Emman, Time Traveller: The Redhill Tragedy

Written by Josephine Chia
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This is an adventure story, of a modern boy time-travelling to the past.

Emmanuel was in school when he received a strange visitor. No one but Emman could see the boy who was dressed in an old-fashioned Malay outfit. When Emman approached him, the boy ‘spoke’ to Emman telepathically to tell him that he was The One. When Emman asked him The One what? The boy said, The One to save him. The boy made an urgent plea to Emman to help him, then dashed away hastily. A magic portal opened up and the boy stepped through it and disappeared.

Before he left, the boy had told Emman to attend a talk called The Redhill Tragedy.

Emman discovered, that it was the legend of how Redhill got its name. So Emman went to the talk at the National Museum, with his Peranakan, paternal grandmother. The story was about a boy Nadim, who was killed during the Redhill Tragedy. After the presentation, the boy Emman saw before, appeared again and said he was Nadim. Surprisingly, Grandma could see Nadim too. Grandma told Emman that they were Seers, people with a special quality to see other dimensions.

To help Nadim escape his death, Emman has to travel back to 14th Century Singapura. Grandma said it would take a great deal of courage. It was up to him. If Emman were to accept the task, Grandma said she will teach him how to tap into his third eye in order to time-travel.