Subuh 2

The clock on the taxi read 7.00 am. The rain is unrelenting outside, and he needs to make a decision as he rapidly approaches home. Not wanting to stand outside in the rain, finding out if Mum actually left the front gates open, the taxi drives past his house and to the nearby shops.

He is drenched as he runs with his luggage across the puddle strewn road leading to the shops. There is the curious looks of the customers and shopowners, bemused at the sight of the young man disrupting their normal morning, pulling his suitcase into an empty seat.

He orders a bowl of pan mee and the stall owner half smiles a look of familiarity and bemusement.

He looks at the uncleared table before him, and smiles as he sees the remnants of the half boiled eggshells sitting in an empty teacup. His mind is still coming to terms with the fact that he is not in Australia. The shop is brightly lit with rows upon rows of fluorescent light boucing off the newly tiled walls and floor.

There is a stallowner, replete in a dark green jersey with upturned collar, spiked hair and thick rimmed glasses belying his youth. He watches as the stallowner lights three long incense sticks and kneels before an altar of a Chinese god and mumbles a prayer, probably for wealth and protection.

He is happy to see that some traditions have not been lost in this modern day and age.

The shopowner sits regally at a crescent desk in the corner, with rows of cigarettes in glassed shelves behind her. She is barking orders to the foreign women scuttling around cleaning tables and taking drinks orders from the customers.

He can see she has the double standards of someone in charge - she is rough when dealing with her workers but almost gentle when dealing with customers. "Is there a phone around?" he enquires as she comes to collect money at his table. She looks at him and asks gruffly, "There is one down the street. Who you calling?"

"Just here."

"Handphone ah?"

"No," he is quick to protest " Just a landline."

She leaves him and returns with a mobile phone. " I have pressed the 03. You just key in the rest lah."

He is taken aback by the kindness of strangers, and rings home. Mum picks up, she has been waiting for his call (how could he have ever doubted her?) and he tells her where he is. He passes the phone back to the shopowner, still pleasantly surprised.

The rain continues to pour on the outside, and it is cold, but he soon forgets it as the steaming bowl of flour noodles is brought before him. He alternates between the bowl of pan mee and his hot cup of Milo.

Mum suddenly arrives with an umbrella, and it is obvious from her wet hair that the umbrella didn't do any good. He smiles and they order a few more things to the table, and as they talk and wait for the rain to subside, his mind finally acknowledges that he is home.