Arash had just finished bathing the kids and fed them before he sat on his favorite spot in exhaustion. He was eagerly waiting for Hana's messages. His eyes had dimmed as he could feel a strong sleepiness assaulting him. He persevered as much as possible and tried his best to stay awake.
Today, Arash was feeling more tired than usual, as their normally independent eldest was a little clingy; she wanted to be spoon-fed too although she was fine eating by herself during the day in kindergarten. It did not help when the little one was very cranky all day long. No amount of coaxing could make her feel better. She kept on throwing tantrums during bathing, feeding and clothing time. It was a real struggle to put on her diaper. He was glad he had managed to stop himself from giving in to his anger and slapping the little one.
Arash had thought that by this time, the little one would've become accustomed with the absence of their mommy, but boy, how wrong he was. He hadn't had a good night's sleep from the first day since Hana's absence. It has started to take a toll on his work performance as he kept on making mistakes after mistakes during drafting a few proposals. Thankfully the deadlines were far away so he has more time to amend them.
Arash sighed deeply.
[She hadn't text me since yesterday. Most probably she forgot again or fall asleep too soon. I hope she will spend more time with me today.]
Arash missed Hana dearly. He had never felt so alone before. He had been courting her since their schooling days. From total disregard filled with arrogance, to utter head-over-heels, then, to utmost loyalty and passion. He had worked extremely hard for countless years to win her over.
Hana had been the sun of his life, brightening it up with her fiery passion, as he was the rain for her sensitive heart, soothing it when it threatened to combust into a meltdown. Together, they complemented each other wholly; two pieces of the same whole. He did not have any friends outside of work as she was and still is his only best friend. He had gladly skipped networking with colleagues over mamak (1) and futsal (2) just so that he could spend his limited time at home with the love of his life and their naughty daughters.
Nevertheless, like other young parents, their time together to indulge in their like-minded passion for Japanese animes and mangas has dwindled to almost zero. Arash couldn't even remember what was the last title he watched with her. However, they did occasionally manage to squeeze some time to enjoy the fleeting romantic conversations when the kids were finally asleep.
Arash waited and waited while wallowing in the memories of his wife's laughter and excited banter over buying furry plushies. He would text his wife with, "How's your day, Ayang (3)?", then followed by, "I miss you", then after an hour, followed by, "Are you alright?"
He had left the kids playing with each other in the living room, with the coffee table moved to the side to avoid accidents. They were playing, fighting, making up, and fighting again, while he waited absentmindedly with a deep longing in his heart. Feeling bitter, he finally opened the Webnovel application and read up a few updated chapters without focusing on the contents.
Reading all the young ones overcoming challenges in a new world reminded him again of his poor wife who was stuck in a foreign unknown forest.
[Where are you, my love. I need you.]
He felt deeply sorrowful. His wife was the total opposite of those young heroes he read. He still couldn't grasp how it could happen. If it was not for watching 'Spirited Away' (3) and reading transmigration related stories, he wouldn't even entertain the notion at all.
Nonetheless, as a responsible, grounded person, he must not be swayed by random unfounded thoughts which has no proof. He had even rebuked his pitiful wife before over the issue, which had left a bad taste in his heart.
These few days, he had filled his waking moments in making tutorials after tutorials which he thought would assist his wife in some way. It seemed that she was going to stay at that unknown place for some time as he had not the slightest idea where the location of the map she painstakingly sent over. She even said a bird had drawn the map for her!
He doubted the reliability of the map in his heart but did not brought it up with her, as he didn't want to sour the conversations between them again. He had passed over the map to Hadi without letting his brother-in-law know who had drew the rough map on the dirt floor. As a digital analyst in the Police Department, his brother-in-law was in a better position to trace Hana's whereabouts rather than this useless husband of hers. Who knows, he might find some important clues!
Honestly, these days, his stance had started to shake.
A snake with charging capabilities.
A fox with an antler.
A bird who can draw a map.
[Don't tell me after this a flying fish right.] Arash thought bitterly to himself.
Within a week, his wife had adopted so many new strays just because they were cute! What world-shaking bombshell she was going to share with him later? He anticipated it greatly with mixed feelings. If only he was beside her right now. He had never entertained the thoughts that his wife was delusional or she would lie to him.
"Papa, Papa, she bit my nose!" A teary faced girl jumped over his lap and whined sadly, waking Arash up from his reverie. Arash massaged her nose dotingly, "Painnnn, buang! Painnnn buang! (4)" He made a throwing motion, signaling the 'throwing' of pain away after blowing the red nose a little. "You see, all good and well now, right?"
The little girl nodded. Her aggrieved expression had lessened significantly.
The little one was crying while rolling left and right, throwing a tantrum. She was unsatisfied from Arash purposely ignoring her. It was a silent punishment for the naughty little girl who was always heavy-handed to her big sis.
"Enough, both of you. Let's go to bed."
Arash sighed, bent down and carried the naughty little devil. "Don't bite your big sister again next time, okay?" Arash hugged her tightly with one hand and held the hand of his eldest on the other hand. Together, they sang the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', 'The Goodnight song' and 'The Goodbye song' before retiring to bed. Arash was wondering whether Hana was able to make the turmeric coconut soup she talked about the other day. It reminded him of his own mother's turmeric coconut soup. He swallowed his saliva.
[Let's go to Bro Masthar's smoked duck stall(5) next weekend with the kids.] He made a spontaneous decision. Although his mom's turmeric coconut soup was simply divine, he was too afraid to return to his parents' house without Hana. It might spark a bad impression on his poor wife(6) and a lot of unsavory gossips. After all, oldies had so much time to spare, they'll go all out for an 'onion session'(7). He knew all the onion aunties who had a vile mouth in his parents' hometown like the back of his hands. They're just waiting to pounce on any gossip to make it bigger!
While coaxing the kids to sleep, he added a new reminder for next week's agenda. He hoped Hana would reply soon.
Little did he knew that at the exact same time, his wife was facing a life-and-death situation which will persist for days to come.
...
Author's note:
(1) mamak = as a reminder, restaurants which sells a variety of rotis and nasi kandar which are frequented by Malaysians of all races without discrimination
(2) futsal = a variant of small scaled football, usually played indoors. The male co-workers in Malaysia usually played this game after work for bonding time. Other games are the usual badminton and bowling
(3) Spirited away = an excellent movie anime by Ghibli about a girl spirited away into the realm of ghost and spirits; lighthearted, charming and intriguing. If you haven't watch it, you should.
(4) Pain buang = 'buang' means throw. That's what we always do to stop our kids from crying after a fall or a minor injury. It works (laughing). Don't forget to put medicine where necessary.
(5) Bro Masthar's smoked duck stall = A humble eatery in Kajang (a location in Selangor state, Malaysia) who focused on serving super delicious smoked duck/beef/quail/catfish cooked in very spicy turmeric coconut soup (Itik Salai Masthar was the name of the stall)
(6) bad impression on his poor wife = Around here, if you're a married couple, but only one of you go back to parent's hometown, the parents will assume your marriage had problems, especially after a few times consecutively.
(7) 'onion session' = a local slang which means heavy gossiping. It stems from the word 'membawang', or '-ing, onion'. Usually ladies in a group will cook together during an event. Since Malaysian cooking use a lot of onions (really, a lot), they will sit in a circle and peel the skin together while gossiping about unsavory happenings. These aunties are usually called Makcik Bawang, or Aunty Onion.