Sunday, July 30, 2017

Layered Dream

Okay, this was a dream that occurred a couple of weeks, but I forgot to write about this because my head caved in from the stress of exam results. A lot rode on my performance on the paper… and it led me to alternate between fear and relief. Fear of failing. Relief at being done with another semester.

I dreamt that the three of us were in a room, attending either a lecture or a tutorial. There were no specific indicators on the location. The person who spoke wore glasses… and resembled a lecturer. My sister and I were seated together in the middle row. As he rambled on the weekly course contents and nature of the topics with the speed of a bullet train, I struggled to transcribe each word that was thrown at us. My heart froze when I spied the caricature of someone familiar behind us.

It wasn’t until the break time that I gained the courage to turn my back and sustained a loss of speech. It was him. The person I never expected to meet again. Even my sister repeated that it was impossible. He leaned against the swivel chair and adopted a relaxed aura as his focus was on something else. He looked exceptionally carefree. This revelation made me uneasy as I didn’t want to be in such close proximity as him. Whatever crap I did on the screen, he’d be able to notice.

In the next scene, I loitered in a shaded area as other people minded their business with grocery shopping. A wave of awkwardness washed over me when my phone pierced the simultaneous conversations with its cries. I had left it with the cashier to borrow her phone charger while I killed time. I muttered my excuse and apologies for the interruption. My eyes furrowed when it was a notification, informing me that a friend shared ‘something from the past’. What past, I didn't know. I didn’t have the privacy or time to take a peek at it.

Although the person’s identity was revealed in the dream, I’ll not name him on the public sphere to accord some protection to him. As I later found out, it was indeed a premonition of what was to come. The stranger is in the same stream of core course as me and we’re bound to cross paths again. I had my suspicions late last year… but I guess it is what it is now. Plus, he’ll only know about it on the day itself.

For the second scene, I’d like to think that it's a case of randomness. Knowing how notifications work, you’re only informed if you’ve been tagged or if it concerns you. ‘Something from the past’ could be anything from the sun to the moon… unless it’s years in the future when we’re reflecting on our past and friendship. If that’s the case, then maybe it’s the group hangouts that he might be missing. Again, it’s vaguer than a tinted window for me to interpret.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

A Case of Curious Coincidences (Part 5)

The new year may’ve been celebrated with the beautiful display of fireworks and resolutions, but it brought more challenges for Crystal to conquer. Not only was she emotionally drained from the intensity of working and studying, her academic timetable was in tatters. Accommodating her job, classes, and social time required her to devote more time than she desired on campus.

Her heart sank three feet further into her stomach and she buried her face in her hands at the revelation that Fate threw her and Ryan into the same tutorial yet again. It wasn’t the respite she hoped for because it strained and wore her patience out to have dealt with him for the entire year. Sure, she went to extreme lengths to convince herself that Ryan didn’t harbor any grudges against her. His erratic approach towards her was the result of his temperament and the continuous stress of excellence instead. But what was she fearful of? Her application for a study tour was approved and she’d be setting sail to the far east - to the snowy grounds of Edmonton next semester.

“Screw the bugger for choosing Auckland,” she had whinged once to Tracy. “He’s making me jealous with all of those pictures of Queen Street and Mount Victoria in Devonport.”

“You could still continue with your plan of studying a semester in AUT, though.” Tracy raised an eyebrow. “It’s not as if you’re doing in at the same time or campus as Ryan.”

“Come to think of it, I think I’ll be adventurous and head off to Canada instead while experiencing my first and only white Christmas.”

With a cheery smile that lit up the sombre aura of the room, Crystal made herself comfortable as she waited for the rest of the students and tutor to float into the area. Breathing the same air as Ryan for the umpteenth time made her nervous because there was a chance history would repeat itself. She sighed, recollecting that this was the same location for their morning class last year and how his guts almost spilled on the carpeted floor when he saw her neutral expression as he entered.

Snap out of it, a little voice reminded her. Just be yourself.

Little did Crystal expect the cards that Ryan would throw in the fire.

What made the class experience worse for Ryan was the fact that all of the students were required to present a topic of their choice from the course content. He was alright with class presentations, but his friend, who promised to join him in this course, withdrew at the eleventh hour for another subject. His friend’s decision left him in a dilemma because he didn’t have an alternative subject to enroll in and he didn’t know anyone - or so he thought. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spied Crystal minding her own business in the class. She must’ve been fixated on something because she hadn’t heard his entrance. He secretly observed her conduct for the first half of the class time and satisfied that she, like him, was a stranger to their peers, he swallowed his pride and went against his wishes. He gingerly approached her and asked whether she’d be willing to collaborate with him for the presentation as they were already familiar with each other’s work ethics.

His request must’ve shocked her into silence because he saw her eyes dilated with a mixture of shock and surprise.

“I guess it’s alright.” Crystal found her voice. “It’d make our lives easier if we work together again and there wouldn’t be any glitches.”

“Awesome! What topic would you like to do? I’ll leave the choice to you.”

“I’m alright with anything. Do you have something on mind?”

He rattled a couple of options. “Then again, it’s dependent on what the other groups have chosen.”

“We’ll see how it plays out. Who knows if we’d be lucky to nail the first option?”

Thursday, July 6, 2017

7/6/17

It's a wrap for me - or at least I'd like to think so.

Now that I've a limited form of freedom, it will allow me to tackle and digest the disappointing piece of news from home. Approaching it from a third party's standpoint would be better for my emotions, but there's too much at stake for me not to care. I can hear my heart cracking whenever I find myself thinking of it - with regrets, unfortunately. It almost knocked me off my feet when it first landed on my doormat, but I chose to mask the shock with the exam revisions (for my benefit). It's the season - where revision week has the ability to drown everyone in extra doses of stress. And I don't need heavier shoulders, so to speak.

I don't know how I performed on the paper. It's been a while since I've approached an exam with a resigned fate, so I don't know how I should react. I've either caught myself shaking with panic or crying to death the moment they allowed us out of the exam hall. For this particular paper, all I felt was ... relief. I didn't have any pre-exam stress (where I soiled my cheeks and exam paper with tears) either. Inasmuch as I need to let the body and brain take a couple of days off, I have to deal with it soon, sigh. I’ve hung on by a thread since the end of the semester. My concentration and patience were stretched to the breaking point by unwelcome distractions at ungodly hours. It’s a wonder how I managed to stay awake with about only 2-3 hours of sleep until after I was done with the exam. Oh well, it is what it is. It’s all done and dusted. Time to temporarily abandon my social media accounts and do my own thing until next semester.

Just as and when I am penning this post, a flashback from my sojourn in Taipei has returned to visit me. I can’t remember the street names, but we ventured far from the hotel to land ourselves in the subway stalls and a large shopping mall.

I’ve scheduled a couple of posts in my absence. I’ll try to visit and leave comments on your blogs - but this is dependent on the space in my schedule.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Borrowed Time

Time is slipping through my fingers. I can feel it. Being with these two lovely amigos will always remind me that we’re hanging out on borrowed time. Depending on how I play with my deck of cards, there is a chance that we’ll have limited face-to-face contact in the future. It makes me sigh whenever I think of that day. I don’t know what would happen or how things would be, but I don’t want them to send me off with raw, rimmed eyes. Including me. Trust me, it would be embarrassing when the flight passenger next to me taps me on the forearm with a tissue.



Why such a somber note, you may ask. The reason is this. In my years of undergraduate studies, it’s hard to find true friends who will have your best interests. I’ve hidden beneath the rigid facade to avoid landing on my face. These two lovely amigos strove in their own ways to ensure that I don’t fall back on my mask. We have an implied agreement to bask in each other’s presence as a group of three - and this involves all topics under the sun.

It is with this in mind that we arranged for a burger date. Yes, you read that right. A burger date, but with three stressed and sleep deprived musketeers in the middle of exam revisions. I was a tad bit hesitant on this because their exams were much earlier than mine, but we went ahead with it since we had our separate after-exams plans. As we entered the cafe, my brain had a laugh when we snatched each other’s floor and said the same thing at the same time. It’s like we read each other’s mind and I thought I heard my sister’s faint chuckle at the coincidence. I remembered the awkwardness that descended upon me. It was a moment of silence before he answered my question, but I narrowly and gently pried my way out of answering it. I guess I was thankful that I didn’t turn cherry red, thanks. I don’t need to be a walking tomato in front of them again, lol.

I know I craved for burgers. I’ll be happier if someone transported me to Big Hug instead. But I’ll be satisfied with what I have. A cheeseburger. Truth be told, I struggled to finish the one on my plate - and we’re talking about a burger the size of my palm - when my hand stole French fries and a basket of sweet potato fritters. Okay, not steal per se. More like pinched. Call it habitual. I love French fries but things did not turn out well the last time I ate an entire box of it. God knows what he thought, but moments after I pinched a couple of fries, he offered us - my sister and I - his plate. I suspected it’s because he was aware that both of us have no qualms about eating it.

It doesn’t matter whether we’re catching up over lunch or on campus. It is always with these two that I laugh the hardest. I laugh until I whimper with tears… and it’ll be tough for me to maintain a straight face. A mere glance at either one of them is enough to send my stomach rolling with glee. I don’t know why; a sense of warmth is what I feel with these two. It’s like i feel the most relaxed with them. Sweet like oranges, they are but what I admire the most about them is their spines of steel.

This is something that I will miss, regardless of whether the day of my departure arrives.

If I play my deck of cards with the right amount of accuracy, time, and luck, I might be able to maintain the frequency of our hangouts. Heck, we could have those Friday dinners after work monthly!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...