At the Radisson Hotel, Bandar Seri Begawan Onays was sitting on his bed as Tariq and Khairina was giving him a searing lecture.

“Goodness gracious Onays, what have you done today? Look at what we have to deal with!” Tariq roared.

“You know, those paintings altogether, they are worth 20,000 Brunei dollars. Do you know, how much that cost in Malaysian Ringgit?” Khairina spouted out.

“How much?” asked Onays.

Khairina shot at him with a fierce look. “That’s like 50,000 Ringgit!”

Onays rubbed his face, unable to digest the affliction that was so unnerving. “I’m really sorry. What do we do now?”

“Luckily Onays, they are letting us pay a quarter of the price. After this, we are never going to take you on any trips with us. All you do is play your smartphone and you never appreciate the surroundings. You will stay here in this hotel room for three days as punishment. Deserves you right!” Tariq babbled.

“What am I going to do in three days?” Onays shot out.

“There’s a TV. Your smartphone. You like them more than the scenery don’t you?” Khairina added. “No more questions. We hope that you won’t do the same mistake ever again.”

As Tariq and Khairinia left Onays’ room, he toppled on his bed and watched TV. Pressing the remote, the first channel that popped up was RTB 1, one of Brunei’s national television broadcast. All he saw was boring news, he saw the Sultan bestowing his grace on the ministers with an unusual salutation. Onays gasped as there was a list of culprits, those apprehended for doing the immoral or sins. Including fornication, illegal cigarette syndicate and stealing.

The names mentioned will receive hudud by the sharia court in Brunei. Onays had knew that those people who did fornication will receive the death penalty where people would bombard them with stones which are indeed virulent. Others whom resort to stealing will have one of their hands chopped off. Onays hoped that his name would not be on the TV.

Onays removed his sweater, shirt and pants with only his tank top and boxers on. A nightly shower was all that he needed. Suddenly, an audible thump alerted Onays as he spunned to the windows.

“Shmucks…” Onays murmured. The curtains waved against the breeze and the sounds of traffic paved into his hotel room. Onays… a scary whisper quivered his whole body, his torso sweating despite the freezin air-conditioning. As he reached his fingers for the frame of the window. Lifting it up gently, he sensed a shadow casted over the ceiling. Stepping toward his bed, he saw that all the pillows were gone.

“Whoah!” Onays whined as two pillows had struck at him right in the face.

“Got ya!” Anissa rejoiced in victory as she jumped out from behind a couch.

“Go out, I’m only wearing my boxers!” Onsays squealed with a high pitched voice. His face was blushing.

“Don’t be. Come on, I’m trying to save you.”

“Save me? Look I had enough and that’s the end of it. No more problem, just please.” Onays begged.

“A promise is a promise Mawang.”

“Grrr, it’s Naiz. Is it really hard to say. Let me spell it. N A I Z. Naiz!”

“I thought that I could call you anything?”

“Forget about it, I’m going to sleep. Help yourself with the TV. Maybe there’s a punishment for you who stalk on other people.”

Anissa hatched the window open again, and Onays watched with droused eyes. With a strong grip, Anissa dragged Onays hand and pushed him onto the railings. With such skinny hands, Onays couldn’t grab too strong onto the railings and he fell down onto the roof which was just two meters below him. Luckily, there was a pile of dried leaves which served as a cushion for landing. Onays could figure out the silhouette of Anissa as she did parkour, climbing and jumping from each roof to the other.

“What are you?” asked Onays stunned as Anissa jumped right beside him.

“Here, take this vine and abseil downwards.”

Onays abided orders and soon he was on the tar road of the lobby. Anissa swiftly ushered Onays across Jalan Tasek to spacious area not far from the hotel as she handed him a cockerel feather.

“Where are you taking me. I’m only in my boxers!” complained Onays.

As they stopped by a parking lot, Anissa pocketed out her own feather and taught Onays some ritual.

“Okay Mawang, with this feather we are going to teleport back to that building.”

“You mean, the Malay Technology Museum?”

“Exactly. You must help me attain the golden crocodile.”

“Why don’t you get it yourself. Most importantly, why me?”

“You talk too much. Here, with this feather wave it around and do some chicken dance with it. But before that, you must know your destination.”

“Hah, what if I thought about teleporting back to the hotel?”

“Nope, if did you do then you might teleport into the wall and eventually die. The hotel is quite cramped. You need to teleport to somewhere wide.”

“In the wall?”

“So, you’re weak considering that you have little knowledge about the feather. That’s why you have me. To guide you.”

“Then if I do the ritual and teleport to the museum, will I get stuck in a wall?”

“Like I’ve said, I’m here for guidance.”

“After this, you won’t disturb me anymore right?”

“Forever.” Anissa winked affectionately, Onays lips began to tremble, his eyes circular. “Remember, I want you to focus on the museum and try to imagine yourself in somewhere spacious.

“Here goes nothing.” Said Onays as he danced like a chicken and cackled. Strands of vibrant light streaked around his envisage, his body whirled in an everlasting vacuum, his mind vexed by the whizzing sensation as he travelled at the speed of light. Slipping onto the floor of grass, Onays squinted his eyes above and found himself lying beneath a tree. Landing behind his back was Anissa which almost broke his spine.

“Get off me fat girl!” wailed Onays.

“Sorry.” Anissa apologized innocently.

Onays retracted his body upright and brushed his tank top. “That’s the museum, how do we enter?”

“Break the glass and jump in.” Anissa explained.

“Won’t that set the alarm?”

“What’s an alarm?” Anissa pouted her lips, clueless.

“Nevermind, let’s go!”

Onays picked up a sizeable rock from anywhere he could stash. With a strong momentum, the glass broke and the alarm triggered. A few guards who were busy playing dam haji began to scud of their tables and click their flashlights on. One of them bawled out in a very thick Indonesian accent. “Oi, hold it right there!”

Onays sighed when Anissa was able strut through the wall when he had to pass through the front entrance. He could remember the paintings inside where he had accidentally smeared them with gravy and his uncle and aunt had to pay quarter the price for replacement. Shifting around a corner, Onays rallied up the stairs reaching a particular floor with the golden crocodile.

“Darn it, the door’s jammed!” Onays struggled to turn the knob, the guards’ voice was echoing from within.

“Take that red thing!” Anissa exclaimed.

“It’s a fire extinguisher. Seriously, you don’t even know what that is?” Onays tugged the fire extinguisher out and raised it up high and exerted much momentum onto the door’s handle, surging it one time and another.

“Great!” Onays leapt into the exhibition floor and scampered around for the glass case that evinced the golden crocodile.

“Hurry up, the guy’s on this floor!” the guards were closing in, the bouncing flashes of light lit the room partially. Throwing an extra stone, the glass shattered and Onays clawed his hands to extract the golden crocodile. A relieved smile creased from cheek to cheek.

“Argh!” Onays tripped as two guards pounced over him.

“Mawang!” Anissa had cried afar. “Use the feather!”

“I can’t, let go!” Onays resist the assail of the guards. He clamored one of the guards eyes with his elbow and stretched his hand into his boxers. He delivered a nice kick into the other guards stomach, but it did not defeat him. Onays was hopeless as more guards captured him. Anissa only stood there, unable to free him. “Onays, focus on the feather. Teleport as far as you can!”

Clinging on tight of the feather, he concentrated on the hotel room and wiped out all distractions. Respiring out a long breath, the exhibition room began to shimmer in bright, luminous lights and he travelled through space and time again, his eyes fascinated by the sheer patches of colours. There he was, his whole body sprawled on his bed. Onays congratulated himself and did the dab. As he was satisfied, he soon realized that he had celebrated too early.

“The golden crocodile, I left it!”