#4: We were Classmates

You were sitting in front of me. We were chatting. We were quite close. How long had it been since we last talked? 10 years? 15 years? I do not remember.

Some years ago, I took the chance to search for you on the social network. It didn't take long to find you. Even after we connected, we never talked. Not even once.

Then about a year ago, I saw your wedding announcement. It was a strange feeling. I didn't feel hurt at all, even though you once were rather important to me, back when we were still young, innocent kids. I guess it was the innocence and naivety that made me thought you were important. Looking back, I have done some foolish things, and it could be the reason you seemingly avoided me. The only reply I ever received from you is a letter back in 2002.

I still remember I joked about this matter with my friend last year. I asked him whether he still remember you, since he used to tease me about it. Over the years, we had grown up; we no longer laugh at each other. Naturally, there was no big reactions from both of us when we talked about this. It was a very casual talk.

And there we were, sitting in front of each other. We talked about your wedding, our life during and after primary school, which was the last time we were classmates. Both of us went on our way after that, and gradually we forgot each other.

I was calm when we talked, which was weird. I was supposed to feel hurt, but I didn't. I didn't feel anything at all, as if you never even existed in my life before. It was like a casual talk with an acquaintance. I guess that over the years, I have learnt to let go. This is called growing up.

I don't specifically remember what we talked. Soon, we had to go on our separate way again. I never see you anymore, because that was the only time I dreamt about you.

#3: A Laughter Long Forgotten

August 2, 2011

We were sitting together, chatting about life. I showed you some of my pictures I took from overseas, sharing the life in a different culture. You were listening very eagerly, and I had the urge to hug you, but I resisted it, knowing it would hurt both of us more than that. Somehow I remembered you and I were having our own relationship, that there would be nothing between us except friendship. I remembered I had hurt her more than I could remember.

And that probably stopped me from even touching you. I remembered I had promised myself to put everything behind.

Then came my best friend from secondary school. I remembered how we used to sit in the same class together. We chatted and laughed and shared gossips. You were laughing like before, before your life took a sudden turn in 2008. I was laughing like before too, before we parted ways in 2009.

Then there were those prefect friends, fooling around like before. We laughed out loud together. I felt happy, as if my body was re-energized. And suddenly it hit me. I realized I had not laughed like this for a very, very long time. I don't even remember since when.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed that brief moment of pure laughter. Until I suddenly woke up.

And it was nothing but a dream. A dream that I will try my best to remember. A dream that reminded me to keep in touch with my friends, who were the ones to stick with me through thick and thin.

I am not lonely after all. It had always been myself all along.

#2: Fly Me To The Outer Space

20th January, 2011

We had a space shuttle in our world. Strictly speaking, it was not exactly a space shuttle. It was some kind of commercial plane, but with a rather sleek body shape. The plane was capable of flying to an altitude so high that you could exit the atmosphere for a very brief view of the outer space. I was lucky to be one of the passenger of this plane.

The plane could only fly past the thin blue line, the line that separates the Earth's upper atmosphere and the outer space, albeit for a very short period of time - less than 5 minutes. I boarded the plane along with other passengers, and we prepared to take off.

The take-off was pretty smooth, unlike those of conventional space shuttle. To exit the Earth's atmosphere, the plane needed to thrust forward into the sky for about 10 minutes. The plane was equipped with state-of-the-art life support system and an artificial gravity system, so that when we exited the Earth's atmosphere, and thus the gravitational pull, we would not float around in zero gravity, nor would we run out of oxygen. So it was very safe for untrained personnel to board the plane.

After about 10 minutes, the sky slowly turned dark. We exited the Earth's atmosphere, to which I was greeted with an indescribable breathtaking view. I saw the Moon, with my naked eyes, for the very first time, hanging against a dark starry space backdrop. I saw Mars, too, with its unique red hue surface. Then there was Saturn with its trademark ring of debris. It was stunning. Absolutely stunning.

I quickly took out my camera phone to take a snapshot, but before I could do that, I heard a beeping sound. I turned around to find out where it came from, but my vision started to blur. Before I knew it, I felt a hard yank from my back.

I opened my eyes, I was lying down. Alas, it was nothing but a dream.

#1: And in the end...

“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.”

- Bernard Edmonds

I was looking at the clear blue sky. My elder brother was at my side, and he was talking to my dad. It was a perfectly clear blue sky, with seemingly no clouds in vicinity. But the sunlight was not very intense, and I could only feel the warmth, I could feel the gentle breeze, and not the blistering heat. It was morning.


According to some news, Jupiter was the closest to our planet Earth in human history. So close that without the help of telescope, one can actually see it, almost as large as our Moon, maybe even bigger. It was a hazy, fading image, something like if you go outside in the morning and look at the fading Moon, almost hidden behind the blue curtain of sky. It was a beautiful sight, albeit a little too odd.


The Jupiter had a blue contour line - it had atmosphere. The surface looked eerily same with our planet Earth, and I could make out its fading moons in front and behind it. It was as if I was staring at our own Earth! Or staring at another planet Earth. Gliese 581 maybe, but I was certain it was Jupiter. My elder brother was talking to my dad about a cool software used to determine the position of galaxies, when suddenly there came a loud thundering boom! from the horizon. It was deafening, and then I saw it.


The orangy outline of blast waves radiated outwards from a point in the horizon and streaked across the calm blue sky in every directions. It looked like the blue curtain was burned, slowly, astoundingly, and exposing the black outer space behind it. It was yet another eerily beautiful sight, and in a few moment, I knew what it was. It was the Big Bang.


My sight was quickly averted to my brother's laptop. He was still showing us the new software he obtained. The screen of his laptop was showing some kind of Cartesian coordinates system, and tiny dots were scatter around the coordinates. Some dots were big, while some were small. He moved the cursor and pointed at one of the dots. It was written Andromeda Galaxy. I was told that the origin point in the Cartesian systems was where the Big Bang started, and I saw some dots were close to the origin. Maybe they had just been born, I thought to myself. Then he asked me to find the Alpha Centauri Galaxy.


As I explored the Cartesian coordinates, I was very concentrated. It was as if I was literally sucked into the universe and frantically swimming around looking for a dot called Alpha Centauri. With so many big and tiny spots, searching a small dot was like finding a pin in a haystack. I became anxious, I felt disturbed. I panicked. Because I was actually swimming in the universe, and somehow I felt like I was lost. In the middle of nowhere!


Most of the galaxies were alien to me. I had never heard of them. And then I found it. A dot named Alpha Centauri. I breathed a sigh of relief, and everything started to fade away.The universe, the galaxies, the dots, my brother, my dad, the Jupiter, the clear blue sky, the blast waves... Slowly devoured by my opening eyes. Slowly replaced by the sight of a big bone right in front of me!


But phew! it was my bone-shaped pillow. Nothing to be afraid of. It took me a while to realize, and regained my control of my mind. And in the end, it was nothing...


...but a dream.