Newlyweds

An air of a deed well done, of accomplishment, hangs over the living-room at the Melaka house. Rozaidah and Rizal (hope I'm right over the spellings) have taken that long dark limousine for their mystery ride. (The metaphor, Springsteen's, doesn't quite work due to the distinct lack of limousines - thank goodness - on kampongs in Malaysia, but it will serve as a way of crossing cultures.) There's a strong sense they know what they are doing, despite the fact they look barely old enough to marry. They had the great good sense, for example, to keep things simple when more might have been demanded. This suggested they had grasped the essential fact: it's the days following the wedding, all of them arriving as relentlessly as the years pass, that are the important ones - the day of the wedding is really neither here nor there in the great scheme of things as long as you avoid an out-and-out disaster.

After that each day is a new challenge to make what you've got work as you take the mystery ride. If you're lucky, it really turns out to be a journey down the tunnel of love. A sort of undeserved grace, in my case.