Faceless

'Aihui, Aihui! Hurry up! Stop buying your fruitcake! Recess is over. Let's go!' I tried to drill the massage into Aihui. Aihui Tan was my classmate. In fact, I used to think that no two friends could be closer. We had known each other since Primary One. 'Relax lah, Linda. Just a bite only... Won't die what! Anyway, what's the big hurry? We have never been so punctual in assembling straight after recess. You probably have something exciting to tell me right?' Aihui grinned at me. 'Aihui, cut that and listen. Susie claims that she saw someone like... What's that again... ahh, no head! Ha!'

I burst into laughter. I had been controlling myself as I told Aihui. Now was the time to enjoy the ridiculous tales with Aihui. We shared a common sense of humor. 'Headless what? Who... Susie? Gosh, that girl! Did she see flying hands in the air as well? She must have. Only she is capable of seeing such things. Poor us... Not a chance, right?' Aihui laughed uncontrollably and teased Susie, who was standing right before us in the assembly. Susie looked hurt. She was also frightened as well, almost as in a state of shock. 'But I told you the truth,' Susie insisted. 'Yes, yes. You only tell the truth and nothing but the truth...' Aihui teased. She was enjoying herself. I stopped for a while. Something in that look on Susie's face made me feel queer. I felt as if Aihui was getting a little carried away. But I knew that once she started, there was no stopping her. It would only anger her.

'Good afternoon, sister,' Aihui greeted. She could see a lady in a nun's habit sitting at the piano with her back facing Aihui. The grand piano was located in the main school hall. Aihui had left her school badge on one of the chairs in the school hall, the day before, and had now returned to collect it. She had not expected to run into anyone in the main hall. All the students and teachers were to be at their respective classes at this point of time. The nun did not respond. Her head hardly moved at Aihui's greetings. She continued playing the piano. 'Bang!' A sound was heard. It had been loud. Aihui, who had closed her eyes in fear, slowly reopened her eyes. The ceiling fan had dropped onto the ground and it had barely missed the nun! Aihui's mouth opened in shock. The nun continued playing the piano as if nothing seemed to have occurred! 'Sister, are you alright?' Aihui volunteered. The nun stopped playing the piano. 'Why are you disturbing me?'

The nun stood up slowly and turned to face Aihui. 'Oh my god!' Aihui shrieked. Beneath the nun's headgear, in the shape of a human's face, there was only a layer of shrieveled skin. No facial features. No hair. The shriveled skin sagged at the sides. Aihui fainted. A teacher had found Aihui lying unconscious in the school hall. Her parents arrived soon after receiving the call from school. When Aihui gained consciousness, Aihui was terrified and could not stop crying. From what I heard, she suffered from a high fever for a week. That was the last day Aihui attended my school. The next month, she was transferred. Although we called each other occasionally, we grew apart gradually. Aihui did not speak of that day's incident to anyone. It was only now, five years after the incident, the she could finally tell me what had happened.