The Tired Driver

A Singaporean driver was driving up a Malaysian highway to visit his relatives in Kuala Lumpur. On the way, somewhere between here and Malacca halfway through the journey, his car broke down. This was in the middle of nowhere, rubber trees everywhere. He had no idea where to turn for help and none of the vehicles whizzing by would stop. It was getting very late and the man was getting desperate. He looked hard around him to see if there were any signs of life. Then, he saw a light deep among the rubber trees. Well, there had to be someone there who could help, he thought.

Fortunately, there was a sort of path leading into the rubber plantation, not a clear one but at least some sort of guide to the inside, so he started trudging towards the light. As he approached the double-storey worker's wooden shack, the sort that used to be common on construction sites in Singapore before they were replaced by the present container-type work offices, it started to rain. The rain soon became a downpour. He got completely drenched before he reached the shack. He knocked hard to be heard above the din. The man who came to the door was dressed in a tank top and pyjamas. The Singaporean explained his position and asked if he could use the phone. The man said, "You'd better not drive in this weather anyway, even if you could fix the car. Better just stay here tonight. Tomorrow, we'll see what we can do about the car."

The Singaporean thought this was very decent of the man. Turned out there were two other men playing cards with the one who had opened the door. They suggested that the Singaporean go upstairs to bed as they were going to continue playing through the night. The Singaporean thanked them and climbed up the wooden stairs. He was surprised to find that the loft included among the furniture even a dressing table with a mirror, but he thought nothing more of it. He took off some of his clothes and climbed into one of the four beds there.

Sometime that night, the Singaporean woke up. He turned his head and saw a woman all dressed in white sitting at the dressing table and combing her long, long hair slowly. At some point, she appeared to notice him staring at her. She put down the comb, turned to look at him and smiled. The Singaporean, not sure how to react, smiled back warmly. Then she lifts her head off her shoulders and puts it on the dressing table. The Singaporean felt the blood chill in his veins. He tried to scream but he couldn't hear any noise coming out of his throat. The woman did not move. Her head kept smiling at him from the table. Trembling like a leaf, he galvanised himself into action and practically jumped down those stairs.

The three men were still calmly playing their card games. "Help, help," cried the Singaporean, "there's a woman up there with no head!" The three men stopped playing cards and looked at him smiling. Then, one by one, they took off their heads and placed them on the table.

The end.