BAD OMEN

To Nick Alison Colbie and Kue Wei Jun,
For fuelling my burning passion to write,
Though one as a friend and the other as a frenemy.

August 28, 2014.

Even with all the tension, all I can think of was her. No, she wasn't my wife. Though, my wife wouldn't worry if I said that I'm thinking of her. I was stressed and it was drowning my motivation. The bank manager, Mr Chee Kin, had called me a week ago for an interview about a loan. Yes. A loan for me.

The loan must be sanctioned. God, this is my last chance. My business will get better if I get this money. I need this loan.

I was walking back and fro in the hall nervously. I was praying and begging to God silently for loan to be sanctioned under my name. That's when I started thinking about her again. As much as I tried to push her away from my thoughts, she came back still. I was thinking about Aathirah.

Aathirah was a young widow. Death reaped her husband's soul a year after their marriage. And there was this weird thing about her, unlike other Indian widows, she wore not white but black dresses and gowns. My mother-in-law, being the arrogant lady she was, even scolded Aathirah for acting like a western lady a month or two ago. The neighbours in my street assumed that she was unlucky. A bad omen. Or as some people call it, an augury. My neighbours would always check the front street that leads us to the city, Kuala Lumpur, for Aathirah before going for important things, most probably businesses. They believed that their businesses, meetings and trips will end up in a very bad way if they saw Aathirah on the streets. Though, I've never heard of anyone dying in my neighbourhood after seeing her on the streets.

At first, I didn't want to believe any of their stupid beliefs. I mean, I'm not a religious person. And, I've seen people destroying their lives themselves often blinded by a made-up belief. A lie that should be trusted by everyone. I would want to prove them wrong that Aathirah wasn't unlucky, but it's no good to contradict with your neighbours. After all, they're the ones who'll help you when you're in danger.

Now, even I was afraid of seeing Aathirah on the streets. It was just a fear that came out of no where. A fear of not getting the loan. A fear that if I failed getting the loan, I'll still have someone to blame it on. Getting this loan meant everything to me. It was the only thing that'll prevent my Textile Company from being shut down. The sales were an all-time-low and my partner said that he'd shut down the company if there wasn't enough income from the sales.

God, I don't want to see Aathirah at all tomorrow! I thought and went back to bed.

*****

August 29, 2014.

'Gayathri, go and check if there's anyone on the front street. Especially, Aathirah. Please make sure that she's not there,' I said to my wife who was preparing breakfast back at the kitchen. The walls in my house were thin but, I still talked loudly to her.

She placed my daily coffee on the table in front of me and rushed towards the front door. As she opened it, bright sunlight poured in to our house. The white tiles seemed like shining gold under it.

The time must've been 10:00 a.m. at least.

'Nobody's on the streets, Ravi,' my wife replied coming to the hall and sitting by me. 'There's only a young girl walking towards Madrigal's house with a pail full of water. My friend Panggajam said that if anyone's coming our way with a pail full of water, we'll get what we want. It's a good omen, you see.'

Thank God. Aathirah is not there.

I got up and got outside.

She wasn't there, just like my wife had said and I was happy about it. But, my happiness faded soon, because nothing happens like we desire. Just when I was about to sit on my Ford Telestar, I saw Aathirah walking by my house's alley. Of course, her house was next to mine. Seeing her gave me a chill of terror.