Savages~

                   A young man walked stealthily behind an oblivious lady at the city centre. She was too absorbed with the shops and the merchandise at the market, apparently unaware that a man had been tailing her for the past fifteen minutes. She stopped to ask for the price of a fake sunglasses and the man slipped his hands carefully under her handbag, lifting it away with an utmost skill and precision-she never knew what happened. He was relieved, but as he walked away, his heart was thundering and rampaging inside him , his conscious went against his desires , but it was too late. He had taken the handbag with him.

           The very moment he turned away with a swift pace, a war scream  broke and the market turned into chaos. Somebody spotted him! He broke into a sprint amidst the crowd, yet hundreds of men were galloping behind, and people were blocking his way. No, this is not the way it should be. The plan was perfect, nobody even saw the handbag which he hid in a plastic bag. He took the prize at the most deserted  part of the market, where customers avoid the sunglasses seller who cheats on all occasion. Now he's running for his dear life, all the people around him trying to be heroes themselves, to catch this villain and be  the warrior of the day.

                He kept running and running, as fast as he can, avoiding the tackles and the blocks with certainty. After all he was a district champion in cross country a few years ago, when he was  a teenager with big dreams. He kept running and he saw P Ramlee in the final scenes of Seniman Bujang Lapok which he watched the night before ,with his beloved wife. Sarip Dol had burnt down the house which the three friends resided , together with their fellow neighbours. P Ramlee had overpowered Sarip Dol and had him tied properly. The angry villagers came knocking at the door , all brandishing cangkuls and parangs and ropes, prepared to kill. But then, P Ramlee ordered them to calm down, and gave them the villain with a condition," That this man should not be harmed physically, and that the people take him to the police station".

                 Well, maybe, just maybe , if he's caught, them people will have clemency and just hand him over to the cops. Perhaps. But that was most unlikely, and so he kept running, his lungs bursting for air, his legs strained under him. He cannot give up, he cannot fail.  He had had enough with his wife complaining that their children had been drinking artificial syrup instead of milk for the past two months. Charming woman. He himself was bored of cucumbers and anchovies for dinner every freaking day. What can he do? It wasn't his fault that the factory he worked at went bankrupt all of a sudden. He had been looking for job ever since, without success. And so he kept running.

                One guy who was just behind the thief in the chase was imagining a press conference to laud his heroic actions on this glorious day, he will be crowned a hero who stopped a crime. Imagine his face in the national television, and his proud mom who would be telling this story for years. The one  behind him was figuring out how to word out this historic chase in his Facebook status; how his keen sight had made him able to spot the theft. The other guy beside him apparently had no idea what was going on; he ran because everybody did so.

              The thief tripped upon a magically appearing croc shoes and tumbled over on the pavement. Before he could get up , dozens  of men were towering against his miniscule figure, the handbag was nowhere to be seen. One man took his right arm and pinned him down, and another took his left. A punch landed on his face before he could even struggle. The people are mad, they are angry. Give this thief to the cops and the most he would get is five years behind bars. Freaking courts and judges. The memory of  all the women who died in snatch theft weeks ago are still fresh in their minds; adding much to their overwhelming dissatisfaction with the piecemeal punishment which certainly does not fit the crime.

                He tried to escape, with all the strength left in him but to no avail. Only that moment did he begun to feel ashamed of his acts that day; what would his wife say to him? How disappointed would his mother feel? He thought that the best escape is to just die , but then the end is much more daunting and terrible to behold. What would God say to him then, to this petty criminal, who would like to bring his family to a dignified dinner for just one night? Will he be sent to hell?

              Nay , this is the last time he would steal anything, and he  swore in his heart that he will never do such things ever again, as a falcon punch landed upon his weakening chest, and a kick went up his groin. The heroes of the day pummeled his face with terrible anger and satisfaction, this little piece of crap should had never lived upon this planet. Others were cursing and  yelling swear words at him, that bad villain who deserved all sorts of punishments. Enough, he said in his mind. I would never steal again, he said with his bloody mouth. Return the bag to that poor lady and I promise you I would never steal again. Please..

                 The men did not stop assaulting the thief, not until he had went unconscious for more than ten minutes. They were still kicking his back, until  a pair of cops and an ambulance arrived at the scene. There were no reporters there, much to the disappointment of the heroes.  They rushed the young man to the hospital and provided him aid, although with disgust and unwillingness. The doctors had sworn of the Hippocratic oath  , and they tried their best to revive the crooked shaped of a damaged man. They poked his chest and wiped his blood, supplied him with respiratory aid and put some painkillers in him. He was bleeding from his ears and his mouth, while his ribs were shattered to pieces. The doctors could only watch while he succumbed from internal bleeding, his heart pounding their last few so feebly, and he died there on the hospital bad, all his virtues of a man lost and destroyed, and he was no more..

                The cops retrieved the handbag and took the lady to the station to take her statement. They opened the handbag , surprised and perplexed with their finding. In the bag, there were two tampons , a pack of tissues and hair bands. And nothing else.

What a terrible way to die.

What heroic acts had our society shown that day. Freaking savages.

Peace.