The Girl with the Yellow FLower

Just last Sunday, wifey and me decided to head out to the Singapore Zoo which was highly recommended by one and all. We did out research online and decided to take the so-called 'Afternoon Itinerary' which would mean that we reach the Zoo around 12pm and enjoy the attractions till 5 or 6pm. In order to get there we had to take the MRT (the train network) till Ang Mo Kio, which was about 4 stations away from Novena, where we resided and then hop onto bus no. 138 which would take us directly to the Zoo.

Right on cue we reached the MRT station at 11:15am and got into a relatively empty train that was heading to Yishun. As we took our seats, I noticed a Chinese girl sitting in front of us, who had also got on with us from Novena. She was around 16 or 17 and wore a simple black tee coupled with dark blue jeans. She had a cute little smile on her face and the thing that made her different from the other Chinese ladies in the train was the fact that she was holding onto a flower. It looked like a little sunflower with a long stem and was predominantly yellow with tinges of white and green in the centre.

Some 15 minutes later, we got off at the Ang Mo Kio train station and started looking for signs that would leads us to the bus interchange. Within no time, we found ourselves standing in the long queue for bus no. 138 which as the board read, would lead us to our destination. The line was long and mostly filled with tourists like ourselves. There were a few locals as well and right in front of us was the same girl again - easily recognizable because of the flower in her hand. 

The bus arrived at the appointed time and we all got in. Wifey found herself a nice place to sit while I adjusted by standing near the exit door in a packed bus. The girl who was ahead of us also had to make do by standing on the opposite side. The smile on her face was there almost throughout.

The bus started it's 13 km journey and wound around the beautiful roads of Singapore from one suburb to another. A few people got off near some apartments and I found my seat next to wifey and pointed to her the 'the girl with the yellow flower'. We started to wonder where she was headed or where she would have come from?

Couple of ideas came to mind - 
- Maybe she is on her way to meet someone special, but the Zoo would be an odd place for a date right!
- Maybe she her guy proposed to her gave her this flower - but then again why was she headed to the Zoo!

Soon the bus took a few turns and we were suddenly surrounded by greenery on all sides. It seemed like we had entered the country side of Singapore - far away from civilization. The Zoo was obviously not very far and just as the bus took another left turn, we saw this girl press the 'Stop' button indicating to the driver that she wanted to get off.

The driver pulled over at a stop which appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. It was a empty deserted street with absolutely no human presence. She was the only one who got off and we were not the only people in the bus looking at her in surprise as the smile on her face became slightly broader.

The driver re-began his journey and just as he left the stop I saw a winding road on my right leading into what appeared to be some open garden. Just at the start of the road was a board with an arrow pointing in the direction of the road. On it was the answer to my query, which read - Mandai Crematorium!

I was right about one part though - She was on her way to meet someone special. It wasn't neccessary though that the special person needed to be alive....

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