Out of the window I saw ... | Essay for 10 year olds | Elijah Wee | Singapore

Here is a story which touches on the ill effects of gambling "Out of the window I saw … "

         They were at it again.

         My neighbours next door, Mr and Mrs Tan, had been raising a huge ruckus every single day, for the last couple of months. Rumour was it that Mr Tan had been funneling off Mrs Tan’s savings to fuel his gambling addiction.

         Mrs Tan was a middle-aged lady. She had raven black hair and almond-shaped eyes. Extremely slim and almost ‘fragile’, one would get the feeling that if Mrs Tan fell over, she would break into a thousand pieces very much like a porcelain figurine. Mr Tan, however, was the opposite of her. He was burly and a force to be reckoned with.

         Every once in a while, from their apartment, a deafening barrage of violent slaps, agonizing screams and loud disturbing vulgarities would punctuate the still neighbourhood air. Why did Mrs Tan marry such a violent and useless man?

         Suddenly, there was absolute silence. An ominous silence. I shuddered involuntarily. A stream of unpleasant scenarios rained through my thoughts. Not wishing to dwell further into negative thoughts, I decided to look out of my window to refresh my perspective.

“Nothing interesting is happening outside,” I muttered to myself, growing bored. Only the birds were chirping merrily away. I had counted no fewer than five cars on the street before I grew bored yet again.

         Just then, from the corner of my eye, through the window, I spotted a woman standing on the roof of the building.

         I gasped and rubbed my hazelnut brown eyes. Mrs Tan was actually standing at the edge of the roof. Mr Tan was beside her. Another step forward and she would plunge to her death.

         I could not believe my eyes. Looking at her sent shivers down my spine. I wanted to shout at her to get off the roof but refrained from doing so for fear that my pleas would startle her and cause her to lose her footing. Thus, I stood rooted to the ground not knowing what I ought to do next.

         Lip-reading Mrs and Mr Tan’s conversation, I could make out their conversation. Apparently, Mr Tan had indeed exhausted all their savings to fuel his gambling addiction. No matter how many times Mrs Tan had tried to stop Mr Tan, her efforts were futile. A wave of sadness engulfed me I simply did not know what to do. Should I try to talk her out of ending her life? I was simply not sure what to do.

         “Please do not do this, Jennifer. I promise I will change,” Mr Tan said repeatedly. “No,” came the reply. “You have exhausted all my hard-earned savings for your gambling addiction. I can’t take it anymore. James, just step aside. Please?”

         I could not believe my eyes – the next moment Mrs Tan went plunging down like a missile and met with the hard rocky pavement below. I reeled in shock on seeing Mrs Tan’s lifeless body on the cement floor, blood oozing out from her mouth.

         Dumbfounded, I just stared in sheer disbelief. I could see Mr Tan’s expression turning deathly pale as he saw his wife’s body down below. A few minutes later and the wailing sirens of the ambulance and the police announced their arrival. The police cordoned off the area. The paramedics examined her and confirmed that she was dead. Next, two police officers took out a blue tent and covered her body. By then, many residents had gathered behind the cordoned tape. Almost an hour later, Mrs Tan’s body was wrapped up and whizzed off to the mortuary where the forensic scientist would ascertain the cause of her death.

         A few days later, the Straits Times had a newspaper article on the incident – about how Mrs Tan had taken her life as she could no longer bear with the gambling addict of her husband who had exhausted their family’s entire hard-earned savings. Apparently, Mr Tan had also sold off their apartment without Mrs Tan’s consent. What I remembered vividly about that incident was Mr Tan going back to the spot where Mrs Tan leapt to her death day after day. Each time I spotted him there, I could make out Mr Tan muttering sadly while staring at the spot Mrs Tan had leapt off from. “Why, Jennifer? Why? “ Inconsolable tears like broken beads would roll down his sunken cheeks but Mr Tan would return and stand at that same spot again each day. He was unable to forgive himself for what he had done.

It is indeed sad how gambling could destroy the lives of its addicts. We should try to contain ourselves from this social ill, rather than throw caution to the wind and get lost in it path of no return.

See you next time,

Elijah Wee, Singapore