October 09, Monday 6:31 AM
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Contents:
Prologue
Episode 1: Yesterday
Chapter 1: Grandmother (long)
Chapter 2: Busting Out (long)
Episode 2: Today
Chapter 1: Respect (short)
Epilogue
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Prologue
I cleaned up a bit of my room as a start of a new morning routine. I’ve made my bed and moved my easel to a more spacious area. Taking its place is my table where most my work is done. I sat comfortably on the old computer chair that had lost its back over five years ago.
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The music from my stereo softly played the Malay song titled ‘Drama’ as my big brother Dy snored uncaringly in his deep sleep. He had decided to camp in front of the television since the PS2 was plugged there.
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Quietly and blankly I start to wonder what to write. Slowly but definite I start to recall yesterday’s tasks and events.
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Episode 1: Yesterday
Chapter 1: Grandmother
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My mother knocked on my glass door. She was my trusty alarm clock who always woke me up at four in the morning whether it was a fasting month or not. Getting off my bed I sat with my legs over the edge of the bed. I placed my face in my hands as the music from ‘FF XII’ continued to blast into my ears. In the dark I raised my head and glanced at my collection of manga.
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Outside in the hallway I could hear my mother knocking on three other doors. First my third elder sister who I know would not come out of her red painted room. Second was my eldest who would take her time to get up; too comfortable in her warm, blue painted abode. Last was Akira. Akira was the drama queen of the house and so he had to get special treatment.
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My mother’s knuckles drummed on his door with a rhythm that I could dance to. Dum-dum-dumdumdumdum-dum. It continued until I could hear Akira’s voice groaning and calling out. But I knew he was just going to curl up on his futon and take in the musty air of his green painted and carpeted room. I saw my mother walk past my room and I finally stood up. By the time I was out of the room :devgopie: had already eaten her morning breakfast.
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There was plenty to eat and I grabbed my favorites from all the selection. After eating the family prayed together and after that my mother announced that we were going to visit our grandmother. I was kind of annoyed by the thought because she said were were going to leave early in the morning but when my father said we were leaving at seven in the morning I was relieved. Seven was a good number.
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I slept before we left and when my mother woke me up it was already seven. We all took our time, especially Akira, and left at eight. During the half an hour wait, since I used the other half an hour to shower, we prepared for our visit. We had huge bottles of water that had flowers in them, a bigger bottle (somewhat like a plastic tank) of pipe water and a rag. My mother told me to bring some prayer books (buku Yassin) and I rushed in to get some. My third elder sister chose to sleep in.
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When we left some of us were still very sleepy and both the guys of the family excluding my father were grumpy. Akira was sharp tongued once during the journey and I scolded him.
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When we arrived at my grandmother’s everyone started praying. We climbed up the smooth sloping hill. I didn’t know where she was until my father pointed at the marble stone next to me. My mother gave me a rag and I started scrubbing the yellowed stone as my family started to pray for her.
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When I had completed cleaning the marble stone halfway my second elder sister arrived with her husband. They joined in the prayer. I was really tired by this time. My arms ached and my back was killing me. My left wrist was dying and my knees especially my left hurt like heck since I’ve been kneeling most the time. I tried to communicate to my eldest sister by jerking my ead a couple of time to her while raising the rag but she didn’t understand so I continued myself until only one side of the marble stone was left uncleaned. My father told Dy to pick up from where I left off but in the end it was my mother who cleaned the last side. He was there to pour the water.
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Then the bottle of flowers in water came in right after my mother finished the task. I was the first to sprinkle fresh flowers on the stone then I poured the flowers in water. During that time I caught a glimpse at her name, which I didn’t before when I was wiping the stone because I was too engrossed in it.
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‘Latifah Abdul’
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That was when I thought to myself, "My first daughter’s name will have Latifah in it."
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We visited others while we were there and before we left I took one flower from my grandmother and gave it to my favorite cousin’s, Mochien’s, father. I haven’t told Mochien yet. I don’t think I will tell him.
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I felt satisfied and happier after we’ve left the graveyard. I was thinking that maybe I should visit again soon to keep the stone clean. And maybe I’ll bring Mochien along.
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Chapter 2: Busting Out
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One of the things that I anticipated during the fasting month was the breaking of fast not because I was hungry but because I wanted to know what food was prepared for it. I waited for the image of the clock on the TV to appear and when it finally did I’d count it down in my head. We used to count it down out loud as a family but as we grew older we couldn’t be bothered. Three seconds before the clock switched to the image of a man banging into a huge drum with a stick I was already walking towards the kitchen.
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I broke my fast with a drink of ‘zam zam’ water and after that we prayed. Soon after the prayer I rushed to the kitchen the scond time and I had a feeling that there was nothing good to eat because my nose didn’t pick up anything mouth-watering. I was right. The dinner was simple except for the small prawns smothered in homemade chilli/tomato sauce. I ate it and found it to be a little too sweet and a lot too salty. It was a little disappointing but it filled the stomach. I filled a glass with soya bean and gulped it down after the meal. Then I filled the glass with orange juice and quickly found out that it was a bad idea.
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I took my time going to the toilet and took my time inside it. When I came out I felt like as if all my effort of filling my stomach with goodnes had been flushed down the drain. I didn’t care though. At least my stomach wasn’t upset.
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I grabbed an ointment and rubbed a bit on my stomach and a lot on my chest because suddenly I felt it tightening. While I waited for the next prayer to begin I jumped into bed and started drawing. Akira was now the one lying on the thin mattres in front of the TV. But he wasn’t playing any games. He, like myself, was somewhat an artist in the house. Akira was drawing fashion clothes in his lined notebook. He showed me his drafts and I found them a little weird. But it IS fashion so I told him his ideas wouldn’t be taken seriously until later in the future.
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My mother came up to get us again for prayers and I went down. My father led us and once we finished I walked out. I was supposed to stay a little longer since it was time to pray the ‘terawikh’ prayers but I felt a little too sick.
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A little later after I had taken my rest I finally took the opportunity to play on the PS2. I was going to continue playing ‘Tales of Legendia’ part two but I played it earlier or not too long ago. Then my eyes stuck to one title on the shelf. It was mesmeizing. It was a lame old game that I’ve played before and completed with everything collected but my hands reached out for it.
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When I started playing it from the beginning Dy came in and he saw what I was playing and he gave me an ‘Are-You-Lame?’ look. But all he said was, "Really?" Basically asking, ‘Are you playing this game for real?’
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You see… When you’ve got loads of RPGs on your shelf arranged alphabetically from a symbol to a number to Z the least you could do is play them. But no. I just had to get addicted to this game again.
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It was the ‘Sims: Busting Out’ (S:BO) on PS2.
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I can’t finish playing ‘Suikoden III’ because Mr. Evil Blondie with the slanting hat and black outfit would easily claw Ancient Lightning Geddoe to death, which is annoying because I’ve got ‘Suikoden IV’, "Suikoden Tactics’ and ‘Gensosuikoden V’ that’s gathering dust (figure of speech, mind you). I’m still battling with Binary Maniac Luther in ‘Star Ocean: Til The End of Time’ and am thinking of going back to town to stock up on stun bombs (since My stun technique’s way too crap and Luther’s way too annoyingly cowardly so he starts using techniques that’s blast your brains out) so that I could finish the Gods darned thing. I got bored with ‘Yakuza’ so deleted it from the cars along with ‘Trapt 2′, which I completed a little too many times. I started playing ‘B-Boy’ but deleted that a few minutes later saying that it was not my type of game. I have yet to play ‘FF XII’ (although I’ve had it for almost a week now) because I’m still trying to get used to Yoshida-san’s character designs AND the voice acting. I loved hearing some of the British accent thinking that on one of the character I drooled but I still have to get used to the other voices.
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Anyway, once I finished playing the first stage of ‘S:BO’ with all my skills acquired (I found out you don’t get tired and don’t need a shower during the first stage) to the fullest; I saved. I have the tendency to NOT save until I relaized I’ve played without saving HOURS later. Then I finally slept around one to two in the morning.
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Then was woken up at four again.
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Epsiode 2: Today
Chapter 1: Respect
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I traveled down the stairs and looked at the what the dining table had on its surface. Nothing much too eat this morning and I grabbed a tin of biscuits and a cup of tea. The two things you don’t want to eat and drink if you’re fasting because they make you real thirsty.
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A little while later my maid comes in with more food and I was a little happier although I don’t eat much in the morning. When I ate I watched a movie about this kid and him searching for his father and some symbolism with tribesmen or something like it. Then right before it was tim eto pray my mother calls out to Dy so that he’d do his abolution before the prayer. He suddenly got annoyed and imitated my mother in a high squeaky voice. I, on the other hand (he should have already known this), did not find his behavior appropriate. I take these things light-heartedly but I’m just human with humanly limits. So I stared at him angrily and scolded him. He was about five years older than I was and I would never have raised my voice at him. But when it comes to parents or elders I tend to become a little sensitive or touchy (same difference).
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(SORRY, gotta do this one in Malay)
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Bashi: "Oi. Apa kan ni ah? Bisai-bisai wah. Mama kali ah."
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Dy: "So? Napa kan?"
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Bashi: "Don’t get me started, bang."
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And he stayed quiet as he went off to the toilet. He knew what I meant and so he didn’t continue.
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There was a time around seven - eight years ago when I went ballistic after Akira insulted my parents in front of my face. Tears, screaming, threats and uncontrollable fury at my part. My mother came in (my room’s right beside hers) and asked what was wrong. I was a wreck. Dy told her that Akira was being disrespectful to her and our father. She was quiet the told me to calm down. She left. I calmed down but my hate for Akira was sown. (But heck… bond by blood. I had no choice but be friendly with him.) If he wasn’t family I think he would’ve been long buried in the farm fields.
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Epilogue
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I sit back as I stared into the screen at the blinking line. It mesmerized me. I shook my head as Gopie spoke to me about sales in Brunei. The music in the background was soft and beautiful but the song was crap. I listened anyway. At least the singer’s making money. I cracked and straightened my back. I end my journal with a fullstop.
