Realization. [PART 6]

     All of a sudden, Amy lost all control of her body. Everything felt numb. She fell off her feet as she slumped down on the ground, the phone sliding just out of reach from her hands. The last thing Amy could recall before blacking out was a pair of shoes, Alex's shoes, running towards her.

   Amy awoke in the hospital several hours later. As she blinked her eyes in a futile attempt to adjust her eyes to the bright ceiling light, she turned her head to the left side of her bed. Amy spotted a black tuft of hair belonging to a head, namely, Alex's head, sleeping by her bed. She angled her head for a better view of him. Not seeing him for the short period of time when he was MIA somehow confirmed her about her feelings towards him. She affirmed that her affection for him was more than just a brotherhood-sisterhood relationship. As the idiom goes, you never miss the water till the well runs dry.

   Amy's movements stirred Alex awake. He immediately showered her with questions about her condition, whether or not she needed food, water or anything at all. Amy laughed as she shook her head. His concern for her was genuinely just a sense of protection over a younger sibling. Amy asked Alex for her parents, just when they strolled in from the door. Alex moved silently as he made his way out of the ward. This was a moment that only family members were welcomed, because they had to either break down together or fight to stand together.

     Alex sighed as awareness dawned upon him that they were about to break the bad news to her.

The Video. [PART 5]

Amy stared around her in fascination. The vibrant colours of dozens of multicoloured balloons contrasted sharply with the dull colours of the rooftop, but seemed to blend in just perfectly with the summer sunshine. With the addition of bubbles that reflected the colours of those balloons floating around lazily, the rooftop seemed so much more magical. Amy spotted a picnic blanket spread out in the midst of the entrancing site. She took several hesitant steps towards it and opened the picnic basket on the checkered blanket.

   Inside, a single phone with earphones already plugged in lay solitary on the base of the basket. Amy pressed the play button, her heart racing with.. Eagerness? Curiosity? She herself didn't know what she was expecting to see in the video. For her, all she knew was that she was relieved because Alex was still alive and well.

   Alex's face appeared on the screen of the phone Amy held dearly. As the video proceeded, Amy felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. The video featured Alex as he secretly helped her whenever she needed it. Copying her notes for her by asking her classmates when she was absent. Fanning her without her noticing when she felt hot. Helping her put in a good word to the teachers so she could go on the class trip she longed for. Coming over to her house with porridge in one hand and notes in the other so he could help her with her due project. He was her Santa, her Superman, her tooth fairy all in one.

   As Amy watched the video, she felt soothing warmth envelope her when all of a sudden...

A Leap Of Faith. [PART 4]

   Amy kept spending time with Will, her new boyfriend, that she began to neglect her tight friendship with Alex. Drinks that Alex bought for her went wasted, promises were left unfulfilled and eventually, even their studying dates got cancelled. For Alex, this was the last straw. Jason's words to him lingered in his ear as he finally comprehended the true meaning of those words. A plan began to form in Alex's brain as he figured out his next steps to confront with the problem he had on hand.

   Amy hadn't seen Alex for a week or so. Contacting him proved fruitless, asking his friends was useless. It seemed like he just disappeared without trace from the face of Earth. What with so much going on in her head, it did not help at all that Will grew tired of her because of her seemingly obsession over Alex's disappearance. It wasn't long before Amy caught Will cheating on her with another freshman, but somehow, she wasn't as heartbroken as she had expected she would be. Worrying about Alex took up so much of her mind and focus that even breaking up with Will didn't falter her at all. So when Amy finally found a piece of note slipped between the pages of her book from Alex, she was overwhelmed with relief. The contents of the note were simple. It just read, 'Rooftop. 15/7, 9 a.m. ' .

   Amy walked up the stairs to the rooftop of the isolated building where she used to have heart-to-heart talks with Alex before she met Will. Making her way upwards reminded her of the precious memories when she used to drag Alex with her to watch the sunrise from the panoramic view from the rooftop. Gasping for breath, she leaped up the final stretch of stairs. Amy stopped short as she took in her surroundings. She took one step.. and then two before halting again.

 

Changes. [PART 3]

Alex will never forget that first time he managed to talk to her in the library, albeit it was mostly him stuttering and stammering over his own name. Lucky for him, Amy was, as he guessed, a friendly person who instantly responded to him with a soft voice despite him being such an idiot in front of her. Within months, they grew into fast friends, constantly having study dates together in the library and watching movies together. They were always arguing and teasing one another but, their minds always seemed to be on the same track. Somehow, it was like they could read each other's minds readily.

Alex and Amy had developed a bond that no one else could understand, because they both claimed to be just friends. and nothing more. Jason once asked Alex, if he didn't still have feelings for her like he used to have. Alex replied that he had, in fact, actually confessed to Amy that he used to like her, but they just laughed it off at that time. Jason shook his head in disappointment in Alex. "Haven't you heard of the saying? You never know how much you love somebody until you see them love someone else. I'm just saying this for your own good, bro." Alex stood still as he got lost in his thoughts for a moment before fervently insisting that they're just friends now.

Little did he know that those exact same thoughts would lead to his heartbreak. Just several days later, Alex and Amy went to a cafe to freeload the wifi there. When Alex left to get some drinks for both of them, a guy walked up to Amy and starting flirting with her. Alex came back just in time to watch him leave with a satisfied grin on his face. When Alex asked Amy about it, she squealed in glee as she told him that the guy asked her for her number. And that was when everything changed.

Fate? [PART 2]

After that brief moment of directing Amy to the office, Alex had to bid her goodbye. His heart sank as he realized he may never have the chance to talk to her any more but what was he to do? He was, by nature, a quiet person who could never converse well with girls, unlike his friends who could instantly turn on their charms to make girls laugh. Alex sighed and went on with his way, physically getting away from Amy but never straying far from her mentally.

   Two days later, Alex had to stay back at the campus while waiting for his sister to finish watching a movie with her friends so he could play his role as a responsible driver for her. He figured he might as well go to the library to grab some books for his upcoming project as he knew the pile of projects would eventually start stacking up once classes have formally started. Alex strolled down the aisle, occasionally stopping to flip through several books before adding them to the small mountain of books in his arms. Suddenly, he had a tingly sort of feeling behind his neck, as if his body was nudging his head upwards. He glanced up, only to see Amy standing just a stone's throw away from him. Without thinking, Alex spun around the corner of the bookshelf at lightning speed, in a valiant attempt to disappear from her line of sight before she spotted him. 

   Alex caught his breath as he slowly calmed down. His face broke out into a huge grin he could not suppress as he soared to cloud nine. If she was here, in the library, it meant that she was one of the students in his university! It also meant that he could see her more often although she was probably one of the freshmen. Last time he saw her, he could not screw up the courage to start a proper conversation with her, but Alex resolved to man up at all costs and just talk to her. Even if he got firmly rejected, at least he would know that he would not regret missing this chance in the future. And with that, he turned back to where Amy was standing.. Only to find her spot empty.

   Dejected, Alex retraced his path back to where he was hiding earlier. As he was turning the corner, Alex crashed into someone mid walk. His books flew into the air in a slow motion arch as he registered the person he walked into. It was Amy. Never in his wildest dreams would Alex think this act of fate would happen. He knew his chance came.. and this time, he won't let it escape him again.

The Beginning. [PART 1]

2018

ALEX

What did you say? How it all started? Well, let’s rewind to a few years before this blog post, back when I was merely 20 years of age, and when I first met the love of my life.

2010

ALEX

I’m bored out of my life! What made me think of coming to campus when I didn’t even have classes today? I sigh to myself, lunch with my friends just isn’t a good enough reason for me to come out of my cosy bed. I barely had enough sleep as it is because of my preparations for an upcoming presentation; what made me think that a break from the computer would make my day any better?  I am just wandering through the campus with my friends, a bunch of guys who badly needed haircuts, when I see HER. I stop abruptly in my tracks, ignoring the startled cries of my friends who crash behind my back. Why haven’t I noticed her before? Or perhaps she is a freshman who just signed up for one of the courses in my university? It is highly possible that with my kind of luck, she might just be a random stranger passing by to enquire about something from the office. I sigh, hating that I was already having these pessimistic thoughts before I even got the chance to stand near her, much less talk to her. Suddenly, she looks up from the brochure she was reading, seemingly able to sense the piercing stare I am giving her. I couldn’t avert my eyes fast enough, and our eyes meet for a brief second. I swear, in that short moment, it felt like the clock stopped ticking and everyone stopped moving. Somehow, I know. That she is the one I am going to marry.

AMY

Finally! It’s my first day as a university student and I am already loving it. The campus is filled with other students milling about, and seniors handing out brochures to join their clubs, each claiming to be the best club on campus. I look around with a permanent satisfied smile pasted on my face before starting a slow walk towards the office. I’m trying so hard to decipher the map of the campus on the brochure, but my sense of direction is so bad that I’m making a really bad job out of it. Hmm, let’s see. Around the corner of the pavilion should be the main building, where there are two lion statues as landmarks. I look up, but instead of seeing two lions, I see a guy, a senior, maybe, looking at me. I decide to ask him for directions, since we have already caught the opponents’ attention anyway. 

Dreamy life

Is life all a dream?
Have you ever wondered what would happen after death? Would we be presented to God and be judged whether to be sent to Heaven or Hell? Or would we just wake up to find out that it was all just a dream? For all we know, our lives may very well be exactly like in the movies. We could be observed by other beings, our every action closely monitored by watchful eyes. But that doesn't really matter to me, because I care more about the present, the now that we're living in. As the saying goes, yesterday was past, but today is the present. Because today is a gift, for us to celebrate another day of being in the presence of our loved ones. If life was truly a dream, I am fully committed to living that dream so when I wake up, I could say, "Aah, what a nice dream.", instead of "Oh my goodness, what a horrible nightmare!". This leads to another theoretical question. Would you rather be in the know and be unhappy or be like a fool, but a happy fool? Being the fool that I am, I would choose the latter because to me, happiness just about trumps everything else. So who cares if what we're living now is just a tiny fragment of a dream? I'd much rather be happy without a care in the world than anything else.