My first experience travelling abroad alone was at age 14. It was a six hours flight to Sri Lanka during semester holidays. My father whom I addressed as "abah" was working there, so mama and all my other 4 siblings moved to Sri Lanka, the pearl shaped island with breathtaking beaches. Me? I could have opted for international school too if I followed my parents, but I did not. I preferred continuing secondary education locally at a boarding school instead - not that my academic performance was so good; it was because I was too attached to debate and silat martial art activities. What?! Yeah, I reacted the same whenever I looked back....entering school overseas, skipping PMR/SPM the national exams and hopping into any AU/UK/US university through O/A levels or IB should be more appealing than lame debate and silat don't you think so? Oh well, it was not an attraction for me at that time. No, I didnot regret because if I had chosen otherwise, I would not have met my soulmate.
Anyways...my luggage was filled with jeans, t-shirts and books- everything fit into 1/2 the space. I was a simple young lady, so packing took me maximum 15 minutes. I had not seen my family for almost a year! For a 14 year old, that is way too long. I still remember how excited I was to travel on a 6 hours flight, alone. Knowing that abah will be waiting inside the terminal gate excites me even more! Those were the years when abah was my only hero, the only man in my life. Everything seems to be in place and calm when abah was around. His charismatic appearence made me feel safe and secured. I admired (and still do) abah's public speaking talent, he was one of the UM speakers during his prime time. Perhaps that was the reason why I was not interested in a steady boyfriend back then. I had many chances and choices too, but I was busy falling in love with abah; and that was good enough for me. So, on my 13th birthday, I decided to start reciting a secret doa "O Allah, please close my heart to any man other than abah, untill I meet the one who is destined to be my husband..I dont want any trial-error please, please. So please Allah, let my 1st love be eternal". Eversince then, the doa became a routine after my 5 daily prayers..untill I finally met my husband 10 years later. Alhamdulillah.
Back to the part of me travelling alone at 14. It is no big deal, many have travelled alone years younger so what is so special at 14? Age and 1st time travelling alone is not the point of my story. What I wanted to share is my encounter with a lady. This lady, is a God sent complete stranger who made me see the other side of life at 14. Let me first describe how she looked like. Base on my memory of 18 years ago, she was approximately 165 cm tall and slim, chinese-malay features, either in her late 30's or early 40's (I presumed). Her shoes and handbag...pretty branded. Her facial skin seem well maintained, perhaps from regular facial treatment and high end product. No jewelleries, not even a slight make-up and she was fully covered with black abayyah. Bare in mind that full abayyah was not a common trend in Malaysia those days, so she stood up from the crowd. There was something about her eyes though - deep sorrow that even a 14 year old could recognise. She too, was travelling alone. I wondered what was in her mind, her lips were whisperimg something that sounded familiar but it was not clear enough for me to work out what it was. Me being me at 14, a girl who just could not sit still and be quiet decided to break the ice by asking her name and why she was travelling to Sri Lanka ( I know, very busy body of me, but I cant help it...I was so bored, no ACE!) She preferred to be addressed as Aunty Anne. When she answered my 2nd question; I became more curious and confused than before. She said she had not plan of where to stay, who to meet, why she was going to Sri Lanka and what to do when she arrives. For an adult..it means a runaway plan of a lonely soul, running away from something or someone, pretty normal, sort of "i want to be alone" kind of thing. However, for a 14 year old, it sounded awful, sad and troubled. I did not know why I offered her to stay with me; maybe it was the sadness in her eyes. Or maybe I was trapped psycologically. She could have been in desperation to accept an invitation from a 14 year old travelling unaccompanied; they are not even elligible to give consent what more to bring strangers home! It was not untill the pilot announced we were about to land that I realised how on earth am I going to explain to abah and mama about bringing home a complete stranger who I just met less than four hours ago!! "Owh- O, Im in trouble!" I heard myself whispered. At the same time, I did want to take her home with me no matter what..have I gone crazy?
To be continued in Part 2
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