Chapter Four: More Observations

A continuation of Chapter Three: Observations

There were some cars, to my surprise, but mostly bicycles and shoeless pedestrians.

Those boys were the nearest to any contact I could approach. I pulled up next to them, hoping for some answers. One boy had a soccerball in his hand and looked like he was guarding it with his life. Soon , a small crowd of boys surrounded my car.

I tried to look calm as I opened my mouth to start asking questions.

"Hello," I hoped they would see how helpless I was.

Blank stares.

They looked at one another then back at me. It looked like they did not understand what I was trying to say. The soccerball boy backed away in reverse motion, signaling for his friend to resume their game. He decided I wasn't a threat to his precious ball after all. Well at least I got some reaction! Soon the crowd dispersed and three boys were left.

" *** ****?"

"What?" Had I heard them right?

"******! ***? ******..."

They were speaking Mandarin! I should've taken those Mandarin classes more seriously in the old days! Mothers are always right- you never know when the day would come and you would need Mandarin skills! Too late I was.

Their speech was unrefined, rough and lacked lustre. They huddled closer to one another with hunched backs and started a little meeting. They had gained my trust. I could tell they were good people, so I stepped out of my fort and drew a little closer to the meeting boys.

Finally, the tallest darkest boy pointed in the direction where the houses were. He drew a square with his index finger in the air and pointed at my car, then at me and then at the squarish structure of the wooden balustrades that connected each house.

"How do I get out? You know, O-U-T of here?"

He looked at me as though he had just told me what I just asked.

"There!" he blurted, and did those hand signals again.

I see. The only way out was to drive through the maze of wooden balustrades. I wasn't going to drive on those frail looking wooden planks?! But I knew that was the only way.

to be continued...

*Disclaimer: This story is purely fictional and is not based on any real life situations or characters. You'll find out why at the end. Thanks for dropping by!