Say what ?

After coming downstream , we were just 500 metres from the landing point when the boat suddenly came to a halt .

Boatman looked at us . We looked back  . 

What ? Was he going to show us more fireflies and so near the shore too ?

 Instead , he instructed his elf like assistant to go check out the motor directly behind us .

We had to get up , stand up and move aside , thus rocking the boat since I am no fairy weight , as the elf needed to access an item stored beneath our seats . Turned out to be a blue plastic barrel filled with some liquid . 

" Folks ....have you ever been on a boat without fuel ? " he asked .

Without waiting for a reply , he delivered the stomach churning , palm sweating reply 

" Well , now you have "

with a chuckle ! 

My expression became like this Godzilla below . I tried not to panic even though he was obviously having a bit of a tough time .

What made matters worse is that after refuelling , the engine wheezed , didn't even splutter and then promptly died .

Now, the elf wasn't so smug. In fact he looked a bit pale as he held onto the funnel as if he were ready to Olympic paddle out any leakage .

500 metres . So close yet so far .

I began thinking of the worst case scenario .

Us waiting for an hour before being towed to the jetty .

Boat sinking as we floated in the dark yelling for help . 

" Go , go , go , go . Just move now " the elf begged him .

The boatman was perplexed as according to him it had never happened before .

Well , I can imagine his reaction if we told him that someone on board saw a Water Sprite , right when the mangrove stream suddenly fell into a dead silent vacuum like state , minutes before entering the area populated by the fireflies we had come to see .

Upon concluding , we passed by the same area ooing and aahing with no incident , before the appearance was mentioned in hushed tones . Only after that did the engine stop .

Coincidence or not , it reminds me why the Malay people believe that one must be very careful of their speech and actions when we enter " their " playground .

Did we know there was such a creature in the mangrove river ? Certainly not in the beginning, but now we do .

Location : Sungai Dew  , Perak