"Ah Heng pedalled his bicycle steadily along, not caring that the sun was beating down on his narrow shoulders.
He also did not care that the veins of his hands stood out like cords.
He also did not care that the veins of his hands stood out like cords. All he cared about was his desperate plan — a plan to carry out a burglary.
"I'm doing this for my sweet daughter, Fen! She deserves that beautiful new box of paints!
She can paint grapes and melons that make people want to gobble them down immediately!
With a few deft strokes of her shabby pencil, my face appears on the paper, with every wrinkle and nose hair intact!
Her artistic talent must not be wasted just because I have no money to buy a new box of paints!” he thought to himself determinedly.
Standing on the main road, he glanced at the art shop.
With the aid of a large stone wrapped in a piece of cloth, he was going to smash the window and take the paints that very night.
Ah Heng would hide his bicycle in the dark lane by the side of the art shop until he made the grab.
Then, he would ride swiftly away into the darkness and disappear before the alarm could be raised.
The hours of daylight dragged on as he sat gloomily on a bench.
The thought of stealing weighed heavily on his mind.
“Although I am poor and often do not have enough to eat, I have never thought about doing something so wrong before!
The gods will not be happy!" he thought guiltily.
Squashing his guilty feelings, he imagined Fen working on great canvasses, some big enough to fill the walls of government buildings.
With that box of paints, she could excel in Art at school and win a scholarship!
The scholarship would allow her to travel to the great cities of Europe to study art!
The simple possession of that box of paints would make all his dreams for Fen come true! He had no choice — he had to do the deed.
When the hands of the clock moved past midnight, the streets began to fall silent. Shopkeepers bolted their doors and turned out the lights.
Ah Heng fished out the stone from his pocket.
Now that the time had come, he found that his hands were trembling and his body had broken out into a cold sweat as he walked towards the art shop.
His feet felt numb and heavy. Gripping the stone, the muscles of his right arm tightened as he drew it slowly backwards.
Unexpectedly, a thought, swift as a sunbird, winged through his mind, “If I become a thief, Fen wouldn't respect me!
Now, even though we are penniless, she can be proud that I am an honourable man? He could not bring himself to throw the stone.
Suddenly, the shrill noise of a fire engine's siren shattered the silence.
"No! This must be the work of the gods in heaven!" wailed Ah Heng.
From doorways, heads appeared and voices called out.
When the fire engine was gone, so was the helpless sobbing figure of Ah Heng. He had failed Fen.
The gods who were watching over Ah Heng smiled at their success.