Thursday 5 April 2012

E for Mista Ee





Mista Ee gingerly made his way down the unevenly ridged gangplank, his black flat cotton shoes making it easy for him to secure his footing. The twenty day voyage had affected his sense of balance no thanks to the choppy seas and the monsoon tail winds.

He hardly had time to take in the moment, before passengers as excited as he, impatiently pushed past him with their belongings. "Watch out, you will fall. Then how will you find work?" Mista Ee hollered. He was cautious by nature and thankful that his planning had brought him to a new beginning. He even coined a title for himself. If any one asked his name, he would proudly reply "Mista Ee". Ee being his clan name, preceded by Mista, as he had heard there were many Europeans in Malacca and they would be familiar with the term. He smiled, pleased with himself. It was 19th December 1906 and he had arrived.

Standing on the dock, his thoughts wondered back to Guangzhou, to the morning he informed his mother that he had decided to go by boat to a far away land to find work and start his own life. His mother reminded him "You are the eldest and have a duty to your parents and the family." But his mind was made up. He had heard stories of magical places from seafarers and merchants during his days of hauling cargo on and off boats returning from India, Malacca and Penang. These images had taken over his mind like a disease. It wasn't a sudden decision. He had planned this for some time now, a year to be precise, saved money for the fare and some extra until he could find work.

7 comments:

VonLCid said...

I want to hear more. Sounds like he would have a very interesting life. Great prose.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

From one aging hippie to another...

Nice to meet you and I hope you're enjoying the Challenge!

KarenG
A to Z Challenge Host

T. Powell Coltrin said...

You held me from the first sentence.

Teresa

Thanks for visiting.

Amelia said...

Now, I'm going "Who is Mista Ee?" I want to know more about his voyage :)I liked that line - It was 1906 and he had arrived...

fidel said...

Hi friends, yes I was holding back on faction till 'E'. Thanks for the feedback.

J.C. Martin said...

Great post! Mista Ee epitomises all the trailblazing migrants that made places like Malacca and Penang the melting pot of cultures they are today.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I love this! His story is very sweet. He's determined, he's careful, and yet...he's adventurous in his own way. I can only hope his story ends happily.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z