BeNaCom - Beginners’ Narrative Compilations

男人啊，男人，你们的心还是温的吗，又或者给贱狗吃去了。不知道是不是近年来空气污染指数逐渐提高，男人们搞户外活动又机密，使到原本清晰地的小红心，便成不绝如缕的狼崽子心，男心与狼心还会有分别吗! 没错，男人心往往回比女人的心多出一倍的空间，那一倍的空间站，就是让女性伤痛的恶作剧。男人就是这样的，往往会找一千个借口去隐瞒不法之作，只因老婆让人厌，情人太麻烦，小姐最好玩，对现代的男人来说爱情原本就只是一个借口或谎言，甚至是包袱。说的过分点，爱情只是性的必需品，紧急时万恩请求，解决后挥之而去，那妓女与情人有何分别呢! 一半的男人在爱情产生前，早有对她有性的冲动，渴望得到她的一切，甚至肉体的快感。

在男人的心里往往都会有两个女人，一个圣洁的妻或女友，一个热烈的情妇。男人都渴望左拥右抱，两全其美，不过世界上那有那么完美无缺的奇遇。天下男人皆同此心，天性的渴望永远是改不了，有杀过无放过。对男人来说新鲜感往往胜过怀旧指数，与交往已久的女友反目成仇，就只在于乞的新欢的怜爱，值得吗。那只会另双方流下悲不可测的旋涡中，深深的憎恨对方，回忆往往就会停在痛苦的边缘。在日常生活中，我们时常看见一对对情侣亲密的牵手示众，你认为他们的心是静的吗，他们往往并不是已开心的一面去迎接世界，他们的痛你有何品尝到。男人变心指数往往会快过火山爆发的层次，一两秒就抛出我们分手吧、我已对你没感情了，甚至长篇大论的数出你的缺点。

女人往往不甘心游戏玩到一半就GAMEOVER了，挽留计划取代了冲动举止，自己骗自己凡事还可挽留，就当作发场梦吧。恋爱中的女人总是这样的执迷不悟，一定要的到伤无可伤才可领悟，是她们愚蠢，还是她们多情呢。多情的女子往往是可爱善良的，为何良心付出了，却看到换了口味的狼，吃素的狼还会是狼吗?

其实男人和女人又有何分别呢，男男女女都本性相近，演绎同样的悲剧，情节与对白也有惊人的相似，只不过时间人物地点不同了，宿命的结局又如何逃过呢! 让我们心比心，重新思索，男人出 轨，是男人自找苦吃，还是女人心态的不平衡。男人从出生就是一只懂得欣赏的动物，他们对一切美的事物都往眼里放，心里藏，让他们走向自我焚灭的地步，这是天性。女人的怀疑心是当男方举止无时无刻都在牵着你的手，心里却想着另一个脸孔时，被第六感发现，嫉妒与怀疑心抵押不住爱你的情，悲剧就此发生。男人本来就是贱中带奸，奸中又表露出楚楚可怜的动物，怪不得乌鸦嘴里的那块肉会被狼骗下来。

爱，其实可以很简单，也可以很复杂，只要将彼此的心打开，凡事学会体谅，平平凡凡的爱，也会变成真挚的爱。你用这么的心态去对待爱情，就必拿到怎样的回报。爱情只是心灵上的寄托，没有了可以重来，哪有何必执迷不悟呢! 我们就快快乐乐的当个爱情的学徒吧。所谓人非圣贤，孰能无过，何况是贱男，贱男们拿出你们的真心，对待每一段神圣的爱情吧，我相信贱男也有出路的一天。

Love: Chocolate

Chocolates like me seem to have some connection to love and relationships. And like dark chocolates, love can also be bitter. I learned this sad truth through the one and only experience in my life.

This experience started when I was bought by a guy in his late twenties. One late night when there was a full moon and he was walking with his girlfriend in the local park..

“Will you marry me?” he said as he got down on one knee in front of her.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she replied with a simple “Yes”.

“We will get married in a month’s time. My gift to you, for now, is this box of chocolate.” He took me out and held me in his hands for her to see. “There are exactly twenty-eight pieces in it. I want you to eat one piece a day. Every day, you will have a little piece of my love and be one day closer to our wedding day. Can you do that for me, my love?”

She nodded her head and hugged him as tight as she could. Both of them were crying and smiling at the same time. I felt a warm feeling in me at that moment. I think it was happiness.

The next two weeks were the happiest two weeks of their lives. They went out together every day just for the company of each other, if for nothing else. Every night, she would come home, open the fridge and eat a piece of me. By the end of the two weeks, only half of me remained. I was happy to sacrifice myself for the love of these two humans. Their individual lives had entwined and it was becoming a living fairytale.

But you see, the problem was that fairytales don’t exist. Exactly two weeks before their wedding, he crashed his Mitsubishi into a streetlight. He was critically injured and the accident rendered him comatose. His family was understandably very distraught and paid for the best doctors to cure him.

All the doctors said the same things. At most, he had a month left and he might never even wake up before that time came. His only hope was through prayer and support from family and friends and a miracle might happen.

However, the strangest thing was that she, his fiancee, didn’t seem the least bit upset. She did visit him daily for the whole of the following week but for never more than 5 minutes. She also stopped eating a piece of me every day. I was pushed further back day by day as she put more things into the fridge.

The visits to the hospital became less frequent. She was living her life as though she never met him and went out shopping with her girlfriends. On the day of the supposed wedding, she went to visit him - because her supposed mother-in-law had begged her to.

During the 5 minutes that she was there, a miracle did happen. He woke up from his deep sleep. He smiled when he saw his family and friends standing around him, some were crying and some were just too stunned. She stood among them emotionless. Nevertheless, she was the first person he talked to.

“Hello, dear. How long have I been asleep?” he tried to joke.

“Two weeks.” A short and direct reply.

Realisation dawned on him. “That makes today our wedding day! We should get married right now in the hospital!” He rambled on, “Mom, Dad, could you please get our pastor here to marry us? I’m very excited to..”

She interrupted him. “I didn’t finish it.”

“Pardon?”

All eyes in the room were on her now. She continued, “I didn’t finish the chocolate you gave me. I think we’re not right for each other. We should start seeing other people.”

He didn’t reply. He couldn’t reply.

“It’s over.” And she walked out of the hospital room and out of his life.

He died in the hospital that night, when the moon was full. It was strange because the doctors had expected a full recovery when he awoke from his coma. She didn’t attend his funeral the next day.

As for me, I will continue living as long as the fridge is supplied with electricity. I don’t think she will ever notice me hidden behind the butter compartment. Sometimes when I feel down, I think of it as a blessing in disguise. Most of my chocolate mates no longer exist, while I remain in this world, without my other half.

Human love does not last forever, it has an expiry date just like the one I have.

Written by Adrien

Life: Street Light

How I love sunsets! Every evening, my eyes open to witness the most beautiful scenery in the world - the sun setting in the distant horizon. The colors are all perfect at that moment. But that moment does not last long, it turns dark quickly and I have to focus my attention on the road.

I cannot see during the day so I may not know that much about life. I lead a relatively uninteresting life. Relative to a human, that is. I stand in the same spot beside the road all alone. My two other street light friends are half a mile away from each side of me and we can only hear each other if we shout.

Sometimes when I am very bored and sleepy, I play a game by myself to keep my eyes open. The game is to try and guess the make of an approaching car. This is a very challenging game because it is very dark at night. The highest score I ever got was 2 out of 9 cars in one single night. Mercedes headlights are easy to identify and 2 of those cars passed me that night.

Oh yes, not many cars pass by me because I am stationed at a very isolated place. I never complain because I know I have an important job at hand. I always tell my friends, “We are the Sun’s substitutes for at least 10 hours. That is quite important, isn’t it?” But they never listen and go on shouting for hours about how boring their life is. I wonder why they are my friends - probably because they look like me. We tend to find friends who resemble us in one way or another, I guess.

Anyway, one night I was playing that same game and I shouted with glee when I looked at an approaching car. Mercedes headlights!! All of a sudden, one car became two. Both cars were travelling at breakneck speed. It took me a moment to realise that it was another car trying to overtake the Merz from the right. That car had green neon lighting coming from underneath. Honda? Mitsubishi?

I was still trying to choose when I heard a deafening honking sound coming from something that passed me. It was a huge semi-truck, its driver blasting his horn repeatedly like nobody’s business. Wow! 3 vehicles in the space of one minute, what are the odds of that?

Then, reality hit me. I had heard of horror stories from word of street lights where speeding cars hit each other. Humans died. My thin metal body shivered as I thought of all the terrible things that I was going to witness. I wanted to cover my eyes, but I couldn’t. I could only wait for what was about to happen.

The Mitsubishi (I guessed Honda. *sulks*) was still in the lane of the oncoming semi. The Merz didn’t slow down to allow it to move into his lane. Humans really are stupid even though they have that brain thingy. It was too late. The semi was already right in front of the Mitsubishi. The human inside is going to die for sure, I thought.

In a moment of desperation, the driver of the Mitsubishi swerved to the right and went off the road. The semi still hit the car, but only the back of it. The car went off-course a little but regained its stability again. I had a quick glimpse of the Merz zooming off in the distance before I heard a loud crash followed by a sharp pain on my body.

Oh God!! Suddenly, I couldn’t see anything and the pain was terrible. I had never had pain before in my life. It hurt so badly that I cried. Tears of glass fell from my eyes and I started to lose consciousness. The last thing I remembered was hearing shouts from my friends, “Hang in there, mate!! The ambulance is on its way!!” Wow.. an ambulance? On its way.. for me?.. I wonder.. I wonder what make the ambulance is…

When I woke up, it must have been daytime because I couldn’t see again. The pain had subsided greatly.

“Where am I? Am I at a.. hospital?” I nervously asked.

There was silence at first, and then a familiar shout, “No, mate. You’re still standing at the same place. I don’t really know how to tell you this, but you know those ambulances? They only repair humans. They don’t repair street lights like us.”

Selfish humans, I thought. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m feeling much better now anyway, except for a little stinging pain in my back. Oh by the way, what time is it?”

The reply was, “Emm.. it’s midnight. You’ve been unconscious for almost 24 hours.”

Midnight?? “But, I can’t..”

“..see. I know. You’re blind, mate. When that Mitsubishi hit you, you lost your eyesight. Also, that back pain you’re talking about, that’s because you’re now bent at an angle towards the front and there is a deep cut in your back. I’m sorry. I really am. I know it’s hard to take it all in at once, but if you ever need us, we’ll always be at your sides. Literally. Take care of yourself, mate.”

And that’s how I ended up being blind and having a rather bad standing posture. Life goes on. I don’t know what happened to the Mitsubishi driver but I have never blamed humans for my fate. After all, I’m still a street light. I just don’t have the light.

May God be with you, for I cannot light your path any longer.

Written by Adrien

倪齐, 一个从美国来到马来西亚读书的男孩…

艾凌, 一个道道地地的马来西亚女孩…

在一个奇妙的机缘下, 艾凌成了倪齐的学姐, 她凭她那过人的聪明才智被教官委任为负责辅助学弟妹们一切课业上的难题. 就这样…他们相遇了…

又有谁会想到, 这么一个心地善良又聪明地女孩竟然还有着天使般的脸孔. 你知道的嘛, 一个孓然只身越渡丛洋地小男孩那抵抗得了像艾凌这样的女孩, 于是渐渐地.. 他疯狂地爱上了她, 她的一切一切都深深地烙在脑海里, 挥之不去…

只是, 艾凌就像是倪齐的女神般, 他觉得他高攀不起, 也许甚至连碰也碰不到, 而艾凌也把他当作小弟弟般地看待…

倪齐: “ 嗨, 姐!!”
艾凌: “嗨…弟你的功课做完了没啊? 有没有问题? ”
倪齐: “哎哟, 做完了啦, 你就只关心我的功课啊?”
艾凌: “ 对呀, 要不然呢? 有做就乖…”
倪齐: “ 姐…我….”
艾凌”: “啊, 我要迟到了…下次在聊好不好…拜!”
倪齐: “ …..”
倪齐: “ 拜..”

( 不行… 我今晚一定要告诉她, 我爱她… 好吧, 反正今晚她会上 MSN, 到时候再说好了)

[ 艾凌 has signed in]

倪齐 says :
姐, 你来了… 好高兴哦…

艾凌 says :
嘻嘻… 听你这样说我也很高兴.. =)

倪齐 says :
你在做啥啊?

艾凌 says :
没啥啦…在和朋友聊天和 check mail 咯…

倪齐 says :
姐…

艾凌 says :
是?

倪齐 says :
我有些话想告诉你…

艾凌 says :
噢? 那就说啊… 我在听….

倪齐 says :
我喜欢你!

艾凌 says :
…………

艾凌 says :
不要开完笑了啦…

倪齐 says :
真的… 请相信我… 姐….你能接受我吗?

[ 艾凌 appears offline ]

( 糟了, 她生气了吗?… =’( ….我做错了吗?…呜…心好痛..好…痛…)

{You received 1 mail}

弟,

对不起, 我没想那么多. 你一直都是我的好弟弟, 不要这样.. 好不好? 其实我已有男友了, 真的很对不起, 我伤了你吗? 对不起… 希望我们还是朋友….

姐上

( ….….. )

~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#~~#

爱上一个不该爱的人,
是无奈?
抑或幸福?

或许…
有能力去爱,
就已是一种幸福吧..

希望, 他是幸福的…

很久很久以前，在一个很落后的乡村里，住着一个名叫甜甜的小姑娘。她天真善良，活泼可爱，从她那黑溜溜的大眼睛里仿佛可以看见她那尚未受到任何污染并且纯洁的心灵。在那一个乡村里，每一个人都以诚相待，所以她安然无恙地度过了十八年的岁月，一直都无忧无虑地活着。直到她十九岁那年，她的爸爸决定把他送到城市里去读书，就这样，她的悲惨命运开始了…

曾经，她天真地以为这个世界上是没有所谓的坏人的，她相信人性本善，那些所谓的坏人其实背后都隐藏一颗善良的心，也许他们都有着逼不得已的苦衷才会出此下策去做坏事，她相信有一天他们终究会醒悟的。然而这一切天真的想法都在她来到大城市之后不破灭，非常彻底的破灭了…

在城市里，她遇见了一个叫蜜桃的女孩。蜜桃是一个人见人爱的女孩，犹如她的名字般有着光鲜靓丽的外表，她那甜美的笑容仿佛可以融化及温暖每一的人的心房就这样，自然而然地她们成为了无所不谈的好朋友，一对在学校里公认的姐妹花她们之间仿佛有着已凝固的万能胶般，到任何地方都影形不离随着时间的流逝，甜甜姑娘渐渐地发现蜜桃很多时候都是在利用她，可是甜甜姑娘从不放在心上，她知道友情是很可贵的，独子在异乡无依无靠地她觉得在这个大城市里还有个向蜜桃一样的朋友是很幸运的，所以她事事迁就着蜜桃，深怕会失去她…

可是…

蜜桃却选择了背叛她，欺骗她，这样的蜜桃把甜甜姑娘的心给捏碎了…曾经，她是那么得以蜜桃为荣…曾经，她觉得她是世界上最幸运的人…曾经，她以为她们可以是永远的好朋友…这一切一切都使甜甜姑娘的心里留下了无法磨灭的疤痕…她开始对人的信心有了动摇，她开始在她的心房竖立起一道厚厚的围墙，杜绝任何人的拜访…

甜甜姑娘，她，终于看清楚人性的真面目，把人性的丑恶看得彻透了。她发觉原来活在这世界上的人们是多麽的自私自利，凶暴残恶，贪图名利，虚伪…似乎连最基本的诚实都消失得无影无踪，这是谎言满天纷飞的世界，真？假？人们已经开始分不清楚了..

在她人生最低落的时候，一个向风一样的男孩出现了，就姑且称他为风吧风的出现就像是她黑暗地生命中的一道曙光，他就像太阳般，用他那温暖炽热的阳光照耀着甜甜姑娘，好让甜甜姑娘的世界不再那么的寒冷…

风是一个幽默风趣地男孩，懂得如何把欢乐带给身边人，他总会在甜甜面对难关的时候伸出援手，在她身旁默默地关心她，陪伴她…

渐渐地…

甜甜姑娘的笑容重现了，她非常感谢老天爷对她这么的照顾，风就像是老天爷赐给她的礼物，甜甜姑娘觉得，她恋爱了！虽然风不曾向她表白过，可是她知道他是喜欢她的…

然而风的心情却是越来越沉重，他知道他永远无法给予甜甜任何的承诺，他患上了骨癌，医生宣布他只能活到二十二岁，他不曾告诉甜甜，他希望她永远都快快乐乐地，因为，他爱着她，他不希望把这残酷的事实告诉她，所以，他选择了离开甜甜姑娘…

风就像风一样轻轻地来，轻轻的离去，永远消失在甜甜的世界里…甜甜永远都不会知道真正的事实…

然而…

风知道，活在这世上最痛苦的事不是我爱你，你却不知道我爱你，而是我爱你，却不能告诉你，我爱你!

-written by 枫-

Happy Valentine’s Day to all single people out there. Worry not, for the time will come when you will celebrate this day with a special one.

To couples, enjoy your dates and presents. Cherish your loved one and treat him/her extra special today.

Love is in the air!

Adz

Track 2 – Red Roses for the Angel’s metaphor

The prices of flowers increased up to 300% during Valentine’s period. Not only red roses, which appeared to be the most popular flower. The other flowers’ prices have also doubled, and even tripled up.

This phenomenon is unavoidable and must be faced by all of the coupled guys annually. Anyway, a Valentine’s Day without a bouquet of flower is just like eating a great T- bone without a 90’s red wine…

Mick stared at the screen, in front of the ATM machine.

The amount of money he had in his account did not satisfy him. He was so regret to buy so many CDs all at once last week. He muted for couple of seconds, and withdrew some money out from his pathetic bank account.

Having an audio conversation over the MSN is one of those cheapest ways to have audio chat. Even though the mobile service operators launched some whatever plans to encourage users to chat using their service, but cell phone chat had never seem to be affordable for undergraduate students.

In front of two different computers, in two different rooms, linked by the same cyber world…

Mick plugged in his headphones which equipped with a microphone.

“Hey Lynn, can you hear me?”

“Yes dear… Louder please…” Lynn answered. But she could barely hear him.

“Alright…” Mick adjusted his microphone’s volume higher, and said,

“Guess what, Valentine’s Day again tomorrow. One of your happiest day other than your birthday…”

Lynn smiled and said,

“Ha… it would not be happy if I was not celebrating the event with you… It must be you and you only…”

“So at which place you want to hang out tomorrow?” Mick asked.

“Mmm… SP, alright?” Lynn suggested.

“Huh… alright. No problem. 12pm, in front of Starbuck…”

“Okay…”

After the confirmation for their plan tomorrow, they continued their lovely chat linked by the internet.

February, the 14th, 11.50am.

Mick was holding a giant bouquet of red roses. He could almost buy 5 or 6 imported CDs with the amount of money he spent for that bouquet of flower.

The bouquet was huge enough to block his sight. Mick could barely walk with his cool style maintained. He was thinking of how surprised Lynn would be if she saw what he was going to give her.

Standing like an idiot with the bouquet in front of Starbucks. Mick took out his 4 year old cell phone. At the top right of the phone’s screen, the time showed was 12.05pm.

“I guess I’m not late. She is still not around…” Mick was thinking in his mind.

The clock ticked the time, a second by a second… 12.37pm.

Mick began to lose his patient. He was that kind of hot tempered of person who dislikes waiting. But somehow he had never showed his temper in front of Lynn. Except the time where they involved in road accident. But he was not really mad though.

He recalled that there was an invention called cell phone. And the phone was not only displays time, it could be used to call too.

Just the moment he attempted to call Lynn and to ask what took her so long, his cell phone rang with the traditional monophonic ring tone.

He answered the call. He could hear Lynn was talking loud over the other side.

“Mick! Where are you now? How much longer do you want me to wait?”

“What…?” Mick was triggered as he thought that he was the one who waited over there for that long.

“Hey Lynn, I’m already in front of Starbuck. And I’ve waited for the past 30 minutes! Now, where are you?”

“What? I’m in front of Starbuck. I’ve waited since 11.55am until now. Standing still and never walked away!” Lynn fired back.

“How could this happen? I don’t see you around! You said Starbuck right! In MV isn’t it?”

“Oh god!” Lynn got frustrated.

“I said SP, not MV! Sunway Pyramid! Not Mid Valley…!”

“Damn! You’re in Starbuck of Sunway Pyramid!” Mick got slightly pissed.

“Alright Lynn. Just wait me for a second. If you feel hungry, have a piece of cake in Starbuck first. We’re going to eat something greater after that. I’m flying to Pyramid now”

He apologized for his mistake.

Mick ran to the underground car park. To seek for a car in Mid Valley’s car park was such a pain as the parking lot was so huge, and so hot.

Fortunately, it was still a lucky day for Mick. Quickly he paid the parking fee. He spotted his car seconds after he got out from the escalator.

With the speed of light, he ran towards his car. He rammed on the accelerator and tried to get to Sunway Pyramid as fast as he could, without forgetting the importance of road rules and his safety.

He disliked waiting. But at the same time he disliked people to wait for him. Especially the one he loved.

Mick did not look at the car’s clock, neither the time displayed by his phone. Without knowing how long it took for him to reach at Pyramid, eventually he made it.

He took out the bouquet of flower, and ran out from the parking lot. When he entered the mall, he slowed down. Running with the flower was not cool for him. Even though, he tried to walk as fast as he ever could. It was the first time he walked with such a fast pace.

When Mick was going down by the escalator, he saw Lynn was standing in front of that coffee shop. Mick guessed that he knew the reason which made Lynn looked so unhappy.

He began to run towards her, but slowly.

His Nike Air Max starting to untie. Mick stepped on the shoelace. He fell.

He was not cool this time…

“Mick!” Lynn witnessed and ran towards him.

“Ouch… This really hurts…” Anyway, Mick was still smiling.

He stood up, tried to regain his cool imagine back from Lynn. They walked from the spot he fell to the other side. From that instant, only Lynn noticed the flower which Mick brought. It was for her, of cause.

“Lynn, I’m so sorry for this… I…”

Flesh red blood started to spill out from Mick’s noses. It showed how badly he had fallen just now.

He bled profusely, like running tap water from his nose. His blood dripped onto the flower which he was holding.

Again, Mick scared Lynn off.

“Hey! Are you alright?” Lynn was shocked and tried to take out some tissues from her little Guess handbag.

Mick stopped the blood from flowing by holding the tissue paper at his nose, and pressed it hardly to trap the blood which flowed out. A basic method to prevent backflow of blood, and avoid dry blood in the airways.

“I’m so sorry for being late, Lynn. And I’m so sorry for this flower too. My blood stains on it…” Mick looked embarrassed, and hand over the bouquet to her.

“No… it’s alright. I should have not said SP as it was so confusing. Instead I should just say the word ‘Pyramid”…” She looked down and stared at the red roses, which infiltrated by her love’s blood…

“20 roses for you, for the 20 months we have been together. There will still be more and more flower for the coming 14th of February…” Mick started his line which he tried to come out with last night for half an hour.

“And yes, I guess there were 20 drips of blood onto the flower too…” he joked.

Finally, Mick had succeeded to make her smile.

“So… where’s my Valentine gift then?” Mick asked, even though he did not want to.

“Erm… The tissue papers that I gave you to wipe your blood just now…” Lynn replied.

- End - - Or to be continued…. –

“Ring!” The alarm clock rang. A few thoughts ran through my weary mind. Cancer had been slowly eating through me every single day of my tormenting life. The pain was unbearable.

I tried to open my eyes and face another day of pain and suffering. But I could not. Instead, suddenly, all the pain disappeared. I felt a feeling of weightlessness as if my soul had left my body. Suddenly, a brilliant white light blinded me. Was I dreaming?

All of a sudden, the light faded and a huge voice beamed out of every corner. “Vivien, do you know who I am?”

“God? Is that you?” I responded anxiously.

“Yes, my child, my creation. Your time has come. All the pain and suffering must now end, that is if you pass the test of Heaven!” replied the voice.

“What?” I asked in disbelief. “Does this mean I’m dead?”

“Look down below, Vivien. Behold.” The voice commanded.

Upon looking down, I saw my family. My parents and my two sisters weeping by my bed. Sadness engulfed me. What were they doing? They were mourning and crying their hearts out over… ME! I could see myself lying motionless on my bed.

“Well… What now?” I asked quite impatiently. “How do I take this test of Heaven? I certainly don’t want to burn in hell, please!” I said.

Without warning, I suddenly felt a burning sensation at my feet. “Ouch!” I screamed, jumping around like a tribal dancer.

“Ha-ha… Welcome to hell Vivien! I’ve been expecting you. Remember all those evil things you did while you were still alive? Remember how you rejected and challenged God? I know them all, Vivien… I know them all!!!” Another voice rang.

It was the devil! Fuck no!

“Come with me, Vivien. This is your final chance… Come with me or you will die another time, in a more horrifying way! Ha-ha…” The devil commanded.

Suddenly, the devil transformed into an extremely and stunningly good looking young man! His body was so well built that his beauty was unrivalled!

“Come on, Vivien! Hell is not as bad as what you heard… We have pubs, casinos, karaoke centers and all the fun places you enjoy going to. The best of all, Adrien is in hell too and expecting you to Gunbound or Dota with him in Hell. It will be just like living on earth all over again. Forget heaven! All people do there is play harps all day long. Bah! Gah! Boring!” persuaded the devil.

I was taken aback with the temptation. “Wow, it sounds really good! But wait… No way! What am I thinking? I wan to go to heaven no matter what! Stay away you satanic devil! Piss off, back to hell!” I bravely retorted.

“Noooooooo… Another soul lost!” whined the devil as he pathetically withdrew.

Suddenly, the heat turned into comfortable coolness and everything became calm again.

“Congratulations, my child. I knew you could do it. You have passed the test and are now officially a member of Heaven!” said God.

Heaven is truly a great place. Clean atmosphere, great facilities and picturesque surroundings. It makes a dream place for anyone. I was thrilled to be here. I was extremely glad that I made the right choice, and for those who are dying or already dead, don’t be fooled by the devil’s temptation. I strongly recommend going to heaven!

It was evening at the train station. Liz looked around for a particular bench. It was wet and it would ruin the white skirt that she was wearing but she sat down anyway.

A couple sat beside her. They were holding each other in their arms and kissing passionately. This annoyed her so she screamed at them. “FUCK OFF! SIT SOMEWHERE ELSE!”

The couple turned to look at Liz, and realized that she was seriously angry, so they got up and moved to another bench. Others had also distanced themselves from her. She liked the space she was getting but not the attention. People were staring curiously at her.

“Bitches.” She muttered under her breath.

Dusk became twilight and the dimly-lit station became quieter and quieter as more commuters boarded their respective trains. Soon, Liz was alone except for the young girl behind the ticket counter.

The station’s PA system announced: Next train arrives in 2 minutes.

2 minutes. That was how long she had left to live. She never thought that she would look forward to death that much. She was more than just eager to depart from this world and leave her miserable life behind. It was a good day to die.

Next train arrives in 1 minute.

Perfect, she thought, there’s nobody around to witness it. She couldn’t possibly do it with people watching. She got up and straightened her stained skirt. She wanted to look her best in whatever place she was about to go, whether it would be Heaven or Hell, she didn’t care.

She could see lights in the distance. The train was approaching. She moved slowly, one step at a time, until she was at the edge of the platform. The train got closer. And closer. And closer.

Those 10 seconds were the longest in her life and they would be her last.

The ticket-seller’s shouts of “Stand back!” and “You’re going to fall in!” fell on Liz’ deaf ears.

She closed her eyes.

She jumped.

Suddenly, her mind began to fill with thoughts of her life. What a joke, Liz thought, life flashing by only happens in movies. She saw her younger self standing in between her arguing parents. They divorced but neither wanted custody of her. She was sent to a wealthy aunt who didn’t appreciate Liz’ intrusion into her family.

She was treated badly for many years, so she ran away from the house after having stolen enough of her aunt’s cash and jewelry during her stay there. She pawned the valuables and had more than enough money to start a new life. She wanted to go somewhere far, far away.

At the train station, Liz encountered some difficulty. She had never gone outstation before and didn’t know where to go. She looked at the maps on the walls of the station for hours but couldn’t make any sense of them. It was during then that she met him for the first time, when he approached her.

“Do you need help?” he asked. Not only was his voice soft and gentle, but he was also extremely handsome and well-built.

“Not at all,” she replied coldly and moved on to another map.

From the corner of her eye, Liz could see that he was still watching her and smiling. She got irritated. “Why are you staring at me? Don’t you have anywhere to go?”

For a brief moment, his smile vanished as he gazed at the sky and said, “I have nowhere to go. I’m always here.” And then he turned his attention to her and grinned. “But more importantly, where do YOU want to go? I am very familiar with the maps.”

“I want to go somewhere far, far away.”

He shot her a quizzical look. “You sound just like one of them.” He glanced over at her overstuffed trolley bag and asked, “You don’t happen to be running away from home, are you?”

Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

She turned away in embarrassment. “How.. how did you know?”

“I told you. I’m always here. I’ve seen a lot of others like you.” He patted her head. “You shouldn’t run away. Your parents will miss you.”

“FUCK MY PARENTS! THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT ME!” she burst out in anger.

“Huh?”

And so she explained to him as they sat on a bench.

“So that’s how it is,” he said when she finished. He folded his arms behind his head. “Well, you shouldn’t have told me that you stole stuff from your aunt. It’s a crime, you know, and I might have to report you to the police.”

Liz stared at him in shock. “You.. wouldn’t do that.. right?”

“Of course not. But from now on, don’t go telling strangers that you steal. It’s not a good idea.”

She nodded her head. “I won’t.”

“Anyway, it’s getting late and I’ve got to go. The furthest place from here is Ilto City. Good luck with your new life!” He got up and left. Liz wanted to follow him, she was strangely attracted to him. But he was gone, nowhere to be found when she chased after him.

Liz decided to hang around that town a little longer. She got herself a room at a local motel. Everyday, she went to the train station, hoping to meet with him again. But he never came, even though he said he was always there.

Three months went by, and she still hadn’t left town. Only a few hours ago, Liz arrived at the motel and found a few police officers questioning the motel owner, providing a description of her. The owner nodded, and proceeded to open her room for the officers to search. The police had found her at last, but she didn’t have any money with her to escape. All of it was in the room. It would only be a matter of time before she was apprehended.

But Liz would rather die than go to jail. She ran all the way to the train station. Yes, she thought, I’ll commit suicide and leave my sorry life behind.

And here she was jumping in front of an oncoming train, ready to die.

Liz thought she saw the light at the end of the tunnel when she felt something pull her. She fell back onto the platform. She opened her eyes and got a shock. It was him.

The train roared past them but slowly came to a halt. The doors opened but nobody came out. It was empty.

“WHY?? WHY DID YOU STOP ME?” she shouted and began to slap him furiously.

He caught hold of both her hands. “It’s not worth it!”

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” She struggled against his grip but he wouldn’t let go.

“It’s not worth it,” he repeated and he hugged her tightly.

Liz was taken aback but she let him hug her, while she cried freely in his arms. She felt so helpless.

“I’ve been waiting for you at the station for the past three months,” she said in between her sobbing.

He wiped the tears from her face. “And I’ve been here, watching you wait for me.”

“I.. I think I love you.” Liz blushed. “But I don’t even know your name.”

He smiled. “My name is Tom. I’m very happy that you love me. But I cannot stay with you much longer.”

“Why?? Stay with me forever, Tom!”

Tom shook his head. “I cannot stay. I’ve stopped another person from repeating my mistake, so now I can move on. It’s time for me to go.”

She couldn’t control her tears again. “I.. I don’t understand..”

“I’ll always be here,” he said and he placed his hand on her heart.

They closed their eyes and kissed for the first time in the train station. The moon had come out from behind the clouds and it lit the night sky beautifully. The train moved off silently, away from them.

When Liz opened her eyes, he was gone. Where he had stood, now had a couple of dollar notes instead. She looked around the station frantically and only saw a worried-looking ticket-seller.

The girl asked Liz, “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes.”

“Thank God. For a moment, I thought you were going to fall in. Another incident like that would..” the girl stopped herself from saying anything else.

“Another incident?”

The girl hesitated. “Yes, about a year ago, a young man had committed suicide here.” She shuddered before continuing, “It was terrible. He jumped in front of a train. I heard he did it because his parents pressured him too much. Anyway, I’m just glad you’re safe. Don’t stand too close to the edge next time.”

“I.. I understand..” Liz replied. I understand it all now, Tom, she said to herself.

She took the money on the ground and went to lie down on that bench and soon fell asleep.

It was the next morning. “One-way ticket to Ilto City please.” Liz pocketed her ticket and stepped onto the train. This was the beginning of her new life.

As the train moved off, Liz glanced out the window at that bench. She smiled. On the bench, was a small hand-drawn heart with the words “Liz” and “Tom” in it. Thank you, dear Tom, she quietly whispered.

Written by Adrien

Site revived.

I’ll ask Viv to design a personal header or something. And I hope Mike will still narrate for this blog.

Sorry for the long hibernation!

Adz