It was a Sunday morning and the sun was shining brightly... I could hear the birds chirping as they tailgated each other in mid-air as they were chasing a flying black beetle... Things were calm in Ketengah Jaya as all of the kids have gone to school and the adults were working (Yes, Sunday is not a weekend in Terengganu)... Ahh... It was just me and my kedai... No one to bother me reading National Geographic Magazine... No one... No one but Pak Him Bas Kilang... aishh...

As I was focusing on the picture of a pygmy rabbit, I heard a loud motorcycle rambling outside my kedai... "Oh no, it's Pak Him again... I wonder what kind of stories he would tell me this time... Maybe it's gonna be about Hassan... Or about how he has known all of the roads in KL... Or most probably about how great Gerak Khas is... Oh, well... We'll see..."

He entered my kedai and as he approached closer and closer to the counter, my lips automatically grew longer to create a forceful smile upon my face... He purchased a box of Dunhill Light and lighted a bud before leaning on the ice cream fridge just opposite the counter... He looked like a writer with a serious writer's block every time he sucked in the smoke from the cancer stick because his face will be all wrinkled up... then, after a few sips, he approached the counter again and drew closer to me... Close enough that I could see his left eye pupil shrinked as he face was getting closer to mine...

"Esok malam!! Pukul 9.00!! Pastikan tengok!! Bio-Nik!!"

What the hell? Bio-Nik? The malay series on tv3?

"Hero dia kemalangan teruk, patah semua tulang2, organ semua rosak, dia ganti dengan besi semua... Kat luar je kulit, kat dalam semua besi besi ni... Boleh lompat kereta! Pecahkan batu dengan macam ni je haaa (showing me his knuckles)..."

Oooookeey... This is new... No more stories about Hassan and Gerak Khas...

"Tuhan jadikan kita darah dengan daging... Cukup sempurna... Tengok ni, cuba sentuh (showing me his whole wrinkled arm)... lembik kan? Buat apa nak tukar dengan besi? Besi boleh berkarat, daging tak berkarat!!"

If u could see me then, u would clearly notice that I was trying hard not to laugh... Religion matters are not to be laughed at!!

"Ni semua nak tiru orang barat la ni! Diorang buat orang besi, kita pun nak buat!! Terpengaruh sangat dengan orang putih..."

During that moment, My mind was thinking of how great Terminator Salvation was... Wanna watch it again so badly... To compare Terminator with Bio-Nik, u must never been to the cinemas right pops?

"Hari tu ada anak kawan pakcik mengeluh, kenapa Terengganu tiada panggung wayang... Pakcik cakap ada! Tu dalam rumah kau tu! Macam macam rancangan ada... Berita, cerita orang putih, cerita orang melayu, semua ada... TV kau tu panggung wayang la!!"

U have no idea pakcik... Kehebatan berada di dalam sebuah panggung wayang....

He paused for a moment... for an old guy like him, it must be tiring for talking with such high anxiety... If u have seen a Pas politican giving out ceramahs, then u can imagine how this pakcik has spoken... He took a long sip of his cigarrette, and...

"Pakcik dah lama dah kenal ayah kau... Kawan masa pakcik kecik dulu... 3 orang! Ayah kau, pakcik dan Hassan! 3 kawan baik... Tapi Hassan dah takde dah... dah meninggal... Tinggal pakcik dengan ayah kau je... Ayah kau hormat pakcik tau! Kalau pakcik datang beli rokok, tertinggal duit, ayah kau bagi free je ha!"

See... A story about Hassan... Actually, he has been repeating the same old stories about Hassan and Gerak Khas and KL to me many times... You know, like an old grandpa keep telling war stories again and again...

"Tu, duit dalam laci tu... Cuba cakap kat pakcik tu duit siapa... Ha? Duit siapa?"

"Urmm... Duit ayah la..." I said slowly

"Mana ada!! Mana ada nama ayah kau kat atas duit tu!! Cuba tengok betul betul!! (He took out a RM1 note and shoved it to my face...) Tengok!! Mana ada!! Ni nama Zetty!! Ni semua duit dia ni... Bukan duit kita!!"

Okey, I was annoyed... Shouting at face and shoving a RM1 note to the edge of my nose were enough to drive me off the edge... Then, a song "Here I come to save the day~~" was played in my mind when I saw my father... Oh, thank God! Father, u'd come to save me...

He took over looking after the Kedai... I guess Pak Him didnt quite enjoy telling stories to adults as he straightly got out of my Kedai...

"Jangan layan sangat dia tu... Senyum je... Biasa la, orang tua... Takde benda nak buat..." My father said to me...



Gosh... It made me wonder, after I'm all pencen and old, will I turn out to be like Pak Him Bas Kilang? Hope not...