Wednesday 26 February 2014

Himalayans

The journey up the mountains was an uncomfortable one. On the narrow dirty track, the four wheel drive vehicle rocked on the bumpy road. Inside, Micheal looked out of the mud splattered window, up at the mountains. There was a bus ahead of them, filled to the brim with passengers. The bus climbed slowly, excruciatingly up the dirt track. On the left, the mountain fall away steeply. The dirt track had only space for one vehicle, and their vehicle, powerful as it was, was stuck behind the bus.

Even then, he could not quite believed that he was in Nepal. He had spent his whole life dreaming of coming to Nepal. Over the last few months, he saved and stinted on every single penny, finally scrapping enough for the trip. 'Hey, check out the view!' Micheal turned to see Kate talking to him. He smiled at her and nodded. 'Beautiful, isn't it?' Kate, his travel companion for this journey, stayed at the same hotel he stayed at. He had met her the night she arrived. In their hotel, the other backpackers would gather nightly to discuss anything to pop fiction to philosophy. The two of them both came from Britain. Micheal could not help but be attracted by Kate's gregarious company. Like Micheal, Kate had a passion for the outdoors. Like Micheal, she had her own views about the world, and an insatiable wanderlust that made her want to travel the world to discover it. It was a spontaneous decision to drive into the mountains. One of the backpackers staying at the hotel wanted to visit the Tibetan monasteries, and see the monks. Micheal and Kate wanted to go along. They decided to hire a local guide and also a vehicle to take them into the Himalayan Mountains and into Tibet.

He looked out of the window, in the direction as Kate. They had climbed quite high into the mountains. Stretched out before them, the majestic view of the Himalayans Mountains stood, shrouded in greyish clouds. Pillars of light filtered through the dense cloud cover to illuminate the stone giants beneath. Micheal glanced at the passengers in the front seat. The Nepalese guide was driving the vehicle, keeping his eyes on the road while Max, the guy who came up with the idea of visiting the monastery was snoring. Micheal noticed with disgust that a thin trickle of drool could be seen at the corner of his open mouth. Just then, a commotion ahead caught his attention. Micheal looked up to see the Nepalese guide shouting in a language he could not understand. Even Max had been forcefully dragged from his nap. A cracking sound on his left distracted him; Micheal turned to see a large crack in the glass next to him. He glanced out of the window and saw pieces of rock rolling down the mountain on his right.

'It's an avalanche,' he thought with horror, as more rocks and pebbles struck their vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle he was in came to an abrupt stop. The bus ahead had also come to a stop. Micheal turned back to the front and saw in slow motion, a gigantic boulder rolling down the side of the mountain. It struck the packed bus on the side, and its momentum was enough to push the bus off the dirt track. In his vehicle, Micheal could hear echoes of screams coming from the bus within, as it plunged down the mountainside. Two minutes later, the avalanche stopped. As the last rock came to a rest against their vehicle, Micheal opened the door and climbed out. He edged towards the end of the dirt track to look for the bus. Scanning the mountainside, he spotted the bus lying about fifty feet down. In the distance, he could see that on the side where the boulder had hit the bus, a big dent appeared. He bowed his head and gave a moment's mourning.

When he looked up, he was surprised to see figures climbing out of the bus. As he looked on incredulously, Kate and Max had come up besides him. Excitedly, Micheal turned to them. 'They're alive!' He shouted excitedly. Both Max and Kate looked at him with strange look on their face. Both took a long look at the bus before turning back to him. 'Look!' Micheal exclaimed. 'What are you talking about?' Max was clearly agitated. 'Can't you see? They survived the fall,' Micheal could not understand Max's agitation. 'We have got to help them.' At that, Micheal was about to start down the mountain when Max's strong arm pulled him back. 'Are you alright, Micheal?' Kate asked in concern. 'No one could survive that fall.' The Nepalese guide had come out of the vehicle, and joined them at the side of the track. He saw then arguing on the mountainside and got curious. When he saw the bus, he started to talk rapidly and gestured wildly with his hands. The three looked at him in puzzlement, wondering what it was that he was trying to tell them.

'Dead people... not alive...' he struggled with the English language. 'What?' Micheal asked. 'They're climbing out of the bus.' 'Ghosts...' Their guide finally found the right word. At that, Micheal froze. It suddenly dawned on him why the guide could be right. There was no way the passengers in the bus could survive the boulder hit and the fall. By then, the figures were getting quite close. Micheal could see that their heads were bloody, and some even lost a hand. There was a look about them that told Micheal that they were not alive. 'Let's get out of here,' he could only mutter, as they headed quickly back into the vehicle. When the vehicle drove away from the spot, Micheal kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road.

Ghostly Flyer

The sky was cloudy even at thirty thousand feet.The modern aircraft was piercing through the sky as Marilyn stood at the galley at the back of the plane, thinking the letter that had shook her. It had been a month since she had received the news, but she could not bring herself to accept it. She had been demoted from her international flight schedule shuttling between Singapore and Beijing, to a shorter local schedule. Today would be her last day serving on flight number, SQXXX. Her high flying career, as an international air stewardess would end as of tomorrow. Marilyn could imagine her remaining years in Singapore Airlines spent on some airbus ferrying between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, or maybe condemned like all air stewardesses to ground jobs.

'Marilyn? Marilyn!' 'Huh?' Marilyn snapped out of her reverie, to see Elaine, her colleague glaring at her. 'Marilyn, will you please see what seat 47E wants? The service light is on.' Elaine asked, with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. She was busy putting away the food trolley. The other stewardesses kept quiet, but Marilyn could see that they too, were unhappy with her. 'No one respects the downtrodden or loser,' she thought to herself. Marilyn looked down the aisle. Indeed, a small light was lit above seat 47E. She started down the narrow aisle of the economy class to attend to the passenger. The other stewardesses were at a different part of the plane. Sitting down, she started feeling sorry for herself again. She wanted to be alone. Her heart was heavy and anger was rising in her. She had sacrificed her life for this lousy job, 'a high class waitress job,' she chided herself.


'And now like sugar cane fibres thrown away when all is done.' She felt angry. It was not the first time she had felt angry. The last time she lost her temper with the other stewardesses and lost their companionship in the process. When she had seen to the passenger's request, she returned to the back of the plane. 'Miss, can I have a glass of orange juice, no ice, not even chilled? For my medicine?' A female voice with a heavy Chinese accent interrupted her reverie. Marilyn looked up and saw a Chinese woman. She was tall for a Chinese, and her long straight hair only accentuate her physical assets. Marilyn stood up and came face to face with the lady. She knew straight away that she was from China because by the built, she knew that Southeast Asian Chinese had smaller builds. 'Where are you seated? I'll take it to you.' She tried to smile at the lady. The lady had two large almond shaped eyes, set in an oval face. Her lips were curvaceous and full. There was a mole on her left cheek. Strangely, that black mole only accentuated the fairness of her skin. Marilyn noted her beauty, and the politeness of the lady. Many passengers were so rude, as if they enjoyed being arrogant and rude.


'42A. Send it to me later. I have to...' The lady smiled back, as if knowing that she was being admired, and went off. Marilyn watched her as she entered the toilet. Marilyn walked to the food section and busied herself with the orange juice, opening a new pack and pouring it into a plastic cup. Before she left for the passenger's seat, she checked her makeup just to make sure it was perfect. In her mind, she was wondering what sickness did the lady have. 'Strange, isn't it? I think my problem is terrible and we have a poor good looking lady on probably some serious medication,' she murmured to herself. 'Maybe I should be thankful that I have got my health and spirit.' She was talking to herself to boost herself esteem. Nothing worked like a good self motivation talk.


There was a man sitting in 42A, a window seat. She checked the seat number above his seat to make sure she got the right one. The seat next to him was empty. She glanced around the cabin, scanning the place for the face of the passenger she saw earlier. 'What seat number was it now?' She mumbled to herself. A sea of faces greeted her. Although this flight was headed from Singapore to Beijing, the nationalities on the plane was as varied as any United Nations gathering. The balding Japanese man sat in the aisle seat, oogling at every stewardesses since he got onto the plane. Two rows in front of him was the Australian trekker who came abroad in a T-shirt and a comfortable pair of bermudas. In the next row, an irrate Singaporean housewife was taking a short break from her sleeping children. Marilyn remembered faces easily enough, and she was sure that the lady passenger was nowhere in sight. 'Maybe wrong cabin?' She was puzzled. 'Maybe this man was just sitting in her seat.' She thought, but the man in the seat was gazing out of the small window, into the darkness outside. He looked sad. She was not sure whether if she should disturb him.   


'Marilyn, what's wrong?' Elaine, her colleague, asked quietly as she approached Marilyn on the aisle. 'I can't find someone.' Marilyn said, a little frustrated that Elaine had to come up to her. Now the other stewardesses had another fault to pick on. Quickly, she explained the situation to her colleague. 'Let's approach the guy. Maybe he's her boyfriend, or something like that.' Elaine took the orange juice from Marilyn's hand and walked to seat 42A. 'excuse me, sir. Are you in the wrong seat?' 'No, this is my seat.' Marilyn noticed that the accent in the man's voice was similar to the lady's. 'Is there another lady companion with you?' Marilyn blurted. Somehow, that seemed to insult the man. 'Do you know anyone else on the plane?' Elaine asked.

'No, why are you asking me this?' The man looked annoyed and stared at Elaine. 'It's not me sir, it's my friend Marilyn who asked me to ask.' 'What do you want? Make it simple.' The man was definitely annoyed by the disturbance. 'Your funeral,' Elaine whispered Marilyn and handed the orange juice to her. 'I'm sorry, sir. It's just that a tall Chinese lady came up to me, asking me for orange juice. She gave me your seat number to send it to. But we could not find her. We just thought that you might know her.' Marilyn started looking around. 'It's a mistake, sir, Marilyn here is clarifying it.' Elaine cut in. 'Marilyn, let's not bother the gentleman...' Elaine tapered off as Marilyn quickly butted in and spoke. 'How does she look like?' The man asked suspiciously. 'She's tall, about six foot in height, with long straight hair, and a mole on her left cheek.' Marilyn gave the man a short description. She had expected the man to deny knowing the lady, but strangely, the man grew quiet.

'Let's leave it as it is...' Elaine was pitiful. 'She asked you for an orange juice? Okay, I'll take it.' The man reached his hands out to take the orange juice from Marilyn. As he did, he gave Marilyn an odd look. 'Thank you both.' When they reached the back of the plane, Elaine turn to Marilyn and spoke. 'Marilyn, I know that its your last day here. But I expect you to give the same level service that you normally do. Please stop all this unprofessional nonsense and concentrate on your job!' Elaine was angry and she wanted to give to Marilyn. 'Come on, Elaine, someone is unhappy that she has to go tomorrow.' Some other stewardess sniggered. Marilyn had a good idea who it was. They were all so eager to see her go. She did not bother to reply, but went on with her tasks. All the stewards and stewardesses went out of their way to search for this Chinese lady. On discovering that there was none and Marilyn was just imagining, they started to tease and insult her.

'Maybe the Chinese lady went out for a walk.' 'No, no. She went for a Mahjong session,' and so on and so forth. The episode of the orange juice made Marilyn doubt herself. The act of doubt tore her spirit and heart apart. How could she prove to all that someone ordered the orange juice. The question in her mind was did anyone order or did she just imagined it like what everyone was saying. The more she thought about it, the more she felt they were all right. The guy in seat 42A was the last to leave. He sat there patiently, waiting for another passengers to disembark, before getting up to leave. The stewardesses lined up at the exit, smiling at all the passengers s they left, wishing them all pleasant journey. it was not sincere, but a job requirement. As he came up to Marilyn, he stopped.

'I'm sorry over the drink incident earlier. I hope I did not get you into trouble.' He was apologetic. That shocked Marilyn. 'It's okay. It's my last trip on this flight.' Marilyn smiled at the guy, fighting away the selfpity. The apology was like a well deserved pat on her shoulders but that did not explain the lady. The man saw it in her eyes. 'Anyway, I think you deserve to know this about the Chinese lady.' 'There was a Chinese lady right? Where is she?' Marilyn asked. Hearing this, all the other stewardesses had gathered around Marilyn, hoping for another chance to poke fun at her. The missing Chinese lady passenger was milled out to the maximum. 'The description you gave me earlier describes my wife closely. She had just passed away recently.' 'Oooohhh, Marilyn, a ghost followed you around, even at thirty thousand over feet above the ground.' Elaine burst out. Giggles broke out among the crew at the jibe. The churns of laughter irritate Marilyn. She gave a blank look at them.

The guy frowned at the statement, as he continued. The guy shook his head in disgust at the stewardesses for their bitchiness and stupidity. He had to reveal the truth if not for Marilyn's sake, at least for his wife's sake. 'So you buy one ticket and your wife travel free...' Elaine was hilarious. 'In fact I bought a ticket for her too.' There was silence. Marilyn was attentive. She wanted an answer. The others were getting control of themselves. 'Where she was seated?' Elaine was bold. 'If you must,' he took a pass and handed it to Elaine. All the other stewardesses crowded around. Marilyn knew immediately. She stretched out her hand to say something to thank him, not knowing why. 'I'm sorry to hear that,' she was sympathetic. 'Thanks. In fact, I am going to Beijing because my wife's last wish was to be buried there. That's why I am taking the coffin with me.'

He said calmly as he took the document from Elaine's hands and walked out. It took sometime to register but it finally did. The coffin was being flown to Beijing, it was right there in the aircraft. The lady Marilyn saw was the corpse in the coffin.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Hitchhiker

Matt was travelling along the North South Highway in Peninsular Malaysia. He was a Singaporean businessman who had a factory in Ipoh. Something urgent had cropped up at the factory and now he was on his way to see what was it all about. 'Darn luck I have this week,' Matt muttered under his breath. Earlier this week he saw his shares tumbled during the opening trade and incurred substantial losses. Also, tomorrow was his wedding anniversary and son's sixth birthday. The thought of his family made him relax a little. He was very close to his family. After work everyday he would rush home to enjoy a quiet evening with them. He was looking forward to this year's anniversary but this problem has to turn up this week. He knows that his wife and his son were very disappointed when they heard that he has to go on this trip.

'Never mind, I'll make up to them when I get back,' he thought. His mind was already running through the things his wife and child would have like to have. 'Maybe a new keyboard for junior,' he thought happily to himself. 'Or a pair of emerald earrings for my darling,' he smiled as he visualized how happy and beautiful his wife would be. He already got these presents all wrapped up in the trunk. And his mind began to wander further. Then he snapped back to reality when he realized that he was not concentrating on the road. It was dangerous to let your mind wander when you were on a highway driving at 120km/hour. With one hand on the wheel, he slapped himself awake with the other. He had always thought that this was a good remedy. Now it was late into the night and Matt had driven for 8 hours already. Matt was tired from all that driving but he pushed himself on for the last 10km. He yawned loudly and, to kill his boredom, starts to sing loudly to himself. He was singing 'Amazing Grace' and, when he forget the words, he hummed the tune. He always felt a sense of strength and new found energy when he sings this song. And in his mind, he starts counting down the number of kilometers left whenever he sees the highway signboard.


'That's ten,' he thought happily. 'Nine.' Suddenly, further down the road, he saw a lady dressed in white flagging at his car. She has long flowing jet black hair but Matt still could not see her face properly. 'Someone needs help,' Matt thought as he slows down the car. He sat up to get a closer and better look at her. She was a beautiful young woman. Fine chiseled nose and full moon lips, she was every man's dream girl. And she has a good figure too. She looked a little familiar though, Matt thought. Then what he saw made his blood curled. The lady has no legs! Matt wasted no time to step on the accelerator, speeding past the leg less lady. He sped up all the way to 150km/h.


'This is really not my week!' Matt said to himself, beads of perspiration forming on his head. After all, who in the right mind would stop his car for a leg less woman? He prayed to God that whatever that was would not appear again. But to his horror, the apparition kept appearing on every turn. Matt sped faster and faster. And no matter how fast Matt sped, he just could not shake her off. In his mind, the flashes of the happy times with his family came on like a slide show. He prayed profusely. Suddenly, the lady appeared in the middle of the road and Matt's car was heading towards her at full speed! Matt stepped hard on the brakes and tires started screaming unbearably. And he was screaming too. For in front of his eyes, the beautiful girl had turn into a maggot infested body! Flesh were dripping off her face like  wax and part of her facial bones could be seen. Maggots were crawling all over her face it was too gruesome for any man to look at!

Quickly, he swerved his car to the left. Just as his Volvo hit the rails by the side of the road, Matt wanted to puke but then he was jolted from his seat and his head whammed hard against the windscreen. As he blacked out, he could feel blood trickling down his face. He woke to see his wife looking at him in deep concern. 'Are you alright dear?' She asked. His throat was parched. All he could do was nod. At that, she broke down in relief. Matt reached a hand out to comfort his wife. He really needed some water. 'The doctor said you suffered only some cuts and bruises, and that you will be fine after a few days.' Sitting up in bed, Matt looked around for water. As he did, his eyes rested onto a newspaper article. With puzzlement, he saw his face on the headlines. The paper reported the accident that he was in.

With curiosity, Matt realized that another accident had occurred the same spot within the last week. His eyes scanned the paper and came to rest on a picture. He froze when he recognize the picture. It was the face of a young woman with a fine chiseled nose. 

Monday 17 February 2014

Oriental Flower

Matthew and Celine were at Marseilles for their tenth anniversary honeymoon. they were going to be there for one and a half weeks and had been saving up for the past year for this. They were married on the tenth of February do Valentine's Day would fall somewhere within their trip. On Valentine's Day itself, Matthew woke Celine with a good morning kiss. 'Get up, get up, get up! I have a surprise!' he said smiling. Celine opened her eyes groggily and gradually, hearing the traffic downstairs, still amazed at the cold air that blew in from the window.

The weather was gorgeous, she had thought, the minute she stepped out of the plane. It felt like there was a gigantic invisible air conditioner floating above Paris, keeping the air perpetually cold. 'What?' She started out; people usually weren't that coherent first thing in the morning. 'I said I have a surprise.' 'Huh?' 'It's Valentine's Day!' 'Oh! Valentine's Day! Surprise... Oh, okay! Happy Valentine's honey.' She sat straight up and gave Matthew a peck on the cheek. She was only thirty years old, while Matthew was thirty four. They had both married young and everyone on both sides of their family had thought that they would not last more than a year. That was ten years ago. Matthew took out two pieces of paper and waved them in front of her face. 'Tickets?' She asked in an almost childlike wonder. 'A musical?' Matthew shook his head as his eyes sparkled. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the tickets carefully.

'A cruise!' Matthew nodded enthusiastically and began to talk about the cruise. The luxury liner was obviously making lots of money the fact that it was Valentine's Day. It was however, a very good deal. For just thirty dollars extra per couple, (the money was paid when purchasing the ticket), they would get complimentary chocolates, a stalk of rose, a modest bottle of champagne and a complimentary dinner. Not forgetting that Celine had always adored the sea. 'Where are we going and for how long?' She said, extremely excited. 'Nowhere.' 'Pardon?' 'Here's the thing... It's an overnight cruise that sails until it reaches a wide expanse of sea. Then it drops its anchor and we spend the night on the ocean.' He waited to hear if she was disappointed. But much to is delight, she threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

The ship was beautiful. It boasted a pool, a games arcade, a wide selection of eating places, a childcare area, a small pub as well as an entertainment room where people could have dinner and watch live entertainment put up by the crew itself. They spent the day exploring the ship. They caught up on their childhood and played a few computer games them celebrated their adulthood by having a few drinks. Matthew  did not want to go swimming for the fear of sea sickness. But they did have a fabulous early dinner before retiring back to their room. In their room, a 30cl bottle of champagne lay on the bed together with a long stemmed red rose. On the pillow lay a small box of eight beautifully crafted chocolates. A small circular window (which of course could not be opened) was right next to the bed. Matthew was in the toilet and Celine was taking out her bracelet when someone knocked on the door. Celine laughed as she heard Matthew's surprised exclamation (which sounded a bit like an 'uh?') coming from the toilet. 'Expecting someone?' She mused as she walked to the door.

'Maybe it's one of our parents.' 'You take that back right now.' She opened the door and thought at first that no one was there. She then looked down and saw a young girl. She could not have been older than seven. She had tiny blond curls which fell around her face and cheeks of strawberry. Her eyes were big and hazel colored and she wore a small velvet green dress. She was indeed beautiful and if she had been perfectly still, one might have even mistaken her for a doll. 'Yes?' Celine said, unable to stop herself from smiling. Her own eight year old was at her mother's all the way back in Singapore. She wanted to pick this girl up and cuddle her in her arms. She had her hands behind her back as if she was hiding something she had stolen from the cookie jar. 'For you!' She said in her tiny French voice as she took her hands from behind her back, revealing a red rose. 'Happy Valentine's Day!' 'Huh?' Celine was most definitely confused. 'You get one free flower when you sail today. I am Alamae. My father drives the ship.

'Oh! But we already have a flower dear...' 'Who's there?' She heard Matthew asking from the toilet. The girl looked up at her like she did not understand. 'But it's okay, we'll take it. Thank you very much.' She took the flower and closed the door after the girl ran off. Wow, she thought. Talk about excellent marketing strategy. People are sure to tell their friends about this after going on the cruise. And what an adorable little girl she had been too... Matthew then popped out of the toilet and she explained to him who it had been. He just shrugged and took the rose as well as the one on the bed and put them in the sink in the tiny little toilet. He plugged the water up and left them to soak in their respective containers. The one the bed had a little plastic vial filled with water attached to the stem. The one which the girl had been holding was wrapped in the traditional foil and soaked cotton. They were both unbloomed and would live for at least another three days before they had to dry them. Celine loved roses and thought that they were beautiful.

The night went by like lightning and before they knew it, Matthew and Celine saw sunlight streaming in from the tiny porthole that was their window. The ship rocked slowly as Celine looked at the watch she was still wearing. She woke Matthew up and asked if he wanted to take a stroll out on the deck before they went for breakfast. He shook his head and yawned. She kissed him on the cheek and told him she would be back in a while. She contemplated on brushing her teeth as she put on her shoes but decided not to. People often thought she was gross for this reason but she like to brush her teeth after breakfast; she saw no point in cleaning them then getting food stuck in between them all over again. She opened the door and shut it quietly, smiling as she thought about the whole cruise. She walked down the corridor and up to the deck where she felt the fresh breeze upon her face. She stood at the rail at the topmost corner of the ship and looked out at the sea. It was truly beautiful in its shades of green and blue. She wanted to fly to the horizon. It was then that she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see a man dressed up in some kind of uniform. He wore a white shirt and pant and a navy blue jacket over. It was actually quite grand with its gold buttons and all. She was not sure what kind of uniform it was. He was fairly older than her and smiled at her cordially.


'Are you having a nice trip ma'am?' He asked, his voice dripping in a thick French accent. 'Yes, I am thank you.' He must have been one of the crew members. 'You here alone?' 'No,' she smiled. 'I am with my husband.' 'Ohhh,' he said as if he realized something... 'So you are here for the Valentines' Day special... did you like it?' For some reason, she suddenly realized that this must be the captain. She felt incredibly stupid for not realizing what she thought now should have obvious. 'You are the captain!' He laughed. 'Yes. But dont worry. My... How do you say... my assistant is driving ship.' 'Ah! Your daughter came last night. She's a very pretty girl. Is your wife aboard the ship as well?'


'My daughter?' he asked, sounding almost offended by the word. His voice was filled with a mixture of shock and caution. Celine even took a step back when he replied. 'Yes,' she said slowly. 'Your daughter came to our room last night to give us a flower.' 'Not my daughter.' 'huh? She said the person driving the ship was her father. She had blond hair; very curly. She was about...' Celine gestured with her hand '...this tall... what was her name? Ellamay? Alemay? And... Are you okay?' The captain's face had turned white. And he was looking for a place to sit down. Realizing that there was none around. He just covered his face in his hands for a while before continuing. 'My daughter... she died three years ago, on this ship. She was sending flowers and she...' 'Oh my... I am so sorry...' 'It's okay, I must leave.' 'But... Why me?' Celine could not understand.


'That, I have no idea. Anyway, I hope you have a nice journey back to Paris,' he smiled bitterly as he turned and headed below deck. Celine could not believe what she had just heard. She walked briskly back to her room and unlocked the door. Matthew was still in bed, smiling as he slept. She wanted to see the rose. She wanted to feel its solidity in her hands. She opened the toilet door and looked at the roses. She could not explained it. They were both still there. The one that had been left on the bed was blooming beautifully. None of the petals had dropped. It stood erect and lovely, it's petals showing of their beautiful color. The plastic vial was still attached to it. The other flower was bent over the sink, it's foil covered in a light hue of brown that looked like rust. The stem was brown, as were its leaves. The red had dried into a deep maroon color and it bent stiffly over the edge of the sink as if it had wilted in that position. Mould grew on the bottom part of the stem where the water touched it; that happened to many dry flower when they are wet.  


Somehow, Celine wanted the captain to have this flower, mouldy as it was. She went out of the bunk and went to the deck. The captain was not at the helm but after asking around, she managed to get the directions to the captain's room. At the door, she hesitated a while, not sure whether to disturb him. In the end, she rapped on the door. 'Come in,' the captain's voice could be heard. Celine opened the door and entered. Inside, the captain was seated at his desk, surrounded by photo frames. 'Hi, I came because I wanted you to have this rose. Your daughter gave it to me,' she reached out her hand and placed the dried rose on the table. The captain smiled at her. She could see that he was touched by her gesture. 'Thank you.' 'Is that the photo of your family?' She asked, indicating the photo frames on the table. 'Yes, and it occurred to me why Alamae came to you,' he picked up a photo frame and showed it to Celine.

A beautiful Chinese woman in the frame was smiling at her. 'Alamae's mother died at childbirth. We do not get any Chinese ladies on board. Alamae never met her mother. Perhaps she thought that you were her mother.'