PSLE: Never be gullible

You were at the night market with your brother when he suddenly took off running.

The pasar malam was bustling with life as the noise level reached a deafening level. The bargain hunters weaved through the crowd in search of the best deals. The fluorescent light overhead illuminated every stall as the stallholders raised their volumes to attract the shoppers.

My brother and I were browsing around the food stalls, squeezing past the boisterous crowd. The mouth-watering food was everywhere as the aroma of yummy food permeated the air. In a distance, I spotted a bespectacled thin and wiry woman talking into her phone. She was so busy that she did not realise a girl stalking her. Then, stealthily, her small beady eyes darted from side to side before she dug her little hand into her Louis Vuitton handbag and took out a fat leather wallet. Next, she wasted no time and escaped by hunching her shoulders to avoid detection.

Suddenly, my brother, John, flew like the wind. He was running in the direction of the pickpocket. Clearly, he had witnessed what I had seen.

“Stop, girl!” he yelled as he ran. The girl was very fast too. She was weaving in and out of the crowd as a mouse in a maze. Unfortunately, my brother was hot on his heels and sprinted like an Olympic athlete. Finally, he cornered her at a dead end.

“Where do you think you are going?” he asked.

“I...I...” she stammered as bead of cold sweat dotted her forehead. She knew she was done for! Big drops of tears began to fall from her tiny eyes. Fear pulsated in her as she spoke in a very small saccharine voice, “I am sorry! Could you please let me off? I had to steal because my brother is sick and he needs to see a doctor.”

My brother wanted to give her a stern reproach but after major dithering, he decided not to. “Do you know that stealing is wrong?”

The girl nodded copiously and with a tinge of disinclination, she stuffed the leather wallet into his hands. My brother then felt touched by her repentance and gave her twenty dollars to see the doctor. The girl beamed a dazzling grin. She suddenly startled my brother by giving him a tight squeezy hug. Then, she simply slipped away behind the crowd.

My brother was smiling to himself. He thought he had done what was right and returned the wallet to the thin, slender lady. Instead of thanking my brother, she suddenly used her umbrella and whacked him repeatedly. She shrieked, saying, “My money is all gone!”

My brother was flabbergasted at first. He then realised that the sly little thing had already emptied the loot. Next, he went in search for her again but realised that she had disappeared like the wind.  He felt sorry for the lady and wanted to offer her compensation but she declined.  Till now, we have never seen her again. John really learnt his lesson never to be too gullible and trust a stranger easily again.