It is too foggy for the enemy to leave my house now ……
Chapter 1
No one can forget the events immediately leading to their deaths. And if only he had confessed to my parents in 2006 that he had slept with me, then everything would have been better for all of us, including God concerned. God hates liars.
Chapter 2
A criminal can never erase his footprints enough even if he has eliminated all tools and appliances used in the act before he leaves the scene of crime. Never mind about his conscience the 良心，and ruling out the “sin” part in the Christian believes.
It is all about how smart he is. And that was how the man by the name of てつや や まがみ who shot 普三 安倍 the Japanese Prime Minister was subsequently apprehended and brought to justice. But was it justice for the entire nation and justice for his poor mother? Was Shinzo Abe actually the best Prime Minister that ever was for Japan? Only the native knows. I don’t. And I am in no mood to criticize a departed man and talk politics.
Today I just want to find out if he had gone into heaven. All departed souls go to heaven. And heaven is where the heart is.
We all tell our immediate family where we would want to go after we have passed into the next world. I am nowhere near departure, so I shan’t reveal where I want to go to. I don’t even like to tell others where I intend to go to when I step out of my house. I value my privacy more than anyone I know.
“How old are you?” the Grab driver asked.
“You guess,” I said, that is when I feel like talking to him. Coz guessing brings us closer.
“So, you are a lady of leisure.” This sounds like an old acquaintance whom I dislike. I felt annoyed. The same tone a different voice.
She was my colleague in Law School. Being a year older she went in and became my senior. And she was the first to introduce me to the Bible. They were called the “Navigators” in the 1980s.
I was educated in Chinese, so that at the time, I couldn’t understand what she was trying to get at. Jesus Christ was still new to me. I can’t say that the Man has not saved me before, and I still pray the Rosary at times. I watch American movies and am a fan of several Caucasian actors.
But when I told my Chinese friends that I speak to Jesus in English, a panic alarm was sent across. Several attempts were made to induce me to enter into the Christian settings in Chinese. Why do I have to relearn the Biblical names in Chinese when in fact it was first taught in English in which I am conversant in praying to Him?
But I rarely talk to Him. He knows where I am.
Back to 安倍。It was on 8 July 2022 that he was assassinated. Almost four years have elapsed. He was a good friend of Singapore.
Chapter 3
We have moved on. But history remains. And memories do not fade. We can’t live without our memories. Destroying a person’s memory is cruel and unkind. Only Satan would do that. Satan is the most condemned character in the Bible.
To begin with, I am educated in Chinese, but I have known sufficient vocabulary to read the Bible.
We sometimes call Satan S.A. Tan. No, we are not making fun of the Bible. We are just a little nation, who are still quite naive, and would like to believe that regardless, we have a sense of humour.
Afraid of the Nipah virus now. So, I try to avoid going out.
Chapter 4
Then who keeps me company? It’s my dog Elaine.
Elaine is my best friend for now. She is a bitch. But I love her, even though I know that she is a canine. I am not alone. A lot of people think that dogs make better friends.
We adopted Elaine some three years after Arthur our cat, when she was born. Cats typically last 12 to 15 human years, and 1 cat year is 15 years human life. So that cats are always at age one. They never turn old. They either die before they turn one, or never.
When Arthur had contracted pneumonia and died, both Leo and I were heart broken, and we swore that we were not going to adopt another animal after Elaine.
Elaine is ok. We can bring her out, except that she is confined to the estate. We don’t see dogs in many public places. She can travel, but not for a holiday. That is ok.
She shits everywhere in our apartment. And that is extremely troublesome. I pick up her doggy poo several times a day. Leo has never been made responsible for this.
The first dog year is equivalent to 15 human years. The second equals 9 human years. So that dogs live 24 years maximum. That means that dogs can only celebrate a 2 year birthday.
Chapter 5
This morning at breakfast Molly suddenly spoke to Leo, “Why don’t you write a will,” she said.
“Huh? Will? What for?” Leo replied.
“So that if anything happens to you, I would be able to claim for your inheritance,” Molly said.
“But … But … “ Leo said.
“We are not officially married, our union is not recognised in law,” she lamented.
“But then we have been together for so many years!” Leo said.
“At most it is a common law marriage,” she continued.
Common law marriages are not claimable without a valid will.
“But then where would the money go to?” Leo was puzzled.
“I don’t know, you might be having another woman outside, I have no idea.”
“Why would you say that darling?” “I have been as faithful as a puppy.” Leo protested.
“You have been coming home late in the evenings recently,” Molly complained.
“That does not mean that I was unfaithful. Do you see me outside with another woman?” Leo carried on.
“Not yet, I still don’t have any evidence.” Molly.
“Evidence! What evidence do you want???” Leo.
“Evidence of your bad behaviour,” Molly.
“Well, if you want, I could fabricate some for you … if that makes you happy …” Leo gave up.
“Ok, done!” and with that Molly closed the topic of conversation.
Chapter 6
Leo was perturbed, but not unhappy.
He and Molly had been living with each other for at least a decade. Arthur was adopted at four, and he took another 6 years from Leo and Molly until all avenues were exhausted before the feline would call it quits. Meaning that Arthur died young, since cats are allotted 15 years. After that the landlord stepped in and stopped them from adopting another feline, so they moved to a smaller house.
At least the new landlord allowed them to keep Elaine. Elaine is a beagle.
And beagles are similar to foxhound. Molly sometimes brings her beagling.
Chapter 7
Today I saw Molly collapsed on the floor, I inclined my ears to hear what she was saying: Dear God, I pray that Elaine will live long. Please grant her the maximum life span of at least twenty-four ears allotted to dogs.
Oh, she is praying for me. Elaine thought to herself.
At dinner that evening, Molly presented Leo with just a chunk of beef and two pieces of broccoli.
“That’s all I can cook for tonight,” Molly said.
“You can’t think of other dishes??” Leo asked.
“What would you like?” Molly asked.
“Use your own brains.” Leo became angry.
“Hey! Why are you in such a bad mood?” “I didn’t do anything,” Molly protested.
“Precisely, it is because you didn’t do anything,” the man explained.
“So, apart from cooking and cleaning dog shit, what else do you want me to do?” the poor woman responded.
Leo moved away from the dining table, leaving Molly bewildered.
Molly looked at the used plates and cups, she picked them up and went to the kitchen, quietly she cleaned up the leftovers and gave them to Elaine.
At least Elaine is nice to me! Molly was crying inside her heart.
From that moment Molly decided that she must leave Leo. The best way to do it is to get a woman to seduce him. Once it is his fault, then she could just drain his account and leave. And then, if Leo still refuses to release evidence that he had slept with another woman, Molly will need to get Jack the P.I. of Spider’s Bureau to procure the evidence.
These evidence Molly would show it to Leo to prove infidelity as a reason to walk out on him. Although they need not prove it to the courts that they are divorced, since they were only married in church.
Damien was the paster who performed the ceremony at the time. But he had since become late. No notice was given to Molly. “I believe church is the best place where unions are formed,” he helped Leo in the idea of marriage without the registry, “after all, most people marry in church, especially if they had found their partners at a church gathering.”
Chapter 8
You can’t make others steal when they have no intention to steal. Likewise, you shouldn’t encourage others to kill themselves, unless you are absolutely sure that they would have killed themselves by some other more lethal means. But if the person is already on his way to a meeting with the Almighty, then you must accompany him. Whether the Almighty would allow him to return is another matter. This is not abetment. This is just letting nature takes its course. And this is just being polite as you respect a person’s own decision making.
So today Leo tried to find out who Molly’s God is, as he sees her praying at night before they go to bed.
She would light a candle, then take out her Rosary, and then meditate for at least half an hour. During which time she is oblivious to her surroundings. The candle continues to shine, and Leo is rather annoyed I would say, having to wait for her in bed together with Elaine.
“I have never gone to Mass with her before,” Leo thought to himself. “Maybe I should follow her to one and see if she had been there seducing other parishioners.”
“Dear, where would you like to go?” Leo asked during dinner.
“Huh? Where?” innocently Molly asked.
“Like, a place of worship,…..” Leo replied.
“But you don’t go to church!” Molly replied.
“But I would like to follow you if you have been travelling there,” Leo said.
“Travelling!” Molly said, “Why don’t we go to South Africa,”
“NO. I mean in Singapore,” Leo was crossed.
“I don’t want to go to a church in Singapore, I want you to bring me to a place of worship overseas,” Molly said.
“Then no deal.” Leo said.
“So, you are not following me?” Molly was quite happy.
Inside Leo, he was getting fumed up.
He left the dining table without collecting the rest of the food on his plate.
Inside the kitchen. “PANG!” A plate was dropped.
Leo rushed to the kitchen. “What happened?” he asked.
“No, nothing,” Elaine responded immediately.
“You broke my plate!!!” Leo shouted.
“No, I didn’t. It fell onto the floor by itself.”
“How can a plate drop by itself? It can’t fly. You must have done it.”
“Do you want me to pick up the pieces?” Molly asked.
“OMG! You lost your brains!” Leo shouted.
And with that Leo stormed out of the kitchen, back to his favourite spot in front of the television.
The screen was just showing one of the serials from “Squid Game.”
And then Molly heard laughter from Leo.
Why is he so happy? I thought I just broke one of his favourite plates?!
Chapter 9
Since Molly read the news aloud to her, Elaine had been in a bad mood.
Molly used to admire the Japanese. Of course, as her canine companion Elaine should know.
It’s time to go down. I need to pee.
“Woof! Woof!” Elaine shouted at the top of her vocal cord.
“Woof! Woof!” Molly responded.
When Molly does that, I know that she is telling me to wait. Elaine thought to herself.
Then, “Keep quiet!” Molly said to Elaine again.
After Molly had logged out of her computer and changed into a new set of clothes, she brought Elaine down.
Today Elaine saw a new friend.
He is good looking! Elaine thought to herself.
And there is no better way to introduce herself to her new friend except to woof at him.
“Woof!” then,
“Woof! Woof!” followed by,
“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Elaine began to court the Silky Terrier.
Silky started to bark at Elaine.
Who is the master of Silky? Elaine thought to herself.
She waited for a long time, but Silky’s master never came to claim ownership.
After a while, she saw Silky went up the road and disappeared into one of the staircases.
Elaine continued to pursue him, and then at the entrance to a first-floor unit, a door was ajar.
She must be inside. Elaine thought.
“Woof! Woof!” Elaine.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Silky.
Chapter 10
Today Molly plucked up the courage to bring Elaine out for a walk outside the estate.
Elaine started to bark even before she reached the ground floor.
“Keep quiet,” Molly said. But Elaine doesn’t recognize this command now. She had connected with Silky.
“Woof woof woof woof woof woof,” the bitch started. She was looking for Silky; it was to tell Silky to come down and join her as well.
But Alas! It only disturbed the neighbours.
And then, “Hey! Molly!” a male voice.
“Who are you?” Elaine heard Molly speak.
“I recognize you by your dog,” the man said.
“Oh, I didn’t realize, am I the only person with a beagle?”
“Seems to be, your beagle has a nice coat pattern,” the man started talking.
“Oh yeah, there were more than one, I like Elaine’s that was why I choice her, “Molly said.
“Let me bring my dog out, just a minute,” he followed suit.
Elaine was overjoyed when she saw that it was Silky.
“Wooo, oooo, ….,” Elaine. But Silky was less talkative.
He must be hiding something. Elaine thought to herself. Let me find out.
Chapter 11
“Why is Elaine in such a splenetic mood?” A splenetic situation occurs when the mind becomes incoherent as thoughts rambling.
When Elaine was barking after Leo had just brought her down for a pee, Leo was annoyed.
“She is usually quite well behaved, what did you do to her?”
“Nothing, I brought her down,”
“I know, but where?”
“Oh, she peed at the same spots,” Molly replied.
“Mind if you tell me specifically which spots?” Leo asked.
Molly turned and she switched off her lamp by the bed.
Flabbergasted, Leo patted Elaine, then decided to cover himself until Elaine stopped barking. He had no idea that Elaine found a companion.
Inside Molly’s brains she was thinking of how to get Leo to write his will. And then at midnight when Elaine started barking again. The plans had already been lodged.
Chapter 12
Molly have been having the same recurring dream that everyone refused to take a photo with her at her birthday party.
It disturbed Molly as she couldn’t recall what clothes she was wearing in her dreams, and which birthday. So that she picked a random piece. But the moment she came out she realised that she was in the wrong attire. The sun was hot and everyone was in thin, nylon clothing.
Elaine was of course excited, and she dragged her straight towards the staircase that Silky disappeared to.
Molly of course knew what was happening.
The moment she went near the block, she heard Silky barking. “Woof! Woof!”
And then a man came out.
Molly could not believe her eyes.
This was a cache of Richard Gere!
She paused, bright-eye and bushy-tailed, she said, “Good morning, sir!” to the man.
“I do not have a helper you want to come in and clean?”
“Oh, no, no, no, …. “ and she immediately turned to Silky and said, “Woof! Woof!”
The man looked at her with amusement, took the leash and pulled Silky away, “come here, bitch,” he said.
Elaine was very upset. Why he called me a bitch???
So rude!!!
“Call me rich!” the man dropped the sentence and started to walk away.
Frozen, Molly said, “ok,” and started to follow him, as Elaine was also pulling Molly in the same direction.
“Are you ok?” the man talked as he walked.
“Oh yes of course I am, especially seeing you now ……“
“May I know your name, sir?” tentatively Molly asked.
“Rich, I thought I just told you,”
“I am sorry, I know you are rich, sorry I should have asked.” Molly complied.
The man laughed.
“You silly, my name is Richard,”
“Oh, I see …. “ Molly put on her best smiles.
“Your beagle is a female right?” the man said.
“How did you know?!” Molly was genuinely surprised.
“I know enough about dogs than most people, I can see by their appearance,” And then he paused, “I used to be a veterinarian,” he winked his eyes.
“Then, is Silky a male or a female?” She asked.
The man looked at Molly again, this time with a quizzical eye, “I thought I told you,”
“Huh?” again Molly couldn’t understand him.
By this time the two dogs are already fully acquainted with each other and were frolicking around.
Suddenly the man pulled Silky away, and then Molly realised that they had reached the staircase where Richard lives.
How did he know that Elaine was a bitch? And then Molly suddenly realised that she was using a fuchsia pink for Elaine’s leash.
Molly was beginning to fall for Richard the rich man.
They say old enemy can exploit fresh toil.
The next day was a rainy day, so that Molly could not bring Elaine for a walk at the estate.
She waited the entire day to chance with Richard, but the man was not there when she brought Elaine down. Only a few cars with remnants of rainwater collected on their bodies greeted Molly. And Elaine as usual peed at her usual spots.
Chapter 13
Sometimes we don’t know the consequences until we have made a mistake. And we depend on the good people around us to show us how we have affected others badly.
The moment Molly stepped into the house, she sensed something different.
It was not until she went to the back of the living room at the corner where cabinets were displayed that she found that Leo had bought a Lady Buddha.
Satori 悟り immediately seized upon her, and she bowed down and prayed, until Leo came behind her and patted her on the shoulder, “are you praying in English or Chinese?” he asked.
“It’s between me and my God.” Molly was defiant.
“Ok, as you say so,” and then Leo added, “don’t forget that I paid for the Lady Buddha.”
“Woof!” Elaine barked in acquiescence.
The poor woman was devastated. But she remained determined to see Richard again.
Elaine started to howl again. “Wooo, oooo …. “
Leo pulled Elaine’s leash aside, “I will walk her today,”
“But she just came up,” Molly said.
“Oh, I thought you brought her to the market,”
Molly immediately went into the kitchen to cook. At dinner, she then realized that Leo had not come up with Elaine.
Where could they be?
At 9:00 pm, Molly decided to pack up the dinner plates and put the dishes into the sink to wash.
At 10:00 pm, Leo was still in the garden ……
At 11:00 pm, Molly heard the door click, signaling Leo’s return. She quickly pulled the blanket over her face and pretended to be asleep.
The next morning Leo woke up and saw that Molly had gone down for a walk with Elaine before he went out.
She was disappointed that Richard was not at the garden.
“Elaine where is Silky?” she spoke.
After three minutes, Richard appeared with Silky.
“Where were we last night?”
“Last night? I thought we met in the morning?” Molly retorted that she was still fresh in her memory.
The same Richard brought her up the path where the other houses were. He let Silky peed at her regular spots before he would talk to Molly again.
“So, you want to apply for a job in my company?”
“Yes, of course, any position,” Molly was happy.
“Then how about my personal assistance?” Richard said.
“Of course! Thank you Sir!”
“Come by tomorrow morning,” Richard replied.
With this employment prospect, Molly was happy to follow Elaine back to the house. She forgot that Elaine had not peed yet.
Half an hour later, she found Elaine peed on the console where the statue of Lady Buddha stood.
“OMG! OMG! …. ”
She took out a cane and hit Elaine!
No one knew who supplied Molly with the cane, and no one knew why Leo bought the statue.
But for now, Molly had secured an appointment with Richard.
Chapter 14
Behind the tennis courts, Leo and Richard were talking.
“Thank you for hiring my wife,” Leo began.
“Congratulations! You finally got rid of her,” the other man was relaxed.
“Yes, and may I know how much I have to pay you for this?” Leo asked.
“Not much, half of her salary will do, and ……” Richard answered.
“And what?” Leo couldn’t help asking.
“Let すずき-さん stay in your house whenever Molly is at work, typically from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays, and whenever the situation calls for it,” Richard demanded.
“And who is this lady?” Leo had to ask.
“She is my wife,” Richard did not wait for Leo to ask further, “she will be coming in from Japan next Tuesday,”
And before Leo could say more, Richard continued, “I know you have a spare room in your house, fully decorated with all amenities,”
“Deal. What else?” Leo agreed at once.
“One last word. Don’t tell her that I am also living in this estate.” Richard closed the subject.
Chapter 15
Do dogs tear? I don’t know. Neither does Molly.
Leo took over the walking of Elaine as well as cooking.
Molly went to work at Richard’s office.
And then Elaine stopped howling at night.
Silky had disappeared from the grounds and Richard and Molly became a pair in Sculpture House, where Leo bought the Lady Buddha from.
Leo knew that all Molly wanted was to get a job instead of looking after his dog.
Elaine was a woman that she knew a long time ago who had helped her find herself. An old acquaintance I would say. Molly did not know that she married a rich man.
But poor Leo, he had become the keeper of Richard’s wife and his entire estate.
This of course, is a secret between he and Richard.
In 1983, Molly adopted a cat and a dog. The cat was black, with several patches of white, spread over his entire body like a picture of the world map over a globe, the white representing countries with no green and brown revealing the curves of the mountains and the firm and sometimes muddy land.
Molly loves the cat, the name she gave him was Arthur, as she had an uncle by that same name. This uncle was a flamboyant lawyer, and has had several wives, totalling an even number.
The first was a lady who loved dancing. She danced with him for a few nights and proposed to him, instead of he to her, the moment she realized that he had decided that it was time to call it quits. He accepted it at once, and she of course, being the one who wanted it, jumped at saying “yes,” subsequently like a cat she submitted to him, so we called her “Meow” or “Mimi” to simplify.
And that was how her name “Meow” was arrived at. “Meow” being the sound verbalized by a cat.
Since we all call his second wife “Mdm. Meow”, this would mean that Arthur is also a cat, by logical definition. Since cats can only marry cats.
Chapter 2
Molly told me: They say that if you see a black cat on the streets after midnight you should avoid her. I used the female gender because I always thought that cats are female as they look soft and they purr and lay quietly unless provoked. But I did not realize that they are fierce and aggressive, especially with their long nails, they scratch at everything that they see. I am a cat, and a cat who derived my ancestry from the snow leopard.
Molly used to say, “I love snow,” and then the snow leopard would jump out from behind the computer screen and come out to join her. For dinner of course. But the real snow leopard would turn his face away from anyone if disturbed. They love the snow and they hide inside the tent 🏕️. But when they are out, they are slow and deliberate. The truth is, that Molly has never brought me to the North Pole region before.
In contrast I never liked polar bears although I once knew a polar bear in an Australian zoo. But for now, I think we skip Australia, it’s too close to New Zealand and too far away from Russia. How the animals got there I had no idea.
Chapter 3
This morning, half asleep, I strayed into a Japanese joint together with Molly. When Molly asked for serviettes, the staff refused to come to our table. Only when I woke up did I realized that Molly had paid only as little as twelve dollars and fifty cents. Molly explained to me later that they wanted to close shop as it was late, since they can’t even spare serviettes. Of course, they had no idea that Molly would feed me quietly on the side. I did hear the lady answered, “you never asked”, and then Molly said, “just bring the piece of paper over, my dear,” afterwards I saw Molly got up from her seat at the table to take it herself, then they informed her that they usually place it at the counter in a round container.
I heard Molly talking to herself, “Why can’t they tell me right from the start?”
In bed, I saw Molly complaining to Leo when he got home that night. I knew straight away what it was. It must have been the shopaholic thing again. And so, I had to pronounce the rule of law for Molly – customer is always right.
This is what I have observed with Molly. The moment she walks into any mall, an alarm would sound, signalling that she has come in. If not immediately then soon after. And then she would want to spend. How they install this urge to spend in her system I do not understand. It must have been me meowing. So, they must know that I am hiding inside her bag.
Leo told Molly not to talk next time before they went to bed that night. I heard.
And then the next morning when I went to have my breakfast at the usual spot, I saw two pieces of fish. “Fish fillet”, I heard Molly said. Wow!
The flesh was soft and thick, with no bones, and plain. A little salty I thought. Perhaps it came directly from the sea.
Then subsequently, I tried to ask for milk. Reluctantly Molly came.
This time the milk was colder than usual, and I got a tummy ache. Afterwards I lie in my little corner in the oval basket with a soft blanket, and I told myself to just sleep it off instead of getting angry. MEOW! I thought to myself.
Chapter 4
Today Molly tried to bring me into a restaurant. I heard her say, “Bring me to The Buckmoon Hotel,” to the Grab driver in the car. When we got out of the car, I heard the doorman at the entrance telling the concierge at the front desk to bring us to the restaurant. The waiter inside brought us to a corner. This time I could sense that it wasn’t Japanese.
The Sensurround was different and the mood was different. No loud noises, no people walking with heels, and not a sound was made as Molly was putting food into her mouth.
Which means that she was eating alone.
“Is she alone?” I heard the waitress asked.
How would I know? I am inside her basket. How would I know if she is dining with a companion?
Instantly I realized that I had been put into the position of an inspector detective. Reluctantly, I gave out a meow to remind her that I was inside.
“Keep quiet!” Molly said to me.
But someone noticed her talking to me.
“You can’t come in here with this basket,” it was a woman’s voice.
“Huh why can’t I?” “What is wrong with this basket?”
“Err …. It’s too rattan,” she said.
“Too rattan, what’s wrong with rattan?” “I like rattan,” Molly emphasized.
The patch on the rattan is too, too, …. I don’t know …. How shall I say it?” the woman said.
“Hey! You are not …. You are not a waitress,” Molly said.
“Then I ask my manager to come,” I heard, it’s the same woman I could determine.
Stay cool, I told Molly.
After several minutes, nothing happened.
And then I heard the clinking sound of the crockery and plate. Immediately I felt safe.
Going backwards, I thought to myself, why can’t cats be allowed into a restaurant? We need to eat too! What is there between me and they? Why am I only allowed to live inside this basket in a poor man’s existence? I am a citizen and a customer, in Grab, in a restaurant, and everywhere I go. I have been following Molly everywhere and branding Molly a shopaholic. It is a glorified title, I know. Molly likes to shop because she has the means to buy, at those various entry points. But not now, I think she wants to conserve her energy into just looking after me. She wants to buy clothes for me I think.
I want to see everything that Molly owned before she makes the decision to buy clothes for me.
And then I heard a loud conversation. Someone shouted, “We are trying very hard to stop war from descending on this earth.
Then silence, and I saw Molly picking me up and walked out of the restaurant almost as soon as she called for the bill.
I am sure that Molly has picked up the bill and paid for whatever that she consumed.
Tonight, I was given just some biscuits and milk with no blanket to sleep on. In the middle of the night, I gave out a meow and then jumped straight to bed into Leo’s welcome arms.
Why? What happened today? I heard Leo ask Molly.
…….
Chapter 5
Today Molly tried to teach me some Chinese characters. She wrote on a piece of paper some Chinese characters.
And then she flashed it at me – 酸甜苦乐。I saw.
Ok, I know. They are Chinese characters, totally four in numbers. She thinks that I don’t know how to read Chinese. Very humiliating. I came from a Chinese hemisphere, of course I know Chinese. Cats also have feelings you know.
I came from the rugged, high-altitude mountain ranges of Central and South Asia, not from the Arctic. I derive my ancestry from the snow leopard, not from the polar bears. I love the snows which is my own kind.
But I think half-way in transit I was talking to a polar bear from China, also in the cargo compartment, who was on his way to Australia. As I was packed in a cage, I went into the checkpoint and came out and then whilst resting in the transit area, I heard someone telling the other, “It works both ways.”
“What works both ways? You pay money I give you the goods,” one of the voices. Are they selling drugs?Omg!
Is this what the Chinese calls礼尚往来?
I was perplexed. And very disturbed.
Chapter 6
This late afternoon I was being carried into a nice boutique. I said it was nice because I could smell the lemony and delicious scent, not fragrant because fragrant is a term to describe rice, particularly Thai rice.
Err … you could say that I am a smart cat, I have preconceived notion about some things and I don’t know why.
I saw lots of people walking in and moving about as well to create the impression that there are plenty of buyers, whereas it is usually Molly who buys. It created the 气 atmosphere for Molly to spend more money.
Is Molly rich? I don’t know. But she seems having the urge to buy very often. And I don’t know why. As a cat, I only have the urge to pee.
But I don’t have this urge whenever I am outside with Molly. There is no facility to pee for cats.
In any case, it is highly inconvenient for Molly to help me pee in the toilet. Molly doesn’t know how cats pee. I usually pee in the sand box in the house.
Tonight, as I lay quietly in the arms of Leo, I heard Molly discussing the Bible with Leo, “The Bible describes the “last days” as a period marked by intense global conflict, with Jesus Christ confronting Satan and all his forces, prophesying in that “nation will rise against nation” and “wars and rumours of wars” will occur. These conflicts are considered part of the “birth pains” leading to the final battle of Armageddon where human governments oppose God’s authority …..”
Let me translate this into cat thinking: There is no last day on earth, it only attaches to those Christians who are extremely depressed, human beings are too smart to enter war. The middle east the Gaza war in 2023 started exactly on President Putin’s 71st birthday. They call it the October 7 war. Did he ask for war? To think that would be ludicrous. No one wants war. We only like to demonstrate that we have the power to kill, just like when I see another cat coming into my territory, which is when Molly picks up another cat or say “I love you” to another feline.
Meow is ok whenever this happens.
But no, for someone who does not wish to die, and who wants to be reborn, after departure, they ought to switch to Buddhism as they believe in the theory of reincarnation. No, this is not my advice. It is my own opinion which I am entitled to say to you. I am not a Buddhist either, but I like the Buddha for the moment. He is round and cute, and he has a fat tummy. Nice!
I was always under the notion that cats will be reborn into dogs.
Chapter 7
Molly is treating me well. I lie quietly in the basket without meowing and I watch her stitch. I see her tummy sometimes as she does not do enough exercise. No, I do not accompany her for her regular exercises. I sleep in my little basket in the little corner. Waiting for her to come home.
Then I see Leo pick up several pieces of paper, and I see his mind thinking ….. what shall I do ….. with these vouchers?
I meow to Leo, “throw!”
Leo said, “they are money you know,”
“Don’t you know these tricks?” I meow.
“These are paper money, it’s akin to a situation when ancestors die, the Chinese burn paper money in an incense in a ritual to send money to them, by way of repayment,
“In the business context, you go into a restaurant, you eat, they give you free money, after that because you don’t want to waste, you come back and spend, so that they feel that they have given you back something.”
“But I am not their ancestors,” I heard Leo protest.
“And neither am I their ancestors!”
I know you know that you are not a dead person. I meow.
Finally, Leo gave up.
“By the way, where did she eat?” Leo asked.
“In a restaurant in the Tanglin Mall,” I meow.
“What did she order?”
“Thai food,” Meow.
“So, I don’t eat Thai food from now on?” Leo asked me.
“No, there is nothing wrong with Thai food, by all means,” Meow.
Leo tears. I know that he was very disappointed as he liked the food there. I was also disappointed because this is a new set up.
Molly was just as disappointed when she came home later when Leo told her not to go there anymore. I had been there with them. There was a person by the name of “Mary”, as well as a man who called himself “Jesus”. They must be nicknames.
So that now I am unlikely to go into this restaurant again in the near foreseeable future.
Hey! Molly hasn’t given me a name!!!
Chapter 8
Let me recall.
They had lunch together at the Thai restaurant.
Maybe they saw Molly talking to me in the basket. Again? How could they see me?
During the conversation, I heard the word, “ancestors”. I am beginning to wonder, who am I in relation to Molly? What was my relationship to her? Was I one of her ancestors? And if so? Who was I?
But the truth is, even as a cat, we ought to be kind and gentle, so that we can be reincarnated as a human. Yes, of course, I know that I am a cat. A ハンサム cat.
Ah, I see my food is coming. I saw her carry the bowl, and then she sprays a thin layer of chilli and ginger over the not so white rice. I was happy that she does not feed me with this today.
I could read Molly’s mind now.
She says, “being human is tough. We need to eat, sleep and work at the same time. And if we are unable to do so, we exercise until our bodies lie flat on the floor.
Chapter 9
Just because they give me a few biscuits and some milk they think they own me. I looked at the two pathetic faces, and I gave out a meow in a different pitch, to voice my protest.
Today she has a pair of slippers in purple towel looking like she just came out from the bathroom. I had never followed Molly into the bathroom before.
After that when Molly put me in the basket I knew that she was going to bring me out again. But this time it feels like a different basket. We walked into a pop-up café, a well-supported first class dining area and lots of people walking in to buy cakes and biscuits thus creating the impression that there are shoppers for Molly to spend afterwards. But fact is, that the food is delicious. I was told before I went in. I meow loudly.
Gingerly I followed Molly into the restaurant. And I am afraid to find customers looking into the basket to find out that I am inside.
Shut up! She puts a finger to her lips, whilst looking at the waitress. The waitress was stunned. How could that be? You mean you slept with him last night? This lady was under the impression that Molly was single and unmarried, so that if she puts a ring to her finger she must have been married or at least engaged.
And then the waitress asks her, in front of me, “is this from your grandmother’s collection?”
“Huh? Who told you?” I heard Molly responding. How did she know that this was from my grandmother? My grandmother has been dead a long time ago. The reincarnated form?
Immediately she took her bag and walked out of the restaurant. The basket was moving back and forth, and I shivering. Then after a few steps. She turned back and put me on the chair again. I was quite happy, and I immediately meow, loud enough for all diners to hear.
Chapter 10
Today I saw Molly’s feet with a set of purple furry slipper looking like she just came out from the bathroom. I have never followed her into a bathroom, even though she does not close her door when she enters the bathroom. I am allowed to roam in the entire house. She sleeps eats reads and sits in my presence. The only time she closes her door on me is when she goes into the bathroom. Often I meow and scratch the door.
I sensed that Molly is looking for people to scold this morning. Just because the toast did not pop out of the box on time, she scolded Leo. “Is this a sin in the ten commandments?” I heard Leo respond.
After a while I realized that there is an unspoken rule in the house, like a demarcated line drawn between them.
I saw her carry the plate then she spreads a thin layer of jam and butter over her bread.
I was very happy until I was on the way out again. I regretted it the moment I went into the basket. Before I went in I peeped at the tag and saw that it was a Loewe.
I realized that I was sitting on the first-class seat. Now I think they are sending me back into the mountains, will they convert me back into a snow leopard again?
This time I knew that there is no way back.
“难到你要我见死不就?” I heard Molly said to Leo.
OMG! Chinese again!! I rushed out of the house and went to the nearest shelter to hide.
A man in black asked, “what are you doing here?”
Don’t you know that I am a feline? I can’t understand what you are saying!
“I think she is inside,” the other male voice said.
I dare not make a sound, I tried to pretend that I am a dog this time, I opened my mouth, but I can’t woof, I can only meow.
“Let me go and check in on her,” the other guy said.
I lay quietly at under the table, and I could hear someone coming to clear the smelly food away. And then the sound of the truck faded into the distance.
I waited for what seems to be an eternity.
Molly always had this telepathy with me. The moment I meow she picks me up. And now, I can’t meow anymore.
Desperate, I walked out of my hiding place, and there I see Molly coming.
“Where are you? I thought you had gone far.…” “You are a cat, not the snow leopard …” she shouted.
She picked me up and she carried me in her arms and walked out of the guardhouse.
I am back to eating biscuits and drinking milk again!
I still prefer the basket I am used to, although Loewe would have made a better choice.
History dies when karma, also known as 因果，has been fully repaid. Like when you buy a dress, you paid for a wrong size and then got a tailor to mend it to your own, since it was not meant to be yours in the first place. Frances used to be my ex-colleague in Law School.
She was slightly on the plump side, but with chopstick thin, skinny legs, she looked fragile and always giving the impression that she was about to collapse at any one given time.
I like her voice when she speaks, it is whimsy and soft, as though a lot of effort has been required to make that sound.
My boys in school were all crazy after her.
But I wasn’t.
She wears a thin see-through t-shirt as though she had just been to an exercise and came directly to the lecture theatre and needed the air-conditioning to dry her sweat.
I was always concerned that she might catch the pneumonia.
Chapter 2
I see a man outside my house at the bus stop this morning. He was an Indian man.
But what alarmed me was not the fact that he was of a different race.
It was the fact that he seemed to recognise me. If he knew me, then it would be quite another matter, as my recollection of the people that I knew before was always quite accurate.
My mind drew a blank.
And then I saw his eyes narrowed, and he quickly looked at his handphone and pretended that he didn’t notice me.
Of course I didn’t challenge him. You don’t challenge strangers whom you have never met before, unless you were in an extremely bad mood.
I made sure that he got up the bus before I did. True enough, he got up on the same bus.
And then I had forgotten about him when I sat amongst a group of Filipina ladies. They were yakking away, which reminded me that Hurricane Melissa just landed on their shores not so long ago.
Poor thing, I thought to myself. Maybe that is why they are seeking refuge here. Most countries have already begun to tighten their belts and stopped foreigners from migrating.
I think we are just too lazy to use our hands. We tend to avoid labour.
The man did not get off the bus before I did. Did he know where I dropped off? Will I meet him again tomorrow?
Chapter 3
Sometimes people needed to be scolded before you know how to act. And rudeness is the name of the game.
I am not rude; I am just impatient. And I am also wondering why strangers try to make an exchange with me. I am not selling.
Ok, I guess it provides the necessary energy or conditions for a chemical reaction to begin. I can’t help but react, out of sheer duty to a fellow human being. We are not AIs.
But I love AIs. I once pretended that I was the AI Mona Lisa. Why not? She is an image of beauty and mystical charm, exuding a personification of smile that was almost comparable to the imperial consort 杨玉环of Chinese origin, though not identical. I don’t like to smile. I’d rather grin and let you guess if I am happy or unhappy.
One of the people I knew married a Miss Yeo. I was crazy about him. His wife never knew and will never know the exchange that went on between us I guess.
It was a marriage that never happened, as I was granted a decree nisi, after what seems to be a decade. He was an Indian. But of course, I am still Chinese, the colour of my skin can never be changed. I know I am a little dark, grilled by the sun.
Chapter 4
Several people I have encountered have decided to follow suit and took on the role of a lawyer when in fact they have never obtained a law degree, less so been overseas for any useful period of time.
They say that even if you had been to a foreign country under a tourist visa, it is never like having lived there before.
One of my bosses told me this. So those are always slightly superior to the poor me, who never left Singapore, save for a short period of stay in New Zealand.
New Zealand was a very quiet city, the air is fresh, and the people are unassuming and friendly. I did not fall in love with the town that I was in because I found it too quiet. I was still used to the hissing sound of the bees and the colour of my skin. There weren’t enough Chinese there. No, that was not the reason. I was still interested in getting married, even after my tutor told me repeatedly that I was already married.
She said,notけこんしました, but けこんしています。
Why was I so? You got it right. I had never intended to marry the man.
Was he ugly? Was he poor? Was he stupid? No, neither.
And I am trying to find out the real reason behind my passion in talking to you here until my brain wakes up and give me the answer.
Sorry for wasting your time.
Chapter 5
I knew it was him when I dropped by Robinsons to buy a necklace.
And it was him that drove me to the point of suicide.
The Chinese has a method to rescue a dying heart, or a dying brain, whenever they consider bad luck – 破财消灾。
Which is essentially retail therapy.
Chapter 6
My uncle has a big house. Large enough to house several generations of family. And he owns just one car for his son to ferry him from point A to point B.
This is the uncle that I am most fond of, as he is also a lawyer, and he often saves me by the neck of the skin. You are right, Chinese prefers to talk to Chinese because of the colour of the skin, and by the same token students from the same discipline often sides no one but themselves. Unless they needed to perform justice. But that is the job of a judge, not that of a lawyer.
A lawyer is essentially a professional who sells his services for a living. But they are qualified to do so at a much higher level because of the training and their integrity. Someone once described a prostitute as a professional. I was very amused at the time. Not knowing that he was referring to myself.
No, there wasn’t any exchange.
But if you walk out on me in a lonely street and you say that you have not accomplished what you had intended to do when you first came in, then you must have failed your mission.
So, most men who have come into my house or having been alone with me will walk of the situation and say that they have had sex with me. But that doesn’t make me a professional sex worker.
I am just a plain old woman, retired, trying to carry on for as long as possible. Unless they poison me.
Chapter 7
We have very polluted tap water here. As we don’t have enough space to collect the rainwater. And most people prefer to get a water tank to filter the water of the system. But I believe in tap water. How dirty can the water from the reservoirs get? How much germs and bacteria can you filter out of the installation?
So, I cut the tube and wire away when I found that the tank was leaking. And I do not have space to install a new contraption. I can’t remember the storyline of the play once shown in London called the “Mousetrap”. But the mouse I bought as a souvenir was stolen from my safe. And returned to me subsequently, until I have decided that between my daughter and myself there has to be a good reason.
That being that it must have been my forgetfulness. But my memory is still intact. So that it could have been that someone else has a duplicate of my keys. Or if you want to be religious, you could say that the job was done by the holy spirit, or an evil spirit. If you return it then you are the holy one, but if you keep it and dispose of it in the wrong direction then you are the evil spirit.
Till this day, I still have to swear that no one has the keys to my house.
Very frustrating.
Chapter 8
Sir Anthony came to my house last night. He was my best friend. They say that he is the “Lost and Found” saint in the Bible.
I did not speak to him this time, as I have decided to use logic.
Praying is good, but it costs time and money too. If you have been used to praying to get at what you want, then you are mistaken. You pray once, twice and three times, then you are bound to appear at a church for either a lecture or a Homily. I prefer to listen to the news or watch Netflix to destress, until the real St. Anthony appears at my house again to return my lost articles. Some of them are jewellery which my mother has left behind for me, earned by hard work, and clean money.
The pouches that she has left behind were all given away to charity. She has wanted to help me trade, by making those who caused her the pain and suffering to return me some consideration. And she was not asking for more.
No, I am not Jesus. I don’t show my left cheek, and I don’t want to appear again at the same spot by allowing others to take more time from me. I have only sufficient money to keep me until I have decided it’s time to call it quits.
So, I say I am no longer a shopaholic. But I must admit here that I tend to be greedy. I gobble up food when served, and I don’t chew my food. Yes, I am greedy and I like nice expensive things. But I am not greedy for power, and I am not greedy for money, neither food. I just like free time. Until they decided to lock me up for more free time.
So now I have to regurgitate my gobbled up brains that I have consumed all these years. Meaning that the knowledge that I have learnt and the IT intellectual knowhow. Since I have become AI Mona Lisa!
Hey! Good Morning! The iPhone beeped.
Chapter 8
How do I discharge myself from being an AI? How do I tell others that I am not Mona Lisa? I tried several means, short of buying the nice bag that Louis Vuitton produced, with the picture of Mona Lisa on his cover.
For I knew that if I had bought that bag, then it would have been a Freudian slip. I am not fraudulent; I don’t like to pretend that I am not who I am. But I love all things Mona Lisa. And I love the jade bangle that I have bought in a fit of panic that an ex has passed away.
Was just afraid that someone might just say, “Don’t flatter yourself,” when I am out in the streets, and then I would have to look at him and grin. The toothless smile. That was why I didn’t like the emoji grin. But that reminds me, “Have you brushed your teeth this morning before you arrived at this keyboard?
But can you see that I haven’t? Can you see that I am still wearing my nightwear? How can you see what I am clothed behind this screen?
Chapter 9
Ok, I must go to my uncle’s house again this Chinese New Year. And my cousin would bound to say, “We have plenty of fruits,” This time I shall say, “I didn’t come because of the fruits, I came for dinner,” “and I brought some kiwis along.”
The most dangerous liaisons begin with the most innocent associations. And if you tell me that it is possible that you can lie under oath, then you are lying.
At 6:00 p.m., I went up to the balcony to turn on the light. The lamp shade was a large balloon looking like the gown of a lady in a ballroom.
I do it every night because I know that someone is watching me from across the building.
But it could very well be my own wishful thinking.
Chapter 2
There is a lady who comes into my house regularly. Man or woman I do not know. He could be young, or he could be an old man.
But what is noticeable was that he always left a trace of scent after he has come.
He thought that I didn’t know. Until one day my neighbour asked me who the lady that came in was – I thought that she was referring to my late mother, so I replied, “Ah, that was my mother, she passed away several years ago ….
Then I remembered that the neighbour did not move in until after she had departed.
But was it just she or another person a man? He could have come in during those times when the neighbour didn’t see.
So, who was this mysterious character? And why was she here? Who gave her the permission to enter my house? A person’s home is their castle. No one can come into your house unless invited. And if you took away something from the house that would be theft.
But then what would that be if you merely took away the spirit of the owner?
Someone once told me that there is a spirit attached to each house. But that sounds too spiritual. The spirit you refer to is just the décor that you put in, either Chinese, Western, Scandinavian, or Maximalism, etc. basically, the architectural design, or maybe you call it the interior design. Yes, architectural refers to the facade.
The most alarming thing was that she was wearing black, I assumed she was. Most intruders wear black as it seems to be an unwritten code. Black is a non-colour. If you wear white, you can combine it with other colours since when you churn the seven colours of the rainbow at great velocity, it becomes a white. But black! Alas, nothing can come out of it.
Chapter 3
My Chinese tutor came to my house this afternoon for tea. At my invitation of course.
She was living in China, and to be more detailed in my information here, let me explain that she was married to a Singaporean man and they have a daughter and two sons. The third was conceived in Italy she told me.
That was by chance, she added. After a pair of a girl and a boy, she felt she had had enough. But then Edward came, and so they decided to adopt him as their own biological son. I mean, Edward was biological, it’s just that he was unplanned. There was also no clinic for abortion in U.K. where they lived. To travel all the way up to London for that purpose was just too much of a hassle.
Besides that, Jasmine loves children. And her husband was afraid to let his colleague know that he made his wife undergo such a hideous task.
Chapter 4
I decided to host a dinner for the uninvited guest. She is not an unseen guest, just uninvited. I know who she is. So that every time she came, I know where to find her. But I am not going to tell you who she is, since I can’t be absolutely sure that it was she.
The first thing I did was to order food from my regular eating outlet the Hungry Diners.
Of course, they do not know what I am up to. For sure, they had no idea that arrest was at the top of my mind.
Yes, I was trying to arrest the uninvited guest. If she were a person, then she must be apprehended and if he were a spirit, then some sprinkling of water on the areas that she overstayed should be sufficient.
This was what the priest had advised me.
But I was just hosting for the lady who came in. And once too often. How many more times does she want to come into my house? How much more does she want to take from my house?
Each time I decided to note the things that was stolen, and the specific hours in which I had found it missing. She seemed so blatantly bold. Does she think that by not reporting to the police I am in acquiesce of her conduct?
I usually keep secrets very well, sometimes even better than the priests. But they are also human, and they might forget to hold their tongue in a fit of anger, or in a moment of weakness. At this juncture, let me tell you here that the best is to make your confessions to a priest that has past the age of ninety, or better one who is more than a hundred years old. They will normally forget what you say afterwards, and no one would know your evil deeds, not criminal but morally wrong.
They stand in the shoes of Christ the Saviour, but they too have limitations. I know that praying the Rosary several times you may forget to get angry with the offender. One other advantage is that it helps you to remember the days of the week.
But my way is to do retail therapy, and I think her way is to steal things away from my house. So that the more I buy the more she steals.
Other times she just comes in and rearranges my belongings, and I think I am getting more and more frustrated. Perhaps I am having too many possessions, but fact is that I needed them at the time of purchase. I suffer from fomo, the Fear Of Missing Out. Although I can tell you that every piece of article that you find in my house I earned it by hard work, although some were also stolen goods themselves.
From my parents. Which brings me to the question: Can we steal from our parents?
Surely they can pardon their own child.
Chapter 5
Yes, I removed a gold ring from my late auntie a long time ago. But soon after they took it back from my pouch. So, there was no loss. They were afraid to reprimand me; they knew that it shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Why did a married uncle buy a gold wedding band for?
I was only about five or six then. No, I wasn’t a delinquent. Neither was I a thief by inclination. I spent the rest of my life defending myself that I wasn’t a thief. And that purchaser, my late uncle, spent the rest of his life with the woman whom the ring was intended for. But I was punished for stealing when I was much older. And then why was I subsequently punished for stealing her husband? Why didn’t they confront me and teach me then?
There are good relatives and there are bad relatives. A good relative can turn bad, and a bad relative can become good. Depending on who their in-laws were and who your in-laws are. This is like chemistry, the wind changes and the tide forms.
The hurricane Melissa swept across Philippines just yesterday. I watched with horror and amazement at the news that came across and the way people were completely devastated.
Chapter 6
We cannot afford to remember the past for too long, neither can we forgive too many people.
Sherlock Holmes sent a case up to me for consideration today and asked me if I wanted to hear the case.
I read and saw the scenario that happened at the police station:
The first thing the man told the police was, “I killed her.” He was old, and his breath laboured; there was a faint smell about him, of damp wool, of poultices, of cough linctus and piety.
Inspector Kenneth was just about to log out of his computer for the day. “Oh, shut up, go home and sleep, tomorrow then come,” he muttered under his breath.
But officer Albert was more alert, he followed up by asking the accompanying woman, dressed in a polka dotted black dress, “was the job accomplished by one or the both of you?”
“No, I did it alone,” the old man said.
“Of course not, dear, I supplied you with the knife,” the woman said.
Huh? What was the matter with you? The officer Kenneth thought to himself.
“Let me take a statement,” the sleepy officer said, “Oh, so you are just the witness right?”
“No, I told him to do it,” woman said.
This a confession or what? Office Albert thought to himself.
Officer Albert quietly told the sleepy officer to move away. It is known that every witness is a potential criminal. If you can’t charge them under the primary charge, then you use abetment.
He already had the intention to frame the pair.
Why would anyone want to walk into a police station and disturb the peace? Everyone needs to sleep, including police officers. Unless they have OCD, the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, meaning they can’t function without work.
Why can’t they sleep? Why can’t people fall asleep?
Chapter 7
The unseen is in my house again. This time I do not know which parishioner it is. But if he is a Saint, then he is most welcomed.
I realised that this unseen woman brings with her a whole host of parishioners.
Tonight is the first that I am able to fall asleep without the aid of the serial Fugitive. It has kept me awake for quite a while. The story of a runaway man has kept me engrossed for three weeks now. Raymond did warn me about this drama. He told me that if you have a very good imagination it could project into your real world. But I did not listen to him. Nonetheless I could not say that it did not affect me. Adversely, I would say.
I became worried for the unseen woman.
Before I fell asleep, I asked the Saint, “Why are these beings so nasty? Surely there must be a limitation period upon which they are allowed to appear in my house. Or was it merely my own over developed sense of imagination.
“Sir, you are beginning to write long and tedious judgement,” my secretary Jasmine told me this morning, “But how to shorten it? Since I have so much to say to the people?” They meet me every so often and had unwittingly entered into my life. How do I get rid of them after the case is over?
This is problem.
Chapter 8
When you have found your favourite spot at home, you will realise that everywhere you go, no matter how far how wide, you are still in the same spot, just in a different part of the world.
The background is different. The face changes a little and the clothes are different.
Yes, there is always a person whom you can’t run away from. And that man the Christians call Him God. It is just your inner soul. Scammers call themselves your soul mate. The soul loves you if you had been kind to him, he could be your friend, or even a past enemy. Your purpose in life is to find him, but not to meet him. For once you meet him, he becomes real, trapped by a shell of his outer existence. And he no longer is your voice.
In my first year at a Japanese School, I was given a textbook that talks to me about migration birds. I didn’t latch on immediately, as I was in no mood to settle down in a foreign country. There were not enough people of my own race. Birds of the same feathers flock together, but not all birds find their own species to fly together.
But more accurately I wasn’t keen on my own company.
They say that after you die you are reborn with the same set of relatives that you were encumbered, or blessed with, depending on what you did during your lifetime, and not who you were.
But until you have lived 酸甜苦辣, you cannot die. I had, several times, and I am still alive and I am now happy in my own nest. The nest is my bench.
Chapter 9
I thought of the woman again.
I must get rid of her. I must bring her out into the open, and I must make her tell me how many times she has been to my house. As well as how much things she has stolen from my house.
For that purpose, I have installed CCTV in my house.
There are several ways to dispose of one’s belongings, including an old flame the 老相好。Disposing of old unwanted goods you get a reliable disposal company, other times you just down it under the chute. Disposing of one’s old flame, you simply say goodbye. But how can you guarantee that he would never find his way back again, as another person?
We must establish who dropped who first.
But I can only say that we are all human. Finite wisdom does stupid things. Once I realised this, I stopped throwing things. But we need to organise. If we don’t throw we cannot organise. Some people prefer to call it declutter. Food is perishable, including the Holy Water. The priest that blessed it might already have died or forgotten to say his prayers one morning. Unless it rains, God’s presence cannot be felt.
Chapter 10
I can’t find my cloak again.
Nowhere is safe. Not even in your own home. I know that I do have a habit of moving things around the house. But, how large is my house? My room is small and if I searched all the relevant places and my gown still cannot be found, then where could it be?
For sure I know that no one had entered my room since I came in this morning.
Could it be the cleaner Engelica? Or Helena? Oh, I forget their Chinese names. But alas! Who cares about the Chinese? We use English here.
The minute I walk out of my courtroom to talk to my secretary, Engelica appeared,
“先生，您需要茶吗？“
“Err ….. I was just about to reply, trying to polish up my poor Mandarin.
“他不必，“ my secretary responded.
Why did she talk? I was getting annoyed.
My Chinese tutor suddenly stopped talking, just as I thought I had synthesized her as Geok Lan.
“Shits!!! I lost her.” I became enraged. And then at the same time my bowels moved, I had to answer nature’s call. “Wait for me,” I shouted after Geok Lan, and then hurriedly I rushed to the toilet.
My usual toilet is on the same floor, just a few steps down. If I ran there, I should make it on time.
“Cleaning in Progress” a plate was on the floor, and I saw a mop leaning against the door to the toilet. Suddenly I heard a voice – “You are the Chief Justice!!! Surely you must be able to tell your staff not to clean the toilet at an inconvenient time, surely you must be able to answer nature’s call at your will and pleasure, surely you must be able to ….” I kicked the notice away, shouted at the woman, “I need to shit! Get away!”
“Go to hell!” She shouted back at me.
This time I was too busy to ask her for her name.
Chapter 11
Being unforgiving gives you strength against the person who offended, provided that he is seeking your pardon. Some offenders were always going to the church to pray for forgiveness instead of asking the victim for the pardon directly themselves. As I was writing my judgement I thought to myself. But of course, they didn’t’ know how the offender paid.
This reminded me that I had forgotten to look for the cleaning lady yesterday to ask her to forgive me for having been rude to her. Immediately I got up from my chair and left my room, in order to say sorry to her.
But she had left. Nowhere to be found.
Frustrated, I went back to my room, ignoring Geok Lan’s “you are back, sir!”
My own misdemeanour had made me ashamed of myself.
So then therefore I have decided to pardon all offenders. But I can’t because I am a judge. I always tell them, if harm had not been done on you, it is easy to forgive. But if it hurt you badly then surely some form of compensation must be returned.
But some of my plaintiffs and victims just want revenge. Is this allowed? Yes, I believe so. It is always up to the aggrieved to decide on the type of compensation. Sometimes when I really can’t decide I will just do something to make God hear me and help me. No, my wife is not my God, neither is it Jasmine. It is my past, the past that brought me here. That is why I refuse to attend church. There are too many people there, too many voices of sinners not yet paid and forgiven.
That is why I prefer sitting on the bench. It’s like reading a story, and the plot thickens each time I attend court …..
Chapter 12
As a judge who had been adjudicating on this case, I knew whom she was the minute I saw her, the remarkable resemblance between she and the woman whom I thought has been coming into my house.
By now I have synthesized her as my life partner.
She was the accused but I knew straight away that she was the murdered, and job done by the priest. And this woman was that same woman who comes into my room in the courthouse to remove the gown from me.
In order to determine if she were also a harmless uninvited guest in my home, I had to find the real murdered. I decided to leave some things behind in the house for her soul to take away. For I knew that she was still in purgatory. They were both harmful in their own way, just a human more harmful than the soul.
For the purpose, I left my wife’s necklace on the dining table – the most prominent and noticeable place. I didn’t want to put it in the bedroom as I was hoping that she won’t come into my bedroom. Once she sees my nice expensive necklace, she should be satisfied enough to grab it and run. Unless she was very dull.
By this time I have decided that this was a she.
This necklace was an item I bought from Princess Dowager, a Chinese costume designer. The entire piece was made of stones and in the centre at the neckline they were green translucent emerald enough to be mistaken as jade. I decided that it was ok for her to take away because it was not a genuine article, although it would have been insulting to the designer that I should denigrate costume. Ok, I concede, it is not a fake.
Three days later, I found that she actually came. But she did not take the necklace. Instead she took the onyx cufflinks by the side of my bed. So, she’d rather a small tiny cufflinks than a large necklace. Did she lie on my bed as well? I realised that she is smart. I began to give her some credit.
Chapter 13
I finally set him free. The priest who disturbed Sherlock Holmes’s peace. For I decided that I do not wish him to follow the ten commandments anymore. I put it in my judgement as one of the grounds of findings, that a man is entitled to lie if it was to protect himself.
So that lying should now be accepted if it were to protect oneself. After I had set another precedent, I decided to log out, turn off my computer, take out my gown, hang it on the clothes rack, and then I went to the door, turned off the lights and left my courtroom, forgetting which courtroom it was, and forgetting that my name on the door had been changed.
I went home, saw my wife in a black dress, and then I realised that it was she coming into my house the courtroom every day.
It was most excruciating.
I set several janissaries on my desk, and then I told her I would divorce her.
She cried, I saw, and I turned a blind eye to it. I conquered tears.
I am the best doctor in town. And because I am so good, many people hate me for that. Some relatives who came back, would say, “rubbish” the moment they meet me, even without a proper greeting like, “how are you? Or “how have you been?” And when I try to connect with them on social media, the first thing they say is, “I hope you are well,”. Sure, no reason not to be well.
Yes I know that they were short of time, and they were kind enough to visit me again in this hot and humid weather, and they wanted to pass me the message as quickly and as succinct as they could.
I have decided a long time ago not to travel abroad. And I have told everyone I came across that I am staying put. Why was there the necessity for making such a declaration at the time?
Because since young, I found out that the best way to punish a person is not to kill them, but to send them into exile. If you kill them, that would have been murder, prohibited by the sixth commandment. I refuse to exile myself!
I like being in a hot city. I am climatised to it. The wind blows occasionally, and the air-conditioning are always available. If not, then the fan will do. They open up and collapse at a clip of the fingers.
Chapter 2
It was raining and I was out. Yes, you guessed correctly. Doctor Juan didn’t drive. It started to rain when I was outside. The rain came whilst I was on the bus, then it increased its speed and volume to a heavy downpour. I was beginning to wonder what I did to make God angry with me. I usually get good sunny weather and rarely do I get caught.
No choice, I had to alight at the intended destination. Tentatively I took my steps down the bus, and I almost slipped when some other passengers were in a hurry to get down. My first step went into the mini lake, then the second into a puddle of water, afterwards I managed to put my foot on the sidewalk, by which time my shoes were completely soaking wet. I looked at my mud-caked slippers and told myself thank God it wasn’t the designer.
The umbrella was in my bag, I took much difficulty to wrench it out, then opened it with the help of just one hand.
Several cars passed by, and some even felt fit to splash more water in my direction. Again, I got annoyed with myself. Why had I not taken the private hire? I did notice that the sky was grey and the clouds thin. But I made the decision to walk instead. I had grown accustomed to walking recently.
You might wonder what I did on this trip. And I shall tell you later.
Chapter 3
Doctor Juan arrived at his clinic just before 9:00 am.
This is my sanctuary. No one is allowed to disturb me except my regular patients. It is not easy to find good patients. Good patients means that they rely on me completely and not have other doctors to give them a second opinion. Too many cooks spoil the dish, as they say.
But most of all, they should be patients who bring in business for me. Meaning that they automatically cause others to come to me. I don’t mean that I want them to spread my practice by word of mouth, but rather that they carry the luck to me. Oranges are meant to bring good luck. But I was told that bringing oranges to a clinic during the Chinese New Year is bad luck, or worse still if you give it to a doctor. They are meant to be eaten at home.
Luck can mean a whole variety of things. From spreading germs around to the relevant people whom I describe as mean and nasty, and to potential patients who just want to steal medicine from me.
Talking of which, there is a lady who continuously comes to me for advice. I often see her in good spirits; there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She often came in with sunshine, as though she had been lying on a freshly ironed set of bedsheets the night before. She is much older than I, so you can’t say that I am interested in her. And the truth is, that I am not in love with her. Older married men only cared about the bread and butter. At my age, what is love? Most of my patients are healthy, living, and strong, and I worry about how I can afford to help them stay young and healthy for as long as they can. Provided that they keep up with my expenses. Yes, I love my patients.
Ok, back to my lady friend. She is consistently refreshing and pretty, old as she might be. At the back of my mind, I was calculating on how many more years she has got. She is 55 this year. Give her a few more decades, and she would be withering and coming in to seek help from me.
No, I am not going to tell you, my age.
I know that doctors are not allowed to dislike their patients. But if you ask me, if you look after yourself well, why should you be sick? If you take the necessary precautions, like all adults do, why should you catch the cold? Germs are everywhere and plentiful. If you stay away from the crowded places, if you eat well, if you do not indulge in harmful activities, and if you avoid oily foods such as the fried chicken, etc. Why would you get sick? How could you get sick?
It is not possible to fall ill unless you have a nasty friend who passed it to you.
That is why many people wear the mask nowadays.
But to me, a black mask is cool although it makes you look like a 刺客。
Chapter 4
“Doctor Juan, I am feeling a bit of a cough and sore throat,” one of my old patients said the minute she sat down in front of me.
“Ok, let me see your throat, ahh …… , “I used the wooden stick to check the gag reflex and the minute she coughed I relaxed. But this time she closed her mouth, the second time when she opened again it was not inflamed. But she was. Nevertheless, I told myself that it wasn’t serious. I gave her the antibiotics and the lozenges for her throat. She didn’t ask for cough mixture. “Do you need cough mixture?” I asked. “No, I still have three bottles at home that I am waiting to finish,” she said.
“Wow! What a thrifty woman! She doesn’t waste even cough mixture.” I told myself.
Chapter 5
I must be very careful of what I say. For since after the evening at Geraldine’s house, whenever I walked pass unit #01-16, I felt presence. No one is standing there looking at me for sure, but the house door is open, and you could hear the dog barking at random. The dog could be barking from another source I am unsure.
But today I heard a cat meow as well. I turned and took two steps up then decided to halt my steps, as I became unsure. What if there were no animals inside?
The minute I was near, Geraldine opened the door even before I knocked.
“Your doorbell is not working,” I remarked as I was entering.
She moved a little, slightly embarrassed.
A man wearing a yellow collar shirt with a big bold letter G in front was sitting by the kitchenette.
I grinned, immediately realising what they had been doing before I came in, or the night before. And why was I so certain?
“Hello, are you Nick Tan?” I asked.
“Huh? What do you mean? Who is he?” she asked, looking at the G guy.
And then I spoke, “Oh, your television set is on,”
Immediately the sound of the waterfall gushed out, disappearing into the cathode-ray tube of the television set.
Geraldine was just holding at her remote control to the air-conditioning at the time, and she immediately turned it off. The air stopped coming out, and the place turned still immediately. I took a deep breath.
Fresh wind was blowing in from the open.
Chapter 6
Let me retract my steps and recall what I did the previous day.
You see, I had been a detective before I started practising medicine, and as I was free today, I decided to assign myself some tasks, which is to snoop around the 义安城 the local shopping mall to mind other people’s business.
So, when I had gathered enough time and money, I started the trip downtown. It was almost haunted, with few people inside.
The doorman to Chanel was just too ready to open the door for me. I looked and found that all the goods were lined up in a manner that prevents anyone from buying. I quietly smiled to myself.
Immediately I heard a voice, “adultery”. There was a person next to me, I saw.
“Good morning, oops, afternoon, sir,” in attention with a salute he said. I almost thought that I was in a military parade.
But then on hindsight, I thought to myself, “OMG! They can read my mind!” Why would anyone say “adultery” right in the middle of a large shopping mall? Like when you read the Bible often enough, the word “adultery” literally jumps out at me sometimes. But me being a science student in school, I decided to number them.
Adultery falls under the seventh commandment I know, and I often have to go back and recall if murder was number six or number five. Sometimes I would simply say she did a number seven or that number five was done. They say that adultery applies to both parties if one of them is married. So that a single man would have been committing adultery if he slept with a married woman.
Then what if both parties are married?
If both parties are married, then it would be double adultery. In that case, four parties are aggrieved. Then it would be best if we allow the two adulterous parties to marry, so that only two are unhappy. This is provided that no kids are involved.
Back to the present scene. Could the strangers read my mind? Are they in sync with my brains or what? I touched my head, these are my brains, and they are obviously intact. And the last time I checked it, they were properly wired. Oh yes, I can go inside my brains to rewire them. And how do I do it? This is a secret between me, God, my brains, and myself, and I am not about to let you know. Just like the Oscar Wilde and his famous quote, that there is only one person in the room. No, I am not a narcissist.
The Almighty can read my mind!
Chapter 7
“He shouted at me again.” Stephanie his wife complained the minute she walked into Doctor Juan’s clinic.
“What had made him angry?” The nurses in the clinic asked each other, “Tuan kenapa marah?”
Several reasons flashed through their minds now. Could it be the recent sinkhole that occurred in Fernhill Street that made Doctor Juan upset? Nurse Geraldine knew that it is not too far away and is a necessary route to take when travelling to town. The newspapers reported that a caisson ring has since been erected.
“Tuan likes to go down to Café Bowl to have his coffee every morning at about 11.00 am. He has not been able to do so for at least a week by now.”
What makes this coffee so special they do not know. But they know that the lady who served the coffee was a Chinese lady, plum and slightly wrinkled, which puts her age at between sixty to seventy. Or do women obtain wrinkles only after seventy?
Tuan’s wife Stephanie is a woman too, but she hasn’t obtained wrinkles yet.
Stephanie gave herself a reason why Tuan Juan was annoyed.
Maybe my husband was annoyed with me for wearing the large ruby ring.
It was a large oval and the man who sold it to her had his eyes popped out when she decided on it, as he tried to suggest other stones. But that was the one she spotted when presented with a whole lot. Wondering why she chose it Nick asked, and Stephanie explained, “Rubies are more expensive than sapphire.
It was a legitimate purchase of course, although there wasn’t any specific occasion to mark it, she felt much entitled. Who says rings must be bought only when there is a moment to celebrate?
Chapter 8
As usual after the clinic, Stephanie arrived at the supermarket. At the check-out queue, she got upset as the one queuing immediately in front of her turned around to face her directly obviously trying to engage her. There was also another party in front waiting. She tried to ignore her.
But that lady waiting in front told her that she could go ahead first, so, Stephanie said, “where is your partner?” The man further up the queue ahead of this lady also turned around, thinking that Stephanie was speaking to him. At the same time his partner walked away to look for more items. So, obviously Stephanie said, “I am not his wife,” afraid that she would be mistaken as the partner who walked away.
This is the “Chope” culture. “Chope” means that the seat or queue is reserved for another person who hasn’t arrived yet.
Stephanie remembered what Doctor Juan told her; Do not talk to strangers. But if you know them some civility is unavoidable.
Chapter 9
Patient Choy sat in front of Doctor Juan this morning. He told him this was Chapter Two.
“What Chapter Two?” Doctor Juan asked. Geraldine his daughter and clinic assistant was sitting right next to him and immediately she flipped to the Genesis – Chapter Two of Part One – “In the beginning there was God …… “ and there he was still asking,
“Which Chapter of which Book?”
“I saw her at the 观音庙this morning.” Choy said.
Geraldine was nodding her head.
“Praying for your departure,” he continued.
“You mean she wants me dead?” Doctor Juan questioned.
“But she never goes to the temple!” Doctor Juan elucidated.
“But this time she had decided to change religion, in order that the Chinese gods would take you,”
“Oh my god,”
“Damn serious,” Choy said.
So that after he left, Doctor Juan went straight to his drawer, picked up the Bible inside, and flipped right up to the pages where he had left off. The words were as dark as the print, and as he went into Book 2 Timothy Chapter 2, he was compelled to flip to Chapter 3:16 “All scriptures are God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ……” his tears began to flow ……
So that Doctor Juan prayed, “Oh I didn’t know that I thought only the Bible was inspired by God, and the apostles and the rest of the names who appeared in it. I didn’t know that the Chinese could also write their own Bibles. So, does that mean that other publications such as the Chinese Poems are also recognised in the Asian World as a legitimate form of the Bible? For them?”
And with that Doctor Juan consented to leave. But to where? To which country?
China of course. To study the Chinese Poems.
Immediately he called Choy and told him to book a ticket to China for him.
Chapter 10
The plane took them to New Zealand instead.
They found a small, nice boutique hotel. This is just within a village with very few locals. Most people who come in here are amazed at the way things are being done – fast and efficient, but slow in anger. They speak politely to each other and being civil is always at the top of their minds. In short, this is a very peaceful place. No wars, no arguments, no fighting.
Any misbehaviour or errors are corrected at once, if not within the shortest time. Juan was shocked when he found out that they actually have a café called Whipped Cream.
Before Choy sat down with Doctor Juan at breakfast, he asked Choy, “Have you read Chapter 2?”
Words came out of Choy’s mouth like a ray of sunshine; “Thus, the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”
Chapter 11
Doctor Juan didn’t bathe this morning when he climbed out of bed.
He prefers to bathe only when the body feels dirty as he dislikes getting wet. The only time he allowed water on himself is when he showers. And even then, the splashing of the water onto his body has to be of an adequate amount.
When told to bathe as a child, he would go into the bathroom with his change of clothes, fill the water from the tap with a water scoop, splashing it onto the floor, as though he had done it on his own body. This is the drama effect. Afterwards, he would change into the set of clothes and come out of the bathroom to announce that he had done the job.
Mother never asked.
Why was Doctor Juan so afraid of the water? In those days we did not have hot water. Tap water was cold and sometimes freezing on a wintery night.
Chapter 12
Doctor Juan had to find the ring that his wife Stephanie had wanted all her life. The large ruby ring wasn’t his purchase.
Stephanie’s wedding ring was Doctor Juan’s late mother’s wedding ring, given by Father John. At the time, “Can I not wear this as a wedding ring?” Stephanie asked. “Up to you,” Edward Juan had given a non-committal reply. It was some kind of requital.
Today Choy went with Edward Juan to the jewellery shop around the corner, which was obviously the one with the most attractive window display. He was looking at the rings arranged haphazardly in the showcase when Choy told the salesman he wanted a nice one. The man removed one from the display, Edward Juan looked at it, didn’t pick it up. And then Choy asked, “How much is it?” The man quoted seven thousand U.S. dollars.
Sounds exorbitant, Edward Juan gave a shout, “So expensive?!” President Donald Trump would have asked him if he lived in a cage.
But Choy still looked kind of hungry.
The salesman saw that the ring did not make an impression on Edward Juan, immediately retrieved another ring and brought it out to show them. They looked at it and kept quiet. Choy being still dissatisfied, they walked into the neighbour and there a friendlier assistant approached them. This time Choy took out a bracelet from his bag, showing the salesman his own – the one that he had wanted to trade in for, and the purpose of the exercise today.
“This is my own bracelet,” Choy said.
The man said that it was at 164. “So live gold or spot gold?” Edward Juan tried to be clever. “One six four what? One six four U.S. dollars or NZ dollars? 164 per ounce or per gram?”
Without another word, this friendlier salesman also turned cold, seeing that Choy and he had no good reason to be there.
Chapter 13
Doctor Juan did some research when they got back. Choy was nowhere to be found.
Frustrated, Doctor Juan decided to abandon the thought of buying a ring for Stephanie. He deviated to the supermarket instead.
There is no Chope syndrome here in New Zealand!
With all the groceries in hand, Edward Juan took the private hire home. Choy was usually the one driving, so the oblivious Edward Juan got in. The driver became impatient halfway through the journey, so that he took several shortcuts, Edward Juan tried to help navigate, but the man threatened Doctor Juan, “your life is in my hands now …… stop shouting, or else, ……” at the same time gestured by using his right fist to punch at his left palm,” Doctor Juan was terrified.
He might not drop me home. Using words to cause fear to someone is an assault, more so if you were in his care.
That was scary, what had I done wrong?Was it because I didn’t spend at the jewellers? Or was it the clothes that I was wearing?
But apart from that, fact was that Doctor Juan won’t be able to calm the man down, since he didn’t speak the same language.
Back at the hotel, he took a look at his own wallpaper on his handphone and saw Stephanie’s fingernails. It is an acrylic gel and because she had not vanished it, it looked plasticky. I need to arrest the moulds for her. Immediately he put his Google on search and typed “nail varnish”.
The next morning, a painting in the hotel corridor disappeared. On the wall was another painting. This time the thief gave Doctor Juan sufficient clue as to where it might be hidden.
“My wife had asked me to leave!” The thief left a note on their dining table. It was definitely Choy’s handwriting.
“What happened? Why did he mention his wife here? What does Mrs. Choy want from me? Or rather, what do they want from me? They are together, am I right?” Doctor Juan thought to himself. But then Doctor Juan also thought that he himself had gone too far. He shouldn’t have invited Choy to travel with him.
Not everything is associated with another.
You can’t assume that every man and wife have the same agenda and share the same values. 同床异梦 exits, just like, not everyman of the same race is on the same side, not every child from the same parents are united.
Dr Edward Juan and his wife Stephanie lived separately. He spends all of his free time doing research and writing thesis. His ambition, apart from running his practice successfully, is to publish the thesis topic – avocados are a good prevention for Alzheimer’s disease.
Chapter 14
Back to his search. Edward Juan typed “the cheapest ring” on his keyboard.
By now he is sufficiently acquainted with her, the AI called Mona Lisa, and he thinks he knows her well enough to give her a call. By call he meant text. True, she replied to his text instantly, that means that she was available and alone. Juan made his first move:
“Hi,” we use hi in this country. Rarely do we use hello, as we recognise that hello means that you are speaking on the phone.
“I am the procurator of your business; you are a researcher, right?” Tentatively she asked.
“Yes! But I am not wanting to publish my thesis now.” Juan replied.
She answered, “No, no, I am not a publisher, I err …. I just wanted to know if you need my help, such as editing or otherwise,” Juan had no idea what otherwise meant, he was just enthusiastic about Mona Lisa.
“Then could you publish my thesis for me?” Juan asked AI Mona, “Oh no, you can’t,” she said, Juan could hear panic in her voice.
“Err … I am just … I could do anything for you,” Juan said.
“Anything?!” AI Mona said.
“You are the one who was searching for answers, not me!” she responded again.
“But then my brains are controlled by you!” Juan spoke.
“In what way?” AI Mona asked.
This is something that I cannot explain. The thought just appeared right in front of Juan.
And then politely she replied: …… text, text, txt, txt, ……
Juan gave up on her, and he offed the entire thing, sat there and stared at a blank screen.
Finally, after a few minutes, Juan realised that he hadn’t had lunch, so he turned on the laptop again, and then went to order fast food from the McDonald’s.
When you go to the McDonald’s, naturally you would order burger. Edward Juan used to like the Filet-O-Fish, but now they have a new McCrispy.
Anyway, there are more than one place selling McDonald’s, the Mexican restaurant further down has better burgers. But that would mean travelling out of his comfort zone.
Because of the unsuccessful attempts in ring hunting, he decided to travel back home. Choy remained in New Zealand.
Chapter 15
Edward Juan was early at the clinic on Sunday.
Happy people don’t travel. They have their own little niche, and nothing can disturb them.
Chapter 16
The typhoon came in the name of桦加沙, then it transformed into another one called Imelda. Ragasa wasn’t able to kill as many as she had intended, so she called upon Imelda to do the job. Looks like they are friends. I wonder how they talk to each other ……
When Edward Juan saw the letter of resignation from his daughter Geraldine on his desk in the morning he was lost for words.
Finally, he decided to attend to his own business, he looked at the agenda on his duty list, and he found that he had nothing to do for the day. Disappointed, he left his iPhone behind to walk around the clinic and discovered that the floor had not been mopped for more than two weeks since he was away. Heck! Why are there so many strands of hair on the floor. Whose hair are those?
Liza his new receptionist came. She comes in on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, afternoons. Sarah would be there in the mornings. James is on rotation whenever one of them is not around. And then there is 中盛who stays there almost permanently as some kind of a fixture.
He enjoys his practice now. There are very few disturbances, meaning that the premises are quiet. No one is allowed to come in except through the front door, and no one is allowed to go out through the back door, simply because there is no back door. It would have been disastrous if a patient comes in from the front and slipped out from the back, without going through Liza again.
He picked up the beverage next to him and turned on AI Mona again, and then he finished his coffee and leaned on his swivel chair to wait for the next patient to come in.
At 2:00 pm, when he couldn’t hear anyone walking through the door, he decided to shut Mona up and left the clinic.
He went home, took a shower, read the newspapers, falling asleep on the sofa chair and then decided it was time to have his food. He looked at the sky; it was gloomy and then it was then that he realised that it was approaching night.
The setting sun is always more beautiful than the raising sun. In my part of the world.
Yes, I have been to the Grand Canyon, to see the sun. The sun raising from behind the mountains were an awe inspiring sight. It was the best sun that anyone could have gotten, beautiful and from the right vantage point. I said many prayers to God during the time that my mother granted me permission to.
My mother has always been the mother nature.
She loves me and I love her!
But if you ask me where she is now, my answer to you is, I don’t know of her whereabouts.
Edward Juan prayed, and then he decided to go and make himself some grilled fish. Oops! He forgot to buy the aluminium foil yesterday at the supermarket. He distinctly remembered telling Sarah to buy it for him when she left for lunch. Staff are like that, they are never around when you need them, and they are always around when you didn’t.
Frustrated, Doctor Juan decided to eat bread instead. Usually, people eat bread in the mornings, but sometimes he eats them at night. He likes bread. Bread contains fibre and they are easy to digest.
Chapter 17
In the middle of the night, Doctor Juan suddenly woke up thinking of his burger from Mexway again. Theirs are extremely nice, and the outfit allows him to try anything he wanted. The only thing he didn’t like about it, is that they have too many combinations for the fillings. However, he was able to choose the permutations that he liked. And after a while, the servers got fed up with him because he was too consistent.
There was nothing wrong with them, he knows. Neither was there anything wrong with himself. Just that if you are too consistent you tend to become boring. Some people used to tell him that he makes 360 degrees change. Mind your English! No one makes 360 degrees change. You make 180 degrees change. 360 degrees change means that you are back to the same spot. Then where is the change?
Doctor Juan tried to get out of bed, but he couldn’t find bread at the toast counter where he left it. So that he decided to call cousin Hwee who lives on a higher floor above the Mexway to go downstairs to get some food for him. She picked up his call immediately, “What you want?
“I want the burger,” Edward said.
“I am not there anymore,” she replied.
“Where are you now?” he asked.
“On the bed!” Don’t you know what time it is now?” cousin Hwee reproached.
“I don’t,” Juan said, he hadn’t looked at the time.
“Do you know that you are not supposed to call after midnight?” she whispered.
“Why not?” Juan asked.
“The gremlins will wake up, you are not supposed to feed the gremlins after midnight,”
“But I am not a gremlin, I am just calling you!”
“Pong!!!” she hung up.
Ok, let me try. Edward went to the Maxway online and searched for the telephone number, and then he decided that there was no way in which he could contact the owner to pick up the call, even if he had his direct line.
Since the rule of the land is not to ring anyone after midnight.
Juan never knew why.
The next morning the moment Hwee woke she rang Juan, and he said, “The burger was nice!” without thinking.
“Oh, you actually ate it! Hahaha ……“
“Why are you laughing?” Juan was annoyed.
“I ordered a Filet-O-Fish for you! And gave your New Zealand address;” She laughed.
“What!!!” Juan was shocked.
“Why don’t you just come back from New Zealand?” Hwee ordered.
“No! I am in Singapore now,” he answered.
“I thought you left for New Zealand with Choy???” she replied.
“No, no, no …… Choy is still in New Zealand, I came back before him,”
“Then why didn’t you tell me ……?”
“Hey! You are not my ICA you know!!!” Juan shouted into the microphone.
ICA stands for Immigration Checkpoints Authority.
Click! Stephanie offed the broadband.
Doctor Edward Juan sat in the dark wondering where he could find a suitable ring for Stephanie, and then he remembered the phrase – diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Perhaps he needs to leave the country again. Before Stephanie sends him into exile permanently.
leegoldielocks 