Welcome to my world, dear friends. As I sit in the black corner of the kopitiam, looking out into your world, I hunger to invite you to join me. Do you feel my eyes watching you from the deepest shadows of day, and from the hollow darkness of the ghostly night? Do you sense me sitting on that empty stool beside you, the one that draws your darting eye? And, yes, that flickering sliver of blackness that slides through the half-light among the tables and chairs and sends a shiver down your spine, it is I.

For those who dare, I invite you into my black world. Sit at my table and we’ll share a kopi and a tale or two. Then we’ll play a little game.

But beware—if you lose, you will be doomed to stay with me in the shadows of the kopitiam forever.