A match made in Heaven

By James Ooi

I was just sitting at Starbucks on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was drizzling softly, little raindrops just falling incessantly forming a translucent screen of water drops as I looked out at the quiet street outside.

For a place that's full of action in the evenings with people partying their guts out, Bangsar sure is quiet on a Sunday afternoon. Peaceful even. Across my table, there's this attractive Malay girl dressed in a beige dress that would have been demure if not for the plunging neckline which showed off her ample chest.

Quite a fair woman for a Malay lady, I must say. She highlighted her wavy shoulder-length hair in shades of brown and gold. Her face is serious as she types and peers in full concentration at her laptop screen, sipping occasionally from her steaming cup of coffee. She doesn’t smile much. Probably because she doesn't want to attract any unwanted male suitors.

But dressed as she is. How can any man resist talking to her, much less avoid looking at her. She bends down to collect a dropped pencil. I get an fortuitous eyeful of her full breasts. At that moment, I decided that I would try to get to know her and perhaps get her hand phone number as well.

What the heck man? The most I would get is a slap but that's provided if I am too forward. And the least I would get is, "Please go away." And what I hope for is a smile and the start of something new perhaps. Later on, a meeting for dinner. And who knows what else. My heart beats wildly in anticipation.

I look at her for a moment too long. She senses me looking at her. She looks up and our eyes meet. I smile at her. She smiles back at me. Irresistibly I wink at her. She blushes and that's my cue. I walk over to her table which is just five feet away from me.

Just five feet away from a relationship with her and God knows what else. It's now or never as Elvis used to sing. And for me, it was now. As I walked over to her table, I knew it was going to work.

This time.

We had been dating for the past year or so. Actually a year two months and eight days from the day we actually first met. I can still remember our first meeting, the smell of her scented hair and how she looked on that first day. Reading the first part of my tale here, you pretty much would have guessed it I must say.

In case I forgot to mention the fact, well I am Chinese and Maria my girl friend is a Malay girl. In Malaysia, well that's not a well-accepted thing and because of religious implications, well this kind of matches are by and large a rarity.

The first few months of our courtship was a very traumatic thing with our parents on both sides objecting strongly to the relationship. But we prevailed and after about nine months, plans were afoot for a wedding. So we had gotten engaged just after nine months of dating.

And I know that is was fast by any standards.

We weren't young. I was in my late thirties and she was in her early thirties and we were pretty sure and happy that we would be together for a lifetime if not more. Could we have been lovers in another lifetime? Could we have gotten to know each other previously? I don't really know. Just that we seem to click so well together.

Sometimes my brother Joe would kid around with me, "Koko, so now how? No more bak-kut-teh and your favorite pork sausages man? How about your daily char-siew-pau?"

I laughed and said, "Can still eat beef and other stuff wat. Also not forgetting my beef steak and thank God I can still eat roti canai and tosai man! If pork is something I gotta give up, I guess I can lah for Maria."

Then Peter my younger brother said, "Hey I heard you gotta sacrifice your foreskin to the butchers. You do already? Did it hurt?"

Grinning, I said, "During the circumcision, nah. After they sew you up, it kinda tingles a bit. But you better not get an erection because that could really hurt as the swelling can pull at the sutures and that’s when you can scream bloody murder."

Aside from the initial questions and stuff, everything kinda settled into the normal scheme of things. We got on with the plans for the wedding. Maria got along with my family and relatives well and they loved her and drew her into their hearts. As for me, things couldn't be better. My future in-laws warmed up to me after the initial objections and more than made up for it with the warmth and acceptance that came once they realized that Maria and I had decided to be together for life.

We went for the wedding photo shoot. A full day of posing and changing into different suits for the photo session. It was so tiring at the end of that day. You wouldn't believe how exhausting having a whole day photo session is. No wonder being an actor pays so well. It's a lot of hard work. And that also when you don't even say a single word.

Things were working so well that I was beginning to wonder. Did I do something right in previous life or what? I never felt so happy before in my life before. But I had this nagging feeling that one wasn't meant to be so happy.

I just couldn't understand why she didn't turn up at the wedding reception. She had been missing for the past few days. She must have changed her mind. At least she could have called me and told me about that. Rather than let me wait at the hotel with the crowd of guests there. I felt that it was a betrayal of the worst kind to me.

Groggy and in a state of vertigo, I looked up and there she was standing looking at me. She was standing there in her wedding dress. God, she never looked so beautiful to me. There were tears in her eyes as she tried to be brave and smiled at me.

"Honey, I am so sorry."

"Why? Why? Why? I don't understand."

"Sometimes things don’t work out the way we want it to. I had wanted so much to spend the rest of my life with you. I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart and I always will."

Reaching out to hold her, it was then that I woke up with a hangover in my apartment. Was it a dream? Did she actually come to see me? I couldn’t decide whether I had dreamed it or if it was figment of my imagination?

I had drunk myself silly the night before. I knew it was wrong to drink. I just couldn't help it. I was feeling depressed and broken-hearted. Lost and alone. I just couldn't cry anymore.

All cried out.

I heard someone at the door. Slipping the morning paper under my door. It was Maniam. He delivered newspapers from the mini market store of his, on the ground floor of the condominium. He was a very reliable guy and on time every morning.

Stumbling towards the door, I picked up the day's edition of The Star. Looking on the headlines, I suddenly sat down looking at front page. It just read, "Bride dies in Car Crash"

And outside the balcony the rain had started to drizzle again. Just like the first day I met her. It was raining then as it was now.

Kelly

By Zuraidah Omar

Sarah first saw him one morning when she was driving past the guard-house into the club-grounds. He was standing on the slope of the hill, oblivious to others, surveying the scene before him. She was mesmerised by his looks and the dignity with which he carried himself.

She saw him very often after that. He was usually at what must be his favourite place in the club, standing all alone by himself at the same spot on the hill-slope and looking as if he hadn't a care in the world. Who is he, she wondered.

It didn't take long for Sarah to find out. One day, she ran into one of her friends at the club's cafe. Ella was a longstanding member of the club and her level-headedness had made her the de facto counsellor in her circle. People turned to her for help, advice or just someone to talk to. Nothing went on in the club without Ella knowing about it. Sarah and Ella knew each other well enough not to stand on ceremony or indulge in small talk, so after ordering herself a teh tarik, Sarah joined Ella at her table and cut to the chase.

"Oh, him. That's Kelly," Ella said. "Why? You like him or what?"

"He's quite a looker," Sarah replied.

Ella smiled and squeezed Sarah's arm reassuringly. "I'm so happy to see you up and about again. I know that relationship of yours with Terence was a bit of a disaster."

Sarah grimaced, thinking of the rocky time she had with Terence, a trying time that stretched for almost a year. They had started off well enough when she first met Terence but it wasn't long before he showed his true colours. "I really did my best, you know," Sarah explained. "But he was so unpredictable and temperamental. I tried hard to love him. I think that he didn't trust me enough. I just couldn't cope in the end so I had no choice but to call it quits."

"It's like that sometimes," Ella consoled. "Some things work out and some don't. But don't let it get you down. Don't give up."

"I won't," sighed Sarah, thinking of yet another failed relationship after Terence. "There was Pancho, remember?"

"Oh yes, I remember. We thought you had a lot of guts-lah. First an Australian, and as soon as you pulled yourself together, an Argentinian. What happened with Pancho anyway? It was so short-lived. I thought you liked him."

"Yeah, one of those things. In Pancho's case, I got along fine with him but then someone else came into the picture and I didn't have a chance. I was quite miserable. That's why I stopped coming to the club for a while, and when I did, I saw you-know-who."

"Poor you but never mind, you will have better luck with Kelly. He's available but it won't be easy getting to know him. He's got a very protective mother and what she says, goes. She dotes on him like nobody's business. She's got to like you first before anything else."

"A mama's boy, eh?" Sarah became a bit unsure because that would just complicate things. But Kelly's magnificent image came into her mind and she knew what she had to do. "Never mind. I'll just go with the flow. Can you introduce me to his mum?" She asked Ella.

"No problem. She swims at the club-house very often. I'll call you when I see her. Just relax for now. He's not going to go anywhere."

Ella was true to her word. The next day, she called Sarah on her mobile phone. "Are you in the club? Kelly's mum is by the swimming pool. Come over quick." Fortunately, Sarah was nearby and she was by Ella's side in next to no time.

Ella pointed out to a petite lady with short hair sitting in one of the deck chairs. "She's quite a chilly padi, you know, so watch your step. Come on, let's go and meet her." The two of them sauntered over to the lady.

"Hi Sue," Ella called out. "How are you? Long time no see."

Sue looked up and countered, "What are you talking about? We just had lunch together not long ago."

Ella sat down on the deck chair beside Sue's. "Getting old already-lah. So many lunches, can't remember when or with who. Done your swimming?"

"Yeah, did a few laps. Got to go soon. What's up?"

"I want you to meet my friend Sarah," Ella said as she gestured to Sarah, who had been standing a little apart, to sit beside her. Sarah extended her hand to Sue and the two shook hands. "Pleased to meet you. Have you been a member here long?" Sue asked Sarah, who replied, "Quite some time but I don't swim much."

"Right! Let's not beat about the bush-lah," Ella interjected. "Sarah saw Kelly the other day and she has taken a liking to him." Sarah felt her face going red. Good grief, she thought. Doesn't Ella have any finesse? How could she just say it like that? She could just see Sue look at her in an appraising manner.

"He's quite good-looking and really tall," Sarah blurted, feeling more embarrassed and admonishing herself in her mind. What a stupid thing to say. That will really earn you points with Kelly's mama.

"That's what a lot of people tell me," Sue said.

"Just right for you-lah, Sarah," Ella cut in. "All your previous ones are rather short, if you ask me. Someone your size needs something bigger."

"Ella!" Sarah blushed again, feeling suddenly self-conscious about her weight.

Sue laughed. "Ella's quite a joker, isn't she? Anyway, Kelly has only just come to Malaysia, you know. He has been overseas all this while."

"Oh, no wonder I've not seen him around before," Sarah was still feeling tentative, not sure of what Sue was really thinking about Ella's sudden revelation.

Sue looked hard at Sarah. "I suppose Ella must have told you about Kelly and that I'm looking for someone for him," she said. "But he's very particular about people, you know. I am too. Ella and I have been friends a long time and I trust her judgement. So if she thinks you and Kelly suit one another, I'm okay with it. He's solid and steady. You'll feel very safe with him."

That's fast, Sarah thought. She hasn't gotten to know me well enough yet. "I think you will like Kelly," Sue continued. " But like I said, I'm very particular. I have to know that you're serious about him and that you'll take care of him the way I take care of him. He's very special to me."

The conversation was going too far and too fast for Sarah's liking. She just wanted to get to know Kelly and it was beginning to seem as if she was committing herself to a long relationship. Why is Sue in such a hurry to get Kelly out of her life? "Is there anything I need to know about Kelly?" Sarah asked carefully, hoping not to annoy Sue with her question.

Sue shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing really," she replied. "Being a big guy, he needs his space. But as long as you treat him right, he'll be good to you. I'm getting very busy with my business these days and don't have much time to spend with him. It's nice if he can have someone else in his life."

"I really should meet Kelly first, don't you think?" Sarah tried to bring the situation under control. "For all you know, he might not like me."

"Don't worry-lah," Ella assured Sarah. "I'm sure Kelly will like you. You are such a gentle person, with a lot of love to give." She then turned to Sue, "I fully recommend Sarah to you. You don't have to worry a thing about her. She's a very caring person."

"I'm sure you are, Sarah," Sue smiled and patted her on her arm. "But you're right. You must meet Kelly first. What about tomorrow at about 10am? I'll meet you at the cafe."

Sarah couldn't wait for the day to be over. That night, images of Kelly floated in her dreams. Sarah was sure that she and Kelly were kindred spirits, even soul-mates. She had sensed it when she first saw him. True, he had ignored her when she drove past him, standing on the hill-slope. Perhaps he had things on his mind. Well, they would be meeting one another very soon and he wouldn't be able to ignore her then.

Sarah was at the cafe well before 10am the next day, but when the appointed time came, there was no sign of Sue. Sarah wondered if Sue had changed her mind. She didn't want to order a cup of coffee in case Sue turned up, so she just sat at one of the tables, anxiously checking her watch every few minutes.

Sue walked into the cafe some time later to find an anxious-looking Sarah. "Really sorry, dear, to keep you waiting. Come on, let's go and meet Kelly. He's just outside." Sarah got up so quickly that she almost knocked the chair down. Sue laughed, "Don't worry, he won't run away."

And there he was, standing outside the cafe - the handsome hunk who had caught Sarah's eye. He looked even better at close range. He was tall but there was a calmness and steadfastness about him that was reassuring to Sarah. Kelly looked at her tentatively as she walked up to him. She reached out slowly and put her hand on his shoulder. His brown eyes softened.

"So Sarah," Sue asked. "Would you like to ride Kelly now or do you want to fix another time?"

Sarah nodded; she had met the horse of her dreams.

The Spirit of the Swallow

by Yan Lai Peen

It was dawn and my pet chicken had just begun to crow.

"Shi Yan, wake up, Shi Yan." Someone was shaking me.

Through the slits of my half-opened eyes, I saw Niang sitting on the edge of my bed, peering into my face. Behind her was her maid holding a tray, looking like a dark, tall and imposing tree stump. At her foot was a basin of water.

Niang gently shook me again. I grunted and rubbed my eyes, wondering why I was having an audience. Her maid set the tray down at the foot of my bed and the glimmer of a pair of scissors caught my eyes.

Niang knelt down and cradled my feet in her hands, then dipped them into the basin of warm water. I was puzzled; it wasn't my birthday. I was still half-asleep when she dried my feet, rubbed them with peculiar powder and cut my toenails. I saw her take something - it looked like a roll of cloth - from the tray and unroll it. Then, she grabbed my right foot.

"Niang…" I protested groggily. My mother looked up but said nothing. She held the rough bandage to my foot and bent my last four toes all the way towards the arch of my sole, seemingly sparing my big toe. The cloth went tightly round my foot that I began to feel needles and pins. Then she gave a sharp tug around my heel. I yanked my foot at her chin, throwing her off-balance.

"Niang, why?" I asked in bewilderment, fully awake now, and tears already welling up in my eyes. Niang's cold and clammy hands clutched at mine and she whispered through gritted teeth, "It's for your own good, guai nu. You'll thank me one day. Don't cry." She avoided my eyes but nodded at her maid, who immediately shoved a blouse into my mouth. Then, her maid pinned down my wrists.

"Good girl, good girl." Niang muttered. Her hands moved deftly. When the bandage reached my toes again, Niang forcefully broke them, two by two. Crack! Crack! It thundered in my ears in the stillness of the dawn. Pain shot through my entire sweat-drenched body. I choked on my own cries and wailed through the gag while Niang continued to press my heel to what was left of my toes, swiftly completing another round, never once loosening the grip of the bandage. My pet chicken echoed my wails as though crying in sympathy, as though on my behalf. My eyes, wide opened in horror despite the gushing tears, slowly rolled up towards the ceiling, then rolled sideways. Niang and her maid looked grotesque, their faces contorted and grey. Every thing became grey, then black.
On the following day, Niang held a cane and flicked it in front of my face.

"Walk!"

Sobbing, I tottered around the courtyard in searing pain until the sun was directly over my head. Niang was still flicking away, by then at my rear end. Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead and into my eyes; I collapsed onto the ground in momentum with the stroke of her cane.

"Get up!" Niang said. I saw several maids peeping at me from the corners of the walls and I reached my hands out to them.

"Leave her be!" my mother barked at the maids. "Otherwise she'll be just like you!" She turned back to me, "Get up!" Looming threateningly above me, she held her cane high. I stared defiantly at her. "Or you won't eat tonight," she said loudly enough for the maids to hear.

I looked away towards the maids and reached out my hands once more.

"Help me," I groaned.

Thwack! came down the cane on my thighs.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" I screamed, tears pouring down my face, mixed with sweat and, as I then believed, blood. I fell flat on my stomach. My outstretched hands dropped onto the ground and my palms curled into fists. Thwack! again.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" I wailed louder. In my blurred vision, I saw Niang walk away with her maid. The maids scrambled away. I was drenched in my own sweat and urine. I pounded my fists on the ground, pressed my wet face against the earth and cried until the sun set.

My childhood ended that day. I was only five years old. As compensation, Niang gave me a new friend, Xiao Yu. She was to follow me everywhere and spend every moment with me. I later learned that the young maid who attempted to come to my aid that evening with a bowl of porridge was Xiao Yu. She was given five strokes of the cane by my mother who had hawk eyes. Xiao Yu limped for three days.

Every three or four nights from then on, Niang commanded Xiao Yu to leave my room. On those nights, my feet were bound tighter than before as my mother chanted "san cun, san cun, san cun." Before she came in, I hid in a cupboard or under my bed hoping Niang couldn't see me and would go away. But she always managed to find me and dragged me out of my hiding place while I howled for release. When I knew my protests were futile, I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, pressed my lips together and gripped the edge of my seat until my fingers were white and numb. And throughout the process, I clenched my jaw and thought of that day I fell on the ground in my own urine and ate dirt.

Every day for two years, I sat in the confines of my courtyard, learning how to embroider shoes for my then four-inch feet. From where I sat each day, I could see the hills beyond the courtyard walls and the swallows that flew above my head. I embroidered images of them onto my shoes while my brothers ran past me, carrying with them wicker toys. One day, they saw me gazing dreamily at the swallows and paused in their step.

"Look at you!" elder brother scoffed. "You're such a miserable sight! You'll be shut in here forever while we enjoy the warm grass beneath our feet!" I looked at their feet and then mine while they continued to laugh derisively. I glared at them and fumed. There was only one thing I could do; mustering all my spit, I did it.

"Xiao Jie!" Xiao Yu gasped, shocked. "They are boys and can do what they like. We must accept our fate." I stared at her with disbelief.

"No! That's not true! I can do what my brothers do! I will!" I heard my brothers' laughter in the distance as they ran off. "I've forgotten how it feels like to run and skip," I said softly, head bowed. "But one day I will fly away like a swallow."

The day came when I turned fifteen. Father announced that I was to be wed. For nights, I lay awake, thinking what would become of me. Then one night, I realised the time had come.

After the night's meal, I pulled Xiao Yu aside.

"Xiao Yu, we leave tonight." I whispered.

"What?" Xiao Yu exclaimed. "Where to? Why?"

"Shh! I am serious about this." I looked at Xiao Yu desperately. "I will soon be Merchant Wang's fourth wife if I stay here. He is older than father, Xiao Yu! I heard that he even beats his wives." The image of Niang holding the cane above my head flashed across my mind and my stomach lurched. "If we don't escape tonight, I'll be trapped forever. Forever, Xiao Yu."

"Escape?" Xiao Yu gasped. "Master will beat me to death if he finds out, Xiao Jie! I can't, I can't do this. How could we escape? They'll surely catch up with us!" She backed away and shook her head vigorously.

I seized Xiao Yu's hands and said, "Do you remember what I said many years ago that morning in the courtyard? I'll do anything to run away. Believe me, Xiao Yu, we can do this together, we can! You will help me walk. We'll go far, far away where they can't find us. This is my only chance! Help me. We will leave at midnight. There's no moon tonight; no one will see us. Xiao Yu, please, I can't do this without you, you must help me!" I began to drop to my knees.

"No, Xiao Jie, no! Please don't kneel," Xiao Yu whimpered. She bit her lip and looked up at the sky. Then she slowly nodded, looking like a rabbit caught in a snare.

After everyone had retired to their bedchambers, Xiao Yu and I gathered our money and some essentials. We stole through the kitchen and past the outdoor waste chamber. The only sound we heard was the scurry of drain rats. I carefully unlatched the backdoor and stepped across the threshold.

"Don't look back," I said.

We started walking very slowly but we kept our pace. I leaned heavily on Xiao Yu and staggered on in silence. The air was heavy with fear. When we heard a clang in the distance, we jumped. It was the gengfu shouting out the time and clanging on his cymbal. We realised that we had walked for an hour. The gengfu's voice moved slowly out of earshot and silence hung heavily in the air once more. I dug my fingernails into Xiao Yu's arms like my toenails dug into my soles. The blood and pus that oozed from the ruptured boils seeped through the crevices of my feet.

"Let me carry you, Xiao Jie," Xiao Yu murmured. She bent down and I climbed onto her back. Her frail body quivered as she tried to secure me on her back and maintain her balance at the same time. Then, we continued our flight, slower now than before.

The wind began to howl, first like a lost child, and then it became louder and louder til it sounded like a hundred restless souls weeping. Leaves swirled around us as the strong wind blew. The dimly-lit lanterns which hung outside the doorways that we passed cast an unearthly luminescence on the walls as they swayed and creaked. An animal ran across our path. Xiao Yu let out a small yelp and staggered on.

Not long after that, we came to a bridge. Xiao Yu paused and panted. I saw a stone at the other end of the bridge but could not make out what was etched on it. I sucked in a deep breath and gripped her shoulder tighter.

"Don't look back," I said in a barely audible whisper as I breathed out. She carried me slowly across the bridge into an unfamiliar territory. We had left our village. We moved cautiously in the dark across the field and into another village. Lanterns were scarce. An animal yowled in the distance.

Suddenly, there was shuffling of feet behind us.

"Listen!" Xiao Yu gasped, freezing momentarily in her step. My hair stood on end and I darted my eyes to the left and right.

"Can you hear that sound? Is master catching up with us? We will die, we will die," she whined. Twigs broke on the ground behind us. I gripped her shoulder tighter. My heart pounded like a big magistrate's gong against my chest.

"Don't follow us. Go away, go away," Xiao Yu sobbed and wobbled forward as quickly as she could. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. "Faster! Faster!" I tried to say but only chokes escaped my lips. The sounds behind us came closer. In her panic, Xiao Yu stumbled on a hard object and all I saw then was the ground coming up and slamming on my face. I shook my head in shock while Xiao Yu got back on her feet as swiftly as lightning.

"Crawl! Crawl!" Xiao Yu almost shrieked. I looked up at her, dazed. She grasped me by my arm and pulled hard, dragging my knees over the stones on the ground. I whimpered but nonetheless clawed my way over sand, earth and puddles. We dared not stop to look back. I clambered on for what seemed like an eternity.

When we made a turn around a corner, Xiao Yu exclaimed, "Look!"

In the fog, I could make out the silhouette of a derelict temple. I heaved a sigh of relief and without letting my gaze leave the dilapidated building, I crawled towards it as quickly as my raw knees could endure.

Once we reached the step, we scrambled past the cobwebbed doorway and hid behind the front wall. There we sat huddled, panting and keeping as still as statues, as though a single movement would shatter the fragile calm. We remained in that position for a long time, listening intently for any more sounds. When we heard nothing else save for our own breathing, we regained our spirits.

"Xiao Yu, please get me some water," I said wearily and closed my eyes. Hearing no response from her, I opened my eyes and saw her gaping.

"Where…where from?" she stammered.

"There must be a well at the back of this temple," I sighed, fingering my foot gingerly. "Go quietly and be careful." She gaped at me with her wide terrified eyes. I squeezed her hands and said, "Guan Yin will watch over us."

When she had gone, I tenderly removed my shoes and unwound the soiled bandages. Upon her return, Xiao Yu stood still a few steps away, staring fixedly at my naked feet. Then she hurriedly dumped the bucket at my feet and shrank back. I heard her retch in a corner. I avoided her gaze; neither of us spoke a word. I cleansed my wounds and decaying feet, and cut away the rotten flesh while Xiao Yu made a fire, occasionally clutching at her throat when stealing glances at me.

"Xiao Yu, you are no longer my little maid but my dear friend," I whispered to her later as we huddled together, before sleep claimed us. I dreamed of swallows in flight above green hills and rolling waters.

When we awoke, my feet had dried and the fire was still kindling. I tossed the ten-foot soiled bandages and my three-inch shoes into the flames. The bandages turned into ashes and were carried away with the wind. The shoes blackened and shrivelled. I wrapped my feet with soft cotton cloth and pinned it securely. The sun was rising from the horizon when we headed to the jetty, hand-in-hand.
We boarded the boat just as it sounded its horn.

"Don't look back," I said.

We never did.

Someone Special

by Laura Bakri

I first noticed the little girl as I paused from setting up my stall with items stored overnight in drawers under the tabletop. She was hanging back a little near the automatic doors to the car park, just at the corner by the newsagents next to its stand of multi-coloured plastic handheld windmills and across from another retailer's rack holding row after row of plain white t-shirts emblazoned with bastardised logos and sly puns on famous slogans.

Her big brown eyes were huge in a tiny heart-shaped face as she looked intently past the hanging cotton blouses of the stall next door at my little white cart with its tiers of display shelves and red latticed panels. As I continued laying out earrings and bracelets of jewel-toned glass Murano beads and hanging up embroidered evening bags at eye level on hooks depending from the roof of my mobile display, I watched from the corner of my eye as she scuffed the toe of one shoe on the heel of the other, then took a step closer. Sensing that she was a little uncertain, I decided not to go into my usual mode of cheerfully making eye contact, smiling and beckoning over with friendly chatter and welcoming gestures potential customers attracted to my pretty goods.

Most such persons were female, teens to smart career women and shopping housewives, looking to buy a trinket or two. This child of about five or six years, dressed prettily in a white frock with puff sleeves and pink smocking on its bodice, looked much like any other little girl following her mummy shopping on a warm sultry midday, and for a moment, as others walking by obscured her, I wondered if she might be lost. Then, as she came into view again, a lady in a black baju kurung and white lace selendang straightened up from whispering in the girl's ear, patted her shoulder and handed her something, then moved away towards the travellator up to the main floor.

Scrunching her fists into her skirts, the small child carefully made her way over to where I was just putting out the last of the cute little handphone straps from Thailand, her tiny white shoes tapping daintily closer on the cream tiled flooring. A sweet voice piped, "Excuse me, Auntie," as I finally looked directly at my diminutive visitor.

"Hello adik, that's a pretty dress you're wearing!" was my cheerful greeting. It worked, as the first smile I had seen from her shyly spread across her face.

She took a further step forward, releasing her right hand and placing it on the edge of the lowest display shelf, tipping up on her toes to see the merchandise neatly laid out before her, now level with her chin.

"Are you looking for something special?" I asked brightly as she carefully eyed each item in turn. As she looked at me and nodded once, I stepped closer and handed her one of my small fabric floral hairclips, adding, "Something special for someone special?"

The suddenly troubled look in her eyes surprised me, but she quickly veiled it with thick black lashes and when she looked up again her face was resolute and smiling once more.

"Yes," she said clearly, "something special for someone special. Ibu says my kakak is going way soon to a beautiful country. She will be with new people and learn many new things, so I want to give her a present. Something nice so she will still think about me even though she's far away. Something nice so she won't forget."

She looked carefully at the flowered hair ornament, then raised herself up on tiptoe again to peer once more at the other items.

"I want kakak to always remember me, no matter what," she confided, raising her head to look up at the hanging display of handphone covers clipped to a wire strung across the centre of the cart. She seemed particularly drawn to one in red silk and black velvet, brightly standing out from the rest of its fellows in the middle of the line, and following her gaze, I released it and handed it to her, simultaneously relieving her of the purple orchid hairclip. She looked at the cover intently, then glanced up at me and nodded twice.

"How much is this, please?" she asked politely, her left hand in which I saw the flash of red bill notes finally leaving her skirts.

Glancing at the price tag high above her head next to the line, I replied, "Fifteen Ringgit," and looking at another tag on the shelf top, added, "And if you like the hairclip, that's only Eight Ringgit. Would you like both? I'll give you a special price of Twenty Ringgit, that's Three Ringgit off."

Shyly, she nodded thrice and confided, "Kakak loves orchids, so she will like the hairclip. Kakak also likes red and she's always talking on her handphone, so - " she suddenly paused and bit her lower lip, then looked up at me bravely and smiled once more.

Silently empathising with the little one, I rang up the sale. As I placed the handphone cover in a white box and began to gift wrap it with cream paper, she shyly asked me to leave the hairclip unwrapped. Puzzled but obligingly, after I tied a jaunty red ribbon on the cream parcel, I dropped it and the hair ornament into a small plastic bag and handed that over to the girl.

"Thank you Auntie," she smiled, then carefully turned and walked off. Bemused, I watched her taking quick little steps up the moving walkway, then driven by a whim, turned to my sales assistant setting out flowered slippers by the side of the cart and said, "Could you keep an eye on everything for a moment, please? I just want to pop up for a minute."

As I emerged by the side of the pharmacy, I caught sight of the little girl going up to the lady in black who was by a food stall. As I moved towards them, I saw the lady bend down a little, nod as the child mouthed something, and then take the hairclip out of the bag and place it in the little girl's hair behind her left ear. Straightening, she took the child's hand in her left, picked up a purchase in her right, smiled and nodded to the serving girl in her white apron and black tudung, and walked towards the entrance.

Reaching the display of traditional Malay kueh, neat packets of nasi lemak and plastic containers of meehoon, I was surprised to see the serving girl, who sometimes pops by my stall during her breaks, surreptitiously wiping away a tear.

In response to my enquiring expression, she inclined her head in the direction of her recent customers, who were now getting into a dark blue BMW. "The family always buys kueh from me," she said, and added, "it's so sad, such a pretty girl, the adik will miss her kakak so much ..."

"Well, it's always hard for a little sister when the big sister she adores goes away to study overseas, but I'm sure they'll keep in touch, and her kakak will be back during the holidays, you know ..." I hastened to assure her, then trailed off as I received a blank stare in return.

"No, no, you don't understand - the little girl asked her mother to put the orchid clip in her hair so her sister could see her favourite adik wearing her favourite flower when they said goodbye. She also asked her mother to put her sister's handphone safe in the cover she just bought so that they could always be in touch," she explained, and at my continuing lack of comprehension, elaborated, "The mother had just been telling me her eldest daughter passed away of leukaemia last night and the burial would be soon, after Zohor, so she was quickly getting some lunch for her youngest girl before the funeral."

And as the azan sounded from the nearby mosque, I looked out to see the little girl's solemn face silhouetted in the passenger window as the car pulled silently away.