In the long run we're all dead.
- John Maynard Keynes

All stories are true.
I learnt this from Brother today.
Some stories actually happened.

Stories are all vehicles.
They carry a message and a truth.

Undying experiences and wisdom that was here a thousand years ago and will still be here a thousand years later. Love, Loyalty, Hate, Betrayal. They never cease, they never desist. They are in every society and civilization. Stories will always strike a chord with me.

All stories are true. I am not an avid fan of the World Wrestling Entertainment. I only watched WWE when I was at a younger age, and the show was named World Wrestling Federation then. Mostly I was exposed to wrestling through my brother who always insisted on watching those matches. After a few seasons, my parents took a stand and decided that wrestling just was not a healthy form of sport. More opportunities arose with the Play Station coming about, and soon enough my brother, cousins and I were hooked on WWE games. Slowly I shifted back to gaming on the computer, and eventually I lost almost all concern for wrestling.

If you are a WWE fan, you would probably already know that Chris Benoit was found dead on 25th June. Found out about this yesterday.

Life is unpredictable.

I could be dead anytime.

The sad truth of this all is that death is all too common. You and I were given Life and Death like a package, two-in-one. I cannot have one without the other. Death owns us all. There is no escaping. Thinking about what I read in "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom, I wonder if death will really be like what Adam experienced as he laid to sleep on his first night.

Adam never knew that there was going to be a tomorrow. Just the end of the day. Would death be like that, then? Another tomorrow, an afterlife. Faith, how easily mine can be shattered.

Death is all too common. For me, I take death stoically.
Men know their doom, but not the hour.
When my time is up, my time is up. So be it. I am utterly wiped out right now.
A long day.
I wonder how I can say that when my term has been so short.
I guess I never put my position to the fullest use.
On another note, the passion is carried on.
Progress does not stop with me.
We will always keep soaring to greater heights.
If anything, I would help you first.

Nothing lasts forever.
Not even ideals. Great ideas can even be forgotten.
Reminds me of a hymn.
The Pilgrim Song.

Man is lonely by birth,
Man is only a pilgrim on earth.
Born to be king time is but a temporary thing,
Only on loan while on earth.

Like the wind in the tree,
Man has been rather reckless and free.
Thrown far and wide he longs to settle down beside,
The stream flowing through eternity.

Like the grass on the lawn,
We will pass by the way and be gone.
A lesson to learn, we walk but once there's no return,
Time is always moving on.

Man is longing for one,
For a song and a place in the sun.
A home up above where everyday is lived in love,
For rest when the journey is done.

I guess this is one of the occasions where I just sit and look at the digital clock blink the minutes away. A moment of reticence. Just breathing and breathing and saying, hey, I have homework to do. Then I just shove that nagging incessant thought to the back of my head and set upon myself a pretense of peace.

I realise that I am one happy-go-lucky ball of fun.
Maybe that is the reason for me being an anomaly to much of the world. Back from camp .
I did not realise how shagged I was till today .
I slept at 0130h and woke up at 1830h .
I was that exhausted .

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

I learnt this song from my group participants .
Stand By Me by Ben E. King .

I am really blessed to have such a wondrous group .
Really close knit , virtually no problems whatsoever .
I could feel the love .

The camp , well , to be honest ,
Means more to me this year than it did the last .
To be frank , I cannot recall much of what happened last year .
These five days was like a refreshment course .
What does it mean to be a Lasallian .

Yet even all that in the camp , we are sheltered and pampered .
I touch only the tip of the iceberg .
If only I was free .


Back to the real world,
Bertier.

This is what
they're integrating us for?

We'd have been better off
staying where we were.

School is looming over me .
I know what that means .
Stress .
Flurry of sheets of papers .
Guilt .
Scribbling on lines upon lines .
Numbness .
Jabbing keys onto the calculator .

And life goes on .
Time waits for no man . Okay folks .
It is 0620h now .
Rise and shine and in half an hour , it would be time to leave for camp .
Have a nice week ahead .

I decided to do my Friday some justice by actually posting a picture about it . If you find my drawing ugly , you cannot appreciate art .

As you can see from the Singapore map , I started off from Kallang MRT , and ended up , well , somewhere .
However , that is not the beginning of the story , that is chapter three , four and five .

I know all of you are dying to know what happened on this special Friday . Since I do not care whether you live or die , I will start this novel with an introductory paragraph .

Introduction

I did not Thank God It's Friday .
I did not over sleep .
I did not play soccer .
I did not make my bed .
I did not ...

The list goes on , but I feel you tugging at my strings at my heart . Yes , yes , I empathize with you , you all are dying cause you still do not know what I have done . Hence , out of compassion , I will move on to the prologue .

Prologue

In the morning .

Beep beep beep . My alarm goes off . Of course , my alarm does not sound like that . My alarm is way cooler than that . It is so cool that I cannot even attempt to try and manifest it into words . Well most of the time , my alarm is so cool that I plop right back to sleep after turning it off . On this special Friday , I did just the opposite . I popped right out of bed and used the washroom .

I went downstairs . I read the newspaper . Every single article in Life! and Home sections . Every damned one of them . You know , the articles are like drugs . The more you read , the more drowsy you get . So you can guess what happened to me right ? I floated upstairs and back onto my bed and went to take a nap .

Chapter One

The next time I woke up , pops was straightening my legs . I guess I was sleeping curled up . This is probably due to the fact that the fan was blowing directly at me and in a bid to conserve energy , my subconsciousness responded by keeping my extremities close to the body . You do not need to take Biology to figure these things out . Some of you may be wondering , who on earth is 'pops' ? I mean , you all should have read Archie Comics , right ? If you have , you will know that pops means dad . Yes , you heard me correct . Pops means dad !

I doze off for a second or two , maybe a few minutes , maybe an hour ? I awake to the sound of , Andrew ? Yak yak yak . I can hear him playing DotA downstairs . Maybe while I slept the world invented a teleportation system and even got it patented . That explains how Andrew appeared in my house at around noon . All you realists out there are going to shoot me down , yea . I know , you all want a logical explanation . Sorry to say , I got none for you , give for the possible fact that an adult fetched him over in a vehicle called a car .

Too bad they do not show one o'clock news . If MediaCorp did I could have been watching it . You people should really take hints . I actually only wanted to tell you that it is one o'clock . Fried noodles for lunch . Surprisingly , I had no appetite . Why is this surprising ? Mainly because I always have an appetite . I always put in an effort to finish all the food on my plate . Even to the last grain . Can you imagine the poor little Oliver Twist pitifully asking for more gruel ? Well , since today was noodles , I did not need to eat any grains , so I left more than half of my portion untouched . My maid put it back into the pot .

I showered and got changed , got packed . Yes ! It is time to run out to the bus stop , since I am already kind of late with the clock showing 1335h .

Chapter Two

There is an option . The option is not , going to the MRT station by foot , and going to the MRT station by bus . That is not the option . The real choice is , save 45¢ or save 5minutes 32seconds (inclusive of bus waiting time) . Then again , that is only a rough estimate . I could be wrong . If you have followed , you would know that I am pretty late , so I took the bus .

Tee-teet . I have boarded this over-fed rectangular monster . It is packed and I have no space to breathe . If the door opens I risk being spewed out . Beep . A message on my phone ! Now I wonder who it is . If I could only juggle my shoe bag , earphones , phone , all with limited movement in this cramped environment . Thank God I am not claustrophobic , or I would have most certainly fainted .

After much deliberation and lithe movements , I finally managed to flip my phone open and look at the message from ... Matthew !
"Eh, im on the same bus as u"
I craned my neck and looked behind . You see , I can only look behind since I am pressed to the front windscreen of the bus . Obviously , Matthew cannot be any further front than me . There , my sharp eyes have caught him in my field of vision . He is somewhere in the middle of this monstrosity . Gosh , he must be suffocating there . I inquiry where he is going through a short message . You see this pathetic situation ? We cannot even converse properly when we are less than ten metres apart . I liken ourselves to little kids in a classroom passing little notes to and fro . Anyway , his next consecutive replies are as follows . I omitted my own cause I have already deleted them and I cannot remember .
"I going cine. Why u wear centennial?"
"Oh chey. Btw, did u noe there's oso an sji teacher on board. I dunno wads her name though."
Well actually I can remember the gists of my replies , but since this sadist in my does not want you to know what I did today , I have chosen not to tell you . Now writhe in agony !

I was vomited out of the bus and into the train . Not much difference . I still have to stand . There were no empty seats . So from Newton , I took the train down to City Hall . I alight , and walk across the platform . Yes , I have changed from Red line to Green line . Funny how they always like to confuse you . Red light and red man means stop . Green light and green man means go . Yet now we have Red line and Green line and they mean totally different things !

I board the train again . This time some seats were vacant . I took one . I mean , Of course I took one ! I cannot take two or three or four , can I ? As an afterthought , I can , if I shove the other passengers out their seats and stretched myself to my full body span . What I am trying to say is that the empty seats were peppered and around in small quantities , so you should imagine a crowded train with one free seat here , another there , but never more than two side by side .

Back to the story . By taking that seat , I was also taking a big risk . Nowadays people like to give youngsters that you-selfish-little-brat look . Maybe because everyone likes to think themselves old , and therefore everyone else are obliged to offer them a seat instead . Luckily for me , no one gave me such a stare . In fact , no one even stared at me . Maybe because I was wearing white , and the train was so well lit . Then I blended in with the bright lights even though the window behind me was black (as the train was underground) and the seat was coloured . Possibly , I was a chameleon in my previous life .

I finally got off at Kallang MRT . In the spirit of Pursuit of Happyness , I shall call this part of my life , Transport . However , this part has already ended but I just want to tell you that for fun .

Chapter Three

Well if you really have a lot of time to spare you can continue reading this invigorating post . So where was I ? Yes , I was miles from home with only an EZ Link card to my name . In addition to my handphone , wallet , bag and shoe bag . I rather you forget the others . Just think me with my EZ Link card only . Then you will feel the adventure . Where was the group of Josephians that Alastair had promised ? Nowhere to be found . Well , I could attribute that to the fact that the time was 1405h . Curses . Does it mean they have all left ? Sure seems so . Now I whipped out my handphone and called Alastair . A few seconds later , the call was rejected . I texted him one , and two other called were likewise rejected . Damn his auto reject setting ! His phone was probably locked somewhere safe already while he was out in the water . Double curses , now I do not even know how to get there , plus I forgot what the place was called . Make that triple curses , up sized .

Here you find a forlorn boy standing at the bus stop with nothing to his name but his EZ Link card . But no , he would not take an MRT home . I decided to walk .
*Please refer to map .
So I crossed this bridge . Just as I completed that stretch , I saw this man pushing this cart along the side of the road in the opposite direction . Part of me wanted to help him out of goodwill . Another part of me wanted to help him out of boredom . The greatest part of me just wanted to walk onward . I kept walking and walking . I reached a junction . The traffic was heavy . Being the good boy I am , turned around the bend and walked a fair distance before proceeding to cross the road . This is what was going through my mind at that time .
"Better to cross safely than to end up as roadkill"

I walk pretty fast , and those four young adults in front walk at a speed as if a stone wall was chasing them . Of course , since stone walls cannot chase people , they were walking at a snail's pace . That is fine , I'm cool . Not as if I am in a rush . In fact , I can say that I am pretty much a lost wanderer . Now how cool is that ? So I stroll behind them , and I reach a true blue traffic junction . I call it blue as the sky was blue . Even though the lights there were only red , orange and green . Actually I called it true blue because two huge main roads intersected here . Kallang Road and Lavender Street .

The four of them , two females and two males , crossed the black and white stripes called the zebra crossing . I was following in the wake , but turned back at the last moment . I would never get anywhere walking at their pace behind them . I mean like , the four of them just barricade my way and there is no way past them . There was this bus driver , he stopped at the crossing waiting for me to cross . Oh that was so awkward . I was just standing at the pavement , and he was just stationary on the road . I turned around and walked up Lavender Street instead .

Walking and walking and walking . Thank God for my MP3 phone . A good companion and a great way to stay anti-social in any social event . I decided to follow the sun , since it was about half past two already , the sun would be near to the west . Then I started worrying about the Earth being tilted on its axis and the location of Singapore a few degrees of the equator . Ah hell , just keep walking forward . I will get somewhere I know soon enough .

This part reminds me of a song , On My Way by Phil Collins .
Tell everybody i'm on my way
New friends and new places to see
With blue skies ahead, yes i'm on my way
And theres no where else i'd rather be

Tell everybody i'm on my way
And i'm loving every step i take
With the sun beating down, yes i'm on my way
And i can't keep this smile off my face

Of course , I was listening to epic metal by Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray instead .

Chapter Four

I proceed on my path and crossed two roads . I was pretty tired of breathing in all the car exhaust by then . So I turned into a back alley and walked a little before returning to being smoked in the gas chamber again .

What do you know , I see a sign Balestier Road . I recognise Balestier . It is near my area . I must be on the correct path ! I guess I was Christopher Columbus in my previous life . Then again , I do not believe in reincarnation , so I will settle that I am related to him somehow .

I pass under this dripping flyover . Wonder why it is leaking up there . I carefully avoid being dripped on . I cannot imagine where the water has come from , and where it has gone , or how filthy it is . The best bet is to just evade all falling projectiles . When in doubt , stay away . Actually have you ever wondered why they call that structure a 'flyover' ? I do not see any cars flying over . If you do , please take a picture and let me see . Maybe if they named it a 'drive-over' instead I would be less perplexed .

I see Moulmein Road , but it is less sketched into my memory than Balestier Road . The smart thing to do is to stick to Balestier . I do not want to wonder around Singapore for the rest of my pathetic life . There was also a chance that the only reason Moulmein Road sounds familiar , is because of the local television series Moulmein High . I did not watch the show , but the advertisements flashed often enough . At least I know where the producer got the word Moulmein from now . Think of Tolkien , you know where he got the word Mordor from ? Of course not . He made it up .

Balestier is an interesting place . I see Hotel 81s and Fragrance Hotels (note the plural) all around . Anyway I do not think that it is such a bad-ass place . My junior lives here . Gary does not patronise these businesses , at least I think he does not . So I crossed the road and doubled back and went up this hill to outside his apartment . I messaged him . No reply . I called him and my call was redirected to his house . Guess what , he was not in ! So much for friendship .

So I resume my adventure and I see men loading and unloading boxes of goods and heavy stuff like long and big straws . Maybe it is a pipe . I enter this building called Balestier Point . Car Rentals , Massage Parlours , Karaoke . Pretty deserted building at this time . Sleezy place . I think it has a vibrant nightlife .
*Indicated with a big red dot on the map .

After my making my unofficial rounds around the two storey building , I kept walking . What else to you expect ? You want me to steal a bike and cycle away ? Or would you want me , a car-virgin , to hot-wire a car and go on an mad escapade on the road ? So I walk . I walk past this Golden Duck shop that my mum always buys duck thighs from . I walk past a SPC petrol kiosk . I walk past two police cars with people seated in the back . I walk past an Esso petrol kiosk . I walk past a Caltex petrol kiosk . I walk past the two police cars again because they stopped at the traffic light .

That part of my life , I call walking past .

Chapter Five

If you have not gone high as if on ecstasy , my guess is that you are probably hooked on some high powered drug already so my post has no effect on you . Otherwise , there is a possibility that you are taking a depressant , such as alcohol which will affect your thinking . Then you will not know this post in its full power and potential .

At long last ! I finally see The Big Friendly SingTel (The BFS , but if you do not read Roald Dahl , ignore this) building in front of me . I have reached Thomson Road ! By this time I had already received intelligence from pops' handphone . I say pops' handphone as I suspect that it is my mother messaging me instead . My dad does not use his handphone much , see ? So I with my updated status and information , I planned to walk straight to my grandparents' house instead of going home first . So I began to walk towards the PIE .

After awhile it occurred to me that people are not allowed to walk on the side of expressways . Dang it ! So as I walked past the main gate of CJC , I saw this vehicle crawling down the driveway . At its side , a man was using a hose and wasting water by splashing the jet onto the pavement edge . What was he doing ? I really do not know . My best guess would be that he was shooting the dried leaves away from the gutter . My worst guess is something like he was trying to make a water slide down the slope . I contemplated cutting through CJC to Malcolm Road , but in the end I walked a little past CJC first . I diverged from the footpath and onto the grass . I climbed up this mini-hill and over a road barrier . That is right , I am now on Malcolm Road !

At this point , I changed my mind . Since I was so close to home , I might as well head to my house first . And once again I went past CJC . The back gate was closed and locked tight . Fortunately , I did not choose to walk from the front gate to the back lest I have to walk extra .

I went to the park . There was this lady sitting in the shelter talking on the phone . There was this man on the bench at the far end of the park smoking . I did a few pull ups and then I left the park . Just a little further , I can make it . I can make it to ..

Home , sweet home .

Chapter Six

Congratulations , you have read five chapters already , but the time now is just four plus . Since you have not had enough of what I have done today , allow me to keep typing .

I helped Andrew configure the computer to host on Battle.Net . After awhile I hijacked the computer from Andrew and played the rest of his game . I went to shower , and after that I played another of Andrew's game . This time I got Beyond Godlike with his Bloodseeker . Thinking about it , most of the people in the Scourge were newbies .

Left for my grandparents' house between six and seven . Many of my cousins were there . I made a failed attempt to configure their computer as well . I made a new friend today . Kevin Thomas , Ignatius' friend . As usual , they were playing DotA when I arrived . GUYS (in exasperation) ! Come on , girls have their shopping , guys have their games . Sure not all girls shop , but neither do all guys game !

At a lot of finger food downstairs for dinner . In no particular order , I ate sushi , chicken nuggets , chicken wings and pizza . I did not want to take bee hoon to eat . Maybe my lazy self just wanted to pop food into my mouth and chew , and not scoop food , obtain cutlery , maneuver the utensils with great agility . Well you get the idea .

I learnt how to tie a french braid today . But my sister says "it sucks" . I also played Black Jack with my little cousins with peanuts at stake . In case you start thinking anything related to NKF , these peanuts are really peanuts . You know , those little little plants which grow out of the ground , yet are not called groundnuts ? Never you mind , it is complicated .

So time ticks away and before I know it , it is time to go home . I did not spend all my time playing cards , I was also doing other things , like watching Blood Parrots swimming in the tank , feeding the fish .

Once back home , I chatted awhile , played a bit , chatted awhile more while reading a chemistry article , went to read a book , messaged a friend , and went to sleep .

Chapter Seven

Actually I have nothing else to say about today since I am already asleep . However I like the number seven so I have added this extra chapter to make the story whole .

Epilogue

I was supposed to type what I dreamed of last night , but I cannot remember what they were . Something about the NCC room being spanking clean and neat , and something about the keys , and my Physics teacher .

The end .

Note from the Author

Even though you now know where I live , please please please do not come and find me and give me the privacy every modern human being needs .
Also , I know that acknowledgments should be at the beginning of a book , not the end , but since my sixth sense told me that it would look better at the end , I did thus .

Acknowledgments

To Alastair , for inviting me to dragon boat but never did reply me , even now .
To Ian , for giving me Alastair's number even though I could not reach him .
To Matthew , for recognising me on the crowded bus .
To Andrew , for abetting me in getting the Beyond Godlike .
To Emily , for declining to go shopping with me for a present for pops .
To Edward , for your peanuts .
To Damien , for letting me cheat you of your Nintendo DS .
To Lailing , for falling asleep hence making me wait indefinitely .
To myself , for the ball of the time you gave me .
Most of all , to all you readers out there who sacrificed there time to read this , yes , invigorating post .

Betcha all will never die of want to know what I do on Fridays again .

Post Script : I will be away the whole of next week . I know , I know .
I made a mistake . You are after my head .
Shrugs .
I will make it up to you . I have told
That this will never end (this will never end)
Things go on
But nothing will last,
Only the fool in me believes
There is sense in it.
In distant shores of grief
It's over now! A few days ago I was having this much coveted afternoon nap .
I dreamed . I realise I dream much more often recently than I ever did in my adolescence . Wonder why , maybe my subconsciousness has more baggage to juggle with each passing day .
I was in this dream and you described me as with 'malicity' . Somewhere in those grey grooves of my brain , I produced a new word . I know what that means , after all it is my dream . You mean to say that I am full of malice , that I am malicious . Hey , you know what , I think you are correct .
That is who I am , evil and scheming . I work only for my own personal gain .
Rationalising is nothing more than justifying crimes . No one wants to talk anymore .
I guess that there is nothing worth saying anymore . Not for you , at least . I can talk about anything , but some things just do not connect , like trying to fit two different sized jigsaws together . You just do not have the time , the mood to entertain my boring speeches . Maybe because there is a lack in understanding of nuances so there is never any chance . Possibly , I have bad luck . Probably , the problem is just me .
The world has just got a little more boring .

Night cycling with my friends at Changi last night was an experience . Ate prata before setting off , ate murtabak after arriving back . Watched Pursuit of Happyness once back at the chalet . Happiness , yea , I would be happy if you were truly happy as well . I just do not understand why money should influence a person's happiness so much . I think I should just clean up this life of mine and start over . Sounds so simple , but I hate habits , habits that I cannot drop with ease , habits that tantalizes me even though I have already decided I must break .

I wonder why you are so full of suspicion .
Are others truly so devious ? There is a difference between capacity and intent .

I was watching School of Rock last night , and I must give it two thumbs up for entertainment value . Seriously , even when that was not the first occasion I have watched it , I was still thoroughly tickled by their antics .

Every fifteen or so minutes there would be a series of advertisements insinuated . I kept seeing US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in front of the podium quoting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Pete Pace regarding the increase in military expenditure of China . A little confusing , but let me iron it out . I am a guy quoting this guy who is quoting that guy .

Ya well , everyone is full of mistrust . I do not trust you , you do not trust me . Why not just open up and learn to love each other ? I know , if I put myself on the operating table , and let the surgeon in you examine my every organ , I would be terribly vulnerable . I do not like to be weak and susceptible to harm . Nope , I would rather jump into RoboCop's suit and mow down the likes of you Rambo-style . Innocent or not , you are just another potential predator . Better to be safe than sorry , so quit trespassing and get of my land .

I am not like that always . There was a time , when I was younger and still a little boy ...

Happiness is abundant ,
Easy to smile and to laugh .
All else becomes redundant ,
Your attention is enough .

Then you whisper me a tale ,
Set me on a wild goose chase .
Too late to pay off my bail ,
Was not insured just in case .

The hurt once done can be healed ,
But the damage will remain .
I kept my pact safe and sealed ,
But you chose to bring me pain .

That is all good and fair here ,
In a place of selfishness .
Nothing seems so very clear ,
Not like before all this mess .

Loneliness is abundant ,
Easy to scoff and to frown .
All else becomes redundant ,
My security is sound .

So it would be , I do not trust you anymore . The innocence of childhood gone . I become my own security guard to ensure my own safety , from hurt , from harm . If you become capable enough , who knows what you might intend to do . I think I should just snip it in the bud and stunt your capabilities . Then no matter how evil your intentions may be , you cannot set into action your devious ploy . Simply a matter of whether you can do it or not .

I will paralyse you if doing so means I destroy the danger of me getting injured .
So do I approve ? Negative .
By following that route I will merely add suspicion . The risk of you breaking a promise is always there . That is a prerequisite . That is what trust is all about . After all , people only get hurt because they trust , because they believe .

All is good and well in this world of mistrust . Many days ago , I was back walking home from the CCAB , I saw this woman bending over the soil surrounding this newly planted tree . I deduced the female was a domestic worker - some things , you just do not see local girls do . I suddenly remembered this event while on my way home again today . So I decided to note it down in my phone before I forgot about it .

The question is , what in the world was the woman doing ? Well , there is a plastic bag , a spade , a suspicious maid , an even more suspicious lady behind the fence of the adjacent house . As I strode closer , the maid walked away into the alley behind all the terraces . Right , I walk past and continue on my way . Come on I can piece two and two together in this lousy jigsaw . They were obviously stealing soil from the ground . Partners-in-crime though I conclude the employer is the abettor .

I go around a corner and wait for a few precious seconds . By now I was less than a hundred metres away from my house . Never mind , I stole a peek back at the scene . Surprise surprise , both of them are back : Employee scooping the soil , employer on the lookout behind the safety of her fence .

My stolen glance was pretty conspicuous , I mean , there was not much 'cover' to speak of . I guess I alarmed them . They abandoned their quest of the coveted ground yet again .

The situation amazes me . Of all things , soil . I know the sand ban is bad , but I did not know it was that bad ! I digress , the unusual fancy for this brown treasure has little to do with any international policy . She only wants the soil for her garden . What better and cheaper way than to collect it off the sidewalk ?

Guilt haunts me whenever I act upon anything illegal , immoral or insidious . It is as if retribution will find me one day , repaying evil for evil . Conscience , that is what irks me , and them .

Good that people still have consciences . What if they had no little angel telling me what is black , grey or white . Welcome to the Earth , where no one cares whether it is wrong or right , not even the protagonist . Where people lack the concern to justify their actions , we have murders and riots and wars .

"No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it."
"Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor."
Theodore Roosevelt - Third Annual Message to Congress , December 7 , 1903

I know everyone wants their rights . Women's rights , children's rights , personal rights and all . However , no one is above society and whatever rights I may claim , nothing can justify undermining society . There is a limit to how much rights we have .

Otherwise society will fall .
Actually , societies never ceases to fall .
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In the long run we're all dead.
- John Maynard Keynes

All stories are true.
I learnt this from Brother today.
Some stories actually happened.

Stories are all vehicles.
They carry a message and a truth.

Undying experiences and wisdom that was here a thousand years ago and will still be here a thousand years later. Love, Loyalty, Hate, Betrayal. They never cease, they never desist. They are in every society and civilization. Stories will always strike a chord with me.

All stories are true. I am not an avid fan of the World Wrestling Entertainment. I only watched WWE when I was at a younger age, and the show was named World Wrestling Federation then. Mostly I was exposed to wrestling through my brother who always insisted on watching those matches. After a few seasons, my parents took a stand and decided that wrestling just was not a healthy form of sport. More opportunities arose with the Play Station coming about, and soon enough my brother, cousins and I were hooked on WWE games. Slowly I shifted back to gaming on the computer, and eventually I lost almost all concern for wrestling.

If you are a WWE fan, you would probably already know that Chris Benoit was found dead on 25th June. Found out about this yesterday.

Life is unpredictable.

I could be dead anytime.

The sad truth of this all is that death is all too common. You and I were given Life and Death like a package, two-in-one. I cannot have one without the other. Death owns us all. There is no escaping. Thinking about what I read in "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom, I wonder if death will really be like what Adam experienced as he laid to sleep on his first night.

Adam never knew that there was going to be a tomorrow. Just the end of the day. Would death be like that, then? Another tomorrow, an afterlife. Faith, how easily mine can be shattered.

Death is all too common. For me, I take death stoically.
Men know their doom, but not the hour.
When my time is up, my time is up. So be it. I am utterly wiped out right now.
A long day.
I wonder how I can say that when my term has been so short.
I guess I never put my position to the fullest use.
On another note, the passion is carried on.
Progress does not stop with me.
We will always keep soaring to greater heights.
If anything, I would help you first.

Nothing lasts forever.
Not even ideals. Great ideas can even be forgotten.
Reminds me of a hymn.
The Pilgrim Song.

Man is lonely by birth,
Man is only a pilgrim on earth.
Born to be king time is but a temporary thing,
Only on loan while on earth.

Like the wind in the tree,
Man has been rather reckless and free.
Thrown far and wide he longs to settle down beside,
The stream flowing through eternity.

Like the grass on the lawn,
We will pass by the way and be gone.
A lesson to learn, we walk but once there's no return,
Time is always moving on.

Man is longing for one,
For a song and a place in the sun.
A home up above where everyday is lived in love,
For rest when the journey is done.

I guess this is one of the occasions where I just sit and look at the digital clock blink the minutes away. A moment of reticence. Just breathing and breathing and saying, hey, I have homework to do. Then I just shove that nagging incessant thought to the back of my head and set upon myself a pretense of peace.

I realise that I am one happy-go-lucky ball of fun.
Maybe that is the reason for me being an anomaly to much of the world. Back from camp .
I did not realise how shagged I was till today .
I slept at 0130h and woke up at 1830h .
I was that exhausted .

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

I learnt this song from my group participants .
Stand By Me by Ben E. King .

I am really blessed to have such a wondrous group .
Really close knit , virtually no problems whatsoever .
I could feel the love .

The camp , well , to be honest ,
Means more to me this year than it did the last .
To be frank , I cannot recall much of what happened last year .
These five days was like a refreshment course .
What does it mean to be a Lasallian .

Yet even all that in the camp , we are sheltered and pampered .
I touch only the tip of the iceberg .
If only I was free .


Back to the real world,
Bertier.

This is what
they're integrating us for?

We'd have been better off
staying where we were.

School is looming over me .
I know what that means .
Stress .
Flurry of sheets of papers .
Guilt .
Scribbling on lines upon lines .
Numbness .
Jabbing keys onto the calculator .

And life goes on .
Time waits for no man . Okay folks .
It is 0620h now .
Rise and shine and in half an hour , it would be time to leave for camp .
Have a nice week ahead .

I decided to do my Friday some justice by actually posting a picture about it . If you find my drawing ugly , you cannot appreciate art .

As you can see from the Singapore map , I started off from Kallang MRT , and ended up , well , somewhere .
However , that is not the beginning of the story , that is chapter three , four and five .

I know all of you are dying to know what happened on this special Friday . Since I do not care whether you live or die , I will start this novel with an introductory paragraph .

Introduction

I did not Thank God It's Friday .
I did not over sleep .
I did not play soccer .
I did not make my bed .
I did not ...

The list goes on , but I feel you tugging at my strings at my heart . Yes , yes , I empathize with you , you all are dying cause you still do not know what I have done . Hence , out of compassion , I will move on to the prologue .

Prologue

In the morning .

Beep beep beep . My alarm goes off . Of course , my alarm does not sound like that . My alarm is way cooler than that . It is so cool that I cannot even attempt to try and manifest it into words . Well most of the time , my alarm is so cool that I plop right back to sleep after turning it off . On this special Friday , I did just the opposite . I popped right out of bed and used the washroom .

I went downstairs . I read the newspaper . Every single article in Life! and Home sections . Every damned one of them . You know , the articles are like drugs . The more you read , the more drowsy you get . So you can guess what happened to me right ? I floated upstairs and back onto my bed and went to take a nap .

Chapter One

The next time I woke up , pops was straightening my legs . I guess I was sleeping curled up . This is probably due to the fact that the fan was blowing directly at me and in a bid to conserve energy , my subconsciousness responded by keeping my extremities close to the body . You do not need to take Biology to figure these things out . Some of you may be wondering , who on earth is 'pops' ? I mean , you all should have read Archie Comics , right ? If you have , you will know that pops means dad . Yes , you heard me correct . Pops means dad !

I doze off for a second or two , maybe a few minutes , maybe an hour ? I awake to the sound of , Andrew ? Yak yak yak . I can hear him playing DotA downstairs . Maybe while I slept the world invented a teleportation system and even got it patented . That explains how Andrew appeared in my house at around noon . All you realists out there are going to shoot me down , yea . I know , you all want a logical explanation . Sorry to say , I got none for you , give for the possible fact that an adult fetched him over in a vehicle called a car .

Too bad they do not show one o'clock news . If MediaCorp did I could have been watching it . You people should really take hints . I actually only wanted to tell you that it is one o'clock . Fried noodles for lunch . Surprisingly , I had no appetite . Why is this surprising ? Mainly because I always have an appetite . I always put in an effort to finish all the food on my plate . Even to the last grain . Can you imagine the poor little Oliver Twist pitifully asking for more gruel ? Well , since today was noodles , I did not need to eat any grains , so I left more than half of my portion untouched . My maid put it back into the pot .

I showered and got changed , got packed . Yes ! It is time to run out to the bus stop , since I am already kind of late with the clock showing 1335h .

Chapter Two

There is an option . The option is not , going to the MRT station by foot , and going to the MRT station by bus . That is not the option . The real choice is , save 45¢ or save 5minutes 32seconds (inclusive of bus waiting time) . Then again , that is only a rough estimate . I could be wrong . If you have followed , you would know that I am pretty late , so I took the bus .

Tee-teet . I have boarded this over-fed rectangular monster . It is packed and I have no space to breathe . If the door opens I risk being spewed out . Beep . A message on my phone ! Now I wonder who it is . If I could only juggle my shoe bag , earphones , phone , all with limited movement in this cramped environment . Thank God I am not claustrophobic , or I would have most certainly fainted .

After much deliberation and lithe movements , I finally managed to flip my phone open and look at the message from ... Matthew !
"Eh, im on the same bus as u"
I craned my neck and looked behind . You see , I can only look behind since I am pressed to the front windscreen of the bus . Obviously , Matthew cannot be any further front than me . There , my sharp eyes have caught him in my field of vision . He is somewhere in the middle of this monstrosity . Gosh , he must be suffocating there . I inquiry where he is going through a short message . You see this pathetic situation ? We cannot even converse properly when we are less than ten metres apart . I liken ourselves to little kids in a classroom passing little notes to and fro . Anyway , his next consecutive replies are as follows . I omitted my own cause I have already deleted them and I cannot remember .
"I going cine. Why u wear centennial?"
"Oh chey. Btw, did u noe there's oso an sji teacher on board. I dunno wads her name though."
Well actually I can remember the gists of my replies , but since this sadist in my does not want you to know what I did today , I have chosen not to tell you . Now writhe in agony !

I was vomited out of the bus and into the train . Not much difference . I still have to stand . There were no empty seats . So from Newton , I took the train down to City Hall . I alight , and walk across the platform . Yes , I have changed from Red line to Green line . Funny how they always like to confuse you . Red light and red man means stop . Green light and green man means go . Yet now we have Red line and Green line and they mean totally different things !

I board the train again . This time some seats were vacant . I took one . I mean , Of course I took one ! I cannot take two or three or four , can I ? As an afterthought , I can , if I shove the other passengers out their seats and stretched myself to my full body span . What I am trying to say is that the empty seats were peppered and around in small quantities , so you should imagine a crowded train with one free seat here , another there , but never more than two side by side .

Back to the story . By taking that seat , I was also taking a big risk . Nowadays people like to give youngsters that you-selfish-little-brat look . Maybe because everyone likes to think themselves old , and therefore everyone else are obliged to offer them a seat instead . Luckily for me , no one gave me such a stare . In fact , no one even stared at me . Maybe because I was wearing white , and the train was so well lit . Then I blended in with the bright lights even though the window behind me was black (as the train was underground) and the seat was coloured . Possibly , I was a chameleon in my previous life .

I finally got off at Kallang MRT . In the spirit of Pursuit of Happyness , I shall call this part of my life , Transport . However , this part has already ended but I just want to tell you that for fun .

Chapter Three

Well if you really have a lot of time to spare you can continue reading this invigorating post . So where was I ? Yes , I was miles from home with only an EZ Link card to my name . In addition to my handphone , wallet , bag and shoe bag . I rather you forget the others . Just think me with my EZ Link card only . Then you will feel the adventure . Where was the group of Josephians that Alastair had promised ? Nowhere to be found . Well , I could attribute that to the fact that the time was 1405h . Curses . Does it mean they have all left ? Sure seems so . Now I whipped out my handphone and called Alastair . A few seconds later , the call was rejected . I texted him one , and two other called were likewise rejected . Damn his auto reject setting ! His phone was probably locked somewhere safe already while he was out in the water . Double curses , now I do not even know how to get there , plus I forgot what the place was called . Make that triple curses , up sized .

Here you find a forlorn boy standing at the bus stop with nothing to his name but his EZ Link card . But no , he would not take an MRT home . I decided to walk .
*Please refer to map .
So I crossed this bridge . Just as I completed that stretch , I saw this man pushing this cart along the side of the road in the opposite direction . Part of me wanted to help him out of goodwill . Another part of me wanted to help him out of boredom . The greatest part of me just wanted to walk onward . I kept walking and walking . I reached a junction . The traffic was heavy . Being the good boy I am , turned around the bend and walked a fair distance before proceeding to cross the road . This is what was going through my mind at that time .
"Better to cross safely than to end up as roadkill"

I walk pretty fast , and those four young adults in front walk at a speed as if a stone wall was chasing them . Of course , since stone walls cannot chase people , they were walking at a snail's pace . That is fine , I'm cool . Not as if I am in a rush . In fact , I can say that I am pretty much a lost wanderer . Now how cool is that ? So I stroll behind them , and I reach a true blue traffic junction . I call it blue as the sky was blue . Even though the lights there were only red , orange and green . Actually I called it true blue because two huge main roads intersected here . Kallang Road and Lavender Street .

The four of them , two females and two males , crossed the black and white stripes called the zebra crossing . I was following in the wake , but turned back at the last moment . I would never get anywhere walking at their pace behind them . I mean like , the four of them just barricade my way and there is no way past them . There was this bus driver , he stopped at the crossing waiting for me to cross . Oh that was so awkward . I was just standing at the pavement , and he was just stationary on the road . I turned around and walked up Lavender Street instead .

Walking and walking and walking . Thank God for my MP3 phone . A good companion and a great way to stay anti-social in any social event . I decided to follow the sun , since it was about half past two already , the sun would be near to the west . Then I started worrying about the Earth being tilted on its axis and the location of Singapore a few degrees of the equator . Ah hell , just keep walking forward . I will get somewhere I know soon enough .

This part reminds me of a song , On My Way by Phil Collins .
Tell everybody i'm on my way
New friends and new places to see
With blue skies ahead, yes i'm on my way
And theres no where else i'd rather be

Tell everybody i'm on my way
And i'm loving every step i take
With the sun beating down, yes i'm on my way
And i can't keep this smile off my face

Of course , I was listening to epic metal by Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray instead .

Chapter Four

I proceed on my path and crossed two roads . I was pretty tired of breathing in all the car exhaust by then . So I turned into a back alley and walked a little before returning to being smoked in the gas chamber again .

What do you know , I see a sign Balestier Road . I recognise Balestier . It is near my area . I must be on the correct path ! I guess I was Christopher Columbus in my previous life . Then again , I do not believe in reincarnation , so I will settle that I am related to him somehow .

I pass under this dripping flyover . Wonder why it is leaking up there . I carefully avoid being dripped on . I cannot imagine where the water has come from , and where it has gone , or how filthy it is . The best bet is to just evade all falling projectiles . When in doubt , stay away . Actually have you ever wondered why they call that structure a 'flyover' ? I do not see any cars flying over . If you do , please take a picture and let me see . Maybe if they named it a 'drive-over' instead I would be less perplexed .

I see Moulmein Road , but it is less sketched into my memory than Balestier Road . The smart thing to do is to stick to Balestier . I do not want to wonder around Singapore for the rest of my pathetic life . There was also a chance that the only reason Moulmein Road sounds familiar , is because of the local television series Moulmein High . I did not watch the show , but the advertisements flashed often enough . At least I know where the producer got the word Moulmein from now . Think of Tolkien , you know where he got the word Mordor from ? Of course not . He made it up .

Balestier is an interesting place . I see Hotel 81s and Fragrance Hotels (note the plural) all around . Anyway I do not think that it is such a bad-ass place . My junior lives here . Gary does not patronise these businesses , at least I think he does not . So I crossed the road and doubled back and went up this hill to outside his apartment . I messaged him . No reply . I called him and my call was redirected to his house . Guess what , he was not in ! So much for friendship .

So I resume my adventure and I see men loading and unloading boxes of goods and heavy stuff like long and big straws . Maybe it is a pipe . I enter this building called Balestier Point . Car Rentals , Massage Parlours , Karaoke . Pretty deserted building at this time . Sleezy place . I think it has a vibrant nightlife .
*Indicated with a big red dot on the map .

After my making my unofficial rounds around the two storey building , I kept walking . What else to you expect ? You want me to steal a bike and cycle away ? Or would you want me , a car-virgin , to hot-wire a car and go on an mad escapade on the road ? So I walk . I walk past this Golden Duck shop that my mum always buys duck thighs from . I walk past a SPC petrol kiosk . I walk past two police cars with people seated in the back . I walk past an Esso petrol kiosk . I walk past a Caltex petrol kiosk . I walk past the two police cars again because they stopped at the traffic light .

That part of my life , I call walking past .

Chapter Five

If you have not gone high as if on ecstasy , my guess is that you are probably hooked on some high powered drug already so my post has no effect on you . Otherwise , there is a possibility that you are taking a depressant , such as alcohol which will affect your thinking . Then you will not know this post in its full power and potential .

At long last ! I finally see The Big Friendly SingTel (The BFS , but if you do not read Roald Dahl , ignore this) building in front of me . I have reached Thomson Road ! By this time I had already received intelligence from pops' handphone . I say pops' handphone as I suspect that it is my mother messaging me instead . My dad does not use his handphone much , see ? So I with my updated status and information , I planned to walk straight to my grandparents' house instead of going home first . So I began to walk towards the PIE .

After awhile it occurred to me that people are not allowed to walk on the side of expressways . Dang it ! So as I walked past the main gate of CJC , I saw this vehicle crawling down the driveway . At its side , a man was using a hose and wasting water by splashing the jet onto the pavement edge . What was he doing ? I really do not know . My best guess would be that he was shooting the dried leaves away from the gutter . My worst guess is something like he was trying to make a water slide down the slope . I contemplated cutting through CJC to Malcolm Road , but in the end I walked a little past CJC first . I diverged from the footpath and onto the grass . I climbed up this mini-hill and over a road barrier . That is right , I am now on Malcolm Road !

At this point , I changed my mind . Since I was so close to home , I might as well head to my house first . And once again I went past CJC . The back gate was closed and locked tight . Fortunately , I did not choose to walk from the front gate to the back lest I have to walk extra .

I went to the park . There was this lady sitting in the shelter talking on the phone . There was this man on the bench at the far end of the park smoking . I did a few pull ups and then I left the park . Just a little further , I can make it . I can make it to ..

Home , sweet home .

Chapter Six

Congratulations , you have read five chapters already , but the time now is just four plus . Since you have not had enough of what I have done today , allow me to keep typing .

I helped Andrew configure the computer to host on Battle.Net . After awhile I hijacked the computer from Andrew and played the rest of his game . I went to shower , and after that I played another of Andrew's game . This time I got Beyond Godlike with his Bloodseeker . Thinking about it , most of the people in the Scourge were newbies .

Left for my grandparents' house between six and seven . Many of my cousins were there . I made a failed attempt to configure their computer as well . I made a new friend today . Kevin Thomas , Ignatius' friend . As usual , they were playing DotA when I arrived . GUYS (in exasperation) ! Come on , girls have their shopping , guys have their games . Sure not all girls shop , but neither do all guys game !

At a lot of finger food downstairs for dinner . In no particular order , I ate sushi , chicken nuggets , chicken wings and pizza . I did not want to take bee hoon to eat . Maybe my lazy self just wanted to pop food into my mouth and chew , and not scoop food , obtain cutlery , maneuver the utensils with great agility . Well you get the idea .

I learnt how to tie a french braid today . But my sister says "it sucks" . I also played Black Jack with my little cousins with peanuts at stake . In case you start thinking anything related to NKF , these peanuts are really peanuts . You know , those little little plants which grow out of the ground , yet are not called groundnuts ? Never you mind , it is complicated .

So time ticks away and before I know it , it is time to go home . I did not spend all my time playing cards , I was also doing other things , like watching Blood Parrots swimming in the tank , feeding the fish .

Once back home , I chatted awhile , played a bit , chatted awhile more while reading a chemistry article , went to read a book , messaged a friend , and went to sleep .

Chapter Seven

Actually I have nothing else to say about today since I am already asleep . However I like the number seven so I have added this extra chapter to make the story whole .

Epilogue

I was supposed to type what I dreamed of last night , but I cannot remember what they were . Something about the NCC room being spanking clean and neat , and something about the keys , and my Physics teacher .

The end .

Note from the Author

Even though you now know where I live , please please please do not come and find me and give me the privacy every modern human being needs .
Also , I know that acknowledgments should be at the beginning of a book , not the end , but since my sixth sense told me that it would look better at the end , I did thus .

Acknowledgments

To Alastair , for inviting me to dragon boat but never did reply me , even now .
To Ian , for giving me Alastair's number even though I could not reach him .
To Matthew , for recognising me on the crowded bus .
To Andrew , for abetting me in getting the Beyond Godlike .
To Emily , for declining to go shopping with me for a present for pops .
To Edward , for your peanuts .
To Damien , for letting me cheat you of your Nintendo DS .
To Lailing , for falling asleep hence making me wait indefinitely .
To myself , for the ball of the time you gave me .
Most of all , to all you readers out there who sacrificed there time to read this , yes , invigorating post .

Betcha all will never die of want to know what I do on Fridays again .

Post Script : I will be away the whole of next week . I know , I know .
I made a mistake . You are after my head .
Shrugs .
I will make it up to you . I have told
That this will never end (this will never end)
Things go on
But nothing will last,
Only the fool in me believes
There is sense in it.
In distant shores of grief
It's over now! A few days ago I was having this much coveted afternoon nap .
I dreamed . I realise I dream much more often recently than I ever did in my adolescence . Wonder why , maybe my subconsciousness has more baggage to juggle with each passing day .
I was in this dream and you described me as with 'malicity' . Somewhere in those grey grooves of my brain , I produced a new word . I know what that means , after all it is my dream . You mean to say that I am full of malice , that I am malicious . Hey , you know what , I think you are correct .
That is who I am , evil and scheming . I work only for my own personal gain .
Rationalising is nothing more than justifying crimes . No one wants to talk anymore .
I guess that there is nothing worth saying anymore . Not for you , at least . I can talk about anything , but some things just do not connect , like trying to fit two different sized jigsaws together . You just do not have the time , the mood to entertain my boring speeches . Maybe because there is a lack in understanding of nuances so there is never any chance . Possibly , I have bad luck . Probably , the problem is just me .
The world has just got a little more boring .

Night cycling with my friends at Changi last night was an experience . Ate prata before setting off , ate murtabak after arriving back . Watched Pursuit of Happyness once back at the chalet . Happiness , yea , I would be happy if you were truly happy as well . I just do not understand why money should influence a person's happiness so much . I think I should just clean up this life of mine and start over . Sounds so simple , but I hate habits , habits that I cannot drop with ease , habits that tantalizes me even though I have already decided I must break .

I wonder why you are so full of suspicion .
Are others truly so devious ? There is a difference between capacity and intent .

I was watching School of Rock last night , and I must give it two thumbs up for entertainment value . Seriously , even when that was not the first occasion I have watched it , I was still thoroughly tickled by their antics .

Every fifteen or so minutes there would be a series of advertisements insinuated . I kept seeing US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in front of the podium quoting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Pete Pace regarding the increase in military expenditure of China . A little confusing , but let me iron it out . I am a guy quoting this guy who is quoting that guy .

Ya well , everyone is full of mistrust . I do not trust you , you do not trust me . Why not just open up and learn to love each other ? I know , if I put myself on the operating table , and let the surgeon in you examine my every organ , I would be terribly vulnerable . I do not like to be weak and susceptible to harm . Nope , I would rather jump into RoboCop's suit and mow down the likes of you Rambo-style . Innocent or not , you are just another potential predator . Better to be safe than sorry , so quit trespassing and get of my land .

I am not like that always . There was a time , when I was younger and still a little boy ...

Happiness is abundant ,
Easy to smile and to laugh .
All else becomes redundant ,
Your attention is enough .

Then you whisper me a tale ,
Set me on a wild goose chase .
Too late to pay off my bail ,
Was not insured just in case .

The hurt once done can be healed ,
But the damage will remain .
I kept my pact safe and sealed ,
But you chose to bring me pain .

That is all good and fair here ,
In a place of selfishness .
Nothing seems so very clear ,
Not like before all this mess .

Loneliness is abundant ,
Easy to scoff and to frown .
All else becomes redundant ,
My security is sound .

So it would be , I do not trust you anymore . The innocence of childhood gone . I become my own security guard to ensure my own safety , from hurt , from harm . If you become capable enough , who knows what you might intend to do . I think I should just snip it in the bud and stunt your capabilities . Then no matter how evil your intentions may be , you cannot set into action your devious ploy . Simply a matter of whether you can do it or not .

I will paralyse you if doing so means I destroy the danger of me getting injured .
So do I approve ? Negative .
By following that route I will merely add suspicion . The risk of you breaking a promise is always there . That is a prerequisite . That is what trust is all about . After all , people only get hurt because they trust , because they believe .

All is good and well in this world of mistrust . Many days ago , I was back walking home from the CCAB , I saw this woman bending over the soil surrounding this newly planted tree . I deduced the female was a domestic worker - some things , you just do not see local girls do . I suddenly remembered this event while on my way home again today . So I decided to note it down in my phone before I forgot about it .

The question is , what in the world was the woman doing ? Well , there is a plastic bag , a spade , a suspicious maid , an even more suspicious lady behind the fence of the adjacent house . As I strode closer , the maid walked away into the alley behind all the terraces . Right , I walk past and continue on my way . Come on I can piece two and two together in this lousy jigsaw . They were obviously stealing soil from the ground . Partners-in-crime though I conclude the employer is the abettor .

I go around a corner and wait for a few precious seconds . By now I was less than a hundred metres away from my house . Never mind , I stole a peek back at the scene . Surprise surprise , both of them are back : Employee scooping the soil , employer on the lookout behind the safety of her fence .

My stolen glance was pretty conspicuous , I mean , there was not much 'cover' to speak of . I guess I alarmed them . They abandoned their quest of the coveted ground yet again .

The situation amazes me . Of all things , soil . I know the sand ban is bad , but I did not know it was that bad ! I digress , the unusual fancy for this brown treasure has little to do with any international policy . She only wants the soil for her garden . What better and cheaper way than to collect it off the sidewalk ?

Guilt haunts me whenever I act upon anything illegal , immoral or insidious . It is as if retribution will find me one day , repaying evil for evil . Conscience , that is what irks me , and them .

Good that people still have consciences . What if they had no little angel telling me what is black , grey or white . Welcome to the Earth , where no one cares whether it is wrong or right , not even the protagonist . Where people lack the concern to justify their actions , we have murders and riots and wars .

"No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it."
"Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor."
Theodore Roosevelt - Third Annual Message to Congress , December 7 , 1903

I know everyone wants their rights . Women's rights , children's rights , personal rights and all . However , no one is above society and whatever rights I may claim , nothing can justify undermining society . There is a limit to how much rights we have .

Otherwise society will fall .
Actually , societies never ceases to fall .
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