100 words.com

wrote one piece today. January's posts has been closed, saving it for next month. I'm taking the challenge to write at least a piece of work in a day. Need to write more to improve. Challenging myself, pushing myself to the limit.

Counting..

Not a productive day. Been trying to read the Greek myth but didn't seem to enjoy or even finish reading it. No joke, already starting my major. And that research paper! sigh, that's a lot of work! will try to be strong in adapting to the challenges.

Darkened Mirage

Darkened Mirage

They sat stiffly on the bench at the garden. They have called her as there is “something” to tell. As she draws nearer, she could see Judith is sobbing. Brown looks sad. That “something” seems to be cloudy.

Only her latchkey hanging out of her pocket sounded as the wind blew. She stood facing them. They are still quiet. “Emma, the railroad disaster last night….” She looked at Brown. Judith drowned herself in tears. There is a stern silence except for Judith’s eerie weeps. The wind had seemed to stop, adding echoes to Judith’s tears. She knew that Jack was killed in the railroad disaster.

Slowly she walks into her room. The dim-lighted alley has always been loyal, waiting for her. She is immune to the muteness of the alley. She doesn’t know how to feel. She could hear her heart stomping loudly. Her heart condition is not as stable as expected but suddenly she feels the ally has been brightened up a little.

Emma looked at her room. She felt a pang of emptiness. She observes Jack’s collections of key chains. They stood majestically on his study table. She moved to the window. The morning sun pierced into her eyes, quickly she pulled the curtains and locked the window. She feels secured when everything is shut. Then she feels her heart stumbled into her eyes, a sudden anguish had frozen there. The room had become darker, as if the walls are going to press her. She felt a heavy chill in her spine that shouted that Jack is dead. She fell motionlessly to the floor, she can’t reach her feet, her keys dropped off her pocket.

The word “dead” comes trampling into her ears. She cried violently reflecting Jack’s sweet odor. Wept and wept until her chest had become heavy.

“Judith, I need to see my mother in Tucson. I can’t be staying in this house anymore,” I said to Judith, perhaps still conforming that her brother had died. “I know, after fifteen years, your life starts here.” Her words, however kind she had put it, came damp and narrowed.

I nodded. I restored my teenage years. Getting married to Jack is the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me and the small village. Jack, the successful, charming young man from town, with a stable job, asked for my hand, just after I had finished school.

Is this freedom? Free to walk to the train station, going back to see momma? I should be happy, after all, this is the very moment that I have been waiting for. In the car, I feel blessed. My husband had just died but it seems like he has been gone for so long. I gripped my room keys that are still sitting in my pocket. This is the only thing that would remind me of Jack.

I would be able to see my family again. Free? Liberty? I wouldn’t want to question what freedom is. Being able to see my parents is the first decision I had ever made on my own. I wouldn’t want to look back, I am overwhelmed with fantasies about the future. I smiled and smiled, holding on to my room key as if they would fall off from my hands. At this moment, I
am as red as a poppy, eyes as bright as the street lamps. Sometimes I giggle, until my cheek feels a bit tired. I am exhilarated, welcoming the new joy of freedom .

Numb and refrained, I board the train. Not many people are on the train, may be they fear another disaster would occur. I am a bit nervous when the train started to move, the scream of the engine seems to hurt my ears. Whenever I fell scared or unsecured, I reach for the keys and hold on to it, my lifeline for so many years, and still is.

After nine hours, the train came to a halt. Another disaster? Who would tarnish her freedom now? Only one hour left to her hometown but the train seems to be stopping for ages.

Most passengers on the coach are asleep. There’s no one to talk to. Everything is dim, she recalled the alley just before her room. Her leg had become stiff after sitting for so long. She walked to another coach, everybody on the coach looked at her weirdly. She walks back to her seat but again, those passenger who were asleep before, planted a comical stare at her. How long should I wait? I want to be free, free, free but focused.

Emma left the train. Nothing is going to stop her now. She walks, hoping to reach her hometown by foot. Free? Hopefully, she will reach home before dark, she just wants to erase the dark alley adjacent to her room from her vision.

Why is the time not moving? The time is tremendously dull. She is exhausted from the long walk and her heart is troubling her. She felt the curse on her chest. Please, please don’t, I need to see my mom. She quickened her pace. There’s a thrill in her walking now. Her lips had dried out. The anxiety of reaching home has thickened. Now she ran a bit, sights of her parents welcoming her are flashing through. She is stormed to cut the chase. She ran excitedly. Freedom, that is all she wanted now.

My heart seems to fail me. The mirage of my home has gone and my energy had gradually faded. I passionately gripped the keys hoping for more energy. Suddenly darkness blankets in. Dark? My knees had become shapeless. My heart beats with a weird rhythm. I fell to the ground. Dark. My steel lifelines are still in my hands. With a slight smile I tried to catch my breath. Nothing seems to work.

Freedom was a mirage from darkness.

The sun of 1429H

Started my new year with puasa. Glad it's a holiday, or else I would however be gossiping about people. Read a bit, slept a lot! Debts paid off. What do I intend to do for next year to come? I hope to be a better person, who could see things positively and differently. I should read more books, meditate more, and more of solat sunat. I am all geared up for the applications for financial assistance. New semester has come, a tougher one I should say with academic writings that I would love to relate to literature. Greek mythology seems to scare me though. How time flies, next year would be my final year already! Wow how time waits for no one! Should be polishing on my syntax or else I would never be happy for myself. Talked about migrating and working at the Middle East. What awaits me there, no one would be able predict. Let this rest for a while till I graduate in 2009. May Allah grant me and my fellow Muslims a better year ahead!

Rewriting a fairy tale from the perspective of the evil character: Rapunzel

[My lady's presence makes the roses red]
My lady's presence makes the roses red,Because to see her lips they blush for shame.The lily's leaves, for envy, pale became,And her white hands in them this envy bred.The marigold the leaves abroad doth spread,Because the sun's and her power is the same.The violet of purple colour came.Dyed in the blood she made my heart to shed.In brief: all flowers from her their virtue take;From her sweet breath their sweet smells do proceed;The living heat which her eyebeams doth makeWarmeth the ground and quickeneth the seed.The rain, wherewith she watereth the flowers,Falls from mine eyes, which she dissolves in showers.
Henry Constable

Frederick,

You wrote me this poem after we strolled the beach. We proudly braved the massive storms and vowed to be together, rain or shine. We talked and talked and whispered about happiness. Your shoulders were my pillows. My doubts are quickly washed by your words. We counted the stars and envied the moon. Everyday is a sparkle of twilights. We beamed on each other’s heart. Clouds of sorrow depart.

I risked my life to climb the prohibited palace to pick the rapunzels for your darling wife. You asked for her hand to please your parents. Still, we showered our love secretly at night, with rapunzels witnessing. I religiously waited for the time to come, when you would take me in your heart. We dreamed for the time to come, day and night, we crossed our fingers, we sealed our love with a pure kiss, not even a slight drizzle would dampened our feelings. We kept it as blue as the smiling sky, as sizzling as the scorching sun.

The day your baby was born, you left me. You said Rapunzel’s smile was everything to you. You left me Frederick. You left me. Rapunzel took my place in your heart. You betrayed our love. I crippled for ages. I wept and wept but there are no shoulders to cry on. For eons I live with the thought to love and to be loved by only you.

I need not apologize for the way I treated Rapunzel. It is the curse from her that I am forced to prison that girl. No words could describe my sufferings after you deceived me. I will, now and forever keep her as my possession. I struggled with pains. My days are filled with pains and sorrow.

You, Frederick, you should pay for all my tears and weeps. You darkened my life, only Rapunzel’s long fine locks will keep my life brightened. Every time I brush her long hair, it reminds me of your touch, how secured I was when I stared at her hair, as promising as the stars, as shining as the holy moon.

Take me Frederick, this holy love is still burning for you. Love me, marry me, don’t leave me here with your Rapunzel. Heal my pain. You are my remedy. The love of my life. My Valentine. Free me from this agony and I’ll free your Rapunzel.

References:
http://www.theromantic.com/poetryclassic/lovestrinity.htm
http://www.poetry.com/greatestpoems/listlove.asp
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm012.html

QUESO N GUEPARDO

Got 7/10 for this piece. How i love my lecturer!

QUESO N GUEPARDO

Soft Mould Ripened, Washed Rind and Gouda, you indulge in it all. It makes you feel superior and mighty. You’ve got class and style when associated to it. You are passionate about the yellowish color. You are fond of its pungent smell. It’s in your daily dieta. You are drawn to its slim size. You think it represents your lean figure. You think you are as trendy as Naomi Campbell, Vanessa William, Elton John and Nicole Kidman as all of those celebrities consume that yellowish nutriment. You think it keeps you going. You think about it day and night, twenty four seven. You are devoted to it. It is your staple comida. You are up above the sky after your colon had digested it. You especially love the ones that came from goats with the most reeking aroma. You are el-eo-es ti in your own world, your spirits have steamed up to the sky.

When your medico told you that your heart had weaken due to excessive fats, you were furious. You are doomed. The medico’s word was el-eo-es-ti on you. The medico said you must stop taking queso or else you will die in two months time. Repeatedly you el-eo-es-ti your bearings. The medico said you must take the guepardo diet to stay healthy. Guepardo! You mean drastic and fast diet, as fast as the guepardo? In your body, there is too much goats’ milk, it couldn’t be a good match if you want to act like a guepardo. Goats will lose the battle in guepardo’s intricate intestines.

You took a blade and cut your tummy wide open. Many goats are residing under your colons. You were stupified. The goats purred loudly staring at you. For a split second you are el-eo-es-ti in their eyes. Oh, what a scenic moment in my tummy with yellowish colored blood. Why don’t I replace them with a guepardo? Guepardo runs the fastest. I unload the goats from my tummy. There you go mister medico, if this will make me healthy, there, I flushed thousands of goats into the rubbish bin.

You started to stitch your tummy skin. You are bad at coordinationg it. You el-eo-es-ti the original track. Suddenly the needle couldn’t function. You can’t sew as fast as the guepardo. You are el-eo-es-ti. You el-eo-es-ti your vision, suddenly the numbness concealed your lungs. No queso will help you now. The goats are long gone. Guepardo remains in your el-eo-es-ti sensation…

*****************************************************
el-eo-es-ti = LOST
Spanish registers: queso=cheese, dieta=diet, comida=food, medico-doctor, guepardo=cheetah

Wiped Coffee

My Biography Assignment. Not so original. But I did enjoy my voyage!

WIPED COFFEE
In 1966, Mr. Sony authored NEVER MIND SCHOOL RECORDS. While most companies scrambled to hire the graduates of a few top schools, he chose the opposite. He stressed that more than impressive academic qualifications were needed to be successful. “I beg to differ, school achievements are not important in judging the ability to do business”. This appealed to the minds of young entrepreneurs to follow their wildest, impossible dreams. He challenged everyone to follow his life as an amazing example of someone who succeeded with his own ideas even when others believed he never would.

His passion is innovation. From an early age, Mr. Sony was fond of meddling with electronic appliances. Whenever he was relieved from his household duties, this young man would become engrossed in taking apart the phonograph and putting it back together. He would spend hours and hours detailing the parts and applying his immature skills to mend the appliances back.

With the motto “it had to be something different, something that nobody else was making”, he took a giant step, he moved to the US in 1963. “I want something that sounded like a high-quality car stereo yet portable and listeners could listen while doing something else,” he said to his team. After long hours of hard and dedicated work, his excellent engineers came up with the Walkman, Mr. Sony’s most sentimental invention that is so dear to his heart because it took him nearly two years to survive the struggle to understand the American’s cultures and the language barriers. It was the biggest hit in the US in less than three weeks of sales.

His universal appeal and ingenuity made him a world citizen in the true sense of the term. He became one of the most influential personalities of the century. His successes were included in Time magazine's top businessmen of the 20th century. In the US, his brand became a giant in the electronics market, his profits have equaled national incomes of some third world countries! His success stories are eagerly awaited for, often filled with incredible tips in nurturing and grooming young talents.

“True, I did say school records are not significant, but I am a proud scholar from Physics Department at Osaka Imperial University. Never Mind School Records doesn’t mean you don’t have to pursue higher learning. Hard work, motivation and printed theories are also essential to equip yourself in dressing for success,” said Mr Sony. “I worked twenty-four seven, three sixty-five to place my brand in the US market. But remember, to have a successful career, I don’t have to sacrifice my family life. I see my brand as a child that I have to raise. I am a diehard believer in simple living and high thinking.”

This prodigy believed in being skilled and efficient in using resources economically. Mr. Sony, in his lifetime made sure that he gets the chance to address each new batch of fresh recruits, introduce them to the company philosophy and tell what is expected out of them. He created a company culture of `employment for life-time' to ensure employees give undivided loyalty to the company.

He was widely known for his boundless energy, curiosity and challenging spirit. At 72 he was still playing tennis at 7 a.m.– often with much younger people. He emitted a natural radiance, and many loved his personality, which he himself described as “cheerful”. He was not only a workaholic, but also a playaholic. He followed art and music, and was a sports fanatic. In his 60s he took up wind surfing and scuba diving and started skiing to ensure good exercise through the winter. He loved to water-ski and crafted a water-resistant microphone on a handle, connected by a wire on the ski rope to a speaker on the boat so that he could instruct the person maneuvering it.

Almost exactly eight years ago, he fell to the ground during a game of tennis. He had suffered a stroke. He has since been in a wheelchair. This is particularly sad, as he had never been able to sit still and relax with his favorite black coffee accompanying. He, the Guru of electronic, died in 1999, forty-four years after Sony towered its victory in the US. Akio Morita, the founder of Sony, was the pride and joy of the Japanese and the Americans, because after all, said Morita, Sony was made in the US!


References:
Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony, Akio Morita, Edwin M Reingold, Mitsuko Shimomura, Dutton, 1986.
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/Cambridge/entries/035/Akio-Morita.html
http://www.mrbetamax.com/MoritaBio.htm.
http://www.worldofbiography.com/9078-Akio%20Morita
http://www.sony.com/SCA/press/morita_bio.shtml
http://an-alchemist.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html

Belt, Shell, Bangle

Creative Writing was the place where I pored my heart out. She wanted us to select some things that she had brought and write anything on it, of course it must a creative one. So, here is my piece of work!

Situation A: Sweating

I hate the black and white. There are many shades and to choose from, why does it have to be that dull? Look at the charming personalities on the field. All chasing for that one black and white thing. Look at the crowd! It’s unfair. So funny, cheering and staring at one round black and white thing. You there! I like your belt. Looks funny and a bit childish on you but I like the combination. Does it fit on you well? I think it’s your son’s belt. Are you in a hurry or something?


Situation B: Tongue twister
She sells seashells by the seashore. This tongue twister is killing me. I am a stammer and I am proud of it. Don’t want to improve. Bruce Willis is a stammer too, but he managed to be successful in acting. By the way, why must a ‘she’ sell seashells?


Situation C: Shawshank Redemption (Stephen King, 1994)
“I can’t see a thing, take the candle!” shouted the police officer. Prisoners began to panic. For a few seconds it looks like the police station is going to burst. This is the third time lights are off due to the lightning. Andy carefully unlocks his handcuffs. He looked at the bangle given by his wife. With this bangle, controlled by his wife outside the prison, he managed to flee amidst the chaotic situation.

She didn't comment anything on it but I was contented with my original work. I managed to get an A anyway:)

Alice in Wonderland

Been trying to enjoy Alice in Wonderland. Look dry and uninteresting to me. Lynne made us analyze the Jabberwocky and I think it was just a waste of time. I'd rather read the Enid Blyton series.

What a year!

I ended my 2007 by travelling to Ipoh. 2007 was such a hectic year for me. I learn many things, one of them is, i could not cope with 5 subjects in one semester. My results are ok but I need more time and space to enjoy my learning process.

Went up to Bota and Lumut, heck we lost our way! It was such a comfort driving MYV until i didn't mind the long drive up to pantai remis and batu hampar. Hahaha i was scared honestly but alhamdulillah i managed to find my way to parit. It was good to lost my way actually, because my family got to see new places and driving was a great pleasure in the middle of the plantations. Well at least my family got to travel that far and my mother was extremely happy to see her siblings. It was great. After nursing muhamad after his berkhatan, me and my mother need a break. My girl too need a break after her upsr. I need a break after my testing semester. We saw the sea, how very soothing to see God's creation, enjoyed by humans, under the scorching sun. I will make this a yearly event, my family deserves a good rest before the new year comes!

Sigh.. I felt cheated!

Cheated by the school fees. Now I know that the "free school fees" are only RM4.50 and RM9.00. How pathetic! Sigh sigh sigh.. I had to fork out the kids saving to cover the costs of books and daily pocket money. What else is new and what else is left? How do I get to be a wealthy lady? What would be the expenses of the university my kids enter to in future! When do I get to perform my Hajj?
Now, cooking oil and wheat flour are not in the market. Went to OTK twice to buy more cooking oil but none is available. I know this is the election cue. After the election, everything would experience price hike, sure start will be the petrol. And the President did not announce any bonuses for this year. So why must I occupy myself with the appraisal form? I am poorer and poorer by the day!