A Close Shave

A Close Shave

“Have a good day!” Mr and Mrs Tan smiled to their maid, Rina, as they left their apartment to go to work. The two twins, May and Margaret, smiled too as they skipped out of the house to go to school. As the door closed behind them, Rina went about to clear and wash the used breakfast plates and glasses. Next, she went to tidy the bedroom of the twin girls. On the nightstand table was lovely picture of the twin girls. Looking at the picture, Rina smiled widely. She had been serving the Tan family for seven years and she had raised these girls with her own hands.

After she washed the clothes, it was nearly lunch-time. She cooked herself a simple meal consisting of fried vegetables and chicken. She sat down to watch a television programme for a little while, before washing the toilet and sweeping the floor. Suddenly the telephone rang and she ran to pick it up.

“Is everything all right?” Mrs Tan’s voice rang at the other end.

“Yes, Madam, I’m eating my lunch now. I will proceed to do the washing of the toilet and sweeping of the floor,” Rina said in a lively voice.

After sweeping the floor, she looked around and noticed that the windows looked dirty. She decided to clean the windows since she had the time. She thought that it would be difficult for her to clean the windows from the inside of the house. She thought it looked quite safe for her to climb out onto the window parapet where the air-conditioning condenser was placed. Immediately, she took her pail of soapy water and a piece of rag and climbed out onto the parapet. Her legs were not long enough to reach the floor of the parapet, so she tried to jump down to reach it. However, she exerted too much energy in her jump that her legs landed too far to the edge of the parapet. She was really in a panic. Her heart was in her mouth. Her hands gripped hard and tight on the edge of the parapet, while her legs were dangling in the air below the parapet. At any time, when her hands slipped, she would fall to her death.

Her face turned pale and she shivered with fear as she looked down at the great height she was at. She was at the eightth floor. If she fell right down, her body would be smashed and her head would break. At the thought of how gruesome her corpse would look sent a tingling sensation down her spine and she screamed at the top of her lungs for help. Her scream sounded ear-piercing and heart stopping. Some passers-by below the block of flats looked up upon hearing her frantic scream. They looked shocked, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Luckily, one of them was quick-witted enough to call the Civil Defence Force and ambulance.

Soon, sirens wailed at a distance. The Civil Defence Force efficiently galvanised into action. They pulled out a trampoline and then shouted to Rina to jump down from her position. Rina heard them and decided to pluck up all her courage and jumped down. She prayed hard to God that she would land safely on the trampoline, before she steeled herself for the jump.

Down, down, down, she went, her eyes closed all the time. When she heard the loud thud on the bouncy trampoline, she realized that she had landed safely. She then opened her eyes and stared at the Civil Defence Force officers with her eyes wide in unbelief. She was actually still alive! This is indeed unexpected and incredulous! She survived her jump and for a while, she sat there on the trampoline, still in a daze.

The ambulancemen took her to the hospital for a check-up. Her employers, Mr and Mrs Tan, later visited her at the hospital to fetch her back home, as she did not suffer from any injuries, other than the momentary shock from the jump.

(Modified from Ho Xue Lin’s top part)