Dragonica (Part 1)

The three of them never expected to meet a body sprawled face down on their way to school. It was raining quite generously that morning, and the body was wet and muddy. It looked like a man wearing a heavy black coat, and not far ahead they could see a cap and a scarf soaked in puddle. The three of them grasped their umbrella in a nervous manner. This was certainly a shock. For a few seconds, they just stood there staring at the cold body.

"So is it dead?" asked Carlos, trying to sound calm and sort the situation out. The idea of death made his body shiver. Aileen, who suddenly snapped out of her suprised state, edged away towards Carlos. "Wh...what should we do? I think I'm going to be sick!" she shrieked. She closed her eyes and began to chant some comforting words to herself over and over again. "This must be a dream. This must be a dream."

Val who was the tallest took a look aroud the area. No one else was in sight. It was usually only the three of them who cut through the park early in the morning "Damn, there's no one around too," he sighed. "Can't get help either." The three of them continued to stare back at the body in front of them. Val gulped and began to take a few steps closer towards it. "I'm gonna try and check." As he held out his hand to touch the damp clothing, the body gave a shudder.

Aileen shrieked louder and went behind Carlos for cover. She had let her umbrella go and grasped the back of Carlos' shirt. Carlos held tightly on his umbrella, ready to make use of it as a weapon if anything were to happen. Val on the other hand was the most surprised among them and took a sudden jump to the back. A body who was assumed to be lifeless had suddenly made a move.

The three of them froze as the body began to move more dramatically. At first the hands were trying to support the body up. But whether it was due to the rain or the weak condition of the person, the hands slipped and the body fell again. There was hard grunt and a yelp of pain. Slowly the hands began to push again, and this time the person was able to kneel weakly. The stranger's body was shuddering rather violently, and blood mixed with mud was flowing out from the mouth.

"Geh!" the mysterious man spat to the ground, leaving trails of bloody liquid in front of him. He looked up to see three frightened teenagers huddled together looking scared and confused. The man gave a hearthy laugh. "Haha just my luck to stumble into kids the moment I set foot here." The weak hands began to push even harder for the body to stand up, swaying from left to right as if it was following the blows of the chilly wind. The three of them just gulped at what seemed like a zombie being raised up from the dead.

"Sir," Carlos managed to utter a speech. He looked carefully at the man. "Who are you? And are you okay? Do you need help?" A lot of questions were racing through his head, and he wanted to let it all out in one go. A cold loud laugh from the man made his questioning stop midway. "Hahahaha! Kids! Always asking the obvious," the man exclaimed excitedly. One of his hand was holding his chest rather tight as if bearing the immense pain he was feeling from the good laugh. "Ah, can't waste energy...with my laugh...anymore.." The man coughed and more blood splattered on the ground. Aileen couldn't bear to watch and shoved her face on Carlos' back.

"Come here you," said the man as he pointed towards Val. The three clenched their hands tighter. What does this man want? "Don't worry kid," the man smiled. "I'm in no condition...to bite...geh!" He let out another painful laugh. Val was hesistant at first and exchanged glances with his friends. Carlos and Aileen were uncertain themselves. Val took another look at the man, and inched slowly towards him. The man smiled again and took out something from his pocket.

"Careful, yet brave aren't you?" the man held out his hand forward. "Take this, and keep it safe. And whatever you do, avoid the person called Drake." Seeing that Val was not getting any closer, the man threw an item towards him. Surprised, Val caught it. It was some sort of flat metallic pendant. It was covered in mud, but Val noticed that it had engravings on it. Confused, Val asked, "What is this?"

The man gave another laugh. "So little time, kids," he exclaimed. This time his body was beginning to emit a weird black smoke. Seeing this Val took another leap backwards. The three of them were horrified at what they were looking at. The man just smiled. In an instant, the mysterious person began to crumble and disappeared, leaving trails of ashes with the rainy wind.

Poetic :: I Believe

I believe with my eyes
The beauty of wonder
Splashed and dashed
With the most amazing of colours
The artistry of space
Arranged and sorted
With the most dynamic of positions

I believe with my ears
The melody of nature
Hummed and whistled
With the most harmonious of sounds
The words of wisdom
Uttered and cried
With the most intelligent of voices

I believe with my mind
Of the plans that are laid out
Of the choices that have been made
And I believe with my heart
Of the life I am living
That everything will be just fine.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of the ways people move forward is to believe in yourself. The actions and the future may scare us, but you and I know that we did our best. So get ready to reap the most amazing of rewards. It's been a while readers. Take care and believe in yourself everyone. If you won't, then who will?

Singular Sizzle :: Close

13:40, July 2017

It's hard to trail away from our own memories as one walks through nostalgic grounds. Even though some of the thoughts might not be as pleasing, our brain just jump starts and you'll be having slide shows from the past. At some moments, some may begin to think why such memories still linger.

Summer had arrived. In order to escape the heat, many city dwellers opt to spend their weekend inside a shopping mall. Sophie had her schedule free for the entire day, so she decided to go down to Amazon Mall. She had this sudden calling to come to the mall, even though it was quite a long time since she last came here. Sophie noticed that the parking lot was slightly larger, and the building looked a little different. As she made her way through the entrance, she roughly calculated that there may have been a gap of two years. It was not like the place was far from her home; she just didn't have the usual company she always had two years ago.

Walking through the ground floor was already a stroll down memory lane for Sophie. She remembered how much she and her usual company would stop by the candy store to get some jelly beans. Then she would have to wait for that person to browse for magazines as they came across a bookstore. Finally before going up to the first floor, it was that person's turn to wait as Sophie had to try on some new set of beauty products.

As she rode up the escalator, her lips curled up into a mini smile. Nobody could have noticed, but Sophie knew that the recollections she was having made her feel less lonely. And somewhat relieved. "I'm glad I came here after all," she mumbled as she headed to a favourite place that belonged to her and her long lost company. The place was called The White ice cream shop. She remembered how much that person begged her to have some ice cream there the first time they met. And once she had a taste, even until today, Sophie thinks that it was the best place ever to get some cold treat.

The line at the counter was long as usual, so Sophie decided to wait a while at a vacant table. Her mind began to wander a bit; thinking how much she misses this place and how she kind of misses that person too. "I wonder where he is right now?" she thought.

Some people say that words were prayers. And most believe that sometimes it is answered immediately. Sophie had a shock when a hand waved right in front of her dreaming face. "So it was really you Sophie. Remember me?"

******************************************

17:35, February 2015

"So Darryl, tell me about your dreams," Sophie asked as they sat down with their large scoops of delicious ice cream. Darryl scratched his head a bit before answering. "You mean last night?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "No you silly. I mean your hopes, your future prospect or whatever else people call it."

It was a chilly weekend. The area had just finished a massive downpour, and despite the cold Darryl still insisted that they go out for ice cream. "It's more interesting this way," he explained. Not that she really understands what that means, but Sophie too had the urge for some cold bite.

"Dreams, let's see," Darryl began to think as he licked part of his vanilla flavoured scoop from his spoon. "Well you know I like arts, so my dreams are kind of along those lines. Probably my dream is to dream a lot everyday." Sophie who was listening wiped a bit of her strawberry smudge from her chin. She sighed and answered, "I don't even know if that makes any sense."

They both laughed. The topic ended there, but Sophie knew that Darryl was far from finished. She knew that he was somewhat still thinking about it. That night she received a text from him that went: "If there are ever dreams worth anything; I want you to be a part of it."

**************************************

14:18, July 2017

Sophie could not believe it. Here she was, eating ice cream again with Darryl. It was almost two years since they really talked to each other, and now that they are face to face words seem to fail them. They had small talks about their life progress, work, family. At certain point they would remain silent, immersed in their own thoughts, smiling discretely.

"What happened with us?"

"I don't know. You suddenly went far."

"And you suddenly weren't as close."

"I wonder where all the magic we had went."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: After watching '500 Days of Summer', this sort of inspiration was born. I always believed that every meeting and relationship with someone (be it with families or friends) is magical in it's own ways. Let us pray that the path we're on are the ones we choose, leaving no regrets. Take care!

Poetic :: Take Care (Times Three)

Take care,
From the gleaming sun
And the frigid breeze
From the hazy dust
And rain that will make you sneeze.

Take care,
From physical strain
To any mental stress
From emotional mix ups
And other stuff I might not guess.

Take care,
From whatever it may be
So be gentle and be kind
And be firm and be strong
I'm sure life's going to be just fine.

Here are prayers times three,
For you,
For me,
For the whole wide world.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For all of those who are starting something; be it something new or something that was left aside before. Hey like I always say, take care readers! :)

Poetic :: Rhythm of Friendship

This is for you my friend
A bright star fallen from the sky
Giving warmth that knows no end
No matter when I smile or cry

This is for you my buddy
A soothing drop of potent potion
Reminding me to stay strong and steady
And shout my troubles out to the ocean

This is for you my ally
An everlasting memory in my mind
Just so you know I'll always try
To never ever leave you behind.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: An urgent request from a best friend gave birth to this simple piece. Simple as it is, I still think this looked good. To all readers and friends out there, let's cherish all the simple moments that we have faced and take some rest from the various complexities we are facing. Until next time (wonder when that is), take care!

Poetic :: Long Live Roxanne! (Days Without You)

It is here,
My days without you,
Where things in place,
Are not entirely exactly,
Where stuff are said,
Are not entirely exactly,
For I am a trapped haiku.

"The blaze surrounds me,
The thump grows louder again,
I am alone now."

Long live Roxanne!
Long live Roxanne!
They would hail all night,
While I am there outside the lines,
Praying,
That the flame of memory and resolve,
Shall never fade.

Long live Roxanne,
I will whisper and wave,
And smile and cheer on,
And walk away.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a hectic week, but I finally managed to materialize my part of the activity (sorry for the delay Kak Zaty). Anyways I'm not that good with a haiku, so instead I decided to merge it with a normal form of poem. It was difficult but I hope I pulled it off. It felt like forever re-drafting this one since I kinda felt so apart with this title, but somehow what I'm feeling now is in sync with this piece and I'm happy it turned out the way it is. Enjoy readers, see you guys again! Sorry for blabbering, ciao~

Singular Sizzle :: Rain Diary

22/8/93 – With the curious mind of a 4 year old boy, I stared blankly at the falling water coming from the sky. Mom seemed to call this event as ‘raining’ and would never let me outside. So there I was hands gripping rather loosely upon the grill door, forehead leaning gently against the cold steel, looking up at the sky and wondered who was pouring so much water from such a high place. It looked a lot like the shower I always take; only this so called rain falls on a wider area. I want to go outside. Why can’t I go outside? Mom who was watching me dangling at the door this whole time suddenly said; “Do you want to go outside and play in the rain?” My heart lighted up and quickly nodded to the offer. Mom unlocked the door; I slide it open with all my strength and dashed towards downpour. As countless drops pattered on my little body, I could only exclaim a wow and giggled all the way.

16/6/00 – This was the first time in my life I have ever let someone down. Guilt seemed to manifest wildly from within, and I was forced to bear the silence that evening. Today at school I made a promise with my close friend to walk home together. I was supposed to wait at the gate after school. I was supposed to go there directly when the bell rang. But I forgot and took the bus home instead. To make matters worse, it began to rain that entire evening! I still haven’t noticed that I forgot such an important thing; not until I met him that evening at a tuition centre. He was moody, and he was certainly not talking to me. When another friend told me what happened, my heart sank. Not only did I left him alone to wait, he was also forced to walk back home alone under the rain. I made a mistake, a huge mistake. The continuous heavy downpour from outside seemed to be drum rolling the guilt I was dwelling, so much that I could not focus on other tasks. The only thing I could do was say sorry again and again. Oh rainy day, why did I forget?

1/6/01 – Being at a boarding school doesn’t seem so bad. I’ve been away from home for months now and the experience so far was great. But today something interesting happened. It was raining heavily that evening, and my friend and I had to come to our classroom to tidy up a bit. The wind was extremely cold, the atmosphere was damp and we were quite lazy to do any form of sweeping. Feeling bored inside an empty classroom, my friend decided to go check out the other classrooms to see if there were others present within the academic block. I was in no mood to move about, so I let him go on his own. So there I was alone at the back of the classroom staring out the window at the beautiful falling pallets, when she suddenly entered. Of course I knew who this ‘she’ was, but it seemed like I just noticed her existence today. She had a cute frown on her face and she mumbled something as she closed her wet umbrella. Her red dotted kurung matched her red sling bag, and somehow I really like the colour red. There was a magical aura surrounding her as she sat at her seat completely ignoring me, almost like a grumpy fairy suddenly bursting out of nowhere from the mysterious pouring rain. Hey, is this love?

20/10/05 – Ah the last day of school. The time when you are ready to pack all those memories in the heart and go back home. But wait, my friends and I still had another memory to take back on that day. On the spur of the moment, we decided to take one last tour around the school and get ice-cream as the final goal. So thus we began our journey on a windy afternoon. We climbed through all the stairs, peered through restricted areas and went into almost every classroom. By the time we were satisfied with the academic block, we decided to take a stroll around the wardens’ houses which were located near the female’s hostel. Our intention: to make the girls become aware and look at us. But luck wasn’t not on our side. As we made it halfway through the road, it began to rain hard. Within seconds we were drenched and we had to dash towards the nearest cover. The four of us huffed and puffed and tried to take our breath before all of a sudden; all of us burst into laughing. Like they say, cheeky intentions always come with a price. But we still got our ice-cream despite the freezing downpour, so mission accomplished explorers!

2/1/11 – I don’t know why, it always seemed to rain whenever I wanted to see you. Last time you were soaked when you came down to see me. Today when I wanted to pass something to you, the clouds grumbled and churned louder than my nervous heart. I could even feel a few trickles of water as I zoomed towards where you were. But I’m not having any cheeky intentions here; I just wanted to see you. So why must the rain always be there as if stopping me from ever reaching you. Well who cares if I get wet or soaked or get a fever the next day; as long as I get to see you. But when I think about it carefully now, the rain was probably there to always calm me down. Yeah that must be it. I was always flustered and worried and anxious whenever I wanted to see you. Probably, just probably; the rain was always there to wash those feelings away to make room for confidence. And that’s probably why we got a chance to actually meet.

Dear rain, you have always been there at important moments of my life. You have always been there to make me feel more alive. Please continue to be there. And I’ll promise to always watch you by.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a while since I wrote something. Thank you to Kak Zaty for wanting to participate in this little activity of writing something under the theme of rain. For me, rain is the best weather there is. I love water, rainy day looks romantic and things seemed to slow down when it rains. My perfect rainy day activity would be sitting by the window eating ice-cream! Haha, anyways hope you guys enjoy this latest piece of mine. I'm a bit rusty lately, so please do bear with me as I try and get my composure back. Until next time readers, take care!