Sherlock Sam and the Alien Encounter on Pulau Ubin

by A. J. Low

  The video recording image shifted as Watson, now moving again, turned to follow the path the creature took, but it had disappeared.

  “I-could-not-locate-it-after-this-so-I-ate-some-batteries-then-made-my-way-back-to-camp,” Watson reported.

  “It’s the alien,” I whispered to myself. This was it. Proof of extraterrestrial life! I could feel Nazhar’s eyes on me.

  “Sherlock, I don’t think we should jump to any conclusions,” Nazhar said. “I think—”

  “Morning, kids!” a cheerful voice chirped from a short distance away. Watson immediately shut down his projector.

  “Dad! Mom!” Wendy called out, waving our parents over. “We’re over here!”

  They looked fresh, clean and well-rested. At first, I wanted to show Dad the recording, but then I decided I would prefer it if my case was airtight. I needed more evidence.

  “Everyone, don’t tell Mom and Dad about Watson’s video or the sounds we heard last night,” I whispered quickly to the Supper Club. “It’ll just make them worry and they’ll want to take us home.”

  Everyone nodded. Even Eliza, which surprised me.

  “What-sounds-did-you-hear-last-night?” Watson asked.

  “Don’t worry about it, Watson,” I said. “I’m sure it doesn’t like the taste of metal, so you’re safe.”

  My parents finally reached our campsite. Wendy immediately ran over to Mom.

  “Are you guys ready to head out to the Chek Jawa wetlands?” Dad asked. He had his wooden walking stick with him and a jaunty straw hat on. Mom was looking at Wendy’s 24 mosquito bites and making sympathetic tsking sounds.

  Yes, I was definitely ready to hunt for more evidence of alien encounters. Let the search begin!

  “We’re what?” I asked incredulously.

  “You kids are hiking to Chek Jawa!” Dad said, his head popping out from the window of the van to look down at us lesser and shorter mortals. “Just follow the directions on the map. There are also clear signs. It’ll be fun!”

  “Not as much fun as being in the air-conditioned van with you and Mom,” I replied.

  “It’s good exercise for you, Sam. Just be careful when you guys are going downhill on the rocky path,” Mom added as the van engine revved up. “And don’t forget to drink lots of water!”

  Dad threw me a few chocolate bars and put a finger to his lips as the van drove off, literally leaving us in its dusty wake.

  “We’ll see you at the gates!” Dad called out, waving in a jolly manner.

  “We might as well get going, Sam,” Wendy said. She looked as happy as I felt about our parents taking off. If possible, I think she had even more insect bites compared to half an hour ago. There seemed to be a new one just above her right eyebrow.

  “I hope you used the sun block I loaned you, Wendy,” Eliza said. “The sun is going to get really harsh in a bit.”

  “You’re really harsh,” Wendy muttered under her breath as she started walking sulkily.

  I was anxious to reach Chek Jawa to investigate for more signs of alien encounters. Also, there was very little shade where we were standing and I was being roasted alive.

  We walked for more than 45 minutes along unpaved roads. Most of the pathways in Pulau Ubin were made up of sand and rocks, and we had to be careful not to slip and fall, especially along the areas that went downhill. Quite a few cyclists passed us. However, when they came to the steep downhill slopes, most of them got off their bikes and pushed them carefully, instead of risking an uncontrolled descent.

  “Are we there yet?” I asked. I had drunk two bottles of lukewarm mineral water and had sweated most of it out already. “Watson, you should carry me the rest of the way.”

  “I-am-not-the-one-who-ate-five-breakfast-bars-this-morning,” my robot replied.

  I had also eaten the chocolate bars Dad had tossed to me. “I’m hungry. Do you think there will be an ice cream man there?”

  “Chek Jawa should be just ahead,” Nazhar said, studying the map. He had his sunglasses on again and we could not see his eyes behind the reflective lenses.

  “Actually, we need to turn here,” Eliza said, taking the map from Nazhar and turning it the right way up.

  “I knew that,” Nazhar said.

  We finally arrived at the gate to Chek Jawa. Dad and Mom were already there waiting for us. And they were sipping from fresh coconuts!

  “Where did you get those coconuts?!” I gasped. I spun around, looking for more fresh coconuts, but there were none!

  “One of the nice uncles we met at the food place gave them to us,” Mom said. “He actually lives in one of the houses close to where you are camping. He thought we might need some refreshments while we waited for you kids.”

  Dad and Mom beamed at us happily.

  We entered the Chek Jawa conservation area and walked over to the information hut. Chek Jawa was made up of six different ecosystems: the Coastal Hill Forest, the Mangrove Forest, the Rocky Shore, the Sandy Shore and Sand Bar, the Seagrass in the Lagoon, and the Coral Rubble. It was a protected area with rare plants, animals and sea creatures. The man sitting behind the desk informed us that we could select two different routes: the Mangrove Loop or the Coastal Loop. Dad decided that we should take the Coastal Loop and then make our way over to the mangrove area. He also decided that he and Mom were going to sit down at the information hut while the rest of us explored the area.

  “Wait a minute,” Wendy said. “You made us walk here and now you’re going to make us walk some more?”

  “It’s good exercise for you,” Mom said. Dad just shrugged and took another large gulp of his coconut juice.

  The Coastal Loop was situated on a long wooden bridge that took us over the sea. We all oohhhhed and ahhhhed over how clear the water was. Watson muttered continually about his poor rusting circuits. It was low tide so we could see rocks that would ordinarily have been covered by the sea water. There were little crabs scuttling over the rocks!

  “Look! Fishies!” Jimmy cried out. He climbed the bridge railings and dived in. Fortunately, Watson grabbed his leaping form with his extended arms before Jimmy hit the water.

  “Jimmy!” Eliza scolded. “That’s very dangerous!”

  “Sorry, Eliza,” Jimmy said happily. “I just want to make friends with the fishies! What kind are they?” Jimmy said pointing at the colourful fishes he had just tried to swim with.

  “Those are ikan,” Nazhar said, nodding sagely.

  “Doesn’t ikan just mean fish in Malay, Nazhar?” Jimmy asked innocently.

  “You-should-use-more-sun-block-on-your-face-Nazhar,” Watson said. “It-is-turning-red.”

  “They’re probably diamond wrasses,” Eliza said. “Though they’re usually hiding under the mud at low tide.”

  We all stared at her.

  “Is she some kind of nature genius?” Wendy whispered to me.

  I shrugged my shoulders. She certainly seemed to know way more about this place than Nazhar.

  “We-are-reaching-the-Mangrove-Loop,” Watson said as we took a left turn on the wooden bridge. “Where-there-is-thankfully-less-of-a-chance-for-me-to-completely-rust.”

  As its name suggested, the Mangrove Loop took us through the mangroves of Chek Jawa. In contrast to the clear sea water we had just seen, the water here was brackish and filled with sediment. The water was also very shallow and some pools of water had dark green moss covering their entire surfaces. Eliza said that mangrove trees were the only plants that could survive in water with such low oxygen content.

  We walked on the boardwalk and saw hermit crabs, mudskippers and toadfish living among the mangrove roots. Watson had to restrain Jimmy on multiple occasions from diving head first into the muddy ecosystem.

  “Is that a lobster?” I asked, as a dark brown lobster-looking animal crawled over a mound of mud. It was about 20 centimetres long.

  “Yes, it’s a lobster,” Nazhar answered. “But it’s a small one.”

  “No, it’s a thalassina,” Eliza said.
“It’s like a lobster, but not really.”

  My stomach grumbled. “Is it edible?” I asked.

  Nazhar looked like he was about to open his mouth, but Eliza shot him a look and he said nothing. “No,” Eliza said, “you should absolutely not eat them.”

  We continued walking until we came to Jejawi Tower, a seven-storey wooden structure that overlooked the entire Chek Jawa wetlands and towered above the tree canopy.

  “Last one to the top is a rotten egg!” Jimmy shouted as he ran up.

  “Slow down, Jimmy!” Nazhar shouted, running up after him.

  Watson extended his arms and legs, and pulled himself to the top of the tower. I heard him muttering about how we must have been insane to bring a robot to a small island full of water.

  Eliza started walking up, then noticed that Wendy and I hadn’t moved. “Well, aren’t you coming?”

  “That’s seven flights of stairs,” I said. When it was obvious that wasn’t explanation enough, I added, “There’s no elevator.”

  Eliza sighed. “And you?”

  “Uh…someone’s gotta keep an eye on him,” Wendy said, motioning at me then grinning nervously.

  Eliza shook her head. “I think you’re just chicken,” she said, walking up the stairs.

  “Oooh! She makes me so mad! C’mon, Sam!” Wendy started up the steps. “We’ll show her who’s chicken!”

  “Just because that bit of childish psychology worked on you doesn’t mean it worked on me,” I said, crossing my arms. “There’s no way I’m climbing up those steps.”

  “If you don’t come up with me, I’ll tell Mom about the Khong Guan biscuits you eat every night.”

  A million steps later (which we thankfully took slowly as Wendy needed to grip the railing tightly for some reason), I arrived at the top of Jejawi Tower, even sweatier than before, which I did not think was possible.

  Watson was holding Jimmy away from the railing. “He saw a bird and tried to fly after it,” Nazhar explained.

  I looked around from this new vantage point. The green, leafy treetops were nice to look at, and there was a lot of bird life you couldn’t see from down below, but none of this was helping me find aliens! I was beginning to suspect Mom had devised this whole thing just to make me exercise! Doesn’t she know putting extra rice on my plate is exercise? I have to move my arms more to get the rice into my mouth!

  I looked straight down from the tower, and saw a group of secondary school students with their teachers. They were all staring at something on the right side of the boardwalk, and chattering excitedly.

  “I need to get down there,” I said, to no one in particular.

  “Yes, down is good,” Wendy quickly added. She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along behind her as we descended the steps. “See, Eliza? Totally not chicken!” she shouted. We went down much faster than we went up.

  The rest of the Supper Club followed us down, and we reached the group of students. “Do you think the hermit crabs did that?” one of the teenagers asked.

  I pushed my way through the throng of students to see what they were all looking at.

  I saw an intricate pattern etched into a patch of moss on one of the rocks near the mangroves!

  “This is a very odd design for hermit crabs to be making,” their teacher said.

  “I concur, Sir,” I said. “This was done by aliens!”

  Everybody looked at me strangely.

  “This is a mini crop circle, but on moss!” I announced.

  “It’s a moss circle!” Jimmy said.

  Indeed it was. And I was going to find the alien that made it!

  “We don’t even get to take the van back to camp?” I said.

  It was later in the afternoon on the same balmy Saturday and I was looking forward to a nice cool thirst-quenching fresh coconut. Mom had packed tuna-and-cucumber sandwiches for lunch that morning but I had a sudden yearning for something much more substantial. Also, something that was not tuna. Unfortunately, it seemed that my parents’ torturous plan was not yet complete.

  “Sam, all this walking is very good for you,” Mom said. “We’ll see you at Ubin Town where we’ll have a nice seafood dinner. That should make you happy.”

  “I will be happy once I solve the Case of the Alien Encounter,” I replied. Though the thought of more chilli crab did help.

  “Alleged alien encounter,” Nazhar said. “There’s been no conclusive evidence yet, Sherlock.”

  “I disagree,” I said. “But you are entitled to your opinion.” I felt slightly annoyed that Nazhar doubted so much, but I comforted myself with the thought that Copernicus also had detractors when he first came up with his heliocentric model of the solar system.

  The walk back to our campsite at Jelutong Beach took exactly an hour and seventeen minutes. It would have been faster except that Nazhar took three wrong turns and got us lost. Finally, Eliza took charge and led us back to camp the right way.

  Near our campsite, we saw a big green wooden house. It had a large tract of land surrounding it, and gates to keep strangers from accidentally entering the property. There were potted plants and empty paint cans scattered around. The scent of fresh paint was very strong. Watson flushed the exact same colour as the house, making Jimmy burst into giggles.

  We made it back to camp and washed up thoroughly. Eliza helped us check that all of our camping gear was still where we had left it, and that no aliens had made off with any of our things.

  “I think you need to put some aloe vera gel on your sunburn, Wendy,” Eliza said.

  “I’m not sunburnt,” Wendy said frowning. She looked at her bright red arms. “Am I?”

  Watson flushed a bright, painful-looking red in response.

  “Fine,” she said.

  Eliza gave Wendy a tube of aloe vera. “Thank you,” Wendy said, which I was very surprised to hear.

  “It’s time for more chilli crabs!” I shouted.

  “I-think-a-hermit-crab-has-crawled-into-my-secret-compartment,” Watson said, opening and closing his compartment to shake out sand.

  We met Mom and Dad at the Season Live Seafood Restaurant, where we had a fantastic dinner of chilli crabs with deep fried buns, cereal prawns, fresh garoupa and salted egg with pumpkin. The salted egg with pumpkin was not on the menu but the nice waitress recommended it to us. It was a delicious mix of sweet and salty, and it left me craving for more! After dinner, Mom and Dad once again abandoned us for their luxurious hotel room and left us to make our way back to camp.

  “This will scar me for life, you know!” I called out to my parents. They both waved cheerily as they walked away to enjoy the rest of the night in air-conditioned comfort.

  During the walk back to our campsite, Jimmy suddenly cried out, “Dogs! Look everyone, doggies!” He scampered after the four dogs that were ahead of us on the sandy, pebble-strewn road.

  “Jimmy, be careful!” Nazhar called out. “Those are wild dogs!”

  “Actually, the dogs on Pulau Ubin are quite tame,” Eliza said. “They are used to being around people, and they won’t bother you unless you bother them first.”

  “Like chasing after them and yelling loudly?” Wendy asked. We all watched as the dogs surrounded Jimmy in a circle. He laughed and knelt down, patting and hugging them in turn. The dogs wagged their tails happily.

  “I guess Jimmy has a way with animals,” Eliza said shrugging.

  We caught up with Jimmy who introduced us to his new pets: Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty. I immediately noticed something strange.

  “Jimmy, look at their paws,” I said.

  “They are so cute, right?” Jimmy replied.

  “They’re…GREEN!” Eliza exclaimed. She looked utterly shocked. “Are they…could they be…they’re not alien dogs, are they?”

  We hunkered down and peered at the sixteen furry paws in front of us. They were all covered in a thick green goo. The goo appeared to be drying, but the colour was unmistakable.

  “These dogs seem terrestria
l enough. This must be the alien goo that the two uncles at the restaurant were talking about,” I declared. “Does anyone have an evidence bag?”

  “Your-mom-took-all-the-sandwich-bags-with-her-to-recycle,” Watson informed me.

  I made a note to store sandwich bags in Watson’s not-so-secret-compartment in the future. You never knew when they might come in handy.

  “Which direction did they come from, Jimmy?” I asked. Jimmy pointed to his right. “Let’s follow their trail. It should lead us to the source of the green alien goo.”

  “What a coincidence that they all have white paws,” Wendy said. “If they had been black, we would never have seen the green gunk.”

  “Not gunk, goo. And it isn’t a coincidence, Wendy,” I said. “It’s genetics. Based on their similar colouring, it is plausible to assume that this is a mother dog and her pups. The probability of a pack of dogs all with the same colouring that are not related is extremely slim.”

  “Uh huh,” Wendy replied, nodding. She winced and touched her reddish-looking neck. “I AM definitely sunburnt.”

  “We should head in the direction they came from,” I said.

  We walked along the lamp-lit roads for a little while. It was not too far from our campsite. However, it was far enough such that my sister started to get worried.

  “We really shouldn’t be wandering around at night, Sam,” she said. “You know the rules.”

  “It’s for a case, Wendy,” I replied. “Plus, we’re staying in a group. It’s completely safe. And I have the walkie-talkie with me for emergencies.”

  Just then, we came across what I was looking for. Slightly beyond the side of the road, deeper into the forested area, was a glowing pool of green goo!

  “I think there’s a trail of goo, Sherlock,” Nazhar said. “It seems to be heading that way.” He pointed in the direction of one of the villager’s houses not too far away.