No Cars Halt

No cars halt

Due to poor estimation of time on my part I found myself brisk walking past the Kembangan train station towards the Frankel Avenue bus stop at 8:45pm. My forehead was damp with perspiration and I didn’t feel very good about myself. My hair was messy and my clothes were starting to lose the crispness the hot iron blessed them with. I usually never keep anyone waiting but these things happen once in awhile. I was supposed to meet my date at 9pm at Siglap Center. The only bus that brought me close to Siglap was bus 32 and the interval between each bus 32 is about a half hour. There was no one at the stop so I assumed a bus 32 had passed not too long ago. I looked around, for what I do not know, but I just did. A brown beagle behind a red house gate looked at me for awhile, then turned around and walked towards the back of the house. I thought I’d try to hitchhike to the end of Frankel Avenue and walk the five minutes to Siglap Center.

I stepped off the curb onto the bold double yellow lines and stuck my thumb out and tried to look harmless. A large BMW slowed down to look at me and then accelerated off. Then a couple more continental cars did the same. For awhile there was no traffic so I put my thumb down and waited. Somewhere further along the road the lights turned green and more cars started coming my way. I stuck my hand out, feeling pretty hopeless by now. A young couple in a noisy souped up Japanese car slowed down, looked at me, and drove off. Finally a car stopped. It was a taxi.


I was ten minutes late for my date and she didn’t appear too bothered. I found her in the basement grocers looking at cheese off a refrigerated shelf. I had an alright time that night.