Weaving Magic

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Weekends symbolised leisure, tranquillity, a well-deserved holiday, and most important of all: sleep. But Zen found herself trudging beneath the scorching sun against her own will with no way of retaliation - a duty of allegation to herself so as to lift her poverty-stricken ass from the streets and hopefully transplant it into a humble home befitting a student like her without inviting any more chaos in her life. But lately, it seemed as if chaos had been chasing her, hijacking whichever train she boarded for her trips. And she sure as hell didn't hope Madilyn and Nadia walking in front of her weren't two of the biggest chaos in disguise she had voluntarily brought along with her.

"Remember, from now on, we're only looking for white-coated buildings. Zen needs to find a home before sunset," Nadia said, wiping the sweat off her brow. Zen couldn't count the number of times she'd done that. She was getting sorry now, looking at her two very reliable, kind-hearted and certainly not mentally disoriented teammates.

Their faces had been so vibrant when they started out in the morning but after half a day passed with no luck at finding a decent apartment or a room for rent in their budget, they were starting to look more like dying rats fished out of the sewer than an advanced species of mutated apes in colourful clothing, with sunburn being the last thing on their minds.

Zen regretted telling her friends she was going to look for a place to stay that day. The two had shown up early in the morning—with the sole purpose to drag her out of bed all because she refused to wake up even after three missed calls and five ignored others—really took her by surprise when she saw them dressed like reporters about to sweep the neighbourhood clean, appearing as though they'd be interviewing every local of the place to validate the livability conditions and nature of the area for her sake. They'd been far too enthusiastic. In fact, there was never a time they were not when it came to her.

Her cousin, on the other hand, wasn't pleased with her decision to move out. Kate's place had been a second home, a refuge where she felt understood and never alone, but privacy was the key to Kate's door which she borrowed. It was only natural to return it to its rightful owner.

"Let's wrap it up for now, guys. It's noon, and we haven't even had lunch," Zen called out, quickening her pace to catch up with her friends.

"No way," Madilyn retorted, her voice a bit strained. She gestured forward, signalling they should continue.

"Come on, Zen," Nadia chimed in, pulling Zen along as they resumed their walk.

Zen sighed. East, west, north, south, she felt like there wasn't a single house they left unexplored in that colony. Was there any more to check out? The reflected heat from the asphalt coating the roads sank deep into her soles, the burn intensifying with every step she took. Her friends seemed to be enduring it all too, and she couldn't be any more devastated than she was now.

"That white building looks promising. It seems they might have some rooms for rent," Nadia pointed to a house a few blocks ahead.

"It looks expensive." Zen swallowed hard, resisting the urge to pull off her black shirt to wipe all the sweat from underneath. The heat stroke intensified to such an extent that it was finally getting to their brains, and so was their obsession with white-coated buildings. The houses they visited that weren't painted white were affordable, but they weren't in livable conditions, most were unsanitary, while some appeared to be plagued with pests. Every other white house with rooms on rent that they looked into exceeded their expectations, but they were just too pricey. So their only issue now was not having enough green papers in hand.

"By the way, Zen, aren't you going on a university trip tomorrow?" Nadia asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?" It took Zen a moment to comprehend Nadia's question. "Yeah, an industrial visit," she replied.

"Must be nice, escaping boring lectures. I wish I'd chosen B.Arch. They always have fun trips," Nadia dreamily said, her eyes fixed on Zen.

"Architecture isn't as fun as you think," Zen replied with a tinge of bitterness.

"Civil engineering has it even tougher," Madilyn added. "Heard one of my classmate's friends visited a sewage treatment plant recently. Said he lost his sense of smell for days." She cringed, covering her nose in disgust as she spoke.

"Yeah, I can imagine," Zen said, trying to suppress the uncomfortable mental images.

"Where are they taking you this time?" Madilyn inquired.

"A solar power company."

"Is it far?" Madilyn interrupted.

"Yeah, about a two-hour journey to the city outskirts," Zen answered.

"You don't seem excited, Zen," Nadia noted.

"I'm really not," Zen admitted.

"Why?"

"Just..."

"What do you mean just?" Nadia prodded. "What's wrong, Zen? You look like you're so out of energy today, and I know it's not because you're tired. It's like someone came and beat you up or something."

"We've reached." Zen quickly cut her off, a nervous chill running up her spine. Someone did come and beat her up three days ago, but she wasn't willing to share that information with anyone just yet. But walking in front of Nadia, it felt as if her thoughts had been laid bare, her mind an open book for Nadia to peruse, swiping through her past events like pictures in a phone gallery. Her probing nature was Zen's chief concern.

The three of them stood still outside the building like kids going trick or treat on Halloween, deciding who among them should knock on the door first in case any bedsheet ghost tied to a string popped out of nowhere the instant they rang the doorbell.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go in and ask if they're renting any rooms," Nadia said, quickly forgetting her earlier conversation with Zen.

After passing through the gate and ascending three steps to the main entrance, a middle-aged woman who owned the house emerged to greet them. Her tired eyes and tousled curls hinted at her role as a mother of multiple children. The woman delicately wiped her damp hands along the hem of her discoloured dress - a subtle giveaway to her everyday struggles. Yet she embodied the role of a woman with youthful exuberance, her smile a canvas of warmth and her teeth gleaming like sunlit pearls. She urged them to step inside for tea but the trio politely declined. After listening to their stories, her eyes lit up in excitement.

"You're in luck, girls." She smiled and continued, "We've done some renovations recently and we're ready to rent the room on the second floor."

"That's great," Nadia replied. "When can we move in?"

They had begun to negotiate the rent price and were about to come to a satisfactory conclusion that benefited both parties until the mother-in-law of the house appeared in all her slugged glory. "8000," she gritted through her mouldy teeth and hopefully not oxygen-deprived purple lips.

Madilyn contested, "But we settled on 6000 with this lady."

The response was swift, with the elderly woman asserting, "My daughter-in-law must have been mistaken." Her wrinkled jawline remained unyielding. "8000 it stands. That's the final price. Take it or leave it."

Prude, unwelcoming greedy old lady. Zen stopped herself from throwing the words right out of her mouth. In her mind, the woman evoked a vivid image akin to a dark fairy tale-a blend of Cinderella's wicked stepmother and a malevolent witch. Zen pictured the old woman in dark hooded clothing, stirring a cauldron filled with pig's blood and fresh human bones straight from the graveyard while chanting unholy spells under the moonlight.

A woman of her age should be lying obediently on her deathbed, waiting for Mr Death to come collect her soul, not actively stomping around like a horse and extorting money from desperate, helpless people like her. Zen, you're too cold. Her inner monologue shivered animatedly.

"With all due respect, 8000 is too much. And we've also heard that the room isn't fully furnished," Nadia said.

Zen could see Nadia from the corner of her eyes trying to make her point across, but the old woman didn't seem to budge one bit, and her daughter-in-law had become mute all of a sudden. Poor woman. Can't imagine having someone like her as a mother-in-law, thought Zen.

"You should be able to afford it if you came to study here in the first place," the old woman replied, looking directly at Zen, "and besides, providing furniture for your needs isn't our job. If you want to stay here, you buy what you need yourself," she ended.

Zen was more than convinced the old woman was a witch in disguise, one who had possibly outlived generations from the Indus Valley Civilization. No wonder Death didn't come for her. The horrible stench from her millennia-old rotten soul must have chased him away every time. The only reason she kept quiet was that she was taught at an early age to have respect for the elderly.

"Listen here, you stinky old lady."

Oh no. Madilyn. Zen braced herself for the worst. She knew Madilyn was pissed. Who knew what wonderful words were about to pop out of her mouth now? And why was Nadia smirking devilishly as if she was possessed by something?

"Excuse me?" Zen heard the old woman exclaim in complete disbelief. "I have never come across such incorrigible brats talking back to an elder like they've never been taught at school all because I refused to lower the rent price which I fixed at a very affordable and reasonable price," she added, putting major emphasis on the last two words.

"Reasonable? Affordable? Just admit that you're greedy. Who you trying to fool? Do you think we study because we're rich? Then what? Poor people eat grass?" Madilyn scoffed, placing a hand on her hips before continuing, "It's like you're stuck with your 1890s logic. Times have changed, granny."

Nadia, why are you not stopping her? Zen inwardly panicked. In the background, she saw the daughter-in-law cracking a silent laugh before disappearing into the house.

Standing behind in the middle, Zen looked back and forth between her two friends. The way Nadia stood with an evil grin, looking as if she'd dropped the reins and unleashed her mad hound named Maddy to sabotage her sworn enemy completely petrified Zen. She had to do something now before things went out of control. "I think we should go, Maddy- I mean Madilyn," Zen gritted through her teeth in a voice she believed only her two friends could hear, but they instead awarded her with the deepest don't be such a pu**y look before directing their glare once again to the cunning old witch.

And just as the old woman opened her stinky mouth to throw another counter-offensive remark twice as insulting as Madilyn's, Zen decided to intervene. "I'm sure there are other houses to check out. Sorry to bother you and thank you for your time. Let's go," Zen said, pulling Madilyn on her sleeves. Her friends finally seemed to notice her pleading eyes as they both sighed and relaxed their guard against the old lady. Without a word, the three swirled their body around and retreated down the steps leading to the main gate.

"Kids these days. Purely an eyesore. Always wearing revealing clothes to show off their skin. And the other one, can't tell if it's a he or she. No wonder they're so brazen."

Zen halted her steps hearing those words; her friends followed suit. Apparently, the old lady wasn't finished. Out of the three, Zen noticed she was the only person wearing long trousers and a T-shirt while her friends were wearing shorts that bared their thighs, which was completely understandable in this hot weather. The old witch could say whatever she wanted about her, but badmouthing her friends, that too, in her presence? Someone has to pay.

"Are you finished old lady?" Zen cocked her head to the side, her glare rivalling that of a laser beam. The old woman's mind was too contaminated; it would be a shame if she ignored her insults and came back with her tail between her legs.

Zen felt Madilyn and Nadia immediately gripping her arms as if to ground her. "Don't Zen, let's leave," Nadia gritted out in a hushed voice, shaking her head. A little hesitation but Zen took her advice. She turned and proceeded to leave.

"I wonder in what motherless environment these kids were raised in. Especially the tall one in the middle who looks like a guy, who on earth brought her up to turn out like that? I'm really curious who her mother is."

Zen could feel the surge of wrath emerging from within. It felt as though the heated blood coursing through her veins was being rapidly replaced by violent waves of volcanic lava leaving only chaos in its wake. Zen shut her eyes and bit down hard, hoping to regain at least some of her shattered sanity before the lucifer in her took over, but failed terribly. Her friends wouldn't be able to stop her now. "I-" She'd hardly managed to swing the words out of her mouth when a new voice - undoubtedly a woman's - suddenly and most unexpectedly overpowered her own.

"Me. It's me. I'm the mother who brought her up. Why?"

~+~

Congratulations guys for following the story this far. At first, I was a little sceptical of writing a story like this, thinking people wouldn't be so fond of the ridiculous plot but now that you've managed to come this far, I am filled with hope. You've made me believe this novel has potential. So thank you for that.

Please continue to support me and don't hesitate to bring up discussions relating to your favourite characters. It would make me really happy.