The Grandma

While waiting for the bus

A sliver of light just peeked through a window. Mrs. Zhang, a 70-year-old lady living alone, had just woken up from her deep slumber. As usual, she carried on her daily routine; washing up, getting ready to go to the market. She loved to cook and bring the food for her two son. Both married and had children. Every now and then they would give her some money but wouldn't come visit her. Last year alone, they only visited her once each son. Today was no different than the usual, except for the annual Thaipusam event which had been going on since the day before. Several roads were closed for this event, including the old lady's vicinity. It seemed that she was oblivious to the whole situation. It was already 9 am when she was ready to go. She walked to the bus stand in front of her flat. She waited along with the others passengers ready to go to work. She waited for 15 minutes and the bus hadn't arrived. Every bus that was supposed to stop there seemed to be diverted elsewhere. It was already late to go shopping in the market, so she decided to walk. On her way to the market, she witnessed a lot of traffic. She stood on her tiptoes to see what was going on and could see nothing as she only stood around 148 cm. She asked around and got the information that the Indians have an annual event going on that day. Having suffered from a heart attack a few months ago, her heart was not as stable as it was before. Doctor told her not to be exposed a lot to fumes. And with the traffic happening around, her heart raced and had difficulties breathing. She almost fainted and barely made it to the market which took about 10 minutes. After buying all her necessities, she walked back home knowing the bus wouldn't come. Later on she stayed home all day, did all her chores and rest.

She could not see anything ahead because of her height

(view from the bus stand; 1m apart and fumes were very exposed)