Writer's Recipe vol. 3 (2018)

1% OF MIRACLE

By: Nurul Aishah bt Ahmad Rashidi

The leaves rustled in the trees and swayed slightly, making groaning heavy sound. The twigs crackled, snapped and sputtered. Marlisa was resting on the bed while gazing out of the window. "Knock, knock," someone was at door. Without looking, she allowed that person to come in. She was astonished when she turned to look. Her face changed and her hands were shaking. She did not believe what her eyes were seeing.

"How did you find me here?" Marlisa asked in surprise. She never expected to see that face again. Mirza; a man known to people as a successful, rich, and generous person. Everyone respected him, but nobody knew about his personal life. The story began 10 years ago when he was in in last year of secondary school.

Marlisa shrieked with excitement when she found out her son, Mirza had passed with flying colours in SPM. Her dream to make her son have a better life is one step closer. Not only that, Mirza had been offered to study abroad in London with a scholarship. Marlisa hoped her son would use the opportunity to improve their life. When Mirza becomes successful, she could move to live with her son in the city and build a new life there.

For that reason, Marlisa forced herself to work hard to give Mirza pocket money even though Mirza already received a scholarship because he was always complaining about not have enough money to eat. She was so afraid Mirza that would not be able to focus in his studies. Everything seemed to go well for the first few years. Mirza would call his mother every week, but as the time passed, he began to contact her less and less. Marlisa was saddened, but she simply assumed that her son was too busy to call. During Mirza's final year, he went completely silent. Marlisa worried that something might have happened to her son.

Marlisa decided to call Mirza's university. When she asked about her son, they told her that Mirza had already graduated. Full of worry, Marlisa wondered where her son had gone to. She felt the urge to look for him, but she knew she could not afford to travel alone to London. "Maybe he wanted to surprise me when he comes home," Marlisa thought, trying to stay positive. So, she started to pack her things. She was really certain Mirza would one day come and fetch her to live with him in the city.

Almost a year went by. There was still no word from Mirza. One day, Marlisa's niece, Fasya came to visit her. Fasya said that one of her friends was working at the same place as Mirza. Finally hearing news about Mirza brought ease to her troubled heart. Marlisa asked for the address to go and meet her son. Early in the morning, Marlisa took a bus to the city. There, she took a cab and showed the address to the driver. On the way there, she told the driver about Mirza and what an intelligent son he was. She was so proud of him despite his long disappearance.

The driver pulled over in front of a tall corporate building. Marlisa got out of the cab after paying and walked towards the building. Her heart was pounding. She would finally meet her son after so many years. She went to the counter and told the receptionist that he was looking for a young man called Mirza. The receptionist looked at the woman in front of her from head to toe. She wondered why this old woman from the village wanted to meet her boss. Regardless, she asked Marlisa to wait for a moment because Mirza was in the middle of a meeting. After waiting for some time, she saw a few people coming out from the meeting room. Marlisa scanned the faces one by one until he old eyes landed on a familiar face.

"Mirza, Mirza my son!" She shouted loudly, causing a hullabaloo in the building. Everyone's eyes were on the old woman. Mirza had to hide the embarrassment on his face. He pulled his mother's frail hand and walked out the building. "Why did you come here? You're embarrassing me!" Mirza scolded her. Marlisa was dumbfounded to hear the words that were coming out from her son's mouth. Without uttering a single word, she turned away and left the scene. She was so upset that she could not stop her tears from streaming down her cheeks.

Marlisa was at a loss. She had no money to return to the village. She knew no one else in the city. She had completely nowhere to go. She walked aimlessly until she found herself in a dark alley. Out of nowhere, a man approached her and snatched her bag. Terrified, Marlisa shouted for help while trying to hold on to the bag. The snatch thief became panicked, took out a knife and drove it into her stomach. Marlisa collapsed into a pool of her own blood. Meanwhile, the criminal took her bag and ran away.

Thank God, someone had her shout and found her. "Madam, are you okay?" the young woman asked. When she saw that Marlisa was bleeding profusely, she immediately called the ambulance.

When Marlisa opened her eyes again, she found herself on a bed in a room with white walls with various machines beeping around her. She could not fully recall what had happened to her. Later, a man wearing white coat entered the room. "Oh, thank God you are awake madam," said the doctor. He asked her how she was feeling and checked her vital signs. The doctor told Marlisa to rest and not think too much. That was when Mirza arrived.

Thinking about everything that she had endured because of her son made her eyes swell with tears. Mirza walked towards his mother and he sat beside her bed, holding his mother's hand. Tears were welling up in his eyes and silently coursed down his cheeks.

"Please forgive me, mother," he said, choking with grief. He promised Marlisa that he would take good care of her and cherish her as a son should.