A Lady in Her Twilit Years

“I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me. But it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once – and it’s too much.”

Kevin Spacey, as Lester Burnham in American Beauty

Malacca is this dear old lady that I used to meet every Saturday for tea. She’s fragile and tired – but oh, the stories she can tell me! She must have seen so very much living for such an aching long time.

Bless her, the dear old thing – still as charming as ever.


So much familiarity flooded my senses as I drove through her streets that I became very much beset by nostalgia. Once upon a time, this was where I grew up.

Once upon a memory, this was where I loved life.


I remember a time when I did not know how to drive. I used to get everywhere on my old bicycle. Now, my bike wouldn’t go anymore – her chains have rusted apart. She was the fourth one I ever rode on.

Come to think of it, I sort of grew up on a bicycle. I couldn’t do without one last time.

Oh, to feel the rush of wind on my face again!


I parked my car somewhere and got down to walk. Everything felt closer when I'm on foot somehow. Everything felt real.

I stood on the bridge and watched the sun descend over the Straits of Malacca. A gentle sea breeze was breathing on my face. Right then, I felt that I could almost love life again.

Almost.


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