Work in Progress Road short

A bickering young couple go on a road trip/holiday to repair their marriage. They quarrel along the journey in their Austin Mini Cooper (car is like Mag's). The husband didn't get the car serviced beforehand, so it keeps dying along the highway. The husband has to push while the wife starts the car. The wife rants and raves about her husband being good for nothing.

Like Mag's car, the husband would bring up the two wires and try to start the car. Like stealing a car. When they get down the car, they don't lock the doors because the driver's seat door lock is spoilt.

The husband/wife wins a 2 day 1 night stay at ....... hotel in .... (outstation). Lucky draw or enter contest.

Along a stretch of golden paddy, they took a trunk road and the car suddenly stalls.

There's a rest hut at the side. Lalang that almost reaches the knee. The wife says "I can't believe this! Not again! It's the fifth time today!"

The husband pushes the car to the side. He tries to check out the problem. He opens the .... He opens the boot and takes out some tools.

The wife can't take it anymore. She takes out a rattan / weaved basket.

She walks towards the rest hut. She keeps fanning herself with a fan/magazine in the sweltering afternoon heat.

The husband's shirt/T-shirt is stained with sweat. Along the long stretch there was nobody. There was no signal on his handphone either.

The wife takes out a flask and pours some coffee/tea. She takes a sip. There's some Chinese kuih inside - sweet potato kuih, angku kuih, kuih talam.

Her husband is still trying to figure out what's wrong with the car.

She looks in the other direction. The weather was perfect. The sky was pinafore blue. Perfect for a nice tan. Perfect for a swim. Perfect for everything except THIS.

Her husband makes hand gestures. He's tinkering with this and that but nothing works. He gives up. He walks towards the rest hut.

The wife still looks in the other direction. He pours some coffee and takes a huge gulp. He reaches for some kuih. While munching on the kuih,
an old Volkswagen / old Nissan / old Toyota drives by. Then the car stops a short distance away. The driver reverses the car.

The Indian driver walks down. The wife gets scared. She looks at her husband. She pulls his shirt. The husband stands up, coffee in one hand while munching
on the kuih. The Indian driver's wearing a checkered shirt with blue jeans and slippers.

"You punya kereta rosak ka?" the Indian driver asks.

"Ahh... ya rosak," answered the husband in a half worried half scared tone.

"Saya mechanic, boleh tolong tengok apa masalah," said the Indian driver.

"He doesn't look like he can be trusted," said the wife in Cantonese/Hakka to the husband.

The husband keeps quiet. The wife tugs at his shirt.

"Ki ling gwai. Ngak cheen," said the wife.

"Saya ada toolbox dalam kereta sekarang," said the Indian driver.

"OK," answered the husband. The wife looked at him dumbfounded/shocked.

The husband and the Indian driver walks towards the Austin.

"Lu punya kereta kena tukar .... Kalau tak tukar nanti selalu breakdown." said the Indian driver.

"You datang dari outstation kan? Kena servis kereta sebelum pergi outstation lah," said the Indian driver.

"Ada service tapi saya rasa itu tempat tipu saya lah. Kata servis tapi tak buat betul-betul," said the husband.

"Sekarang saya tak ada itu .... Saya kena balik woksyop saya ambil," said the Indian driver.

The husband looked worried. Is he out to con me? Give me false promise.

"You tunggu sini sama ibu saya," said the Indian driver. He walks to this car. An old Indian lady close to 70 years old steps out of the car.
She's wearing a light blue blouse, sarong and a pair of slippers.

The Indian man accompanies his mother to the rest hut. The wife looks at them. She gives an awkward smile. She offers them some mineral water
from the basket. The Indian man drives off. The husband stays near the car.

The Indian lady and the wife strike up a conversation.

"Dia lu punya boyfriend?" asked the old lady.

"Suami saya," she answered.

"Oh, ya ke. Sudah berapa lama kahwin? Ada berapa anak?" asked the old lady.

"Sudah satu tahun. Belum rancang mau anak lagi," she answered.

"Saya ada empat orang anak. Krishnan paling tua," said the old lady.