SUMMER (PT.3)
For one last time, before she finds relief and release, she placed her hand over her heart. It was beating; despite the woe her heart was experiencing, it was still beating strong and well. For the first time in her life, spring has come, and she was at ease. She sauntered towards the window and let the fresh air in for the first time. She gazed at the old, sturdy willow tree and then at the frail-looking fledgling that has been trying to fly. Just a while ago, she had thought what if the fledgling falls, but now, as it took a leap, she was positive that the fledgling would have a pleasant sensation, one of elation and liberation.
Everyone thought she was perfect just because she had all the luxury, the money, and the looks that anyone ever wanted. She spoke so eloquently that people fell for her guise. She smiled so happily that people viewed her as a much-loved person. Yet, anyone hardly knew how broken she was for she cried her heart out every night and wished she disappeared every morning. Her spirit was sinking, yet everyone thought she was perfectly fine. In this noisy silence which she was trying her hardest to escape, she fell victim to the indifference the people around her posed. All she ever wanted in this cruel, ignorant society was simple: love and care from the people whom she gave her all.
She finally realized, however. All this time, she had wanted to be at peace, but she had failed to discern that it was a want, not a need. Everything was ephemeral and so was that gloomy perception. The dark enveloped the world at night, but when daybreak came, the sunlight engulfed the dark. Blackness eliminated the candlelight, but once the candle is lit, the brightness terminated the blackness. The shadow consumed a dim room, but as soon as the light is switched on, the light swallowed the shadow. This gloomy perception, too, with the passing of time will go by and cease to exist. She finally realized that she had all the power in her hand to end the monster inside of her. She had all the power in her hand to decide the last scene of her journey. And in order to do so, she just had to try harder to embrace, befriend, and live for herself.
The first light of the morn kissed her rosy cheeks, and her starry eyes opened. Waking up was not a pleasure, rather a torment, before, but today was different: she felt serene, ecstatic, and best of all, alive. She immediately reached out for her phone and dialed her parents’ number. Instead of waiting for them to express their love for her, she decided to take the lead and call them every morning and night. If they were busy, she would try again. After all, deep down inside, she knew they truly loved and cared for her, and so she has to try harder. With an anxious heart, she waited for the call to pass through. Her parents picked up. They answered. They listened to her. With endearment.
The monotone noise of several dozens of people drowned the peaceful silence of the morning. Inside the clustered classroom, crumpled papers and paper airplanes flew. Some heads were on the tables while some legs did not even touch the ground. Basketballs were exchanged, and so were words. Ignoring the commotion and the mundane activities going on, she entered the room, tall and proud. The clamor died down. Both confusion and wonderment took control of the students as she somehow looked different, the good different, however. The answer to this atmosphere lay in the smile she was currently wearing for it was one they have never seen before. It was a smile, a real smile.
Black and white. Joy and sorrow. Cold and hot. Just like these contrasts, she was loved except she wasn’t. She was summer on the outside, winter on the inside. This girl was alive yet dead. Nonetheless, she came to comprehend that it was part of life. The contrasts have to coexist in the world for each of them to exist. Without the bad, the good wouldn’t subsist and vice versa. What’s important is the way she chooses to live and view the world: be pessimistic and frail or be optimistic and strong. And without any deliberation and doubts, she can confidently answer that her choice is to be optimistic, strong, and to live for herself for she has found a purpose. She has been the target of many bullets of pretense and indifference, and yet no matter how weak her shield turned out to be, she was able to rise up again. And along the way, she has met a real friend. A friend that will not backstab. A friend that will be by her side. A friend that will last forever. She has led such a beautiful, worthwhile life where she has played as the protagonist stupendously. The once-lost girl has finally met herself. And her name was SUMMER.
- Jasmine, May Rose (Red-12)
WORDS FROM WITHIN
- Jasmine, May Rose (Red-12)
The following two poems, which are translated versions of each other, are based on La Señorita Julia, a Spanish short story written by Ana Cortesi-Jarvis.
LIMERENCE
(English Version)
The breeze blew,
Susurrating the ethereal beauty of the world,
Carrying the otherworldly aroma of jasmines,
Choreographing the delicate dance of the white lace curtains.
Fixed on the wall,
A portrait of a maiden hung beautifully;
The feminine gown she is attiring,
The subtle makeup she is wearing,
The white daisies she is holding
Do no justice to her beauty
For the maiden herself is ethereal.
A goddess she is,
She possesses an innocent face
With a fair complexion.
Her jet black, silky hair
Flows down smoothly, shaping her profile.
Her eyes shine so bright
That the brightest star stands no chance.
And with her lovely brow,
And the curve of her full, red lips,
Her beauty is as perfect as beauty itself.
As soon as he laid his eyes upon her,
Even though he knew nothing about her,
He was certain of one thing:
How she owns the world,
She owns his heart.
For he thought,
“I'm gonna make you
Smile only at me,
Look only at me.
I will be yours, and
You will be mine.
We will be an us.”
Whilst he was busy fantasizing about his “wife,”
A voice which evinces that time has got the best of her
Abruptly stopped his reverie.
“That was me when I was in my youth,”
The owner of the voice said.
His eyes fell upon the grey-haired lady.
Shaky not flowery voice,
Slouched not shapely girlish shoulders,
Wrinkles not baby-soft skin,
Homely not flawless beauty,
Old not fresh youth.
He loves yet he abhors.
He cherishes yet he neglects.
He adores yet he loathes.
He’s not used to this combination.
The combination which is truly foreign.
So foreign that it is suffocating him.
Suffocating to the extent that he can no longer stand.
Slowly.
The petals of the daisies fell one by one.
Swiftly.
The daisies withered.
FOOTSTEPS
Horror Series: Footsteps
-Thin Rati Oo
This story is a “rescripted” version based on the true story of two anonymous sisters’ - name replacements: Lily [older] and Lydia [younger] - eerie encounter in their uncanny house. The story is told from the point of view of the older sister who was nine years old when the incident occured. Since this story is rewritten as a novelle, the story will be broken down into parts for publishment. Ergo, I hope that you all will understand about the short uploads and enjoy reading this first story of the Horror Series!
Part I: Prologue
The Flask, Highgate
October 11th, 1967
Dear Diary,
Greetings! The lovely Lily is writing again, yes at midnight. I shouldn't be writing by this hour, but I couldn’t help: my guts are driving me nuts. Diary, I really, really need to confess. From the point I was certainly mature enough to notice things, I became conscious of something: I wasn’t fond of the house at all. Since a pipsqueak, I was terrified of the dark, dark upstairs. I never felt safe. That’s the reason why mammy always kept the lights switched on at bedtime all the time. Today was awfully an eldritch day. Yes, another day of sinister. Mammy left me and my pesky little sister alone. That’s so not cool. Psst, not again. Why do I keep hearing bloody wails from the crooked cellar? Is that Lydia? That little girl needs to stop screaming: she had screeched enough for today. Wait a minute. Lydia’s downstairs…
CHINESE AND BURMESE GREETINGS
-Sarah
1.Hello.
你好 (ni hao)
မင်္ဂလာပါ။ (min ga lar ba)
2. How are you?
你好吗? (ni hao ma)
နေကောင်းလား။ (nay kaung larr)
3.Nice to meet you.
很高兴见到你 (Hěn gāoxìng jiàn dào nǐ)
တွေ့ရတာဝမ်းသာပါတယ်။ (twae yar tar wan dar bar dae)
4. Good morning.
早上好 (Zǎoshang hǎo)
မင်္ဂလာနံနက်ခင်းပါ။ (min ga lar nan net kin ba)
5.Good evening.
下午好 (Xiàwǔ hǎo)
မင်္ဂလာညနေပခင်းပါ။ (min ga lar nay lae kin ba)
6. Good afternoon.
中午好 (Zhōngwǔ hǎo)
မင်္ဂလာနေ့လည်ခင်းပါ။ (min ga lar nay lae kin ba)
7. Good night.
晚安 (wan ann)
ကောင်းသောညပါ။ (kaung thaw nya ba)
WORDS FROM WITHIN
Sonnets
A LOST LILAC
-Jasmine, R12
A pained, wretched smile twinkled in sheer horror;
A pair of terror-stricken eyes stared back;
The intimate stranger in the mirror
Pierced my soul, looking for its lost lilac.
As I gave in, I made myself a Mask,
A mask which hid my flaws, my defects, me.
All the countless scars I have formed are asps
Haunting till my end, hissing whys and pleas.
The words “love,” and “myself” do not fuse well;
Why do I dislike and abhor myself?
Why am I making mistakes? ‘Tis a spell.
Why did I yield to the Dark which engulfs?
I now fathom: when winter melts, spring blooms.
These dull whys have changed to stars; love has boomed.
SUMMER PT.2
- Jasmine & May Rose (Red 12)
At school-age, she was put into a prestigious school. Many boys and girls befriended her. She was more than happy to be surrounded by such friends that were giving her all the attention she had longed for; they were her answer. She felt loved. Eventually, she soon came to realize that all her so-called friends were using her name and fame. She really did believe they were her answer, for she was naive and oblivious to the dark truths the world held. She had never imagined that they were faking everything; this hurt her mentally and left a scar on her already-damaged heart.
Even though she had a clear understanding of how her friends were fake, she was hungry for attention, even if it was feigned. After all, to a point, she finally got what she wanted. With the fear of being consumed by her thoughts, she withstood the monstrous pain. With the fear of being left alone in the dark, despite the heartache, she chose to quench this desire in her.
However, she was only human; there was only so much she could handle. There were times when she could not bear the pain and broke down. She would soullessly stare at the ceiling while all the negative thoughts about herself ate her up. She felt lost in a void of nothingness. She was starting to get tired of everything. It was getting worse, and yet no one lent her a hand.
Day by day, it was getting harder for her to keep up with the facade. Crying her heart out was the only way out. However, as the monster inside her grew, crying did not help. Without thinking twice, the shiny steel under her desk became her Friend, her only salvation. Looking at the drops of agony and anguish breaking free, she felt satisfied—the pain inflicted by her Friend was incomparable to the pain inflicted by the people she loved.
The following day, she would pretend that everything was fine. She would crack jokes with her friends and do every crazy things possible, but when she got home, she sat silently in despair. No matter how hard she tried to stop the pain, even for a second, nothing, not even her Friend, seemed to work. All those negative thoughts about anyone hardly loving and caring about her kept creeping into her mind. The silent reaper was doing its job and she knew it well; she was already losing.
However, Abigail, her one close friend was the only person who saw how broken she was.
“Show me.”
“What? Why?” she replied, puzzled.
“I want to see how many times you needed me, and I wasn’t there for you,” she whispered.
Abigail made her feel wanted and loved. She had stayed by her side as she battled the silent monster. She saw Abby as her ray of light, her true friend. She was the lost key. She was the One.
One day, she overheard a conversation between Abigail and her classmates talking about her. She heard Abigail’s friend, Hayes, asking her whether she really liked her.
“Why would I? I’m not stupid. I’m just using her name. Why would I like that depressive maniac ?”
“Oh, for a minute, I thought you really liked her. I mean you guys are inseparable, and you only play with her. You even play dress up with her even though you hate it.”
“C’mon, it’s all an act. Everything’s an act.”
Heartbroken by Abigail’s answer, she ran back home and raced to her room. All the stars in her eyes died; now, there is nothing but a black void. She could not believe how foolish she was to believe in Abigail to be her salvation. She felt so stupid for not knowing the truth. After crying her heart out, she wiped out her tears and looked around the room. Her eyes caught on an object which the rays of the sun laid on - a bottle of answer and comfort. She walked towards it, and took out a handful of solace. After all, she has got no more tears left to cry; she has got nothing to lose for she has already given up.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
CHINESE NUMERALS
Sarah (Red-10)
Digit Simplified Traditional Pinyin
1 一 壹 yee
2 二 貳 uhr
3 三 參 sahn
4 四 肆 suh
5 五 伍 woo
6 六 陸 lyo
7 七 柒 chee
8 八 捌 bah
9 九 玖 jyo
10 十 拾 shi
SUMMER
A girl endowed with intelligence. A girl bestowed with the beauty of an angel. A girl who was known for being perfect. A tall and slender girl she was, she also possessed a fair complexion with a hint of pinkish glow. With her silky hair that ever shone in a way that it would not have even on the brightest of days whenever it caught the sunlight, she would make Rapunzel jealous. Every time she smiled, her hazel eyes would twinkle as if they held the entire universe in them. The winsome laugh and smile that her full, red lips always wore are magic itself; they always washed away the dark and sadness and brought light and happiness with them. Thus, it was no surprise that people want to be her. This girl had everything wrapped up in the palm of her hands; she was the epitome of perfection.
Everyone assumed she was perfect - she had the looks, a rich loving family, and good friends. Apart from being perfect in every way imaginable, she also loved to help people who were in need, especially people who had suicidal urges and people who constantly felt alienated. She would reassure the person, that the feelings that clung to them were just transient, and she would try to make them feel wanted. Without a doubt, she was loved by everyone. Looking at the surface, it was an ideal life.
This is where the proverb, “Do not judge a book by its cover,” comes into play. Since everyone considered her to be perfect, he or she would never have come across the thought of her experiencing hardships such as embracing the silence, weeping soundlessly in bed, and befriending the thoughts of leaving this lonely world. People seemed to have chosen to underestimate the power pain possesses and what it is capable of doing to a person. People seemed to have forgotten the truth that everyone is struggling in actuality. People seemed to have shunned the fact that some people are better at hiding it behind a mask they created for themselves. No, rather, they all have chosen to lie, to ignore the reality out of indifference and fear. However, the truth is the truth; it is impossible to defy it. She, the perfect girl, was trying to cope with the agony alone.
Her sobs contained all the sorrow present in the world; her sobs clenched onto all the unattainable hopes and happiness. Hearing her inconsolable, silent cries of help would break your heart. Her laughter contained all the rapture present in the world; her laughter triumphed over all the disbelief and sadness. Hearing her joyous, soft chuckles of blessing would mend your heart. You might ponder how someone can be strong and weak at the same time, how someone can be happy and sad at the same time. One might answer that people are as strong as diamond, yet as fragile as glass. Where there is happiness, there is sorrow. These are part of life, but that was not her case. Whether she be a diamond or glass, she was broken. She had lost the key to the door she had locked and hidden behind. She was the embodiment of desolation. All the ecstasy she had ever felt was a mirage of the past.
Right after her birth, her parents’ business thrived. Their lives were busied with the matters of their company. They prospered in return. Since she was their only child, she was left with a nanny to look after her. Since she was their only child, both her parents always showered her with things she wanted, so they could fulfill every kid’s said dream - to play with as many toys as possible. But that wasn’t what she longed for. All she ever desired was their love and care; she wanted nothing more.
For the first two to three years, her parents would find the time to spend their days with her and go on family vacations. However, as the years went by, her parents couldn’t afford time for her anymore. Despite knowing this fact, she wouldn’t stop praying they would spend time with her, even if it was for a second. This wish would always grow stronger on her birthdays. Instead, every birthday, her parents would send various types of gifts and throw marvelous parties for her. Due to this, a sense of loneliness started to creep slowly into her mind.
Whenever she saw families laughing their hearts out and having the time of their lives, her heart ached. It pained her that her parents were not there for her when she needed them the most. Her parents never understood that the only thing that she ever wanted from them wasn’t material luxury but their attention and parental love. She used to think receiving love from her very own parents was easy and that they would open up sooner or later as long as she gave her best. However, as time passed by, she felt like a fool for wanting what she could never have. The sense of loneliness now gradually made its way to depression.
Nowadays, the only time they would meet and spend time together was when they have to attend business gatherings or have photoshoots for magazines, but right after they completed these formalities, her parents would leave her without saying goodbye. These actions never failed to make her question if they truly loved her. However, these events were the only way she could spend time with them, even if it was to pretend they were the perfect family. She had come to what she thought to be content and put her mind at ease with these; she was grateful for these little moments.
To be continued...
- Jasmine & May Rose (Red 12)