Final Draft

I stepped into the car, looking back at my hostel. Beautiful memories flashed in my head, laughter and voices of friends were ringing beside my ear, constantly reminding me how time flew in a blink of an eye. Soon, I was in my car, ready to drive back to hometown, Malaysia. Although I stayed at Singapore for a long period of time, but sceneries of my country never faded in my mind. I could still remember the essence of nature in the tropical forests, the call of the wild, the fresh water of waterfalls splashing against my face, monkeys swinging from tree to tree. Besides, beaches were also my favourite places in Malaysia, especially during my childhood days, my brother and I loved to catch crabs and fishes on the shore. Those experiences were unforgettable and sweet. I gazed out from my window screen, beautiful tall buildings erected from the ground, casting enormous shadow upon me. Everything changed rapidly, from a two-storey building to a beautiful, modernized tall building. Looking at those tremendously tall buildings and fascinating sceneries, I suddenly felt proud to be a Malaysian.

I parked my car in a parking lot and made my way to the Petronas Twin Tower. Carrying my suitcase, I reported at the counter to get to my working place. I was assigned in Singapore to here for a secret mission. After this, I had to go back to Singapore again, which it was my greatest depression for not able to permanently stay in Malaysia. In great sorrow, I dragged my feet to my office. When I reached there, a group of people gathered around, seemed very serious discussing about something. I placed my suitcase on my table and approached them. They were discussing about the matter regarding the secret mission we were appointed to. They were planning the positions, maps, defenses etc. Unfortunately, I was assigned as a body guard from the words of our commander. Shocked in despair, I had no choice but to obey his command. But surprisingly, I was the head of my crews.

Our mission is to protect crystal form ball carved with Malaysia flag worth a billion dollars. It was designed by a famous designer and crafted by the world best skilled craftsman with intricate details on it. It was specially sealed in a thick glass box, which could easily deflect a bullet away. It was going to be exhibited in Malaysia’s biggest exhibition in KLCC. We got the news that during that day, a gang of professionally trained thieves will break in and steal away the crystal ball. After our last preparations, we conducted the mission and the exhibition started.

There were thousands of people gathered in the hall, well dressed, looking at those beautiful jewels and objects that were exhibited. The most crowded section was the crystal ball section. People were squeezing each other just to have a look of the beautifully carved crystal ball, sparkling with blinding light. Everyone was gazing in amazement, jaws dropped, and stood motionlessly. While everyone was surrounding the crystal ball, my crews and I were busying guarding the object and maintaining order around the displayed crystal ball. Of course, we never forgot about our mission, which to prevent the ball to be stolen, we always kept our eyes on the ball to assure it was still placed in its original place. Seconds passed, my heart thumped even faster, every second was important because the theft might happen any moment. Suddenly, there was a smokescreen in the hall, everyone shouted in fear.

My crews and I stick to the order, we leaned against the glass box and command the people in the hall to squad down, hands on their heads. We took out our guns to face any circumstances or ambushes. When the smoke cleared, everything seemed normal. But a woman shouted, said that the crystal ball was fake, and the real one was stolen by a guy walking towards the exit gate. We cursed and chased after the man with the glass box on his hands. We pinned him to the floor and tied him up. I quickly took away the box and had a look. I nearly fainted when I saw the box was contained with a fake crystal ball and that moment I knew that we were tricked and the crystal ball was stolen by the time we chased this guy. I shouted angrily and ordered my crews to get back to original position. When we reached there, the crystal ball was gone. I was rage. In an abrupt moment, my eyes caught a glimpse of a guy running to a lift in a distant. According to my instinct, I was sure that that guy was the real thieve. I cleared the crowd and directed my crews to several directions to prevent the thief from getting away. I ran after the guy in black suit. The moment I ran to the staircase, a gunshot was fired.

Shocked by the sound, I ducked and took out my pistol to defend myself. It was the guy I chased shooting at me. After a few shots, he continued to ran, and I chased after him. There was an aggressive gun fight between us, bullets were flying around ricocheting the walls, the battle was very intense, any slight mistake could cause me a life. To make matters worse, the guy had a grenade. He threw the grenade at me and I dodged but it was not the time to stop and relax, I ran as fast as I could to reach the door where the guy had gone to. The moment I grabbed the handle, the grenade exploded, giving a small earthquake to the building. The building shook greatly but I manage to maintain my balance, and I continued my chasing. Luckily, the guy was still within my vision. He turned around and shot me several times, I managed to dodge every shot but it eventually slowed me down. But one shot successfully hit me in the leg. I fell on the ground, gasping for air. My vision blurred, cold sweats dripped out of my forehead. I was breathing hardly, fighting the pain inflicted to my leg. I looked up and saw the guy turning back with a grin on his face, holding the crystal ball. He laughed evilly and said: “So how was it, tough guy? You want the crystal so desperately? Well, too bad. You think such a weakling like you can defeat our gang?” I was surprised and asked: “You mean…”

“Yes, all your crews had died and my men will come and fetch me. (sigh) What a fail team you all Malaysians had there, you all are just a bunch of little wimps. You all really think that we professional thieves can lose to a bunch of stupid Malaysians? “

Feeling insulted, I grabbed my pistol firmly with anger arousing in me. I looked at the guy laughing insanely and said: “You may think that we Malaysians are weak but we will never give up being faithful to our country even though our strength is limited.” I raised my pistol at him and warned him never insult us again, I pressed the trigger and the guy fell to the ground. I took the crystal ball lying on the floor and covered it with my palm. Soon, I heard footsteps and I knew this was my last station of life. I grabbed the crystal ball carved with a Malaysia flag. I did not regret even that I failed to protect the crystal ball, but I felt happy that I protect my country’s name with pride and honor. I closed my eyes and smiled.

“Hey, Mok, are you Okay? Oh my, you were shot. How did you take back the crystal ball? How did you kill the guy? How were you shot?” tons of questions were threw at me by my partner. I opened my eye and felt glad to see my partners besides me except my crews that were sacrificed in this incident. With a quick thought, I knew that those thieves were caught and I was glad to know that. Looking at the crystal ball and the scenery outside the building, I smiled and acknowledged my true identity as a patriotic Malaysian.