Memory
HE sits perfectly still, eyes wandering, ears focused on the noise in his surroundings. Every few minutes, he quietly moves to stretch, crouching down, almost kissing the ground to avoid detection. Jack has been hiding in the thick jungle bushes for the past 15 minutes.
The fear of getting caught is getting the best of him. His heart is pounding, the mosquito buzzing getting shriller. The tall grass that hid him so well has now become a trap as the sweat begins to sting and itch his chafed skin.
It’s beginning to get dark. The paddy fields, golden through the day, is turning grey under the red evening sun. Jack, only nine, is cursing his luck to have been caught in such a predicament.
He had been running up the hill with his cousins earlier, but since he couldn’t keep up with the older kids he had to make a choice whether to keep running alone or turn back. Fearing that their pursuer might not be far behind, he jumped into the bushes without thinking.
At this point, the thought of “being taken away by evil spirits” wandering the jungles at dusk got to him. Jack didn’t pay much attention to the age-old, made up stories the elders told to keep him and his cousins from playing outdoors till late evening but now that he was alone in the underbrush, his imagination started to run wild. He imagined a lone woman, long hair and fingernails standing at a distance, coming towards him, or some demon hovering behind, getting ready to pounce once he turned to look over his shoulder.
He kept his head down, peeking through the bushes. He figured his cousins must have gone far by now, so there was no point exposing his cover to find them. Not long after, Jack heard a rustle and soft footsteps; the person they were running from close by. Do I stay still? Run for safety or just sneak away quietly?
“Jack. Jack…” came a voice in a hoarse whisper.
Jack gave up, immediately sprung out from his hiding. “John! I’m scared.”
The pursuer looked at him, smiling. “It’s okay. Stay down, pretend I didn’t see you. I’ll look for the others.”
It was his brother John. “I can see your red Superman cape from a mile away,” he said as he walked past Jack.
“Can I go back to the house?”
“Alright, go back, it’s almost dark anyway.”
“Thanks John,” said Jack, relieved that he had surrendered.
As he made his way to the longhouse, he watched as his older brother made his way uphill. Then he saw that John had found some of the cousins and was giving chase. The boys were laughing, some running further away into the jungle, some heading downhill. Jack laughed, smiling at their antics.
The brief exchange between the two brothers during their game of hide-and-seek that evening remained strong in Jack’s mind. It was nothing spectacular but it was special and intimate to him. He often played that memory from 36 years ago in his head, it was one that he was truly fond of, that always made him calm and content.
It was playing in his mind again as he gazed out into the clear blue skies and thick puffy white clouds during his flight home to Kuching.
“Hi sir, some food and beverage for you? We have Nasi Lemak or Chicken Rice…”
The sweet but loud, firm voice of a female cabin crew offering him in-flight meals had startled Jack, immediately jerking him back from his deep day-dreaming.
“Hi, just coffee for me please, thank you.”
Jack sipped on his lukewarm coffee, and in no time, it was all quiet again. The other two seats in Jack’s row were empty. He turned to look at the passengers sitting across the aisle, an old couple. The woman was reading, while the man, whom he believed was her spouse, was soundly asleep. He nodded at the lady who turned to look at him. After Jack returned his empty cup to the flight attendant, he put his earphones on and played some music. He turned his attention to the skies once again, drowning himself in deep thoughts.
