Subuh

The airplane travels slowly along the runway, ultimately parking itself at the docking bay.

There is rain outside the tiny window to his left -

A voice crackles lazily over the intercom:

"There is a slight drizzle at the moment"

"To all visitors, we would like to bid you selamat datang or welcome to Malaysia"

"And to all Malaysians coming home," continues the familiar drawl of the captain, -and this is the line that warms his heart- "we would like to wish you selamat pulang ke tanah air."

He quickly makes his way past immigration, picks up his luggage and shoots through the customs department. He walks through the transparent double doors home, and there is a spattering of people at this early hour, waiting for their loved ones, but mostly, there are the illegal taxi drivers plying their trade.

He takes the 28 minute train ride home. As he whizzes past the hauntingly quiet highways lit with the orange glow of the overhead guard-of-honour of streetlamps, he closes his eyes and imagines himself coasting along those empty roads.

The initial drizzle soon becomes a full blown storm, the skies railing at nothing in particular, washing the face of the city in preparation of another day.

He soon arrives at the Central Train Station and follows the sleepy crowd up the escalators and onto the platforms. After wandering around a bit, he finds the taxi stand and chooses the wrong taxi company to take him home.

He sits in a taxi big enough to hold five people when a normal cab would have done. He is RM 25 lighter for the mistake. He smiles slightly at how easily he was duped, in his own hometown, no less, and remembers why he doesn't travel that often.