Ride on Time

Chapter 79

Shree sat at the dining table and wrote the day's happenings in her diary. The tip of the fountain pen moved vigorously over the ruled paper in neat but sprawling letters.
"Nika, come," Chandrika appeared, her hair tied back in a claw clip. "Let's go to bed."
"Wait ah..." Shree said, finishing the last of her sentence, the the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. She finally let out a satisfied sound and placed her tasseled bookmark between the pages and closed the book, placing the cap back onto the tip of her pen, before getting up.
Shree went to the toilet before going right to sleep.

Shree walked down a bridge, a bridge of wood and low guardrail. An unknown man, whose face she couldn't see, but she knew he wasn't of good intentions. She scowled at him and turned to the low railings and looked down to see a beautiful canal, framed by lush green trees.
All of a sudden, Shree felt herself being grabbed by the wicked man she had been trying to avoid.
"Let me go!" Shree screamed, trying to wriggle free off his grasp.
The man refused to let her go, dragging her towards the low guardrail. Shree never stopped struggling to free herself from his iron grip.
All of a sudden, the strange man was shoved aside by another man, who seemed to radiate a different kind of aura. Shree immediately ran into his arms and hugged him, feeling safe in his presence.
"Don't worry, I'm here for you now," the man's voice was strange but gentle, more like a whisper.
Shree merely melted into his grasp, letting his warmth and comfort absorb her.

A sudden jolt woke the young woman up, putting her back in bed beside her mother. Shree shifted in her bed to see the back of her mother's figure, snoring away like the rest of her family. She didn't know what to think of that dream but just shrugged it off and went back to sleep.

***

Mitsuo appeared to have been driving down a highway amid an earthquake, dodging car after car and other debris thrown his way. All of a sudden, a large lorry came his way, making him swerve to the side out of danger. He heaved a sigh of relief and shifted to a higher gear in his manual car, hitting the accelerator to speed up.
All of a sudden, Mitsuo arrived to what looked like a funeral home. A Japanese funeral. He couldn't see what the dead looked like, but he knew something was up.
A woman stood there, clad in a red and black kimono. He just knew that the funeral was for her, though he couldn't see what she looked like, but she didn't in the least look dead. Even her kimono was fit for a living person, worn left over right instead of the standard right over left for the dead.
"You're alive!" Mitsuo found himself saying.
"I survived because of you," the woman spoke in the Tokyo dialect, coming to him. "Now that you're here, I'm alive. I woke up and here I am."
Mitsuo smiled as she leapt into his arms, burying her face in his chest. "I missed you. I missed you so much. I'm so glad you finally returned."
He put his arms around her and sighed, his worries melting away as if he had finally found what he was looking for.

Mitsuo woke up, confused and in bed at his room in Sheralbon Hotel. He sat up and rubbed a hand up his face, slicking his hair back.
'What the heck was that dream?' Mitsuo snorted to himself. 'Going to someone's funeral only to find them alive and moving around?'
But said dream still got him disturbed.
Mitsuo shuddered and threw the bedclothes off, springing out of bed and making his way towards the balcony as he fixed his ruffled yukata. The faint azan in the distance told him it was sunrise. He reentered his room and closed the sliding glass as he made his way to the bathroom before getting a few more hours of sleep.

"Nika, faster come lah!" Devi hissed as Shree bustled about to get her things.
"Wait, wait," Shree insisted, getting her green comma-shaped Magatama and watch from the cabinet. "Alright, done."
Shree grabbed her bag and went to her grandmother with a nod. "Let's go."
Devi sighed and straightened the collar of her granddaughter's denim coat, muttering in Tamil. "You never straighten your collar. Just like your grandfather!" She touched the green stone around her neck. "It's good that you're wearing this. It will protect you."
"I know," Shree chuckled and just waited as she fixed her clothing. The older woman was finally done and motioned to go out. Shree nodded and followed Devi out to the porch.
"Girl, don't take the Volkswagen, take the Viva," Devi told her daughter. "That Sherry will ask too many questions, brings the Evil Eye upon us."
Chandrika nodded understandingly. "You're right, Amma."
She handed the car keys to Vasu and started closing the house.
"Akka, tell Mitsuo that we're on the way," Vasu said as he unlocked the car, making his way to the driver's side.
Shree nodded and got in at the back together with the older women of the family.
"Let's roll," Vasu smirked.
"Wait lah, never open gate also lah," Shree groaned, getting out if the car.

Mitsuo waited in the foyer, frowning at the otw that Shree sent almost ten minutes ago. He thought they had bamboozled him again but luckily he saw the bright-coloured Perodua in the distance and straightened himself. Mitsuo greeted the family and got in at the front like always.
"What is this Chinese family like?" Mitsuo couldn't help but ask. "Seems a bit strange because their house sounds far, and... you guys are travelling in a Kei van..."
"She's a busybody, Mitsuo," Shree explained. "If she sees the Volkswagen, she's gonna assume we have loads of cash, and that might give the car some problem."
Mitsuo frowned, confused. "Problem?"
"She got Evil Eyes lah!" Devi spat. "Her eyes not good."
Shree sighed, not sure how to explain.
Vasu decided to pipe up. "Have you seen this eye? A blue circle with an eye-like pattern on it?"
Mitsuo frowned and imagined. "Yes? I heard that Greeks and Egyptians used to believe in those."
"Indians also," Devi pointed out.
"Yes, but Indians usually don't wear those amulets but we sometimes wear them," Shree added. "Maybe you should read up on it, it'll help in your book."
Mitsuo's face morphed into a smiled. "Oh yeah! I think I'll do just that."
He ended up reading an entire article about it through the journey to Sherry's home.

The Evil Eye that Devi mentioned is not the Illuminati nor does it have anything to do with it. I think many cultures believe in this, that the public eye, especially those wicked or jealous, would bring misfortune upon us. Sorta like a jinx. We Indians believe in this wholly and we do certain rituals that is said to ward off the hold of the Evil Eye upon someone, for example holding a lime in front of someone and circling the person from head to toe with it. A lime is said to absorb all venom put upon you, and it can be seen when the fruit rots and turns brown because of it. Sometimes people use burning camphor tablets, and sometimes a coconut shell filled with dry chillies and stuff like that. You can sometimes see a bunch of red chillies or a white pumpkin tied to the front of an Indian home, which has the same use.