hour. It was bad from the start. Paddle as hard as she did, her kayak only moved 10km/hr. Her arms were like butter when she finally managed to launch 5 km from the bank. She was already exhausted when she reached the middle of the lake and it was already 40 minutes. The young man in charged of the kayaks was waving his arm and blowing his whistle, signaling her time was up and to turn back to the bank. Sharifah had no idea how to turn the kayak. She made the mistake of digging her paddle too deep into the water in her feeble attempt to turn to the right. Sharifah lost her balance and toppled into the water. Bless the life jacket she was wearing! Luckily there were a couple of UiTM students kayaking near her. One of them saved the paddle from floating away. A couple, (boy and girl)tried to pull Shariah on their kayak but she was too heavy. Sharifah had to dog paddle beside the kayak with the girl firmly holding on to her life-jacket. It had made a big commotion at the bank. A few other students helped her out of the lake but the rest of the bystanders were laughing and pointing at her. How humiliating. It didn’t help when the bus driver gave her a disapproving look and the passengers stared at her on the way home.

 

Sharifah was half way up the stairs to her flat when she noticed that there was someone sitting at the top of the stairs on her level. She was about to pass the person when the person called out to her.

 

     “Hello, Sharifah.” Sharifah stopped in her track. AIDA.

 

     Aida stood up. Sharifah could see her face underneath the dim neon light on that floor. Sharifah had to admit to herself, despite her tomboyish ways and the constant frown on her face, Aida was a pretty girl, with her crew-cut hair, hazel brown eyes and pale skin complexion which brings out the natural colour of her blood red lips. People could easily mistaken her for a Caucasian or mix Europe- Asian heritage. Her eye-lashes were long and curl naturally. She was about Sharifah’s height with athletic physics. When they were together, Sharifah couldn’t help but be envious as a lot of guys heads turned towards them to look at Aida.  Aida wasn’t smiling at her , her head was bowed down and she merely looked up at Shaifah for a couple of seconds. Even under the dim light, Sharifah could see the bags under her eyes. She looked tired and forlorn. What had happened to the old Aida, boisterous and energetic? This episode on Rafiq had taken out all her energy.

 

     “You’re wet. What happened?” asked Aida motioning to her clothes. Sharifah was standing in a puddle. Her pants and t-shirt was still dripping wet. She didn’t feel like telling Aida the story, it was still painful, painfully, humiliating. She moved to the door of their flat and searched for her keys.

 

     “It was an accident. Come on in, I’m sure everyone would be happy to see you.”

     “Can we talk outside? It’s for a short while. I don’t feel like meeting them right now.”

 

    Sharifah turned to Aida and nodded. 

 

     “A nurse told me that you went to see Rafiq. May I know why?”  Aida was looking at her carefully.

 

Sharifah shrugged her shoulder she didn’t know whether she should tell Aida about her dreams. This was Aida, they live in the same flat for the past year and a half. They cooked together and they even slept side by side (on separate mattresses) but Aida was acting weird and edgy lately. Sharifah was worried for her. Even in her state now Sharifah couldn’t bare lying to her. Who knows maybe Aida could help her out.

 

Aida was walking to and fro he eyes not leaving Sharifah, waiting for an answer.

 

     “I’ve met him before,” mumbled Sharifah . Aida stopped in her track.

     “ I met him in the commuter to Seremban. I didn’t know him at that time. We were in the same carriage.  We were sleeping in the train. Separate rows(Sharifah added  quickly) and when the both of us woke up, everyone had gotten out and the doors were locked. We managed to get out together. We hardly talked to each and I didn’t remember him until I saw him in the hospital with you that day.”

 

Aida turned toward Sharifah, she looked at Sharifah coldly. She didn’t say anything but she just looked. No smile, no blinking, nothing. Sharifah was shaking from head to toe and she doubted that it was from her damp clothes. She wish that she could just go into the house. It was so intense that if Aida had heat ray visions, there would have nothing left of Sharifah. Aida was waiting; waiting for her talk. She didn’t want to, but somehow her mouth had a life of its own and Sharifah blurted out how she had been visiting Rafiq and about the dreams. She skipped the part about what Dr. Michael had told her.

 

     “You are something you know that,” said Aida quietly.

 

     “What?” asked Sharifah a bit taken back.

 

     “You pretend that you’re my friend and support me when all this time you like him yourself.” Sharifah  was too startled to say anything. Aida continued, looking at Sharifah like she was a stranger.

 

     “You were being nice to my family member, acting concern. You just can’t wait for him to wake up and that you’ll be  the first person that he’ll see. You are low.”

 

     “Your wrong,” countered Sharifah but that was the only thing that she could say.

 

     “I am ? Don’t tell me his not handsome. Any girl would have fell for him like flies. Don’t pretend to be naïve.  Here you are talking about weird dreams. That’s all excuses to go see him at the hospital. You know how I feel about him,” hissed Aida. Sharifah was too stunned by the accusation.

“No Aida I don’t know how you really feel about him. I’m not a mind reader. For all I know that your just concern for a cousin. You don’t …. You won’t say anything and its eating you up. What is actually your relationship with Rafiq?” asked Sharifah. Aida didn’t answer.The door  to their flat opened and Sofia stepped out. She saw Aida and

 Sharifah and was about to greet them both when she noticed how tense the two of them were. Neither of the girls said anything but they were locked in a staring match.                        

 

 Aida looked like she was going to swallow Sharifah, while Sharifah looked like a wet cat with her solemn expression and her clothes dripping all over the floor.

 

Aida didn’t say anything to Sofia, with a final ice cold look towards Sharifah, she turned her back and walked down the stairs. Sofia jaws dropped open.

     “What happened to  the two of you?” asked Sofia not giving Sharifah the chance  to enter her flat first.  Sharifah didn’t say anything, her eyes were brimming with tears. This was all too much for her. All she wanted was to get out of her wet clothes and crawled underneath her blanket. She walked past Sofia and headed towards the bathroom at the far end of the kitchen. Luckily the kitchen was beside the entrance to the flat. Her flat mates would have looked disapproving at her for dripping all over the living room. Sofia helped to get her a  towel and change of clothes. She was still waiting outside the bathroom when Sharifah had finished taken her bath and changed. Sharifah went to her room and pulled out her mattress from the rest of the pile. Sofia stubbornly sat beside her mattress and watched as her friend pulled the blanket over her head. Sharifah could still feel her presence even though she had laid there for almost 10 minutes. She pulled the blanket off her face and sure enough there was Sofia looking back at her.

     “Well, are you going to tell me what happened? Why suddenly Aida looked like Maya Karin in ‘Pontianak Harum Sundal 1?”asked Sofia indignantly. Sharifah gave a soft smile.

     “She didn’t look like her at all.”

     “Oh yeah, did you see her expression when she was looking at you. Her eyes went big, and round, and red, and the way she was clenching her fist. I bet she was hiding her claws.” Sofia shook her head. “Pity, she was once a pretty young woman” said Sofia faking her sorrow. Sharifah giggled and flung her pillow at her classmate. Trust Sofia to lighten the moment.

     “Will you please not mengumpat about my friend in front of me.” Sofia smiled and flung the pillow back Sharifah, landing right on her face.

 

     “Ok seriously, what happened? Aida was never that hostile before,” said Sofia. Which was the truth, Aida was a sweet and care-free person. Was….as in past tense! Everything changed with this whole Rafiq thing.

Sharifah was glad Sofia was there. She had to tell someone about her problems. The WHOLE story not just about Rafiq and Aida but also on her disturbing dream and the figure she saw the other night. She knew that Sofia would not push of her dream tale as just a mere dream and tells her that it was only her imagination playing. No not Sofia, she was an avid fan of X-file.  She practically remembered each episode of the whole nine seasons. Her secret fantasy was to be a real life Mulder although Sharifah doubted they would spot any UFO’s in Malaysia.

 

Sharifah told everything to Sofia from A-Z. Sofia scratched her head and got up. Her waist was aching from sitting too long on the hard foor. She went to sit at the study table.

 

     “You know that figure that I saw sat at the same place you are sitting now,” said Sharifah pointing at the place Sofia was about to sit. Sofia yelped and returned to her previous position, sitting beside Sharifah. Sharifah used her elbow to prompt herself up. She looked at her friend.

 

     “You don’t think I’m going crazy, do you?” asked Sharifah. Sofia scratched her head. Her glasses were sliding down her nose. One thing that Sharfah and most of her friends beg her to do for them was to exchange her glasses with contact lens. Her special features which everyone notice except Sofia was  her eyes. They were big and dark brown and full of emotion. Her eyes would light up and sparkle whenever she was happy. They  would go lifeless and glassy whenever she was sad. It was hard for Sofia to fake her emotions from her friends. They could see it through her eyes.

Right now those big brown eyes were looking at Sharifah in excitement and wonder. It reminded Sharifah of a small child.

“That’s hard to say,” said Sofia, her eyes twinkling playfully. Sofia moved to the mattress. “Or this could be nothing,’

 

“What do you mean?” asked Sharifah her heart sank. She had hoped that Sofia would say that she wasn’t hallucinating, that there was something wrong with her.

“You like him,” said Sofia shortly.         

“I don’t think so,” said Sharifah.

     “Don’t think so or don’t want to think so.” Was the respond she got from Sofia. Sofia edged closer. “Dreams are a powerful tool my friend. I read that dreams can  show our subconscious feelings. You dream you’re a member of a firing squad and your target is your boss, it shows that your angry and you hate your job. You dream of earthquake or avalanche, it show’s that you are facing some personal problems. You dream of a guy that you met a year ago that shows……”

 

“How lonely and pathetic I am,” continued Sharifah. “Tell me one thing Sofia, why am I dreaming about the guy, his fiancée and his family and wake up to see a figure sitting on my study table?”

     “You were probably dreaming about the figure also. Either way you could be in denial,” said Sofia getting up and headed towards the door.

“From what? I have no feelings towards this guy,” said Sharifah hotly.

     “Maybe so, I might be wrong but one dream doesn’t show much.”

 

     “What about the second dream. It was so real, it was as if I was facing it, it was so intense and sad. I woke up crying. What was that all that about?” asked Sharifah trying to control her temper.

     ‘I don’t know Sharifah, it’s just seem that you are having feelings about this guy and your feeling guilty towards Aida. Your emotions were playing with you. You know that you can’t have him so subconsciously your creating a scene where your breaking away from him.” Sharifah punched her mattress in frustration. She so badly wanted Sofia to see from her side. That she was not creating all this, it was as if she was pulled into the dream.   

     “So you can’t help me?” asked Sharifah. Sofia was about to step out of the room.  She looked at her friend and her pleading eyes. To Sofia, keen as she was to supernatural  events, somehow she didn’t think this was one of it. She didn’t however had the heart to turn her back from her friend especially the incident with Aida earlier. Sharifah clearly needed someone beside her now. .

     “I didn’t say that. Look I’ll search any information that I can find about dreams and you have to take note of anything weird that happens okay?” answered Sofia softly “Oh and Sharifah?”

“Ya.”

“I think it’s best that you stay away from Rfaiq for a while,” said Sofia giving her friend a gentle smile and left the room. Sharifah watched her friend closed the door and lay back on her mattress, she put a hand over her eyes. Somehow the neon light above her was shining brightly and hurting her eyes.

 

“ Sharifah,” said a soft whisper. She quickly remove her hand from her eyes, she could see a figure looking down at her. She couldn’t see the face clearly as the light was shining brightly giving only a blurish image of a male figure not a few metres above her. Sharifah blinked to focus her vision through the blaring light but the figure was no longer there.

 

 

Sharifah blinked again and the only thing she could see was the long neon light blaring down on her……….