Danger lurking in the Dark
First Encounter of the Bad Kind
****** FEAR
It was late and dark. I quickened my pace. I was on the way home after returning books to the Jurong East Regional library. I hurried towards the usual back lane alley behind the library. This small lane leads to a nearby bus stop.
Suddenly a teary-eyed Malay woman appeared suddenly in front of me. She seemed frantic. In a shaky voice, she asked me how to get to the Changi General Hospital.
She sprouted a bob of short hair and looked very anxious, almost panicky. Her body language and her facial expression showed that she was in a state of shock in the dim light.
I was taken aback. It caught me off-guard. I told her straightaway that there are no buses to take her to Changi Hospital from Jurong East. She’ll have to take a cab. Seems funny, but I suddenly realized the urgency of the matter.
***** NONCHALANCE
It was really much later than I realized the first question is a trick question. To see if I am a local and if I understand what she is saying.
Then she kept rattling on about her husband in car accident and asked me for alternatives other than a taxi. She almost shrieked in alarm as she related her story.
I conveyed to her I don't drive a car and cannot send her there. She demanded that I send her to the hospital in a cab. She pleaded with me as she only have $6 with her. She sobbed and repeated that her husband met a car accident and was warded in Changi Hospital. She needed to ‘rush’ there.
**** TENSIONS MOUNTING
My heart tinged with sympathy. Her panicked expression and tearful voice made it sound very real. When I insisted that she can only take a taxi to Changi hospital and I cannot send her there then she proclaimed that she got no money.
She pleaded with me to go with her to pay for her cab fare and hospital registration charges.
**** URGENCY
It only strike me much later that her main motive is to get me to pay or foot the registration fees bills at the hospital when we get there.
I find it bewildering that she has no close relatives or friends for help. She replied she had a small family to begin with. Her story is that she lives in Woodlands and is now here (at Jurong East) to seek her mother’s help only to realize she’s not in town, went to Malaysia she claimed.
I collected myself and quicken my steps to the road to get her a taxi.
**** SUSPICIONS
She flashed her out NRIC identity card repetitively in order to prove her authenticity. She shoved it into my hand. It was a pink NRIC. I was telling myself it is pointless to scrutinize the details on the card if this is a setup. Everything would have been planned, including phone numbers and identity cards and all.
The Malay woman repeatedly reminded she would pay me back all the monies. She looked pitiful even under the dim moonlight. Her eyes were darkened and she seems to be crying. She insisted that I accompany her in the taxi to Changi Hospital.
I recoiled in horror! I told myself there is no way am I to follow her all the way to Changi and come back again! It sounded incredulous however hard-heated I may looked!
Later would it dawn on me the real dangers if I were to follow her to the cab that night! It might end in some remote Changi prison camp where her accomplices might lie waiting for the next victim.
I bellowed at her - I would only pay for her cab’s fare and asked her the exact amount for the fare. “Oh, my gosh! I can never shake her off!” I breathed quietly to myself.
She feigned ignorance and continued. She’ll need an additional $120 that for hospitalization’s registration fees.
I was becoming irate! I began to smell a rat!
I hinted to her I got no money and she asked me to go nearby MRT station to draw she kept on asking me where I lived and she will pay me back the next day
She confidently showed me her NRIC again and gave me her mobile number.
Nevertheless at her persistence it is difficult to shake her off, and I proceeded with her to he ATM machine.
At the ATM I realized that my wife works in hospital and decided to check with her if hospital will insists on paying registration fees upfront for emergency cases.
**** REALISATION
My suspicions were proven right! I raised my voice and directed at the 27-year-old Malay woman. “I just called my wife. She works in a hospital and she is very sure that they are no rules to state that patients need pay registration fees upfront!“
I walked off quickly before she followed me again. I turned my head and realized she is gone.
I scoured around the car park near the ATM and she has disappeared!
**** AFTERMATH
Was it real or was it my imagination?
Is she really in that pathetic state? No money to go to the hospital to see her husband? Or was it a ploy to get some money?
Time will tell…
****** FEAR
It was late and dark. I quickened my pace. I was on the way home after returning books to the Jurong East Regional library. I hurried towards the usual back lane alley behind the library. This small lane leads to a nearby bus stop.
Suddenly a teary-eyed Malay woman appeared suddenly in front of me. She seemed frantic. In a shaky voice, she asked me how to get to the Changi General Hospital.
She sprouted a bob of short hair and looked very anxious, almost panicky. Her body language and her facial expression showed that she was in a state of shock in the dim light.
I was taken aback. It caught me off-guard. I told her straightaway that there are no buses to take her to Changi Hospital from Jurong East. She’ll have to take a cab. Seems funny, but I suddenly realized the urgency of the matter.
***** NONCHALANCE
It was really much later than I realized the first question is a trick question. To see if I am a local and if I understand what she is saying.
Then she kept rattling on about her husband in car accident and asked me for alternatives other than a taxi. She almost shrieked in alarm as she related her story.
I conveyed to her I don't drive a car and cannot send her there. She demanded that I send her to the hospital in a cab. She pleaded with me as she only have $6 with her. She sobbed and repeated that her husband met a car accident and was warded in Changi Hospital. She needed to ‘rush’ there.
**** TENSIONS MOUNTING
My heart tinged with sympathy. Her panicked expression and tearful voice made it sound very real. When I insisted that she can only take a taxi to Changi hospital and I cannot send her there then she proclaimed that she got no money.
She pleaded with me to go with her to pay for her cab fare and hospital registration charges.
**** URGENCY
It only strike me much later that her main motive is to get me to pay or foot the registration fees bills at the hospital when we get there.
I find it bewildering that she has no close relatives or friends for help. She replied she had a small family to begin with. Her story is that she lives in Woodlands and is now here (at Jurong East) to seek her mother’s help only to realize she’s not in town, went to Malaysia she claimed.
I collected myself and quicken my steps to the road to get her a taxi.
**** SUSPICIONS
She flashed her out NRIC identity card repetitively in order to prove her authenticity. She shoved it into my hand. It was a pink NRIC. I was telling myself it is pointless to scrutinize the details on the card if this is a setup. Everything would have been planned, including phone numbers and identity cards and all.
The Malay woman repeatedly reminded she would pay me back all the monies. She looked pitiful even under the dim moonlight. Her eyes were darkened and she seems to be crying. She insisted that I accompany her in the taxi to Changi Hospital.
I recoiled in horror! I told myself there is no way am I to follow her all the way to Changi and come back again! It sounded incredulous however hard-heated I may looked!
Later would it dawn on me the real dangers if I were to follow her to the cab that night! It might end in some remote Changi prison camp where her accomplices might lie waiting for the next victim.
I bellowed at her - I would only pay for her cab’s fare and asked her the exact amount for the fare. “Oh, my gosh! I can never shake her off!” I breathed quietly to myself.
She feigned ignorance and continued. She’ll need an additional $120 that for hospitalization’s registration fees.
I was becoming irate! I began to smell a rat!
I hinted to her I got no money and she asked me to go nearby MRT station to draw she kept on asking me where I lived and she will pay me back the next day
She confidently showed me her NRIC again and gave me her mobile number.
Nevertheless at her persistence it is difficult to shake her off, and I proceeded with her to he ATM machine.
At the ATM I realized that my wife works in hospital and decided to check with her if hospital will insists on paying registration fees upfront for emergency cases.
**** REALISATION
My suspicions were proven right! I raised my voice and directed at the 27-year-old Malay woman. “I just called my wife. She works in a hospital and she is very sure that they are no rules to state that patients need pay registration fees upfront!“
I walked off quickly before she followed me again. I turned my head and realized she is gone.
I scoured around the car park near the ATM and she has disappeared!
**** AFTERMATH
Was it real or was it my imagination?
Is she really in that pathetic state? No money to go to the hospital to see her husband? Or was it a ploy to get some money?
Time will tell…
Comments
Btw, like your writing. :)