Episode 1: The Boy Who Was Always on Time
Eddy knew exactly how his Saturday was supposed to go.
At 7:00 a.m., breakfast.
At 7:30, mathematics tuition.
At 9:00, English enrichment.
At 10:30, piano practice.
At 12:00, lunch.
At 1:00, homework.
At 3:00, science revision.
At 5:00, jogging.
At 6:00, shower.
At 7:00, dinner.
At 8:00—
More homework.
Eddy stared at the timetable stuck beside his desk and sighed.
“Wah,” he muttered. “Even prison got more freedom.”
From the doorway, his elder sister Anna laughed.
“You know Mum can hear you, right?”
“I know.”
“And Dad?”
“I know.”
“And the neighbours?”
Eddy turned around.
“Okay, okay. I get it.”
Anna leaned against the doorframe, holding a mug of Milo.
“You’re lucky, you know.”
“Lucky?”
“You have tuition.”
“That is not luck.”
“You have piano.”
“That is also not luck.”
“You have a jogging schedule.”
“That one is definitely not luck.”
Anna grinned.
Eddy pointed at the timetable.
“Look at this. Even my free time has been scheduled.”
Anna laughed again.
But Eddy wasn’t joking.
He felt as if someone had taken a giant invisible ruler and drawn straight lines across his whole life.
School.
Tuition.
Homework.
Practice.
Repeat.
Everything had a purpose.
Everything had a target.
Everything had a deadline.
Even his weekends felt like weekdays wearing slippers.
Outside his bedroom window, Kuala Lumpur was waking up.
The morning sky was pale grey-blue, and the city was already humming.
Cars moved along the roads.
Motorbikes buzzed between lanes.
A distant train rattled somewhere beyond the buildings.
Air-conditioners dripped steadily from apartment walls.
Above the rooftops, towers and cranes rose into the morning haze.
Eddy watched them.
Sometimes he wondered what the city looked like from far away.
Not from a car.
Not from a classroom.
Not from behind a window.
But from somewhere low.
Somewhere quiet.
Somewhere where the buildings couldn’t tell him where to go.
He didn’t know it yet, but that place was waiting for him.
It was called Sungai Merah.
And it had a riverboat.
Episode 2: The Boat Under the Bridge
The discovery happened because Eddy missed his bus.
Not almost missed it.
Not missed it by thirty seconds.
He missed it spectacularly.
He had stopped at a roadside stall to buy a curry puff.
Then he noticed a stray cat sleeping beneath a parked van.
Then he wondered how cats always knew which places were cool.
Then he saw a dragonfly.
Then he followed it for approximately forty seconds.
Then—
The bus left.
“Alamak!”
Eddy stood at the roadside holding his curry puff.
The bus disappeared around the corner.
He checked his phone.
His next bus would come in twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Twenty whole minutes.
For once, nobody was waiting for him.
No teacher.
No parent.
No tutor.
No timetable.
He looked across the road.
There was a narrow lane leading downhill.
He had never noticed it before.
A small wooden sign stood beside the lane.
SUNGAI MERAH — OLD RIVER LANDING
Eddy frowned.
“River?”
He had lived in the city for years and never knew there was a river landing nearby.
Curiosity tugged at him.
His favourite feeling.
The dangerous one.
The one his parents called distraction.
Eddy crossed the road.
The lane wound between old shop houses, behind a row of repair workshops and beneath a concrete bridge stained dark by years of rain.
The sounds of traffic slowly faded.
Then Eddy heard water.
He stopped.
Below the bridge was a narrow river, brown and slow-moving.
A wooden jetty stretched into it.
And tied beside the jetty was an old riverboat.
It wasn’t large.
It looked almost homemade.
Its wooden sides were faded from years of sun and rain. A little roof covered the middle section. At the back was a small engine that coughed occasionally as though clearing its throat.
An elderly man sat at the front.
He wore a faded cap and rubber sandals.
He looked at Eddy.
Eddy looked at him.
“You’re lost?”
“No.”
The man raised an eyebrow.
“Then why are you standing here?”
Eddy considered this.
“I’m… exploring.”
The old man smiled.
“Ah.”
He nodded as if Eddy had just given the correct answer to an important exam.
“Exploring is better than being lost.”
“What boat is this?”
“Riverboat.”
“I can see that.”
“Then why ask?”
Eddy grinned.
The man laughed.
“My name is Pak Din.”
“I’m Eddy.”
“Where are you going, Eddy?”
Eddy looked toward the city.
Then at the river.
“I don’t know.”
Pak Din nodded.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Yes.”
He untied the rope.
“Those who know exactly where they are going usually don’t notice what they pass.”
Eddy stared.
“Are you going somewhere?”
Pak Din climbed aboard.
“Every boat goes somewhere.”
He gestured toward the empty seat.
“Coming?”
Eddy hesitated.
His parents had taught him never to get into a boat with strangers.
But Pak Din seemed harmless.
And there was something about the river.
Something that made Eddy’s chest feel lighter.
“I don’t have money.”
Pak Din waved his hand.
“Today, curiosity is enough.”
Eddy climbed aboard.
The engine coughed.
The boat moved.
And just like that, Eddy’s perfectly scheduled Saturday disappeared behind him.
Episode 3: A Different Kuala Lumpur
The river changed the city.
That was the first thing Eddy noticed.
From the road, Kuala Lumpur was noisy.
From the river, it was mysterious.
The boat slipped beneath the bridge.
Above them, cars rushed across.
People walked along the pavement.
Nobody looked down.
Eddy leaned over the side.
The water reflected broken pieces of the sky.
Along the riverbanks grew patches of wild grass, bamboo and trees that somehow survived between concrete walls.
There were old wooden houses hidden behind newer buildings.
Tiny gardens.
Rusty bicycles.
Laundry hanging from balconies.
A boy flying a homemade kite from a patch of empty land.
And everywhere, the city rose behind them.
Tall buildings.
Glass windows.
Construction cranes.
Billboards.
Apartments stacked one above another.
It was like two worlds had been placed beside each other and told to share the same space.
“Pak Din,” Eddy said.
“Hm?”
“Where does this river go?”
“Many places.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Pak Din smiled.
“Rivers don’t care about straight answers.”
Eddy shook his head.
“You talk very weirdly.”
“Old people are allowed.”
They continued downstream.
After twenty minutes, Pak Din pointed toward the bank.
“Look.”
Eddy saw a small settlement tucked beneath a line of trees.
Several wooden houses stood on short stilts.
Children played near the water.
An old woman washed vegetables beside a tap.
A little boy chased chickens.
“Is this still Kuala Lumpur?”
Pak Din nodded.
“Of course.”
Eddy stared.
He had expected the city to end where the buildings ended.
Instead, he discovered that the city had layers.
Some were shiny.
Some were noisy.
Some were hidden.
Some had simply been forgotten.
They stopped at a small landing.
A girl about Eddy’s age ran toward them.
She wore a yellow raincoat despite the sunny weather.
“Pak Din!”
She climbed aboard.
“Late again.”
“Only by five minutes.”
“Five minutes is late.”
Eddy laughed.
The girl looked at him.
“Who are you?”
“Eddy.”
“Tourist?”
“No.”
“Lost?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Eddy thought.
“Escaping.”
The girl’s eyes widened.
“Escaping what?”
“My timetable.”
She burst out laughing.
“Wah. Serious crime.”
Her name was Mei.
She lived with her grandmother nearby and often helped Pak Din at the landing.
Unlike Eddy, Mei seemed to know everyone.
She knew which house sold the best fried banana.
She knew where kingfishers nested.
She knew which part of the river became slippery after rain.
She knew which bridge echoed if you shouted beneath it.
Most importantly, she knew the river.
And she knew something strange about the boat.
“Pak Din,” Mei said quietly, “did you tell him?”
“Tell me what?”
Pak Din looked at her.
Mei frowned.
“No.”
“What?”
She lowered her voice.
“The shadow.”
Eddy immediately leaned forward.
“What shadow?”
Mei looked toward the river.
“You haven’t seen it?”
“Seen what?”
“The shadow that follows the boat.”
Episode 4: The Shadow
That afternoon, clouds gathered over the city.
The light changed.
The buildings became silhouettes.
The river turned almost black.
Eddy sat near the front of the boat while Mei checked the ropes.
“Okay,” Eddy said.
“Okay what?”
“Tell me about the shadow.”
Mei shook her head.
“You won’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
“It only appears when the city is reflected in the water.”
Eddy blinked.
“That makes no sense.”
“Exactly.”
“Then why do you believe it?”
“Because I’ve seen it.”
Pak Din remained silent.
The boat moved beneath another bridge.
Eddy looked down.
At first, he saw only the usual reflection.
Bridge.
Sky.
Buildings.
Boat.
Then something moved.
A dark shape slid beneath their reflection.
Eddy froze.
“Mei.”
“I know.”
The shape was long.
Tall.
Almost human.
It seemed to walk beneath the surface.
Eddy stared.
The shadow stopped.
It turned.
Then it disappeared.
“Did you see that?”
Mei nodded.
Pak Din did not turn around.
“Don’t chase it,” he said.
Naturally, Eddy immediately wanted to chase it.
“What is it?”
Pak Din’s voice became serious.
“Some things in the river are not meant to be caught.”
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
“No.”
Pak Din smiled faintly.
“But it is good advice.”
Then the rain came.
It began with a few drops.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
Within minutes, the river was covered with ripples.
Rain hammered the boat roof.
Thunder rolled between the buildings.
Pak Din steered toward the bank.
“We wait.”
But the river had other plans.
The water rose quickly.
The boat rocked.
Mei grabbed a rope.
“Pak Din!”
“I see it!”
A loud crack came from the riverbank.
A fallen branch crashed into the water.
The current grabbed it.
The boat swung sideways.
Eddy’s stomach jumped into his throat.
“Hold on!”
Pak Din fought the steering.
The boat drifted toward a narrow channel between two concrete walls.
There was no room to turn.
Mei shouted, “Pak Din!”
The engine coughed.
Then died.
Silence.
Only rain remained.
The boat drifted.
Slowly.
Toward the darkness beneath the bridge.
Eddy looked down.
The shadow appeared again.
This time, it was enormous.
And it was moving toward them.
Episode 5: No Timetable
“Eddy!”
Mei’s voice snapped him back.
“Rope!”
He grabbed it.
“Where?”
“Front post!”
Eddy ran forward and tied the rope around the metal post.
The current pulled hard.
The knot slipped.
“It’s not holding!”
Mei jumped beside him.
“Use the second loop!”
“What?”
“Second loop!”
Eddy looked at the rope.
Then at the post.
He remembered something his father had once taught him while fixing a bicycle trailer.
Never pull against the force.
Work with it.
Eddy shifted the rope around the post.
The tension changed.
The boat slowed.
“Good!” Mei shouted.
Pak Din managed to restart the engine.
The boat shuddered.
Then moved forward.
They emerged from beneath the bridge.
The rain began to weaken.
Eddy breathed out.
He had not realized he was holding his breath.
Then Mei pointed behind them.
The shadow was still there.
But now it looked different.
It was no longer enormous.
It was small.
Almost like the shadow of a person standing on the riverbank.
Eddy squinted.
Someone was there.
A boy.
About their age.
Standing beneath a tree.
He wore a red shirt.
Then lightning flashed.
The boy vanished.
Episode 6: The Old River Story
They reached a small riverside shelter.
The storm passed as quickly as it had arrived.
Pak Din made tea from a battered metal flask.
Eddy sat on an overturned wooden crate.
“So,” he said.
Pak Din looked at him.
“Now you can tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“The truth.”
Pak Din sighed.
Mei sat beside Eddy.
“Years ago,” Pak Din began, “there was a boy who lived near this river.”
Eddy listened.
“He loved the river. He used to ride the boat every afternoon. But his family wanted him to leave the old village and move into the city.”
“What happened?”
“He refused.”
“Why?”
“He said the river was his home.”
Eddy looked toward the water.
“One day, a great storm came.”
Mei’s expression became serious.
“The boy disappeared.”
Eddy swallowed.
“Drowned?”
Pak Din nodded slowly.
“People searched for days. They never found him.”
Eddy looked down.
“What does that have to do with the shadow?”
Pak Din stared across the river.
“Some people say the boy’s shadow remained in the water.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Yes.”
“So it’s not real.”
Pak Din smiled.
“Perhaps.”
Eddy frowned.
“That’s annoying.”
“Stories don’t always give you the answer you want.”
He continued.
“Years passed. The city grew. Buildings rose. Roads covered the old paths. The river became smaller and dirtier. People stopped coming here.”
“What happened to the boy’s family?”
“They moved away.”
“Then why does the shadow still appear?”
Pak Din looked at Eddy.
“Maybe it isn’t looking for them.”
“Then what is it looking for?”
Pak Din pointed toward the city.
“Someone who has forgotten how to stop.”
Eddy went quiet.
Mei looked at him.
“You know who that sounds like?”
“Don’t.”
“Sounds exactly like you.”
Eddy threw a small leaf at her.
She laughed.
But later, when everyone had gone quiet, Eddy thought about Pak Din’s words.
Someone who had forgotten how to stop.
Was that him?
He thought about his timetable.
His homework.
His test scores.
His piano practice.
The endless feeling that if he stopped moving, even for a moment, he would somehow fall behind.
He had spent so much time trying to become the person everyone expected him to be that he had forgotten to ask a simple question.
What did Eddy actually want?
Episode 7: The Missing Bell
The next morning, Eddy returned to the river.
He had told his parents he was going for a morning walk.
It was not exactly a lie.
It was just missing several important details.
Mei was waiting at the landing.
She held something wrapped in cloth.
“Look.”
She opened it.
Inside was a small brass bell.
It was old.
Greenish around the edges.
There was a tiny carving of a river on its side.
“Where did you get that?”
“Found it near the old landing.”
Pak Din stared at it.
His face changed.
“That belonged to the boy.”
Eddy’s skin prickled.
“How do you know?”
Pak Din touched the bell carefully.
“His father gave it to him.”
Mei frowned.
“So why is it here?”
Nobody answered.
Then the bell rang.
Ding.
All three froze.
There was no wind.
Nobody touched it.
Ding.
Eddy looked toward the river.
The shadow appeared.
This time, it wasn’t beneath the water.
It stood on the opposite bank.
The boy in the red shirt.
He pointed toward the city.
Then toward an old stone wall beside the river.
Eddy ran.
“Eddy!” Mei shouted.
They crossed the landing and followed the narrow path.
The boy disappeared.
But the bell rang again.
Ding.
Eddy reached the stone wall.
Behind a curtain of vines was a tiny opening.
Inside was a wooden box.
Mei pulled it out.
The box was covered in mud.
Pak Din arrived moments later, breathing heavily.
Eddy opened it.
Inside was a bundle of letters.
Old letters.
Carefully tied with string.
There was also a faded drawing.
A riverboat.
And beneath it, three words:
DON’T LET IT DISAPPEAR.
Episode 8: What the City Forgot
They spent the afternoon exploring the riverside.
The letters told the story of the old settlement.
The boy’s family had lived there.
Other families had too.
They repaired boats.
Grew vegetables.
Sold food.
Children played along the river.
The river was their road.
Their playground.
Their meeting place.
Their whole world.
But as the city expanded, the riverbank changed.
Walls were built.
Roads appeared.
People moved away.
The old landing was nearly forgotten.
The boy had once dreamed of keeping the riverboat running so people would remember the river.
But he never got the chance.
Eddy stared at the letters.
“He wanted people to remember.”
Pak Din nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Pak Din looked surprised.
“Why didn’t I what?”
“Keep the boat going?”
Pak Din was silent.
Finally, he said:
“Because sometimes adults become tired.”
Eddy understood that more than he expected.
Adults always seemed to know what to do.
But perhaps they were guessing too.
Perhaps they became tired.
Perhaps they were afraid.
Perhaps they simply forgot what they once cared about.
Mei held up the final letter.
“This one has no ending.”
Eddy looked.
The last line read:
Tomorrow, I will take the boat to the old city bridge and—
Nothing.
The rest of the page was torn.
“Maybe that’s where he disappeared,” Eddy said.
Pak Din nodded.
“The old city bridge.”
Eddy knew it.
It was a huge bridge farther downstream.
The river passed beneath it before joining a wider channel.
“We should go there.”
Pak Din shook his head.
“Not today.”
“Why?”
“Storm coming.”
Eddy looked at the sky.
Dark clouds were gathering again.
Mei sighed.
“Wah, dramatic.”
Pak Din gave her a look.
“River doesn’t care whether you think it is dramatic.”
Episode 9: The Final Journey
That evening, Eddy returned home.
His mother was waiting.
“Where were you?”
Eddy froze.
He looked at the clock.
He had missed his science revision.
“Sorry.”
His mother crossed her arms.
“You were supposed to be home at five.”
“I know.”
“Eddy, you cannot keep ignoring your responsibilities.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Eddy wanted to argue.
Instead, he sat down.
“I went to the river.”
His mother looked surprised.
“The river?”
“I found an old boat.”
His father entered the room.
“A boat?”
Eddy told them everything.
Not just the shadow.
Not just the letters.
Everything.
The hidden landing.
Pak Din.
Mei.
The old village.
The boy.
The unfinished letter.
When he finished, nobody spoke.
Then Anna smiled.
“I knew you were up to something.”
Eddy stared at her.
“You knew?”
“You’ve been coming home with river mud on your shoes.”
His mother sighed.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Eddy looked down.
“Because I thought you’d say no.”
His father sat beside him.
“Maybe we would have.”
Eddy’s shoulders sank.
“But maybe,” his father continued, “we should have asked why you wanted to go.”
Eddy looked up.
His father smiled.
“You’re growing up.”
His mother nodded.
“Responsibilities matter.”
“I know.”
“But so does having a life.”
Eddy smiled.
“Can I go back tomorrow?”
His mother hesitated.
“With an adult.”
Eddy grinned.
“Okay.”
“And no skipping your homework.”
“Okay.”
“And—”
“Mum.”
She laughed.
“Fine.”
Episode 10: Beneath the Old City Bridge
The next morning, Eddy returned to the river with Anna.
Mei was already there.
She looked at Anna.
“This your sister?”
“Yes.”
“She looks strict.”
Anna raised an eyebrow.
“I heard that.”
Mei smiled.
Pak Din started the engine.
They set off.
The sky was bright.
The city glittered in the morning sunlight.
As they traveled downstream, Eddy realized something.
The city hadn’t changed.
He had.
Before, he had looked at the buildings and seen walls.
Now he saw stories.
People.
Paths.
Memories.
Places that survived quietly beneath the noise.
They reached the old city bridge just before noon.
Pak Din stopped the boat.
“This is where the boy disappeared.”
Eddy looked down.
The river was calm.
Nothing moved.
Then—
Ding.
The brass bell rang.
A shadow appeared beneath the water.
Eddy leaned forward.
The boy was there.
This time, Eddy wasn’t afraid.
The boy pointed toward the riverbank.
Anna helped Eddy climb onto the bank.
Behind a large stone was another wooden box.
Inside was a small notebook.
The pages were almost destroyed.
But one drawing remained.
It showed the riverboat.
Beside it was a picture of a boy standing with his family.
And underneath:
A place is not forgotten if someone remembers it.
Eddy closed the notebook.
The shadow appeared one final time.
The boy looked at Eddy.
Then smiled.
The water rippled.
The shadow faded.
The bell stopped ringing.
For a moment, everything was completely still.
Then a kingfisher flew across the river.
Mei gasped.
“Did you see that?”
Eddy laughed.
“Yeah.”
Pak Din smiled.
“Journey finished.”
Eddy looked at the notebook.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Maybe it’s starting.”
Episode 11: The Riverboat Returns
Over the next few weeks, something unexpected happened.
The old riverboat became busy.
Eddy’s family helped clean it.
Mei brought other children from the riverside settlement.
Anna helped organize the old letters.
Pak Din repaired the engine.
Eddy made a simple map of the river.
They called it The River Memory Route.
On weekends, people could ride the boat and learn about the old riverbank.
There were stories about the fishermen.
Stories about the old landing.
Stories about families who had once lived beside the water.
Nobody called it a tourist attraction.
It was something smaller.
Something warmer.
A place where people could remember.
Eddy still had tuition.
He still did homework.
He still practiced piano.
He still jogged.
His timetable never completely disappeared.
But something changed.
He started leaving one empty box on Saturday afternoons.
No appointment.
No lesson.
No target.
Just blank space.
His mother asked about it one day.
“What is that?”
Eddy smiled.
“That’s my time.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
His mother smiled.
“Good answer.”
Episode 12: The Shadow of the City
Months later, Eddy stood at the front of the riverboat.
The city shimmered behind him.
The tall buildings reflected the evening sun.
Traffic lights blinked.
The skyline glowed.
The river carried their boat quietly through it all.
Mei sat nearby.
Anna was taking photographs.
Pak Din hummed an old tune while steering.
Eddy looked down into the water.
For a second, he thought he saw the familiar shadow.
A boy walking beneath the reflection of the city.
Eddy smiled.
“Still there?”
The shadow stopped.
Then disappeared.
Maybe it had been real.
Maybe it had only been a story.
Maybe it had been the river playing tricks with light.
Eddy didn’t care anymore.
Some mysteries didn’t need solving.
Some were meant to remind you of something.
The city was always moving.
Everyone was rushing somewhere.
Everyone had somewhere to be.
But the river kept flowing.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Without a timetable.
Eddy finally understood what the shadow had been trying to teach him.
Life wasn’t about refusing every responsibility.
It wasn’t about running away.
It wasn’t even about finding the perfect path.
Sometimes, growing up meant learning when to move forward—
and when to stop.
The riverboat passed beneath the bridge.
Above them, the city roared.
Below them, the water whispered.
Eddy listened.
And for once, he wasn’t thinking about what came next.
He was simply there.
Present.
Curious.
Free.
The river carried him onward.
And this time, Eddy knew exactly where he was going.
Home.
The End…
