“The customs officer opted not to take offence. She had dealt previously with smart alecks from Britain. Indeed, she had had one that very afternoon on the flight from London. Quite the comedian he had thought himself, until he was taken aside by a pair of burly colleagues of hers. Here, of course, were a pair of identical twins. But there was something that didn’t quite add up.”
The things we do for love.
Zeinab Ismail, whom we first met in Lillian & Gillian, a tale of Propitious Peregrinations, was once a librarian with the British Council in Sri Lanka. Now though, she has gone missing, or at least the aforementioned Lillian and Gillian have lost touch with her. Actually, neither has had any contact in the last twenty-five years, and yet now they do quite desperately wish to locate her, Lillian probably more so than Gillian.
Who to turn to, when you have no idea how to go about locating a missing person, who might be anywhere in the world? Well, one option would be to find a little office above a pharmacy next door to a bakery, where the proprietor keeps an old hat hanging on a peg behind the door. That's what they did.
The things we do for love.
“Let’s be more happier. Christmas is coming. Of course, it’s not a celebration in our tradition. Same for Buddhists and Hindus. Yet we look forward to seeing Christmas lights and giving gifts and having feasts in Sri Lanka, and it is same here in Singapore. Orchid Road is decorated from end to end and top to bottom. All shopping centres have jolly carols playing non-stop. People are very happy. Truly this is Land of Smiles.
One day, when you are older, and your father will permit it, you must come here, child, and we can do fun things together, eating curries of many colours with noodles and etc.”
“That,” Michel replied, “ would be a matter of pure speculation for which we have no evidence whatsoever. Although I do recall reading once that one should never cross a librarian.”
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