AweFully.Written

Interwind

2010-07-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

By: Qayzr

"You can take your stupid bear with you!"

And then she threw out the apology gift I gave her just ten minutes ago. Right out the window of the 8th floor. The teddy survived, but not all the chocolates stuffed inside.

I can't exactly rush up to the girl's apartment so I waited for her to come out her balcony. I waited, and waited. People pass by, some watched, some laughed. All that would be a normal sight, if it was not 2am in the morning. So I took deep breaths and let passersby be passersby.

“Aquila!” I only had the face to shout once, but the hope inside was as if I shouted a thousand times right in her ears.

I kept on waiting with the flesh at the back of my neck contracting, my face towards the sky for I’m not quite sure how long. Then I fell asleep.

"Aree, wake up dude. Wake up. I can't cover for you anymore. Lecturer's looking." A mildly frantic voice surprised my slumber.

"You better keep that story away, man. Professor Pang ain't gonna be very pleased. Finish it later!" He added.

I was immediately but strangely alert, quickly hid the story draft and took out my pretend notes. Thankfully I brought the right one. Yes. Contracts Notes, and I even got all the dates written on top. I await Professor Pang with calm and confidence.

"Very impressive Mr. Fauzee. But you're getting sloppy. I stopped giving contract classes for half a year now."

Well, it’s a good thing I live by the rule that you can't win em all. There was nothing I can do but apologize. I did. An unconvincing one at best, but I nevertheless did. She had better things to do than telling me that I'm unworthy to study law, so she gave me the you're-unworthy-to-be-here look and walked away.

And so the day went on as normal as it could be. It was spectacularly dull. Nobody got punched in the face; nobody spilled curry on their perfect whiter than white shirt, nobody tripped and fell hurting their faces while rushing to class. Not that anything like that has ever happened here, but you can't blame a guy for having imaginations.

"You should really kill your habit of sleeping by the side of the road" A sweet voice caressed my eardrums.

"How long was I asleep?" A reply followed by a brief yawn.

I didn't really hear what she said afterwards. All the facts present in my head was that I gave her a pink teddy bear stuffed with all the chocolates she like, we hung out at the cafe and afterwards I said something really hurtful that made her rush up back to the 8th floor and throw away the gift. I know and conscious only of those facts.

She finally stopped talking.

I don't know what's appropriate here. Is this a trap? What is she doing here anyway? No way had she come down from the eighth floor just to remind me not to sleep on pavements.

With a striking uncertainty about everything, "What made you come down?" I asked.

"I... I... I'm sorry." It was not of her character to stutter.

Out of the silence, my right shoulder was tapped "Aree! Come on! Class started six minutes ago!"

I wonder how somebody so meticulous, so detailed, would be late for class. It’s like knitting from scratch and then burn the knitted hat. Well, that's Haikal for you. I'd probably be drifting away with my writing if it wasn't for him. Not that it's going to be the first time should it happen just now. It's strange nobody else is running. Probably all of them are comfortably resting their butts in the lecture hall, not being screamed at for being late. The thought of that just made us run faster.

Finishing line, the door. It was oddly soundless. I slowly pushed the heavy wooden door, expecting glares and stares. What greeted us was far from it, it was a sarcastic laugh.

“Congratulations, we’re one of the few people who weren’t informed about the class cancellation. Eighty-two batch mates and the four least-informed ones are here in this lecture hall right now. As you all know, nobody tells me anything. What’s your excuse? Got too caught up with your stories again, Aree?”

It was Hilmi. As he was mocking us and himself, he walked down quite quickly from the top row of the lecture hall seats with piles of files on his hands. The rows and rows of seats number in the hundreds, each row was elevated behind the other. I guess Hilmi was too used to sit at the back row, he didn’t even hesitate taking his steps with those files.

“I was just pranked. Should have seen this coming. See these files? None of it is mine. And something smells like rotten garlic rubbed with feet and eggs! Hope my birthday next year falls on a weekend!”

Well this is a dumb moment. One of those files is mine. I forgot today was his birthday. Everyone gets pranked on their birthday here. The plan this year was to get Hilmi bring all the files stuffed with nasty surprises to an empty lecture hall. The feet smell was mine, I stuffed my file with old futsal soles.

“Happy birthday dude! Come, I’ll buy you lunch. Aree, care to join us?” Haikal said out loud, enough for a lecture hall full of people to hear, if it was actually filled.

After they both left, I just sat down with compliments from the weight of my stupidity. I didn’t get much sleep and I wasn’t that hungry so I was left alone to drift away with my writing..

"I love you." and I didn't believe her, I just couldn't say it.

"I love you too, I’m tired. Let’s not fight tonight please?"

What else was I supposed to say? Let’s fight some more, I’m not done here yet? Perhaps that wouldn’t be the best question I could come up with. I have no idea why I’m still here; I don’t even live in this college!

“Can you just go back now, please?” I could feel by that tone of voice she was too sleepy even to stand there in front of me.

“You do realise we need to talk, right?” I hate to sound commanding, especially towards her.

She rubbed her eyes and fiddled the ends of her hair “Okay, but not now. Go back. You’ve been here for two hours. Lunch later?”

This kind of leniency does not come from her that often. Usually fights like this will continue with deafening screams and scary hand gestures. It ends with severe silent treatment, usually. I saw the victory she was handing me; I wasn’t going to let my swollen but tired ego give that up.

“You should really start paying attention to people more than your pen and paper, Aree.” A deep but familiar voice came out of nowhere. It wasn’t a male’s voice. So it must be a ghost. I always knew this hall was haunted!

“Hilmi said four people were in this room. You, Haikal, Hilmi…”

Now I’m really scared.

"Boo!" Soundwaves transformed into a physical being, it was Aquila from behind, scaring the life out of me.

"Aquila! you do not scare me like that!" Again, i hate to sound commanding but I almost peed in my pants, I think I'm allowed. She stood down immediately.

“Hmm.. Sorry I scared you. I forgot about your lovable over-imaginations. Still up for lunch later sayang?” She hugged me from behind, took her bag and hung it over her shoulders, smiled and walked towards the door.

She stopped halfway and looked directly in my eyes. I could not concentrate on my paper, only she has that effect on me.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the café in a few minutes alright, I need to finish up here..” i answered.

So I took out my trusted pen..

“And then after all that I only remember waking up at my supposed contracts class and shuffling my pretend notes…”

The Train Heading South

2010-01-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

By: CiceroSeesZero

I dread stepping into the train today. Last week I decided to visit my parents on the north side of the city and now I have to go back campus, south of the city. I mean, really south. Far end of the south. Worst still, my mp3 player just ran out of juice and I'm running out of patience dealing with the delays and the crowd.

My mother just had to accompany me to the train station just to make sure I reach here safely. What annoys me is that she takes so much time doing it and I don't think a short trip to the train station requires me to bring an adult, let alone my mother. Because of that whole commotion, the earlier train, which is the least crowded one for the whole day, I missed. I almost raised my voice today but I didn't. The silent treatment was far more energy-saving.

So the train came, eventually. I'll try to look at this positively. At least it's clean. Thank goodness this is the last station, so everyone that was in the train when it came had to vacate their seats. I like empty trains. However, it was a long stretch of the imagination to think that it would remain that way for long. The northern side train stations are usually the ones that are most compact with people, but the train was not full. Not yet, at least.

So I stepped inside. I immediately looked for a seat at the far corner. Why? I don't intend to sound rude but usually people are more compelled to give up their seats to the less fortunate when they are in front. It'll be a tad bit of a fuss for somebody in the far corner to give up their seat, so it'll be understandable if somebody in the far corner did not stand up and say to an old lady, "Madam, I insist that you sit. I'll be fine.." because it's just cruel to see an old lady walk to the far end of the corner in a crowded train.

I got my seat. perfect. at the far corner, right under the air-conditioning. I looked around, there was only three people on my row. a snazzy looking businessman, a cop who has just finished the graveyard shift, I reckon, and a little bairn of somebody with a tennis bag hanging from his left shoulder.

The train started to fight inertia and moved forward. I looked at the child and he was anxiously waiting for the train to stop. I knew he wished the train would go faster. He gripped his bag and looked at the train map above. He did look around and saw me glimpsing at him. I looked away.

"Next station, President's Stadium"

A sweet voice from the interkom told us where we were at.

"Coach Henry is going to be really mad. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late." The kid exclaimed.

The little boy then stood up even before the doors slid open. He was all fidgety, and the tired policeman carved a simper as he looked closely at the kid. The doors opened and the policeman turned his attention to the window. He slouched a bit and exhaled loudly as if to get attention.

The businessman was a young fellow, at worst maybe he was just reaching his early thirties. It was just seven thirty, but now he was more fidgety than the little kid. He kept looking at his expensive Pull and Bear. His briefcase was compact. Maybe he has some big meeting today. I'm puzzled as to his discomfort, it was too early in the morning for any office to be in operation. I noticed a slight tear on both his shoes.

I thought to myself, "What a pompous young man. Still busy rising up in the corporation, bought an extremely expensive watch just to impress his fellow colleagues. Not like he could really afford it. He can't even repair his shoes."

"Next station, Business Square" My thoughts were interrupted.

The businessman tapped his feet, increased the frequency as the train got nearer to the station. The train stopped and in a cool manner, the businessman exited the train. It was apparent that his cool manner was only going to deteriorate and his pace will soon pick up.

It was just me and the policeman on the steel bench-like structure. The train was filling up but strangely only a few decided to occupy the train segment I was in. I notice the policeman trying to position himself closer to me.

"Hey good morning. An undergrad eh?"

I answered truthfully. The last time I lied to a cop, it got me scolded by my father at 3am at the police station. Besides, there was nothing to lie about here.

"Err, sir, yes sir."

"Where do you go to? the course you're taking?"

He had a calming voice for an old policeman. I pretty much eased into the conversation.

"Southstar University sir.. It's my second year as a literature student"

"Wow, that's a long way to go. Both the course and the journey, I mean."

The policeman was clearly tired. he kept yawning under his hand while he talked to me. I didn't wanna intrude on his sleep but he was spirited to talk to me. So I guess I'll just entertain him until he gives up himself.

"So, sir.. fine weather we're having?"

"Quite. But I can't really enjoy it now, I just got out of a 12-hour graveyard shift lad."

"Why don't you sleep? I'll wake you up when you reach where you are going.. It wouldn't be a problem."

"I can't. I'm on duty here, railway security.. Two trips to end north and two trips to end south."

No wonder he's tired. I asked him as to why the struggle. He explained that his wife just gave birth to twins, on top of his 4 other little children and he's financially helping his younger brother for his wedding next month.

"Next station, Senses District"

I was too busy chatting with the officer until it skipped my attention that it's been three stations since the Business Square.

I saw a couple walking in with several bags, most of them are in the hands of the guy.

"Look at that. A happy couple. Branded goods in hand, a more than healthy wallet. One day they are gonna regret buying all those handbags and shoes."

"With all due respect sir, what if they really could afford it? what if they were saving specifically for those lavish accessories?"

"Nobody saves to spend like that. and you never really have enough money. We all have the responsibility for other people. You see, you only wear a pair of shoe at a time. Some people still walk around barefoot, stepping on scorpions and landmines"

My conversation got more engaging, more intense. Oddly, he doesn't like a policeman now and weirder still, his voice got more familiar, like I knew but can't really point out. I kept on thinking, and kept on talking.

A minute passed and the next station we were at, a mother of three little children came and sat in front of us. The two brothers of the same mother were lively. Maybe too lively for some taste. they were wrestling each other while the mother was holding their little sister tight in her arms, trying to distract the baby from the noise her brothers are making.

"My mother had it worst. I grew up with eight siblings, me being the fourth, I don't get as much attention as I liked but when you realise that they will always be that net when you decide to jump a cliff because all of your friends are doing it, attention is just something physical."

"Hmm.."

"I hate it when I see teenagers blaming lack of parental attention for their immoral behaviors. My mother died when I was 14. I'm doing okay."

I didn't know what to say to that. Made sense, considering what happened with me and my mother earlier today. My heart felt a bit sore, I only had three siblings and everything a teenager could wish for. Education, enough money, two living breathing ridiculously loving parents...

I looked at the mother's eyes. full of care, engulfed with fatigue. There's no panacea for the energy given up raising a child. Mainly because it's not a disease or discomfort.

"It's after you are fully grown, fully nourished, fully showered with care and love it becomes a bane for them. For most of them, at least. You forget them, you leave them."

Did he know what I was thinking? That statement was almost like a continuation of my thoughts. We both continued to converse, mostly about petty things but he was so passionate talking about our country. I'll never forget the movements of his thick eyebrows while he talks. It sort of jiggles. It's very distinctive.

The train got more crowded.

"Son, you remember the businessman just now? He's a nice person, six years practicing as a lawyer in a disgraceful firm. His watch was a gift from his company, but in turn his company made him a corporate slave, doing every task of the executives without the pay. Not worth the watch. I talked to him just now before we boarded"

"Next station, Cicero Complex"

"Okay, here's my stop. And yeah, you were supposed to exit the train six stations ago to transfer to the train heading south to Southstar."

He took his hat and took off, leaving me with the distraught feeling of stupidity. So I took a ride backwards in six stations. What a waste. Now I have accompaniment to my ideas, so I kept it myself, keeping quiet all the way back, observing people and asking myself "Why am I here today? a lot of these people make more significance to the world than I do."

I then called my mother to apologize about what happened this morning, even though she was befuddled why I was doing it.

I got down the station when it reached my destination. I looked up at a television screen they have installed as a distraction to the lateness of their trains, there was our vice president of the country making a passionate speech in front of a crowd of thousands. At the end of the speech, they were cheering awfully loudly.

Now I know why those eyebrows were familiar.

AweSeries: Project FiSuRe: The Xinotians (Part 3)

2009-12-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

Part two: click here

By: Qay

"Ouch!" Hawwa outcried and quickly pulled her hand.

"Oh my, I'm dreadfully sorry. I forgot, the strongest of you humans have about half of the strength of our weakest Xinotian" Rukka said with a concerned look on her face.

"Xinotian, is that what you call yourselves? So, I suppose this land is called Xinotia?" Haidar interrupted.

"No, friend. This whole planet we call Xinotia. We do not differentiate Xinotians." Rukka explained.

"A planet without differentiation.. that means.. A whole planet without.. discrimination? How can that be?" Haidar with a puzzled look on his face.

Back when the Earth flourished with possible continuance of history, Haidar was one of the most outspoken and critical historian about how Earth is going to cave in under it's own pressure of ignorance. Nobody trusted him.Wars kept on going, people were still divided, and worst, it all continued to just happen, as the media took complete control of the masses.

Now there is only the present, if they cannot save it, the history of mankind would end in a bitter note.

"Discrimination? Oh yes, the disease that destroyed Earth! I never understood that. Why does such a thing exist there?" As if the look that was once on Haidar's face was transferred to Rukka.

"It's more puzzling that it does not happen here.. Look at you Rukka, you're too much stronger than me. I'm sure there are smarter people here than me or you. Don't you have any sense of superiority and inferiority? Don't you have leaders that you choose from the best amongst you?"

"We do, yes. Every civilization needs a leader. But a leader is accountable to it's followers. If there is flaw, it is not on the leader's side. Society is to blame. Society needs to change, the leaders would be changed accordingly. Here we can accept this. We choose leaders who are not hungry for power, but hungry to serve for the betterment of everyone" Rukka firmly uttered the words.

Haidar inquisited about how Xinotians with different languages, tone of skin, lifestyles, are seen in other Xinotia's eyes. Rukka answered, "Simple. We see each other as each other, and each of us is one of everyone. We do not use our differences to compete, but to complete."

Rukka went on to explain to everyone that gathered there that the Earthlings were friendly visitors that are in desperate need of help to find sustainable resources for their dying planet. Before she could finish her explanation, she was pulled to the crowd by one of the golden ager.

Rukka went back to be in the company of Commander Ayokunle and gave them three rules to follow.

"First, You are the visitors. We prefer not to harm you but please, we beg, no destruction of any part of Xinotia, no matter how insignificant you think your act may be." Rukka then nodded her head down.

The whole team nodded in agreement.

"Second, we will assist you as long as we are capable to, provide sustenance and intelligence assistance for you and also everyone in your voyage, but you must not hide your agendas."

Commander Ayokunle looked Rukka straight in the eyes, without a blink. the others seemed to be in vague acceptance of the term.

"Thirdly, do not sow any seeds of Earth's diseases. We are most concerned of violence, intolerance, and hatred."

All of them pretended to not know a thing about Earth's diseases.

The whole team was invited to stay at Rukka's home. Commander Ayokunle refused to welcome the handed hospitality as he was not convinced they were purely friendly creatures. He told Rukka that he had a duty to take care of the people inside the space transporter, by any means necessary. He was not ready to expose other Earthlings inside the space transporter to the Xinotians.

"Commander, I will take the risk and stay with them, there is still a lot of studying to do here with the plants. I believe they would not do us no harm" Hawwa outspoke.

"Yes, Commander, allow me to accompany her." Said Chee Ping from the left side of Haidar.

"Fine, as you both wish. Make sure to be in full access communication with me at all times. I couldn't care less where you will be. If I summon you, Make sure you are there to answer." Commander Ayokunle said with a very commanding tone.

The crowd had dissipated after the explanation by Rukka as Rukka said that she would find a team that would assist the Earthlings in their endeavour.

Still with his gun on his hand, Commander Ayokunle and Haidar walked back to the massive space transporter slowly.

"I want all our weapons to be in full functionality within two hours. We gotta have some form of protection from these creatures.... just in case." Captain Ayokunle spoke to Haidar in a quieted down emphasis.

(End of Part 3)

DeathClock

2009-11-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

By: BoredStroke

I was walking along one day after work to get to the train station and suddenly a man whom I suspect was creeping just behind me pushed me hard to the side of the road. I was stunned and fell hard to the ground. I retaliated towards gravity but I couldn't see the man rush away fleeing the scene.

My attention towards the man was not held for long, after my head cleared, a sedan packed with people in front where I was suppose to be walking entered my eyesight and left. I figured it was less than a second. i was gasping, people in every direction looked on. I felt uneasy.

"Did you see the man who pushed me just now?" I asked an old lady who was walking unusually alone.

"Son, I can't even see myself properly in the mirrors nowadays.." I felt sorry for her, but I was too focused on the man to show it.

I just wanted to thank the man. maybe he tried to mug me but changed his mind as he saw the car so he just pushed me instead. I know it's a bit farfetched theory but that's the best I've got for now. Just when I was about to thank the old lady, i noticed something glowing above her head. I tilted my head and I was taken aback. it was numbers! five digits of numbers, continuing to count down and keeps on counting down.

The old lady walked away, I was stunned so not even a wave good bye came from me. Then the busy street got more and more infested by people. I was in the middle of a sea of humans, disoriented as everyone had countdowns above their heads. Some counted down faster than others, some even have different coulours, a range from a soothing glowing white to an eyesore burning red.

What do these countdowns mean? I think insanity was creeping around near me, waiting to get in. Maybe this is a bad dream, but it couldn't be. I felt pain when the guy pushed me earlier. I tried not to think about all of this and held my head down and keep on walking towards the train station.

I was a long journey, but only I cared. When I was paying for my train ticket, I was the numbers on the tellers. It was a hectic day at the train station, as always. but she was always smiling, I couldn't tell if it's just customer policy or she's just plain happy all the time. She had this calming presence and her countdown was this silvery glow and it was going slow.

Strangely, I felt calmer after buying the ticket. I saw more and more countdowns above the heads of everyone. I know I can't keep my head down forever so I just took deep breaths and tried to calm down.

I boarded the train and just my luck, there were no seats left, as always. Taking the train at the station at the place where it intersects between three other train routes and right in the middle of the end and the beginning has it's downsides. Actually, the only thing it has is downsides. Congestion of people, the crowd, the delays, the stench, practically everything bad about a train station bundled into a neat little crammed package.

It was a long day. A failed presentation, a low sales, a crowded train and being pushed to the side of the road. Curses. At least I'm going home to my Playstation 3 and my newly bought 40-inch LCD television. The anticipation is absolutely murder. I bit my lips and thought of happier things.

I couldn't keep my thought for long as the countdowns were an utter distraction. Then I saw this man with a plaid shirt and skinny jeans. He was as pale as ever. thin as a stick, eyes red as blood. He looks a bit distressed. Staring out the window, just hoping that the next stop is his stop. He was shaking all over and hugging his body, caressing himself on the shoulders, only he did not enjoy doing it.

I admit, it is cold. But he was the only one doing that gesture. Maybe he has taken drugs, I'm not sure. I noticed the countdown on his head was fast, fast as in filling up gas kind of fast. It just kept going and going. A sound from on top of the train ringed, the doors pushed against each other and opened themselves. He pushed through everyone, even those who need not pushing. He ran out those exits carrying a small black plastic bag.

My thoughts drifted away in bashing zombies on my television. What a wonderful thought. I closed my eyes and the next thing I know I was at the train station a few blocks away from my home sweet home. As I left the train, I noticed there were several empty seats and there only a few people standing, how long did I drift away? All of a sudden I was alone.

People still had countdowns on their heads. The security ouside my apartment is quite old, yet his countdown was slow. The receptionist too. I climbed the stairs to my apartment as the elevator was not appearing as soon as I would like it to be.

I sighed. The day was not magnificent. I sat on my beanie in front of the telly and quickly turned it on. The news was on. I can't quite remember tuning to it as my last station, I hate watching the news. Maybe this channel was playing The Simpsons when I turned it off.

"Earlier tonight, a drug addict was shot dead by police officers minutes after he attempted to rob convenience store at a train station" The anchorwoman said.

The screen on the television flashes the images of the crime scene. I know that place! It was the train station the shivering man got off! My God, does news travel too fast these days. I closed my eyes to try to make sense of all this. I took short breaths and gripped the remote.

I panicked. I didn't know what to think. That guy's countdown was really near to zero when I last saw him. Could it be? Is this death's clock I'm seeing? I quickly rushed to the huge mirror I installed in the bedroom. I couldn't see my own death clock.

What am I supposed to do with this deathly vision? I can't exactly go around and save everyone who's gonna die. Impractical. Furthermore, it's stupid. I looked outside my window and saw some people who just wouldn't sleep. Some of them are going to live a long life, one girl's going to die about tomorrow. It seems like nobody cares. But then again, not everyone get to see everyone else's death clock.

I'm lucky I'm living alone. I'll go nuts trying to explain seeing death clocks when I see anyone I'm living with has it. It's better for me to just get some sleep. I skipped mutilating zombies tonight. I have too many zombies walking around in real life as it seems.

The alarm went off, I can't remember dreaming anything. That's odd. Is it as though I slept a few minutes ago and just woke up. I feel reenergised for another day.

With the routines out of the way, I walked to the train station. Today, the sun was shining, everyone I see is smiling at me. They still had death clocks on their heads. I wanted to tell them that they're going to live longer or that they're dying soon. then I thought, what's the point?

I bought tickets and waited for the train. Something feels funny. I feel tingly inside. Maybe it's just jitters, I have a big presentation today. It's definitely the moment of make-or-break of my young career.The train came surprisingly early, earlier than the estimated arrival date. What a good day this is going to be.

I was in front of the line when the train arrived. The doors opened and I entered swiftly carrying my backpack. There's a seat for me, right in the corner where I like it. I just sat there and I felt the train going oddly faster than usual. An upgrade? Can this day get any better?

I smiled. I looked ahead and what I saw saw spooked me out. The death clock of this one teenage girl was going faster and faster, non-stop. from 8 digits I saw it decline to 7, 6, 5... I looked at another young girl holding her mommy's hand. Full of life. I could see it from her smile. Her death clock was behaving the same way.

Then I realised, everyone's death clock is insanely ticking away. The young, the the old, the rich, the poor. All of them. I dropped my backpack and frantically looking for a way out. I ran from end to end, everyone was just staring weirdly at me. Their clocks kept on rushing to zero. There was nothing I could do, it was a speeding train. I'm better off dying fast than scraping my way out of ruins. I stopped right in the middle and screamed...

"We're all gonna die!"

The last noise I heard was just a loud screeching metal sound. I almost went deaf, not that it mattered anyway.

Headline for the next day: "A train derailed and crashed in the subway yesterday, killing 126 people and rising. Rescuers are still looking for remains of burned victims."

(Writer's note: Never mind what he could've done for the world if he had the chance to. What would you do if you saw death clocks hanging deathly above everyone's head?)

The grave misconception people have about writing is that people think it's to discover what happens to the persona in the story but in reality, writing helps us to, most importantly, discover ourselves and the people around us. But remember, we all die eventually. Play nice.

AweSeries: The List: Testosterone Ticks (Part 3)

2009-11-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

By: Epictas

"Sinclair? Where were you from?" I tried to make a quick conversation while making it transparent that we both needed to be in class.

"I just went out for some Pepsi." Sinclair said, "You're not the only one with connections to the prefects board."

Well, he got me there. I forgot he was an ex-prefect. He was doing a good job actually. I heard he was stripped of the responsibility because of a little mishap involving unfair maths paper grading and some unfortunate smashing of car windows and punctured tyres. It was never proven Sinclair did all that, but it's what everyone seem to think, Even the questioning police officers.

We were probably the last ones walking down the lonely corridors of the ground floor. There are no classes down here so everyone's upstairs, except for us both, the janitor and gardener, and a few prefects finishing up their reports. It's a very lazy day.

I really got to some talking with Sinclair in our slow walk to class. We have English class if I'm not mistaken and Mr. Adrian rarely comes to class early. He rarely comes to class at all. Perhaps the busiest teacher in Xypher, or the laziest. So my pace got slower and slower

Class was only on the second floor, so we reached there eventually, dismally.

I thought right. No Mr. Adrian in sight. It was too quite for an all-boys class with no supervision. It's almost awkward. I mean, there are people making noises but it's not near the minimum capacity of what this class can produce. Disappointing.

So I sat there on my desk, next to Killa. I wouldn't want to disturb him, he was doing some physics homework I 'accidentally' left at home. I opened my sketch book and started to visualize my thoughts onto a page. I drew nothing.

It wasn't even 5 minutes since I got comfortable placing my butt on the chair until somebody shouted "Hey that's a mistake of your own doing!" right smack in front of the class.

"Total bullshit! If you didn't enter the picture, I'd still be with her!" The other end shouted. Quite close to me in fact.

Everybody else was quite. I think they know this was coming.

"If you taken a bit better care of her, you wouldn't even be shouting right now!"

"Fine I won't..." I think only the people at the back of the class heard that.

He went running directly to the guy in front of the class, accompanied by a hard kick on the gut.

"Damn. They're at it again." Killa spoke. He dropped his thick black pen on his paper that's filled with ink. "Well let's hope they kill each other this time. I can't keep on reporting and reporting every time they fight. It's killing my fingers!"

So much of a prefect Killa is. But he has a point. Robin and Richeal had a story that goes until a year back, If I can recall correctly, Robin and his then-girlfriend were madly in love until Richeal came along. As much as Robin like to believe, Richeal never got together with Robin's ex. they were pretty close though, I saw them last week. Wait, that wasn't as complicated as I thought. So that's the whole story. Now let's get back to the brawl.

Richeal stood up holding his stomach and looked as angry as ever. crunched the bones in his left hand to make a fist and he charged with fierce fury. With quickness, he tried to swing his fisted hand and missed. Robin elbowed Richeal on the shoulder and once again he fell.

"Why do people always forget that I have a black belt in Karate??" remarks Robin.

Richeal was relentless. Holding his left shoulder, he intends to bring pain to the guy who took away his girl. I mean, who wouldn't? It's his own misdoings he decided to bring it physically.

Out of desperation, Richeal drove his good shoulder into the stomach of Robin. I think he wasn't expecting that. both of them fell to the ground hard, but much of the pain was on Robin's side. Robin grabbed Richeal's shirt by the collars and punched him right on the cheek, near the ears. I felt that one from the back end of the class.

I guess sometimes rage overcomes skills. Richeal drove his thigh directly onto Robin's right ribs. Robin did try to stop it, but he was pushed to a wall and there's very little he can do. Everyone in class knows better than to be the one who breaks up these two monsters. I knew Killa could, but he's just waiting for somebody to be considerably injured so nobody is going to have any fighting spirit left so he wouldn't have to write so many reports in the future.

I saw Robin headbutting Richeal, he did it with pleasure. I saw a smile on his face, I saw some of the people in class starting to take sides.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Sinclair grabbing a chair just next to where he sits and threw it in the middle of the fight. It crashed hard, the legs of the chair just barely missing Richeal's face.

"Shut up both of you! Cammy and I are together!" Sinclair stood up and shouted. He was filled with bravado, maybe because he took up Aikido for 7 years now.

That was a brief fight, even for my school's standards.

(End of part 3)

AweSeries: Project FiSuRe: Finding a Familiar Voice (Part 2)

2009-10-30T15:00:00.001-07:00

Part one: click here

By: Qay

"Well troops, get ready." Commander Ayokunle said, only loud enough for his team to hear.

"Sir! We are not here to destroy! Look at what violence caused us to be! For God's sake, we're in another planet trying to find resources. Remember, we're the aliens here. Not them." Haidar shouted. He was quite far behind as he got out of the space transporter last.

Commander Ayokunle disregarded the reminder "I don't believe in God anymore."

He was keen to not let anything bad happen to his team, even if it's only an imaginary threat. He stepped back a bit, assessed his surroundings. As the inhabitants of the planet were coming closer and closer, the clear pulsation of the veins on the side of his head pulsated faster and faster and the grip of his hand on the gun got tighter and tighter.

Haidar knew he had to stop Commander Ayokunle. He quickly grabbed the already cocked gun and pulled it towards him. There was a brief struggle to control the gun between the two them. Amidst that, the gun was accidentally fired. A huge flock of bird flew away exiting a gigantic tree. Thankfully the bullet reached for the skies, but Haidar's left hand suffered serious burns. He shouted in pain, a sound louder than the gun. The inhabitants walked faster towards them.

"Oh, you really did it this time Haidar!" Commander Ayokunle scolded Haidar who was holding his hand in tremendous pain.

Haidar kneeled. When he finally had the instinct to look up, there he saw six inhabitants looking down on him. One of them poked his wound and felt his blood. Haidar remained in silence. He was too afraid to say anything, let alone release the pain he's bearing right then. The inhabitants gently laid him to the ground. Haidar was surprised as to the softness of the grass he was lying upon. It was as if he was floating, along with his pain. One of the inhabitants, slightly shorter in height, came running back to them with three types of leaves and a piece of root.

Commander Ayokunle and the rest of the team just stood there, at the right side of the crowd that is building up surrounding Haidar. Some intrigued, some cautious. Regardless, they were at the procedure with great interest.

The inhabitant pressed one leaf on Haidar's burns and rubbed it with the root. It is seen that the roots were excreting some form of oil and it mixed with liquid from the leaf. Haidar felt an instant cooling effect from the procedure. Seeing that Haidar calmed down and less sweating, the inhabitant took away the leaf and pressed another leaf on the burned area of his hand. This leaf felt more coarse than the first one, some of its protruding structure pierced into Haidar's hand.

Haidar screamed in agony.

Commander Ayokunle was putting one foot nearer to Haidar before being stopped by Hawwa. "Commander, patience.. look, the reddish colour on his burn marks are fading. Amazing. I've never seen anything like this!"

Hawwa is a prominent botanist from Earth, one of the leading scientists in studying a newly discovered field of plant telekinesis. She believes that plants, like other living things, interact with humans in a higher form of communication. She even believed that plants were warning humans of the impending doom they are experiencing now. She restructured the classification of what's left of the plants on Earth and discovered over 50 new plants species, most of them were on the brink of extinction. Her experiments were hindered and eventually stopped by the lack of specimens. Now, she's in charge of assessing the natural growth of a planet for human sustainability in Project FiSuRe.

Lastly, one of the inhabitants crushed the last piece of leaf and it a thick and slimy liquid. The slime was blue and only the slime was taken to be rubbed on Haidar's hand. In a quick manner, the slime hardened and you could see the tissues around the burn areas are starting to sort of fold inwards. At this time, Haidar felt a minty sensation on his skin, no more burning pain and agony. The inhabitants took several steps back to give some room for Haidar to recuperate and have some fresh air. Not long after that, Haidar succumbed to deep slumber.

The inhabitants communicated among themselves. The humans knew they were talking about them. Nothing the inhabitants spoke about is clear to any of the space explorers. They did not speak in tones, it's more like a heavily scratched disc being played backwards. Strange, they had tongues but it looks like they're not using them.

The inhabitants gathered among a few paces left to the space explorers. Some of them looked like they had ideas on what to do with the visitors. Some of their expression seemed to turn menacing, with the antennas on their heads erect. A few of them took charge of the situation by stepping forward in front of the gatherers and calmed the situation down. The discussion continued among them, as well as with the humans.

While the inhabitants are trying to figure out a way to approach the humans, the humans are trying to figure out a way to run away from them.

"They bleed! Humans from planet Sector 17-VXR512-1246!" A voice from the crowd shouted.

Each one of the space explorers were in complete shock. Amidst the enigmatic multitudinous exchange of speech, emerged one perfect sentence of English.

A female inhabitant came running towards in a child-like conduct towards Commander Ayokunle.

"Hello, my name is Rukka. I studied you in interplanetary studies and did my thesis on your species! Fascinating. I knew you were going to be visiting us soon! My educator didn't believe me; He said your species were too primitive to do that. This is how you greet, yes?" Rukka extended her right hand to Commander Ayokunle. Commander Ayokunle looked on as if he had been electrocuted. Hawwa qickly rushed to the front to accept the handshake.

From the mighty grip of Rukka, Hawwa felt and literally heard the bones in her fingers cracking and crushing.

(End of part two)

How I Ended Up Here

2009-10-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

By: Qay

I looked at his beady little round eyes accompanied by silence in the air. I felt nothing was more important at that very moment, and so I stared and I stared. I cannot stand those eyes looking back directly at me. I had to retaliate, so I stared on. Seconds passed, pushed away by minutes. I took a deep breath when suddenly...

"Zera, put your little brother down and help me with the dishes!" A piercing voice echoed in my head from end to end.

"But mom! I'm in a staring contest with him!" I sighed.

"Again?! Just come to the kitchen Zera.." Mum's voice got lower.

"You might win this round, and the previous one and the one before that, but I'll get my revenge..."

I left him with a last stare and a quick kiss on the cheeks. Okay, maybe it was three. I'll have my revenge. That was a death kiss. wait, kisses. So I went to the kitchen, leaving Amin in his crib. My hands are a bit tired, my legs are a bit weak but I put on my glasses and swiftly but gently walk to the kitchen to help mum.

Left, right, left, right. My foot leading on each other to the kitchen. As soon as I stepped on the last tile on borderline between the dining room and the kitchen...

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Zera!!" Mum, Dad, and Fifah screamed.

Oh that's so typical of my mum. Getting me into a staring contest in the middle of the day with Amin to distract me so they could throw a mini surprise party. Oh how I love them. Moist Almond Caramel chocolate cake! I love them even more now.

"After you eat, I'm going to take you to to that place to pick out that something you really wanted to have.." Said my dad with a really confident tone.

That was awkward. My dad rarely knows what I want. For my birthday, especially. He always ends up giving me pity money after he gets me either a piece of clothing I already have, a full set of DVDs of last year's Scrubs, or Liverpool merchandises. I hate Liverpool. Well at least, he tried. I usually spend about almost half of the pity birthday money on his birthday anyway so it's like I pity him pitying me.

So I replied to my dad jokingly, "Really dad? Is it a Liverpool cap?? I think that would match the jersey you gave me last year..."

"Zera, be nice to your dad. He can't screw up this time. I supervised him" I was elated. Mum always knows what to get me, even when it's not my birthday.

To cut things short, I'll skip the messy cake eating (and throwing) session between my family members.

We got in the car and I got to sit in the middle this time where the air conditioning is the most concentrated and Fifah has to take care of Amin just because it's my birthday today.

So dad took the car to the city. the sights and sounds are very much familiar so I didn't bother much on the details of the road. I was more into the surprise gift, though there was sudden stop where my dad had to hit the emergency brakes, I brushed it aside, didn't even look outside. I continued to slouch and yawn in the car, backed up, looking at the blocked sky. The gift, is it so filled with grandeur that it can't be given to me at home? or is it too big? too delicate? Is it a cat? Wait, no. I'm allergic to cats. Maybe a hamster? hmmm...

I hate being at the back seat. I've had my driving license for two years now and not once have I ever driven a car with my dad in it. He insists I just watch and learn. I learned how to bottle up my feelings. But all of that changed after 5 minutes..

Dad parked at an automobile dealership. I was euphorically surprised. Really a car? No way! I've been asking for one since the day I touched my license. Dad looked at me and his famous half-smile was smack carved on his face.

A car! Maybe? Couldn't be. dad wouldn't buy me a new car. Impossible. wierd, we walked pass the entrance. There goes my chances of owning that awfully cute pink compact car. I hope for nothing now. It's bad enough having my heart broken on my birthday. It was my fault anyway, I hoped too much. I mean, a car? really? I kept quite and just followed dad. Nobody expects anything now, but I do suspect Fifah knows something that I don't.

Out of the blue, dad disclosed, "You're getting a car, Zera. But no way I'm getting you a brand new one" he smiled, adding half to the half smile earlier.

"The parking at the new car place is free, oh you know your dad.." my mum added.

So I rushed inside and screamed "Thank you! you both are the best parents in the world! This world, the underworld, even in Mars!"

They expressed their joy with me with laughter. Dad shouted "Any car below 25 thousand dear!"

I fell instantly in love with this too-good-for-reality pink compact car with light green stripes on the side. I knew that car is the reason I got a license. It was more than a calling. I dare say it's destiny. I was touching the car all over, feeling the seats, pushing all the buttons on the radio, turning the steering left to right and back, imagining my friends at the backseat spilling coke..

"Aww.. 26!" I exhaled. One thousand separates me from the car.

"No worries dear, I think it would be okay, We'll let your mother talk to the dealer. speaking of which..." My dad saw the dealer approaching us with some set of keys.

"Care for a test drive missy?" Out of nowhere, he said.

Care for a test drive? Oh what could be better? I grabbed the car keys from his hand and started the engine. I looked at dad and he gave me a thumbs up. Mum looked a bit concerned but I knew by the look of her eyes that she wanted me to drive. Fifah looked like she wanted to go along in the car but I told her I'm not ready to bring Amin for an unsupervised ride.

Fifah is going to get her license next year anyway so I didn't think much of it. Was too busy being estatic.

So I drove out of the used car shop and let my parents handle the documentation. I know the road of this like the back of my hand, and I literally often look at the back of my hands. I play the drums. With ease I cornered and sped. I looked everyone with a smile, even that old bum in the corner of that coffee shop I always hang around at.

I think I sped up too much unconciously. I forgot there was a sharp corner quite near to the used car dealership, I skidded a bit, lost total control of the car and crashed into a construction site on the side of the road. The very place where my dad suddenly stopped on the way just now! It was horrible! I didn't get to press the brakes on time, dust and tools were flying around. dust engulfed the new and almost bought car. I heard screams. Mostly curse words related.

A full 10 meters before the car fully stopped. fortunately the car was small, or it would've knocked more steel for sure. My foot was still on the brake pad when the car stopped completely, but my mind was unconcious. I think my head hit the windshield pretty hard. That was the last thing I remember. A good thing really, because I saw blood but didn't feel that much pain.

Unfortunately, I did hit someone. She was the site surveyor by the name Gina. Lucky for me and her, I only brushed her left leg with the side of the car's bumper. she fell pretty hard. A concussion, but no funeral.

"Well, that's how I broke my arm and that's how Gina got here I guess. I should've paid more attention to the road on the way to get the car, I really didn't see the construction site! Now my dad won't trust me with anything. How bout you? How did you end up in the hospital huh?" I said to, Syida, my room mate at the hospital..

"Well, I burned my left leg and my right arm trying to save orphans from a burning orphanage. But your story is much more interesting."

"You talk too much Zera.." Gina added.

What hurts the most

2009-10-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

By: xsmiles

The chime of the bell rang as I walked into the warm diner.

“Hey there jack! Haven’t seen you in a while. The usual I assume?”

I nodded at him, smiling half-heartedly, making my way to take a seat at the far end of the diner- away from people, away from crowds. I stared outside the glass panels and watched as people rush to find shelter away from the heavy rain.

“Here you go. A cup of steaming Long Black with a little bit of soy milk on the side. Anything else I can getcha?” Rwanda asked in her southern accent.

“I’m good. Thanks” I said politely.

“Well alright sugar. Just let me know if you need anything” she said and left to attend to other customers.

I took a sip of the hot coffee and turned my attention to a young couple dancing in the rain outside the diner. They looked so free and… happy.

“Puppy love”

I turned to see Rwanda smiling dreamily at the sight. “Reminds you a lot about the ol’ days don’t it hon? You’d be darn lucky to have that kinda memory to remember about or someone to share it with when you’re as old as me” she smiled warmly at me again. Just then, the young couple burst through the door wet and shivering, but laughing wildly to themselves.

“Now ya’ll come on it! My goodness, ya’ll must be freezing!” Rwanda chuckled, going over to welcome the two teenagers.

“Yeah… Pretty lucky” I muttered and took another sip of my coffee.

“Ryan? That you?”

I looked up to see Craig and his wife. Great. I smiled at them.

“How’ve you been pal? You okay? Pretty great game last week wasn’t it?” he asked with that wide grin on his face.

“I didn’t catch the game…” I said, throwing a fake smile.

“Are you kidding me? Ry! It was the biggest Lakers game of the season! And you’re telling me you missed it cause you were moping around the house for some gi-“

“Honey, I’m pretty sure Ryan was busy last night” his wife interrupted him, pulling him by the arm. “Let’s not waste anymore of his time. Come on baby”

“Baby, we’re having a man to man talk here!”

I looked up to see Tanya throwing violent glares at Craig, daring him to say no to her. I caught her eyes and saw the sympathy dwelling inside them.

Craig sighed in defeat and patted my shoulder before turning to leave with his wife. “Take it easy, buddy” he said.

I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to clear my thoughts as I hear them walk out the diner. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. This place has left a lot of memories for me… and her. I don’t need to tell you what happened. I don’t think I need to tell anybody what happened. I just knew I had the perfect plan. I pulled out a small little box out of my pocket and grasped it. It’s been months now…

What hurts the most out of all this is being so close and having so much to say without having the chance to say it. I took one last breath and exited the diner discreetly, bearing in mind this will be the last time I step foot in here, leaving my still warm cup of coffee and the tiny box beside it.

AweSeries: Project FiSuRe (Part 1)

2009-10-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

By: Qay

Since she was a little girl, Rukka has been widely fascinated by stars. She likes to drift away to the thought of if there is life out there, anything intelligent that can communicate to them. She wonders, she wonders all night long..

One day, Earth finally ran out of resources and the Space Program for Finding Sustainable Resources (Project FiSuRe) is finally fully implemented and humans were finally able to travel to space to try to make up for our greed and glut. Fortunately for the humans and unfortunately for them, they stumbled upon Rukka's planet.

It was perfect, said the humans. The planet is about 9 billion years old, about two times older than Earth but there's abundance in everything. Oil, flora, fauna, minerals, clean water, clean air, practically everything we have consumed. Better news, its almost twice the size of Earth.

"Wow! Humans won't go extinct after all! We hit the jackpot, boys." Said the head space explorer of Project FiSuRe.

They all cheered in the space transporter for hours and hours. Champagne bottles were popped, there was a feast among the crew, and of course, within an hour, everyone on Earth was talking about it. The news was all over the place. The whole of Earth cheered.

The next day, the humans decided to land on the planet. It all went relatively smoothly. There was friction in the atmosphere, but they didn't think much of it as Earth is finally saved.

Rukka was surprised to see a large solid body in space hovering just above her neighborhood.

The space transporter is awfully big. To make it simple, it's sort of cylindrical with the front designed in oblong and in terms of size, it can fit three bungalows. The humans were trying to find a nice spot to land, maybe a dessert or the sea. They're capable on landing on both terrain. To their despair, they couldn't find any dessert so they tried to find a large body of liquid. From up above, they saw an enormous pool of water which is perfectly circular and were very happy about it.

They directly navigated towards that pool of water and with great speed, they finally landed.

With an irritating loud sound, the airtight doors opened upwards, the humans proudly got out of the space transporter. First to come out was Commander Ayokunle, then followed by his faithful fellow explorers, Chee Ping, Hawwa, and Haidar. these are only the ground explorers. There are more workforces inside the space transporter. It's more of a small community of the most excellent of humans, just in case Project FiSuRe succumbs to failure.

The planet was extremely beautiful. Animals quite similar to Earth were jumping around here and there, spring of water bursts from the ground where the animals gather together to drink. The plants and animals here are significantly bigger than the ones used to exist on modern Earth.

Then, they turned their heads to the side, to their shock, there were a group of standing entities with slanted antennas on their heads, full and lavish hair . They were tall, taller than Commander Ayokunle who is the biggest man in Project FiSuRe. They looked almost human, only their skin are much more fair, it's almost reflective. Their muscles were well articulated until the veins dilating and contracting can be seen clearly, their noses are embedded on their faces and their eyes were much much bigger than the humans. Other features were quite similar to the humans.

In awe, all the ground explorers were speechless seeing the far superior physique of the aliens. They can't even move. Thinking that if they were predators, the humans are going to be extinct anyway.

They started to walk towards the humans, coordinated. It was a brisk walk, with no blink of their big eyes. the humans felt the ground shake.

"But sir! according to the satellite pictures, there aren't suppose to be intelligent life forms here!" Said Chee Ping slowly to AyoKunle who already silently cocked his gun.

(End of part one)

Memories

2009-10-09T22:04:00.001-07:00

By: Sippiman

His footsteps were heavy. Breath came in short bursts. His mind was in a mess. So many things had happened that brought him to this single time and place. There’s something dead about the way he felt now. Looking at the night sky while he walked, he felt the night all around him. The sense of loneliness surrounding him and bringing him down with it...

It is January 17th 1992. He is only 18 when she catches his eye. He is in a birthday party with many of his friends, but this single moment will mark out what his life will be full of for many years of his life to come. She seems like a nice girl, not the kind you find at clubs and bars. The kind of girl that knows how to have fun but still reserves her dignity and manners. Something compels him to talk to her. He walks up with little confidence but still finds himself compelled to say something or his whole life would've been a waste if he missed this opportunity. He strikes up a conversation with the weirdest accent he had every heard come out of his mouth.

"Hi", he says...

It's been so many years since that moment. Thinking about it only makes his heart feel heavier. That awkward hi had begun the creation of so many memories of the times he had with her. Tonight the world seemed empty; it was as if he was alone. She was gone, and now all he was left with was memories. Memories that would haunt him for the rest of his life...

It is mid-December 1993. This was their first year together as a couple. Although many had doubted their capability to last together as a couple, they had made it. Despite the fights, the apparent difference of interests, the different socials groups each of them hung out with, they had made it. Because the one thing they had in common was their love for each other.

He had it all planned. First, the road trip, then the presents for her, followed by an elegant dinner at the restaurant in the next town. And last of all would be the slow drive back through the night. But it didn't all work out as planned. He woke up late, finding her shouting at his front gate. Bringing her in, he was subjected to some shouting. Rushing to get everything together, he took his bath and got dressed up. Walking out, he saw her gushing with tears and all he could feel was guilt. He managed to coax her into the car and their field trip began. Somewhere through the trip he got her to forget what had happened before and just enjoy the time they had together. At dinner, he gave her the presents he had stayed up all night making. This time, tears of joy dropped from her beautiful eyes. Everything felt perfect because they were together. Just because they had each other, the world could not seemingly touch them. As he dropped her off that night, he gave her a kiss and said that he wanted her forever...

The night air fills his lungs. He tries to forget everything, but still this wave of sadness and lost overwhelms him. He remembers her eyes that were like stars, her hair that always smelled like flowers, her sweet aroma, and her voice that always brought comfort to his mind. Everything about her kept running through his mind. In truth, he was always lucky to have her. To him, she was perfect while he always had the flaws. He stops in his tracks and looks up at the stars...

Both of them are lying down on the grass, looking at the thousands of stars filling up the night sky. This was their last night together, or so it seemed. It had been 3 years of ups and downs. But still they were here together. But come the morning, both of them had to go to their new colleges. Promises had been made about how they would keep in touch and how things would work out because they loved each other. Though, behind those words, both of them worried about how the distance would become a huge barrier between them. But here they were, together on their last night just laying beside one another and looking into the night sky. Nothing else mattered...

He continues to walk; he does not pay attention to anything else. Too many things fill up his thoughts tonight. He feels like his world is rapidly dissolving into emptiness and he is left with nothing. He can't find any words to explain it. Not even music will help him tonight. No lyric, no melody, No voice can help soothe his heart. Except maybe hers. As he walks he steps on a discarded mobile phone. It cracks under his shoe. He looks down to see it...

It has been two years of trying to make things work from long distance. All the phone calls, all the internet calls, all the letters can't help the feeling that they're falling apart. The arguments keep getting bigger. She feels that he is too paranoid and he feels she doesn't care. Tonight is the fourth time in 2 years they have met. He holds her in her arms. They don't say anything to each other content with just being together. Even now, they know they love each other. Right here and right now, they belong together.

Tears roll down his face. It is not normal for him to cry but tonight he feels like weeping. He feels like dying and his heart is so full of pain. Nothing helps him think that things will get better. She was his love, his all and his life. He falls to the ground, he punches the ground till his hands start bleed and he cries out...

It has been a further two years; they have both graduated 5 months ago. All the waiting was over, the time has come. He proposed, she accepted. The marriage had been planned. Nothing in the world could have made them happier than tying the knot and being together forever. It is the night before the wedding. He holds her in his arms. They're looking at the night sky together. Nothing in this world mattered more to them than just being there together. Because they loved each other. Come the morning, they would be the happiest people in the world.

It is the morning of the wedding; he stands filled with excitement and anticipation at the front of the church. Everyone is smiling and laughing. But all he thinks about is her. The time had come. But she is already a little late. He walks out of the church trying to see if she had arrived. Still no car. His phone vibrates, he ignores it. People are starting to talk in the church wondering what is going on. He gets a little worried. His phone vibrates again, this time he picks it up. He can barely hear an audible voice. It is the voice of the man who was supposed to drive her to the wedding. He asks him to get to a street three blocks away. Filled with dread, he runs down there. Upon reaching he sees the accident...

Tonight he feels empty and lost. He just can't go on. He looks up at the night sky. He says "I miss you."

AweSeries: The List (part 2)

2009-10-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

By: Epictas

The only thing wonderful about Wednesdays is when it's over. I hate Wednesdays. Usually. But today was different, very much so in fact. I smell deviance coming.

I stepped in class and not so much to my surprise, Killa came runnning to me.

"Saim! Saim! did you hear?" He said excitedly.

"Gooooood morning, hear what? I just stepped in class! wait, why weren't you here yesterday?" I said.

"Volleyball competition. Good morning to you bucko. You didn't hear about it? The list man! the list!" Wow. the anticipation is killing me.

Of course, I questioned Killa about it. For somebody who didn't came yesterday, he sure does know a lot. A lot more than I told, and I told him nothing. Oh how I wait for those people whom I really told something.

So that recess, I went to Abraham's table because he's the easiest to talk to. On the outside he didn't look so much in concern. My perception was just blown away when I actually talked to him. He told me he knew about the list quite long ago. He also told me that he knew the group of people who started the list personally.

"Liar!" I said to myself. I couldn't believe he would lie for popularity. Makes sense to do that though because apparently he's 11th, at least he could come up with an excuse like oh I asked the people to not put me so high in the list to remain a low profile. A humble little liar.

That's exactly what he said to me. He was also interested in knowing where I stand in the list. Awkwardly, I said I didn't know. I should've came up with that too. He told me he'd find out if I want to. I said, "sure. Thank you."

I went over to Alif's table. Amazing. He looked more dogmatic. He actually sounds more dogmatic. I didn't even say anything and he came up to me and said, "Hello 14th. I finally figured out what you meant by calling me 7th yesterday!"

"WHAT?! I'm 14th? I must be worth at least half that figure!" Honestly, I was a little pissed, ranked 14th in an imaginary list.

"No, I'm worth that. 7th, remember?" he calmly explained.

Funny. I wasn't expecting that blow considering I was the one who started the list. Well, I shouldn't be upset. At least Alif is talking. That's a good thing, I guess. His true character is shown. He's the type that would consume everything around him and keep it to himself, rarely forgets, and usually, rarely forgives. It was just one day! How could somebody release his emotions so fast?

I wasn't going to stay there long to remain surprised. Results are more peculiar than I thought. I wonder what's in Sinclair's head.

The rest of that whole day I went looking for Sinclair, the library, the teacher's lounge, that small little space behind the stage in the hall where they keep the tennis rackets, and the smokes. I have no idea why nobody ever restrict access to that place. Probably the teachers go there too, I don't know.

So there I was at almost the end of recess, staying at the gate accompanied with chatter with the prefects. Hence the worry-free option of coming late to class every day. I don't come to school late every day per se, just most of the part of most schooling days. I know all the prefects here. They're sort of my insurance policy.

"Riiiiiiiing!!" The school bell rang.

I really hate that high-pitched sound. Why can't they just make an announcement like "Students get back to class!" or like one of those notification sounds in airports. Both are much more soothing to the ears.

Just before the time I intended to conclude the conversation, I saw a quite familiar figure emerging from the road that connects my school to Sapphire High that eventually leads to the big highway. I thought it was a mirage. It was a really hot day.

It was Sinclair! And it looked like he was coming from Sapphire...

The Town with no Frowns

2009-09-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

By: Qay

Gacy and Arnoud are two ruthless criminals. In the car they’re in now is two briefcases with a combined amount of six million dollars inside, two revolvers with missing bullets under their seats, a rusty machete Gacy packed “just in case”, and a full tank of gas. Behind them, two police motor vehicles in pursuant. This is as much excitement this awfully small state can ever dream of having. The chase is being filmed live on television and practically everyone is glued to the television screen. Oh happy day for newscasters.

Gacy: Come on Arnoud! Let me shoot them down!

Arnoud: No, we can make it. I didn’t install nitrous oxide in this god-forsaken four-wheeler just so you could shoot down more policemen! Didn’t you had enough at the bank?

Gacy: I had to shoot at the bank! He was calling for back-up!

Arnoud: Good point. Now hang on for dear life.

From a highway in the city, they ended up at a narrow stretch of road with the police reasonably far behind, but still visible. Arnoud, in a last bid for freedom, pressed the pedal to the floor. Engines roaring, sweat pouring, hearts missing beats, revolvers feeling the absence of rounds. The evening turned into night.

Now they’re in their comfort zone. As soon as they reached the countryside, they diverted off the paved road and in swift, crushed through rocks and went over mud. Sure, the police cars are fast on highways but they’re no match on undeveloped roads. They disappeared inside the forest. Even the news helicopters could not track them down as it was dark and Arnoud was quite familiar with the road.

Gacy: We’re rich! We’re rich! We’re rich and we’re free!

Arnoud: Shut up man! I’m trying to concent...

And crash goes the car. Little did they know that they were cruising on the rocky roads of a steep hill. Distracted as to where the brakes were, Arnoud accelerated downwards towards a dark and seemingly bottomless gorge. All they could do is hang on for dear life. None of anything else meant anything to them now. The money, the gun, even each other, all insignificant. Falling towards their deaths, they expect and hoped for nothing less.

Miraculously, both of them survived. Shockingly, they woke up on a comfortable bed, with small tubes connecting to their veins in their hands. They were greeted by an awkwardly wide and warm smile.

They woke up at the town with no frowns.

Townspeople 1: Hello, My name’s Annie.

Townspeople 2: My name’s Atta!

Townspeople 3: My name’s Colt... How are you folks?

Arnoud was looking for his gun, so did Gacy. Then they remembered it was still in the car. Arnoud started screaming in panic asking where his car is and Gacy fended off the townspeople. He tried to get off the bed but much to his despair, his right leg is broken. Arnoud only suffered minor scratches on his arms and thighs. He was astonished to find out that all his wounds are bandaged and medicated.

They asked if they wanted to run. Because if they did, they’ll make crutches for them. If they wanted to eat, they’ll make a feast. If they’re thirsty, there’s a fountain of sweet elixir just for them to drink. Even their car is repaired. When Atta handed them the car keys, it was beaming and they could see their own reflection on the car keys.

Atta: Here are your guns too. We polished them for you. Refilled the bullets and scrubbed the barrel. Would you like to try it?

Gacy didn’t know what think. Arnoud, on the other hand, grabbed both the guns from Atta’s hand and with an aggressive look in his face, pointed it everywhere.

Arnoud: Shut up and tell me, where’s the nearest exit out of this place?!

Atta: Oh, sir, here, take my compass. Follow west and you’ll be on your way back.

Arnoud: I don’t know how to read a freaking compass!

Atta: Oh, then here’s our map sir. We just drew the town’s outline. If you follow the road that says exit, you’ll be home in no time. Oh, and sir, if you plan to kill me, point the gun lower to the left.

Arnoud kept the gun but his eyes are still lingering around. It was as if nobody there except for both of them knew the meaning of the word fear. He took the little piece of map suspiciously and looked around. He now realise that he was at someone’s home. Though looks contemporary, he does not see any communications device. There’s no television, no radio, not computers, not even a mobile phone. Gacy took out his mobile phone and there was no signal.

Now they both begin to really panic. Where are they? Who are these weird people? They didn’t want to stay there longer. Arnoud makes a run for the car without Gacy. He pushed the buttons on the remote to unlock the car and he quickly rushed in and closed the door. Little did he noticed that Gacy was not far behind, carried hastily by five big men. They opened the back car door and gently put him down. Both of them were confused as to the condition of the car. It was filled with a pleasant, flowery fragrance, dust-free, and cushions are vacuumed but nothing was missing. Even the briefcases at the back were dusted and neatly placed on top of each other

Arnoud rubbed the side of his head. He didn’t know what to think. He was about to just start the car and run down everything but something inside him just stopped him. He heard the tapping on the car window, it was Colt. Colt is a big man, relatively dark skin and a semi bald head. He was wearing red plaid a button down shirt, black denims and a farmer’s hat.

Colt: Sir, we fixed your car. It took a lot of work but we managed to fix it. If you don’t mind, we changed your tyres too. The old ones we stored at the warehouse. Come back anytime to pick them up okay? Any time. Oh, and there’s food at the back in case you folks get hungry okay?

Arnoud: Okay I give up. What’s the deal here?

Colt: What do you mean?

Arnoud: That! You calling me sir and fixing my car, fixing us. How did you manage to do this overnight even?

Colt: Huh? Overnight? Sir, you’ve been out in a coma for about a year now. Would you like a calendar? I have plenty at the back.

Colt just smiled. Arnoud still thinks it’s a dream. Gacy was at the back, just enjoying the seats. Arnoud lets lose his gun and finally said thank you, but he didn’t need the calendar. He just started the car’s engine and revved the engine.

Colt smiled back and asked if there was anything he can do to make Arnoud more comfortable. Arnoud declined the offer and asked which road he should take. Colt pointed out a road leading to the most beautiful horizon he had ever seen and told Arnoud to just follow it and never look back.

Colt: It’s easier than reading a map or a compass.

Gacy went to the back to get some food. He found freshly baked cookies, fried chicken, chips, strawberry lemonade, basically all his favourite meals. He found next to it another basket of food, Arnoud’s favourite. Gacy ignored what most of us would think an odd situation; he was too hungry to do so.

The townspeople started to gather around them to bid them farewell. They were showered with gifts, even from the little ones. Young girls started to kiss them both on the cheeks, young men shook their hands enthusiastically; older men hugged them while their wives smiled from a visible distance.

Atta: We’re thankful that you people are kind enough to visit this little sleepy town of ours. Thank you.

Arnoud: What.. Is... All... This...

Atta: Sorry about the road here. If we knew you were going to leave today, we would’ve paved it for you.

Arnoud just plainly ran out of words to say. Looking like he was hypnotized, he started the car and just drove slowly away from the crowd. Some of the children followed behind them, tapping the back of the car and saying their goodbyes.

Then off they went to towards the horizon.

While shaking off all his mixed feelings that were ignited in him back at the village, he saw the sign ‘Exiting the town with no frowns’. Right before he drove out of the border, he threw away the guns and the briefcases into a river flowing gracefully next to them...

Gradually, the dusty and muddy road turned into more solid tracks for them to drive on. They will never forget the town with no frowns, even for that brief period conscious they were there. Soon, they saw more people on the road, some even heading towards the town with no frowns. Most of them looked like they were running away from something or just in distress. They didn’t say a word. Slowly, the radio finally picked some signals and their thoughts of the town with no frowns drowned in the background of loud heavy metal.

In a local police station, two police officers were talking while watching over a dozen screens and listening intensely to all the conversations that took place...

Officer 1: So, chief, shall we arrest them?

Officer 2: No, I think the experiment went exactly as planned. Let them be. They’re better citizens now.

Officer 2: Good thing we emptied the suitcases. Oh this is much cheaper than running a prison.

Officer 1: We’ll detonate the bomb under the car when it’s safe. This is too good to be true. Crime rates went down by 90% this method alone and the nation’s productivity just increased 460%. Happy day.

Officer 2: And at least they were showed mercy and compassion before their terrible, terrible deaths.

AweSeries: The List (Part 1)

2009-09-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

By: Epictas

I never thought she would come back. Really, it was more like a dream. She went away for so long, I thought for sure now then it was for the last time and I'll never see her again. I'm just glad she's back. I'll never let her go again, that I promise you.

Well enough about my long lost dog. My name is Saim and what I like to do is play with people's perception. You probably thought my dog was some girl I let go or something. If you didn't, you're not a very good liar then. You see, I'm at the edge of my high school year this year so I thought to myself wouldn't it be nice if I leave the school with some impact that would leave people talking for years to come?

Of course it would be. What a stupid question. I go to an all-boys school and things get really boring at times. Sure, it's a lot of fun but the conflicts often time involve fists and loud cursing. I never get to see people backstab one another or silently crush one's social life like what happened at Sapphire High, an all-girls school just a few blocks away from my school, Xypher High.

So one day during chemistry class a thought manifested itself in my head. I didn't really know where the idea came from or how did my brain acquire the capacity to decipher such a dastardly plan. At first, I only questioned myself, "What would make a guy suppress his emotions so much that it consumes him enough to get pass barbaric fist throwing and succumb to a higher level of hurt?". Then it occured to me. Inadequacy and silenced jealousy.

You see, guys are simple, just ask their mothers. I have a sister who has a citizenship in some foreign country I can't even pronounce so I'm stuck at home with my four younger brothers. Fights are inevitable, of course. But it’s the mechanics of the conflicts that intrigues me. It may look the same to an outsider but there’s much difference in essence of conflicts between my brothers depending on who started the fight, what’s at stake, which one of my parents are home, who’s stronger, who can run faster carrying the toy.. You know, that kinda stuff. I just want to take that mechanics and just see how it plays out in Xypher High.

So that fateful Tuesday morning, I talked to three guys. Alif, the least social non-nerd guy in the whole grade, if not, in the whole school. Abraham, A quite popular guy who’s known for his acting and ‘volunteer’ charity work, and Sinclair, a guy who couldn’t care less about who talks about what. He takes the phrase ‘living in his own world’ to an entirely different level. And yes, every soul in Sapphire High knows who he is. I chose the three of them just because their characters are very similar to that of my brothers. That makes it easier for me to manipulate.

“Sinclair, did you hear?” I started the conversation

“No, and I don’t care.” Sinclair hastily replied.

“But I haven’t said a word!” I tried to catch up with his haste.

“You said four words, now scoot.”

“Oh yeah, who am I kidding. You wouldn’t wanna know about the list.”

Well, so much for a conversation.

Then I pretended to just simply walk away because that certainly nudged him a little. Not enough for him to ask, but enough to make him ponder. I’ll leave his thoughts boiling for now. Next was Abraham.

“Hey Abe! How’s the drama going?” I started with a more upbeat tone.

“Oh it’s going great. I met your friend Safiah yesterday at the animal shelter. She seems to be really fond of the cats there.” Abraham likes talking about people I don’t want to hear about.

“Yeah, I broke up with her because she smells like cat. I’m a dog person. But let’s leave that aside. I’m here to ask about that list I hear people are talking about non-stop! Annoying. You must know all about it. Who started it anyway? I heard some people from Sapphire. You know Amanda, right?” I poked.

“Wait.. what?” A clear interest sparked from the look of his eyes.

“You know! That so called ‘market’ list! It annoys me that they ranked the guys here.” I just made that up on the spot.

“Huh? Wait. Wait. I think I heard of it. I’m not sure who started it... What have you heard dude?” He asked me back.

“I’m not sure, but I heard they did some sorta ranking by calculating how smart, hot, approachable, funny, you are... But like I said, I’m not really sure. Heard you were 11th though.” The list has gotten character and detail.

I knew he would be vain enough to admit that maybe he had heard of that phony list, and that his ego would not allow him to just stand back and accept that he was not one of the ‘marketable’ guys in the school. I left him with that feeling to go talk to Alif.

“Hello 7th! How are you? We haven’t talk to each other for so long..”

“Excuse me?” He was obviously baffled.

“Oh I was just greeting you, 7th.” I smiled widely

“Okay? Err. Bye?”

“Bye man, take care.” I walked away again

And that’s exactly why he’s the least social person in Xypher High. Languid, non-responsive, but unusually intelligent though. Oh how I wait for the next day to come.

Early that night, I called two of the most popular girls in Sapphire High. Both of them, Cammy and Amanda, happen to be two of my closest friends who really can’t stand each other. I just gave them a vague idea of the social experiment I aimlessly and happily named ‘The List’. I knew that the whole school would know about it before they both realise that each of them knew, that’s how large their influence is on the factions in their school. I kinda told them the list was created by some guy named Casper from Etallic High, a rival school of Xypher. I even threw random names of guys in my school and their supposed rank.

That night was one of the few nights I slept knowing that school on Wednesday would be fun. Usually it’s just filled with all my boring science classes.

Come Wednesday, I came to school with a big smile on my face.

(End of Part 1)