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1. I'm nobody. Nobody is perfect. So I am PERFECT :D
2. If you find anything wrong with my blog, please refer to #1...

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Gadsden

I stood on the beach, looked at the far end of the ocean, and felt the water slipping through my toes. In the dark, I saw a person walking closer and closer to me.
     “Still waiting?” a familiar voice asked.
     I raised my head gradually and started to recognize that face. I nodded my head, and turned my eyes back onto the horizon, hoping to see what I’d been waiting for finally appear.
     “I will be in the cabin, if you need me.”
     I heard that voice getting further away, thinking when my life became all about the waiting. It’d been 3 months since I started, but I felt like 3 decades had gone by. I stood here, letting the water slowly take me away and feeling my energy being used up.
     The stars seemed to be extraordinarily bright tonight. Their light reflected on the surface of the sea and lighted up the forest behind me. Flying above the water, two seagulls chased each other. Their feathers were shone by the fireflies looping around, glossy and pretty. A squirrel ran by me, picking up the acorn that she dropped earlier. Pausing for a moment, she stared at me with such pity as if telling me that it—what I yearned for—would never come.
It was getting late. I picked up my sandwich wrapper and started heading towards the cabin, which Nico and I built together. Walking along the beach, I left a series of foot prints that were immediately washed off by the sea completely. I stopped, looking at the trace of me disappear. A strong sense of déjà vu gushed out. Suddenly, my eyes blurred and dizziness came upon me. In a whirling world, I lost my direction.
I woke up on a bed, still feeling vertiginous. I squinted hard and tried to see the surroundings. Gradually, a desk, a chair, and a shelf full of silver wares appeared. I examined the room carefully: the bed was in the center; around the bed was a kingdom of stuffed animals; beside the toys there sit two crystal vases; an old-fashioned chandelier was hung from the ceiling. The entire room was filled with furniture made of rosewood, and a smell of antiques pervaded.
“Knock, knock!” I heard a woman say. She opened the door, came in, and walked straight to the bed where I was still lying at. I looked the woman up and down: she wore a red gaudy outfit and a pearl necklace; her face was smudged with blusher; her perfume smelled like a mixture of ginger and grape fruit.
“Baron! Honey! Wakie wakie!”
“Yes, mother.” It sounded all natural to come out of my mouth.
“Oh! What a lovely day!” She opened up the curtains and looked out from the window. “It is time for you to get dressed, dear.” she smiled at me, “We are going to Mrs. Boastful’s and tailoring you a tuxedo for tomorrow’s wedding.”
“Yes, mother.” The two words jumped right out. I was shocked by how mechanically I responded.
“That’s my little Baron.” She seemed to be contented. “I will meet you downstairs in five.”
“Yes, mother.” I replied.
I didn’t know how much time had gone by before I found myself walking with my mother on the street, wearing a new tuxedo. Everything seemed so familiar: the trees, the flowers, and the benches along the sidewalk…
“Honey, you behaved yourself really well at Mrs. Boastful’s.” said the lady. “Mrs. Boastful is the best tailor on the island. It is such an honour to have her performing a service for us.” She continued, still smiling kindly.
After a while of walking, we sat down on a bench. When I was about to fix my collar, she snatched my hand right away. A rigorous expression appeared on her face. “Listen, Baron. Tomorrow’s wedding is very important to our family. All the royal ones are showing up. If your leg hurt, keep standing. If your eyes ached, leave them alone. If your neck itched, do not scratch it or adjust your shirt.” she said quite disparagingly.
I nodded. Another “yes mother” came out.
I saw the corner of her mouth uplift slightly. “Don’t forget your etiquette honey.” She put her smile back on, “That is the only way you can marry a noble and earn us the social status we’ve always needed.”
“Yes mother.” I answered.
“Duron, Duron! Are you alright?” I heard a voice say.
I opened up my eyes and found myself lying on the beach. Nico stood beside me, looking at me quite anxiously.
“Was it the memory again?” he asked.
I didn’t answer but sat up straight, watching my feet sink into the sand. A wave slapped the shore, washing off Nico’s footprints along the edge. The water receded, and, for a moment, it was a complete silence.
“I tried to erase the past and live on.” I whispered, as if talking to myself, “I tried to forget everything, but all he memories just kept coming up to my mind.”
Nico looked into my eyes. His gaze, for some reason, gave me the strength to look at myself again.
“Don’t be silly.” He touched my head and finally said.
I looked down. The water had taken away the sand around my feet.
Nico reached out and dragged me up from the ground. We stood quietly for a moment, looking at each other.
I watched this young man carefully. His face was emaciated from long hours of toil. His patched shirt was old and torn-up. His shorts were unedged. His toe revealed itself from the hole of the shoe. The finest clothing on him—a belt—was a sea of wrinkles. This was the man who I considered as my brother and who stayed beside me during any hardship.
“It’s getting late.” He said, trembling a little from the wind blowing into his short sleeves. “Come on. Let’s go inside and have couple hours of sleep before the sun rises again.” Having made the decision, he started walking towards the cabin, and I followed him.
The next morning, everything was just as normal to me. I woke up with a headache, tottered to the bathroom, managed to stand there for 5 minutes without slipping, stumbled to the dining table and grabbed some mouldy bread.
“How do you feel, Duron?” Nico asked.
“Bad but ready for the waiting.” I answered with a mouth full of crumbs.
Nico laughed and said teasingly, “Well, I hope you could succeed today.”
I took a handful of bread with me and went out. Before I left, I marked another “X” on the ground. I counted the number of crosses and mumbled to myself, “100 crosses… the 100th day…”
Until now, everything still seemed just as regular.
I went to the beach and sat down on my usual spot. The sun just rose up, spreading a line of goldenness over the sea. A fresh breeze puffed across, leaving a string of dandelions behind. A bevy of seafowl hovered over me, soaring and sailing among the clouds.
Yes, everything was just as habitual.
I laid myself down on the soft sand, closed my eyes, and quietly enjoyed the perfect harmony in this world. A zephyr swept over my face; a humming bird sang to my ears; a leaf dropped onto my eyes; a ship sounded its siren; a…
A ship...
A ship?
I sat up straight immediately and looked out to the far end of the horizon: A gigantic object shrouded in the sunlight moved slowly towards me. As it got closer and closer, I gradually discerned its true image.
It was a straight-stem ship with two masts and one funnel. The moss and shellfish on the hull bottom revealed its long history on the sea, but the iron construction and its length of approximately 400 ft in no way detracted from the magnificence. A flag flied on one of its masts. On the flag was one gigantic word of “Gadsden”, bold and clear.
I was dumbfounded. My mind was completely out of the world. For 3 months, I stood here waiting for it to come, but when it approached me, I started doubting my own eyes.
A sonorous sound of horn woke me up. Seeing the enormous object pulling into shore, I finally was aware that this was the reality.
Nico also heard the siren and was standing beside me already when I noticed his presence. “Duron, my good brother!” he said, not inhibiting his excitement, “the time has finally come.” He touched my hair, looking at me longingly.
I cried. My tears, like the water of the ocean, were surging in my eye sockets and endlessly pouring out. They came from joy, along with the melancholy of leaving my family.
Nico opened his arms wide and hugged me, holding on to me like a father saying goodbye to his grown-up child.
“Go on.” After a moment of pacifying he finally said, “The ship is only pulling over for an hour. You have to go now.”
I looked at him firmly for the last time. Gratitude, nostalgia, and sadness all came upon me.
“Goodbye, Duron. Goodbye, my little brother. ” He said, quivering.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to say—this was the man who saved me from all the suffering and treated me like a sibling. I owed him everything, and how could I express this in an hour?
I shook free from him and quickly ran to the ship, not taking another glance at this place where I lived, laughed, suffered, learned to be brave and met the only person on this planet who loved me.
I leaned against a handrail on the rear end of the ship and watched the island get further away. A soft wind lifted up my hair. This, for another time, reminded me of the days on the beach. Thinking over everything that happened in that territory, I realized how tough I became. Among all the memories, the night that changed my whole life came up to my mind again.
I was in my tuxedo, ready to attend the wedding. My mother and father waited for me downstairs.
“Baron! Honey! Come on down.” My mother urged me.
Baron. That name. I hated it—not only the name itself, but also its meaning, which is “wealthy and royal.” My mom named me that, hoping that I could someday marry a noblewoman and earn the family some reputation. But that was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to be free, without anyone restraining my actions—like a bird. I had always hoped that my name had been “Duron”, meaning free and unconstrained.
“Honey!” My mother yelled again.
“Be right there.” I looked at myself in tuxedo. What a tight outfit! Living in a family like this, I found that my dream would never come true.
Suddenly, I heard someone knocking. I thought my mother had come up to get me, so I went to answer the door. However, to my dismay, no one was there.
“Bong, bong, bong!” the sound continued. I closed my eyes and tried to follow the trace of the sound. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in front of a window, and outside, there sit a cuckoo bird.
“Hello there, little birdie.” I opened the window and greeted.
Seeing the window open, it came in and hovered over my head.
I was surprised by its friendliness, and decided to observe it.
The bird looped a couple times in the air, and landed on the windowsill. It pecked the wood frame and looked up at me. Then, it flew out, but lingered outside and waited for me.
“Are you telling me to follow you?” I was shocked by myself when this came out.
The bird started flying away. For some reason, I felt obligated to catch up to it. Thus, I climbed out of the window, flipped over the balcony, landed on the ground, and started running behind it.
I followed it into a cabin in the forest. Nico was there, sitting on a sofa. It was strangely natural for us to start chatting and getting to know each other. After hearing my situation, Nico offered to let me stay with him. I answered “yes” almost without any hesitation as if I was desperate to leave the course of my life. Then, Nico told me about the ship, the only way to really escape from this dirty world which I hated. It came twice every year to this isolated island and took people to Liberty City. Ever since then, I have waited day and night, hoping to be rescued from this place and obtain real freedom.
I looked at the ocean, little uncomfortable of not waiting for anything. The looking-out-at-the-ocean life had engraved into my deep soul that it had almost become a part of me. Having no ambition, I felt the inside of my heart empty.
As I was thinking about my life, a sound of heels walking on wood floor approached me from the back.
“Baron, my dear,” A lady said.
Baron? The name that had gone out of my life?
Just when I was about to turn my head around, I felt someone pushing me. My body, leaning against a rail, flipped over easily and started its free-falling. In the air, I span like a bird shot down from the sky, like a penalized angel whose wings were cut off. I turned around and looked up at the deck, noticing a woman in red gaudy fitting leaving in a hurry.
Splash!
In the sky, a seagull hovered, soaring and sailing among the clouds.

Monday, November 05, 2012

100 Roses



The dazzling sunshine sprinkles upon my chest
The wind gently blows through your dress
The three words I say to you
Become a warm breath

I come to you with 100 roses in hand
Because you are perfect in my mind
100 roses
100 months
The day you left
To the day we met


Love has never been forgotten
Even when my memory was rotten
Love must never be forgotten
Even if it’s not written

I come to you with 100 roses
100 years
100 promises
The day we met
To forever after

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A Plea for the Sedentary


    My life style is physical. I run every morning, do push-ups before I go to bed, and work out when I have time. However, when I come home with my legs hurting from exercise, dragging on the ground, I wish my life style were a sedentary one.
    I have got used to being so physical that I cannot stop moving. For me, being sedentary is a luxury. However, as a student, my job is to “sit on your butt all day long and read and read and read…” So when I start studying, I always tell myself that I will try, at least try, to stay focused on the book. But not long after that, I find myself escaping from my chair. I attempted to change my lifestyle gradually by adding both physical and sedentary elements to my life—do push-ups while reading a book. This was not useful either. Most of the time, I would concentrate too much on the physical that I forget about the reading.
    I admire my friends who are able to stay at home all day playing video games—this is exactly what I lack. Although sedentary people are always depicted as unhealthy and lazy, I do hope that I am somewhat sedentary so that I could sit still for a little while. To me, someone who cannot endure a life without the physical, settling down for a bit is a dream. Therefore, I sincerely plead those who are trying to get rid of their couch-potato lifestyle, thinking that it is wrong, to remain who you are, because sitting still may become an impossibility once you adapt to your new lifestyle.