Strange Luck
Ah Huat was lost. He had been circling the same road for the some time already. No matter which turn he took, he had always come back to the same road. He had promised his daughter that he would get home early that night, in time for her birthday celebration.
Frustrated, Ah Huat banged his fist against the steering wheel, accidently sounding the car horn but he did not really care because the surroundings around him was deserted. There was no one else on the road besides him.
He came up to a road sign. It was the same one he passed a moments ago. Still, he continued driving.
The bus stop was coming up ahead. As his taxi approached the bus stop, he could see a lady standing alone there, trying to hail his cab down. It happened for the last few times, but he thought nothing of it.
He did not stop for her because he was already off duty. He had already indicated the ‘Bedok’ sign hanging on the windscreen to the lady several times, telling her that he was on his way home. Still, she flagged him down every time she saw him.
When he passed her the third time, he was beginning to feel sorry for the passenger.
‘Its hard to grab a taxi here, at this time of the night some more!’ he thought to himself. Yet, he was in enough trouble as he was. He could imagine his daughter disappointed face when her father could not make it in time to see her blow the cake’s candles.
When he approached the lady at the bus stop for the fourth time, he was still deliberating whether to pick her up.
‘She might know the way out of here,’ he did have that thought.
Strangely, shortly after he passed the bus stop, his taxi screeched to a halt. Ah Huat was surprised. He checked his feet, none was on the brake pedal. To his greater surprise, the gear stick started to shift on its own as it moved into the reverse mode. On it’s own, his taxi was moving backwards.
Ah Huat looked behind, and there she was, the lady standing at the bus stop, trying to flag down his cab still. When his taxi reversed up to the bus stop, it stopped.
Beads of sweat were rolling down Ah Huat’s face. As she boarded his taxi, the sweet smell of jasmine invaded Ah Huat’s nostrils.
“Why didn’t you stop when I flag your taxi?” She asked impatiently. Still, the voice that spoke had an unimaginable sweetness to it. Despite his horror, Ah Huat was enchanted by the beautiful voice.
“I had to rush for something important. Anyway, I’m off-duty.” He knew he had to be polite, for the sake of his life.
In the mirror, Ah Huat could see his female passenger. Her pale complexion was flawless and smooth, accentuated with a pair of alluring almond eyes.
“Take me to the Changi Hospital, quick!” The lady smiled at Ah Huat sweetly in the mirror, knowing that he was looking.
Ah Huat obediently shifted his gear, and hit on the accelerator. This time, the taxi responded, and Ah Huat went off. He had tried to maintain his composure, but deep inside, he was panicking.
Strangely, Ah Huat managed to drive out of the place without any difficulty at all. ‘I had been driving around in circles earlier because I did not pick up the pontianak behind.’ He realised.
“Are you saying something bad about me?” The voice from behind was touched with a tinge of threat.
“No, no, no.” Ah Huat denied emphatically.
All the way there, he kept quite and avoided looking into the mirror as much as possible. Silently, he prayed that the passenger behind would not speak to him either.
“Main entrance.” The signboard could be seen under the dim streetlight, as he approached the hospital. Everything seemed dark and quiet. It was now around one-thirty in the morning.
“Okay, we have reached Changi Hospital.” Ah Huat said. He decided not to accept any cash and turned around after gathering some degree of courage within him.
“Madam? Madam?” Ah Huat’s nostrils quivered with fear.
When Ah Huat finally turned around to look behind, he realised that he was the only person in the taxi. The rear seat was empty except for a few long hair strands.