Ramblings

It’s not going to go away.

She knows it. However much she wills it, the cat just will not go away. It will not slink off like all the others when she ignored them for a bit. This one is a special one; she can see it in its eyes. She could have stayed on staring at it for hours, in this dreamy, mystical state between dusk and the coming of the night, when the stars lazily come into view like little children waking up in the morning, their eyes, at first lacking that sparkle, eventually come ablaze with curiosity and mischief. She could have, but she will not. Instead, she will turn around and go inside to help Ibu out with the chores.

She wished Ibu would let her keep a cat. But Ibu does not believe in keeping pets. “Times are hard enough, Ros. We’re not rich people, and your father, that useless man, won’t send home anything. I wonder what he’s up to nowadays. Sometimes I wish he wasn’t my husband, but what can we do?”

Ros pouted. Abah. An unfamiliar name pasted to an unfamiliar face. Abah, a father only in name, walked out of the family when Ros was young, so young she could barely remember his face. The only vivid recollection of him that she has is the somewhat shy smile he often had on his face. Despite what Ibu says of him, Ros knew that Ibu still loved him. That was the only reason why Ibu had never went to see the village imam to get the marriage annulled. Ibu still believed that one day he will walk up the front staircase and knock on the door again. Faint those hopes may be, but they were the only things keeping this house together; if only for that reason, Abah deserves to be loved. But that does not mean that he should be used as an excuse for not allowing her the slightest bit of luxury, like keepi....


"Ahmad... you know you shouldn't blog at work"

"ermm... it's not a blog entry Mrs S. It's my debut novel!"

"Fair enough. But I think you still shouldn't be writing a novel when you're in truth a research assistant, should you?"

"Ermm.. yeah"