My poetry/prose

On a summer day sometime ago, she took her carefree spirit from little skips,to leaps and bounds across the uneven paved sidewalk. She counted those rickety-edgy steps treading onto one but hopping like an easter bunny on the other. Life was like that, a myriad of sloppy uneveness. 'Or a box of chocolates, you never know what u're gonna get', her eyes twinkled merrily as the face of Forrest Gump flashed into memory.

Or sometimes you did know.

She had almost forgotten about him and the shadows that he had cast in her life. To be fair,they were not all the ominous,foreboding relics, one might possess with grudge. He had inspired her in many ways too. He had led her to childlike fables,to castles of naivety and wonder,even though surreal,they had transformed her into a renewed being. A visionary,of sorts.

She was at her favourite restaurant this very day,relishing her much adored dishes with such passion. It had been a while since she had had their grilled fish belly,a widely famed popular hit with consumers. It was no surprise then, to her friend who continued his chatter about his exciting exploits at a recent Club Monaco sale when she began devouring her second slice of grilled fish belly. The dish screamed excitment as it sizzled and cackled with pride; the fat drizzled marvellously into a multitude of rivers and lakes into a replete ocean of savoury stupour. Fit for ten great sonnets,so she thought.

Suddenly however, their table was interrupted slightly with the arrival of two strangers. Now you have to understand the absolute popularity with this eatery. A small establishment from Tainan,they grew to become somewhat a houshold name in Taipei city itself, so much so that people lined resilently for minutes cherishing the desire of their dinning experiences there. Of course people shared tables.

Strangely however,these two were a little different. she had not meant to eavesdrop but shortly later, her friend had taken to the nearby restroom for repairing what the ruthless summer sun had done to his vulnerable pores. She heard one of them order, a tiny bowl of rice with some minced pork.

She continued her dinner relentlessly none the less,yet stealing occasional glimpses at the pair. The older woman dressed simply,her thin arms shook slightly as she fanned herself. Beads of perspiration glistened on her forehead,glidding slowly into the caves of her sallow cheeks. Her daughter stared, transfixed onto the fish before moving her gaze upwards onto her face.  Her mother follwed suit seconds later,eager to trail her daughter's line of vision. She stopped consciously, leaving her fish for a remote second as she noticed this sudden change in the situation.

A situation indeed. She wondered what they were thinking about as their gazes threw her a little off her feet. Intoxicating,almost with powers to absorb all of her,she thought. Suddenly the thunderous interruption of the older woman's voice broke her musing. It was not really that thunderous, just,well,surprising.

" Fish...looks good. It's good?" The older woman asked softly with her widened eyes,her gaze transfixed onto her dish,the fish. She smiled politely nodding and moments later, the older woman asked her how much the fish cost. She kept pointing at it to to her daughter who did not seem to respond to anything, any stimulus for that matter.

She wondered when this lady in front of her had had her last meal. She wondered more about how little and yet alot she was blessed in life. She did not realize before when she was hovering between the blanks of emptiness how many others had stories too,who flitted around her. Immediately she took to her feet,and went to the cashier's. She ordered the exact same fish,and a bowl of their number one hot seller, Dan Tsi noodles for the mother-daughter. She knew the younger girl was the older woman's daughter because she had heard her address her at intervals. Shortly,she made her exit quietly.

She realized she had left her friend behind,so she called him immediately to update him briefly on the situation. His little grumbles ceased as a new topic of interest caught his attention. He gushed on ceaselessly about the latest brand launch he had gone to,laughing hysterically at the amazing hot bodied specimens he had managed to catch sight of

She smiled.

It was a good day,and she felt carefree and happy. Happiness was not an emotion,it was a choice. She had heard it somewhere, and realized with deep sentiment that she had found this to be true.

"He" had called to say he wanted to meet up. She was mixed about this, because she knew he was a loophole,sort of like her weakest link. She still had trouble establishing the fact that he had the ability to devestate her with his careless or reckless words. Even though she felt nothing in her to trigger his former hurtful words,she knew he was a magician. He always conjured new ones. And the really strange thing is, she seemed to know this but she still relented when he said he wanted to give her something and it would not take up too much of her time.

He had passed her a little solitary pink rose when they met. She thanked him but said he shouldn't have. He said,she was free to dump it if she wanted to, so silently she merely took it. They had broken up,and she was adamant about keeping a distance but his pleas and somewhat mix of sincerity and worry persistently led her to give in. He was the sort who would call her to ask for every sort of advice,pertaining to decision making. He even had trouble deciding on what sort of jeans he liked. He said,she knew these things,including his contracts and deals at a better position because she was intuitive.

At a nearby cafe,they sat. A variety gameshow was going on. She asked him if things had been good. He replied that he was still a little hung up on some reports they had written previously about him. Suddenly he grabbed his nose and his entire face puffed to a blotch of redness. She was quite alarmed and asked if he was alright. In that half of a second his gentlemanliness diminished to a zilch, even his pink rose withered there and then, as he bellowed at her.

"Why are u such a busybody?My nose is runny that's all!"

If he was merely sniffing his nose,merely taking paper napkins to blow his nose,she would not have uttered a word. Her concern at his sudden reaction was overrated, at least to him.

This is life. Sometimes you walk the uneveness,knowing fully well after reaching the heights,you plunge right after. But happiness was/is a decision,not an emotion.