Revenge

The stew bubbled non-stop with a faint meaty fragrance.  A plump baby cooed with delight on the straw mat as his mom, Ah May, teased her newborn who was barely a few days old.  Her chubby fingers caressed the infant’s smooth skin.  Today was a special day for Ah Kiat, her firstborn son.  It was the eighth day and according to the local custom, gifts of pig’s stew and fruit had to be presented to friends and relatives to celebrate the occasion.

Suddenly, she heard some noise in the kitchen and decided to investigate.   The smell of pig’s stew hit  the mother.  It permeated the kitchen and almost made her feel hungry.  Colourful fruits were laid on the table.  Out of the blue, she spotted a hairy hand grabbing a comb of bananas and disappeared under the wooden table, laid with an embroidered cloth.  Curiosity overwhelmed her and she crouched down to see.  Lo and behold, there was one mother monkey and her young feasting underneath.  Banana skin, orange peels and apple cores were scattered all over underneath.

Ah May’s blood boiled instantly.  Her nostrils flared with utter disgust.  “How dare you steal my food!”  she hissed.  “You stupid monkeys!”  Her fist shook with rage and she immediately grabbed a bamboo pole and attempted to hit them with all her might. 

The mother monkey was filled with fear.  Her fur stood like bristles.  She screeched and tried to escape.  She spotted the open window and leapt through.  However, the baby monkey was still busy chewing and did not realize that it was in dire straits.  Suddenly, the pole slammed onto the young’s head and it was knocked out immediately.  As if that was not enough, Ah May  rained heavy blows on its lifeless body to satisfy her rage.  The mother monkey howled mournfully for her young for it was already - dead.  Ah May then disposed the carcass by tossing it at the mother monkey.  She then proceeded to clean up the house.

It was unusually quiet that afternoon as Ah May moved from one household chore to another.  Her infant son had not been making any noise at all.  Strange!  By now, he should be crying for milk.  The fragrance of the pig stew became stronger than ever.  Ah May decided to check her baby to be sure.  She entered her bedroom and gazed on the straw mat.  It was empty, except for the pillow and booster!  Where was her son?  She remembered distinctly that that was where she had left him.  Frantic fear besieged her and she started hunting for her son like a protective mother bear searching for her lost cub.  She entered every room, searched every nook and cranny but there was no trace of him, not even a whimper.  Ah May instinctively knew something was deadly wrong.  The pig stew continued to bubble away in the kitchen.

She entered the kitchen, wanting to turn off the stove.  She caught sight of something unusual on the metallic surface of the pot.  It looked like some stew had spilled over.  It couldn’t be!  Ah May thought as she had only cooked half a pot.  She inched forward and caught sight of some unusual prints.  She took a ladle to stir the stew. A large chunk floated up – it was her son boiling away in the stew.  Ah May let out the most agonizing shriek and blacked out.

In a distance, the mother monkey looked down from her perch on a nearby branch, cradling her dead young.  Ah May’s little baby lay dead.  Instead of his cooing sound, all that was heard was the bubbling noise of the stew.