home

It's 1:20pm.

I am sitting on the veranda at Janda Baik. Nestled comfortably on a round rattan chair. Listening to "Thank you Allah" by Maher Zain. Everyone is lazing inside the house; simply because it's the perfect time to laze. It's too hot to do anything. But it's the heat that makes you appreciate the occasional heavenly cool breeze.

The garden in front has attracted butterflies. There are two yellow ones fluttering around the petunias. (Or at least I think they're petunias... Does it really matter?)

The river in view flows steadily downstream; there are no telltale signs of the huge splashes and water flow disruptions that my brothers and I did this morning. The only give-away would be the wet clothes hung on the ledges to dry.

My Behavioural Science papers are all sprawled on the study table inside. Opened, looked at, but left almost minutes after my commencement.

The cool air is blowing more and more now. And the heat has lessened. Maybe because the clouds have shifted.

And I think: This is perfect. I'm home.