Professional Documents
Culture Documents
In London, England
At the matrons office
* The elderly Filipino man behind the front desk looked up from his moving papers as
she (Azreen) approached him.
Mr. Costa
Azreen
Mr. Costa
Azreen
: Yes. Can you please tell Mr. Goldman that I wont be able to help out
at the desk tonight.
Mr. Costa
Azreen
Azreens room
*Azreen stared at her side of the room and bit her lip, she did not feel like leaving
London.
Azreen
Narrator
Narrator
: As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she spotted the last person
she wanted to see.
Azreen
Narrator
Azreen
: Hello, Julian.
Julian
: Hey, youre leaving? Are you done with your exams already? (*said
after managed to catch breath)
Azreen
Julian
Julian
Azreen
: No, Thank you. My plane leaves at ten. I have to go. (*glanced at her
watch)
Julian
: Youre taking the tube to Headthrow? Ill help you with your bag
Azreen
: No. I Ill be fine. Thanks. Youd better return to the desk. Old
Goldman might realize youre missing.
Julian
: I guess youre right. Maybe Ill visit you when Im back in Malaysia
after the exams.
Azreen
Julian
: Safe journeyand send my condolences to your family.
(*Azreen turned away)
: Chicken or fish?
Azreen
: Chicken please.
*stewardness gave her a plastic smile and handed her a packed lunch of cold chicken
piece, yogurt and fruit sald. She then moved on to the next person.
*Azreen stared at her food without much appetite. She took a bite of the chicken and
glanced out of the window.
Narrator
At Langkawi Airport
Narrator
: Azreens foster parents, Dato Zulkifli and Datin Sharifah were there
to pick her up.
: This airport is too crowded. People could get lost (*warily eyed a
group of tourists)
Datin Sharifah : Dont worry, Zul. If she can find her way around London by herself,
Im sure she can find her way around the airport. Besides, I dont
think its crowded. Of course, it isnt as big as KLIA. But this place
is just nice. Very pleasing to the eye.
*shuffled some brochures at the information counter (keep moving)
Datin Sharifah : Ah, there she is now! Azreen! Azreen!
*Azreen waved back at them\
Datin Sharifah : Now, dont say a word about her sister yet. And smile, wont you?
(*wishpered urgently to her husband)
*He helped her with her suitcase
At Azreens house
Narrator
Narrator
P. Normala
: I told you, that girls nothing but trouble. Look what she just did
walking in without greeting us. How disrespectful. No wonder
her parents sent her away.
One of her confidantes : Very rude, never had much manners to begin with.
Remember the last time when she beat up Minahs
daughter
Another woman : I think shes just angry with her parents. (*interrupted)
P. Normala
: Of course she is. They didnt even wait for her to return before
taking the body over to the mosque.
Another woman : Poor girl. She didnt even get to see her sister for the last time.
P. Normala
: Bah, she hated her sister so much that she refused to even write to
her. Can you imagine being so vengeful to your own family? I tell
you, shes a hateful and ungrateful child. And not a drop of remorse
about what happened to her mother. I knew she would grow up to
be like that. She was such an ugly little baby.
Narrator
Other woman
: Do you suppose its true what she saw? I mean, Normala couldnt
possibly have seen the body, couldnt she? Madhuris blood
couldnt have been white, couldnt it?
In Azreens room
*Azreen looked up from her bag and smiled weakly
Datin Sharifah : Now, do you want to go over to the burial grounds? We can still
make it before
*Azreen did not reply
Azreen
: Mak Cik, please tell me the truth. How did how did Madhuri die?
*Datin Sharifah shrugged and sat down on the chair. Her fingers tapped in a
frienzied manner.
Datin Sharifah : But my dear, nobody bothered telling me in detail either.
Everything was so hush-hush. Well at least from your familys side,
my dear. Its all so sad. Your poor sister
Azreen
Datin Sharifah : Yes, on the grapevine. That Normala woman said we should go
home and save ourselves. She claimed that Madhuri had been
murdered and that she had put a curse on us before she died.
Narrator
: Azreen strode to the window and looked out so that Datin Sharifah
cant see her face.
Datin Sharifah : Her husband and his friends found her at the rubber estate when
they went looking.
Azreen
*When Datin Sharifah did not answer, she turned around and approached the chair
Datin Sharifah : I dont know. They did not tell us anything. But I dont blame them.
To them, were outsiders.
*Datin Sharifah grabbed the girls hand to try to soothe her.
Azreen
*Azreen went back to the window and her hand gripped the window pane tightly.
Azreen
: No, Mak. That was two years ago. Why didnt Abah take you
along to the burial ground?
: The metal wheels of the chair crumpled the dry leaves as they
moved towards the site.
Azreen
Azreens mother : Saleh, oh, youre there. I didnt see you. Why are we here?
Azreens mother : What? But Madhuris back home with Ghani. Shes not here.
*Saleh turned around fully and glared at both mother and daughter.
Saleh
Azreen
Saleh
*But Haji Ghani blocked his way. Datin Sharifah quickly maneuvered the wheelchair
away.
Datin Sharifah : Ill take your mother home, Azreen. And I think its also a good
idea if we all leave as well.
*Azreen stood rooted stubbornly to the spot.
Narrator
: Later that evening, after everyone left, Azreen sat by her sisters
grave when she heard someone approaching. She recognised him
immediatelyeven after two years.
*He gave her a weak smile. He did not make any sound or movement. Azreen turned
back to the mound and said a prayer. When she turned back, he was gone.
*She stood up, dusted away the soil from her clothes and left the cemetery. Across the
road she could make out his figure on the low fence.
Mohd Asraf
Azreen
: Im doing well. And you? (*she took a seat next to him on the
wooden fence)
Mohd Asraf
: Im all right,I suppose. Why arent you at the village hall for the
kenduri arwah?