Extra Accessories

This is another one of my work during uni time. I got the inspiration to write this when I thought of an ex-class mate who is kind of a show off.
Again, this article was also posted in Soulcast.com with the same title.

The door swings open, and Curvaceous makes her grand entrance. Heads turn around to watch as she strides to an empty chair beside her group of adoring fans. Her bum sways from left to right as she makes an unsuccessful attempt to imitate Pamela Anderson in Baywatch. Her low cut blouse shows-off a chunk of dark fleshy Twin Peaks. All eyes are fixated to her as they go “Boeing! Boeing! Boeing!”

The lecturer at the front of the lecture hall turns red with anger as she notices that the class’ attention has shifted from her lecture to Curvaceous. She clears her throat and barked, “Are you done with the fashion show yet?” Curvaceous looks up at her and blinks innocently before replying, “It’s not my fault that I have extra accessories that you don’t!”

A Picture of You

The following story was written during my university years in Auckland for a Principles of Writing assignment. I could really relate to this story as it was based on real life incident. Furthermore this work had actually earned me very high marks.
The poem at the start and end of this story has been taken from a greeting card that I've utterly fallen in love with the first time I saw it. I bought it wondering if I'd meet my Mr. Right. Today, I'm happy that I've met him and have this wonderful card for him.
This is one of the postings that has a duplicate copy in another blog website call Soulcast.com, so if you've read it before somewhere and thought it sounded familiar, you're right. It's the same article posted twice in two different sites. It's one of those little mistakes I make during my times of confussion.
But if this is the first time you are reading, then I hope you can relate to it as much as I did. Enjoy!

I carried a picture of you ever since I was young and believed in fairy tales. I carried a picture of you through all the times love let me down and through all the times I thought that I would never meet you in this life.

I stared at the pale faced girl who was staring back at me. Her eyes were watery and her mouth was trembling. She was trying very hard to express herself but he wouldn’t let her. He wouldn’t let her talk, he wouldn’t let me hear her and he obviously wouldn’t listen to her.
“They are my friends, and they need me. I don’t think I should leave them when they need me most…” he paused to look at me and frowned when he saw the tears in my eyes. He swallowed hard and continued, “…besides, I need a break. I can’t always be with you…”
The rest of his words vanished into thin air. I felt blood rushing up to my face but the girl in the side mirror remained as pale as before. Her expression on the other hand had changed from sad confusion to cold anger. I let out an exasperated sigh. I knew right from the start that this relationship was meant to fail, yet I set foot in it. I had no one to blame but myself.
I turned away from the mirror reflection to look at him. The boyish charm that I had fallen in love with three years ago had been replaced by a worn out expression. His face was tensed even as he concentrated on the traffic. I thought I saw the picture in him, but now I realised that it was merely a resemblance.
To be fair to both of us, I decided to put an end to this. My vision was blurred and my throat was dry as I struggled for words. What came out sounded more like a croak. I turned back to my inner self again searching for a better way to say it.
“I don’t think I can go on any more,” I finally found my voice. I tried looking him in the eyes but they were fixated to the traffic. “I don’t think we should go on,” I continued and wondered if I was doing the right thing. I could feel my eyes water all over again. I turned away from him but managed to see his jaw tensed. As I waited for his reply, I wrestled to keep myself from taking back what I had just said. This was one fear that I had to live with.
“But we could still be friends,” I quickly added. This was the least I could do to make it easier for both of us.
The car pulled to a stop at the side of the road. I looked up at him and caught a glimpse of tear in his eyes. He was deep in thought. Part of me prayed for him to say no. I was sure he didn’t fit the picture I have but I wasn’t convinced. I was afraid of making a mistake that I would later regret.
The long awaited reply finally came after what seemed like hours of pondering. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be so unfair to you,” he said.
For a moment my world seemed to have fallen into pieces. I felt a strong sense of despair. But then I reminded myself that I was the one who suggested the break up and he did not fit the picture anyway. Whatever it is, I had to be strong.
“So, I guess this is it,” I said after a long pause. I fought to keep from crying unsuccessfully. I felt a warm hand on my tear-streaked cheeks.
“We’ll still be friends?” he asked. His voice sounded shaky too. I looked up and realised that we were actually sharing our final moment of couple-hood in tears. I nodded and we embraced each other for the final time.
When we finally broke away, I looked into the mirror again. The eyes that stared back at me were no longer cold, but warm. I could see a sparkle, a sparkle of hope that one day I would meet the one in the picture that I carried in my heart.

I carried a picture of you, not in my pocket but in my heart. I didn’t know what you would look like, but I knew what it would feel like to finally know you and be with you, safe and protected and accepted like I’d finally found my home.