An English Writer

2016, October, 37th Street, Yangon

YANGON city was in agony under the blaring October afternoon sun. Almost all the city dwellers suffered in the heat. Lin was no exception. He was now experiencing the intense heat so much that he was complaining about how hot it was, compared to last year.

But, Lin forgot to bring his umbrella today, but not his Shan bag. He could sense the intensity of the heat more because he wore a long-sleeved, collarless white shirt, and a blue checkered sarong while he was sipping a cup of tea enjoyably at a teashop on 37th street.

He looked around the teashop, and he could see that other tea drinkers were also feeling the heat. Some had chosen to sit under the fan to alleviate the heat. Even the teashop owner fanned herself with a rattan fan, but she did not seem satisfied with what she was doing.

Instead, her eyes were still fixed on the open ledger book into which she input the number of tea and snack orders from nearby offices. She was a bit busy with that, and wore her usual stern face. At that moment, Lin turned his look from the owner towards the street. He noticed that a middle-aged tea drinker was sitting under the big umbrella provided by the teashop.

While Lin was looking at the tea drinker, a rather old, thin, grubby woman approached the man to ask for some money. She was a bit hesitant to come nearer to him. The tea drinker declined to offer the money to her because he saw no sincerity in her. The beggar woman walked away without complaint.

Suddenly, Lin felt a lack of air so he tried to unbutton his collar button so as to feel more relaxed. He looked around for the other fan in the teashop, but he found that the one nearer to him was in its final tenure.

Without hesitation, he gulped down what remained in his cup, paid the money for the drink, and stepped out of the teashop into the sunlight trapped street.

As soon as he hit the street, Lin caught sight of one or two stray dogs relieving themselves on the wheels of an expensive parked car.

Another lazy dog was lying down in the middle of the street without a care in the world. Lin looked at them, feeling pitiful. Later, he consoled himself that it was a common sight to see stray dogs in groups, howling, and barking at each other when they saw their own kind entering into their respective territories.

He also noticed that some passers-by tried not to stumble into the lying dog which cocked its head at whoever came in its direction. Actually, it was taking full sovereignty in this spot.

Suddenly, Lin groaned. The foul smell. It came from the blocked gutters, rushing into his nostrils when he was close to the edge of them. Just then, a big dirty rat scurried across the concrete street, skidding off between his legs.

He hurriedly lifted his left leg off the ground, making his composure unbalanced, at which two girls who walked past him giggled. But, Lin showed nonchalance towards their unkind conduct.

Instead, Lin held his head high and looked up at the sun which beat down on him mercilessly. Sweat began to roll from his dimples down to the edge of his jaw. He wiped it with his left shirt cuff.