Millennials: The Collection

Two: Shadows (I)

A passing car's husky tyres treaded wildly upon the damp road surface. A jogger's rubber soles squeaked on the pavement. The sun joined by a warm amber sky had finally taken its rightful place after a light summer rain. And the whole world suddenly came clear; everything stood out with exclamatory brilliance.

She had been standing outside the clinic for a while now, clutching her handbag hung over her shoulder. Nervously she let out a breath, wet her lips then smiled at her reflection in the glass doors. Here we go.

The last time she did something like this was years back. Years and years back, when she had nothing covered over her head yet as the hijab was merely a garb used for every family affair. This shouldn't be any different, she thought to herself. All that matters is my work, the interaction, the children - so there's really nothing to worry about at my first day. Right?

"Ms. Shahidah?" a deep voice coming from the first door startled her. "You're early. Great."

Shahidah greeted the man who approached her smilingly. Politely he ushered her into one of the children's play room, and passed her a hardcover file.

The man had a short stubble beard and a stethoscope round his neck. He took a sip of coffee that was sitting on the mini, slightly vandalized desk and passed her a few pieces of stapled paper that detailed a list of the clinic's most recent patients.

She knew him as Dr Andrew, also known as the one who reviewed her CV just a few weeks ago which landed her a ten-week internship right here right now. Not many had been as kind to her as he had, especially when she applied for other positions in the public sector - perhaps it was the scarf over her head, that made them think twice. Or it could've been the occasional stuttering during her interviews. Yes, it was possibly that.

Whatever the case, just a few months before her graduation, Shahidah had already set her sight on something else. Something she felt she was meant to do for a very long time.

"Your supervisor should be here anytime soon to brief you about all this. I'm sure you'll do just fine though, seeing that you've had prior experience working with children," explained Dr Andrew as he invited her to have a seat on a rainbow couch just by the window. "I'll be in my office if you need anything."

Shahidah returned the doctor a smile before he left the room, then took a deep breath.

For a while she held her gaze at the hardcover file and flipped through its contents - patient confidentiality forms and a lengthy to-do list. Just before she could reach for a pen on the crayon-vandalized desk, there came a light knock on the door.

A young girl with pony-tailed curly hair bobbed her head in, careful to keep the door ajar. With one hand still up on the door knob, she blinked innocently at Shahidah then proceeded to scan the rest of the play room.

"Aysha!" a young husky voice startled their brief moment. It followed with an angry rebuke in a foreign language, yet it was one Shahidah had found too familiar.

As the girl spun around, a teenage boy lifted her and hugged her tightly. He caressed her hair and whispered something, this time in a gentler tone before finally realizing Shahidah had been watching them silently from the play room. A little surprised, he stepped back hesitantly, helping the little girl back on her feet. "Sorry," he sheepishly turned to the exit.

"No wait," Shahidah stood up all of a sudden, though still unsure of what to do.

In a heavy Middle Eastern accent, he apologized time and again as if it was the only word in his vocabulary.

Shahidah went over to address them while the boy explained in Arabic: "Sorry, my sister - she ran. I thought - I thought I lost her."

Closing the door behind her, Shahidah began flipping through the folder she received from Dr Andrew to check if they had any records with the clinic. She glanced at her watch: 9.10AM. No one was at the receptionist's desk. Dr Andrew was plausibly busy in his office. So it was just the three of them, excluding a terribly late supervisor.