The Road Ahead

Trust me to be melodramatic about this. In the next 2 months, I will bury myself in my research. Need to get my conference paper ready by the end of May. I will eat and breathe everything oomphlib, and speak in C++. For leisure I will read journal papers. And when I am bored I will get on writing the paper. My writing and reading and pretty much all else would just have to go to the backburner. I need this done. And well.

And so now, being the diligent person I am, I shall go to sleep.

Preloved Books and the Black and White Keys

I went to the city on Friday and was killing some time at a second hand bookshop. I never actually thought I'd see anything nice. See, I always thought 2nd hand bookshops were with old crummy books that people read before. But to my surprise, there are a whole lot of books there that are still in good conditions. And a whole bunch of hardbacks. Also, I found a whole lot of old books. In the end, pressed for time I just bought 1 book, a hardcover copy of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. I shall go back when I free and bring a large bag. Books, lovely books.

And also, just watched a documentary on Alex Stobbs. He suffers from cystic fibrosis and still has great will and determination to achieve his goals in studying music at Cambridge and is doing so now. I guess if he can do it, and I can with my writing. Just need to be more focused and persistent.

Then with the music, it actually inspired for the first time in probably 3 years, to lift the covers off my piano and play. I found I've forgotten most of the songs I've learnt before. But there came an old familiarity. The music sounded beautiful again. I remember I stopped because I felt I did not have enough time to practice and be perfect. Everything I played sounded harsh and rude, like I was butchering the pieces. But now, It sounds right. So I've started playing again. Recovering the forgotten bits of Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and I'm more than halfway through recovering my memory on that. It sounds pretty alright now. And also learning another piece by Mily Balakirev. I've just learned a line and a half. I'm a slow learner. But I love playing now. It brings peace to me, and the voices in my head quiet down. I have not had that in ages.

The Book Thief

by Marcus Zusak

There are great books. Then there are these books, which are on a level of their own. I actually read this book in about a hundred page and stopped reading it 2 years ago. But this time round, I did not stop. I did not know how I could have stopped then. This is one of the most moving books I have ever read.

The story is about a little German orphan, Liesel Meminger. Her little brother has died and she is adopted by the Hubermanns. This story is set in and around World War 2 Germany. Through her troubles, Liesel discovers the wonders of books and have the wonderful habit of stealing books. The story is narrated by Death.

This book had lots of moments which stirred my emotions. And for the last 50 pages or so, tears constantly rolled down my face. I will certainly read this book again. Wonderful.

...there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness, too. That was writing. (p557)

Dreamweaver (Part 2)

Rupert shut the door behind them and held onto Lucy's hand. Lucy found herself in a large cylindrical room. The book-lined walls seemed to rise forever upwards. Warm yellow light shone through the many windows built in no particular order all around the walls. Lucy could see even high up there were windows, which looked like tiny floating specks of light. Stacks of books, parchments and all sorts of weird-looking contraptions were scattered on the circular room floor and there were also armchairs all around the place. Lucy looked at the ground and saw layers and layers of carpets overlapping each other, all of them with different colours and designs.

Lucy spotted movement in one of the armchairs. A man was sitting there. He was quite tall and skinny. Normally tall people are hard to miss. Lucy did not notice him because he was wearing a worn-out brown suit, almost the exact same colour as the chair he was sitting in. The man was reading a rather voluminous book that looked like what someone really smart would read. The man spoke without looking away from his book, "Welcome back, Rupert. Very polite of you to knock before entering."

"Wasn't me. We have a guest," Rupert said.

The man looked up and saw the little girl beside Rupert. He was staring at them wide-eyed. He slammed the book shut and moved with a swift pace towards Lucy to have a closer look at her.

Rupert continued, "Professor, meet Lucy. Lucy, this is the Professor. "

 

Lucy extended her right hand and said, "Nice to meet you Mr. Professor, sir. I...muszz...schrbb... dszshs...u...wndfl..plzsc."

The Professor had pressed the long fingers of his left hand against Lucy's mouth.

"What is this Rupert? How did she get here?" the Professor said.

"She did the You-Know-What that you said would NEVER be done by anyone. AND she can stir the stars. I told you not to..." Rupert began.

The Professor held out his right hand to Rupert for him to be silent with the left hand still pressing against Lucy's mouth. He scrunched his chin and looked away from them, deep in thought. Then he  dropped his arms, backed away from them both and started pacing back and forth, back and forth, stopping right in mid stance several times to stare at Lucy and after a while began to pace again.

Lucy was beginning to panic and thought she had done something wrong. She looked up at Rupert who was still holding her hand. He just gave her a shrug.

The Professor finally stopped pacing. And fell back into his armchair. Lucy and Rupert stood there waiting for a response but the Professor had returned to reading his book again.

Rupert rolled his eyes and let out a loud fake cough. "What should we do about the Lucy?"

The man said, "What? Well yes. I haven't decided. Make her go away. I will think about it later. I 'm in the middle of this book, really have to finish it. Can't put it down now."

Lucy looked at the Professor and saw that he was only perhaps a few pages into the very thick book. Rupert  let out a loud sigh and and shook his head to himself. He began leading Lucy back towards the door which they had came through. Rupert and Lucy was about at the door when the Professor said, "Come back tomorrow night, little girl."

Lucy turned to look at the Professor who had again spoken without looking up. The she looked at Rupert.  He gave Lucy very animated nods. Lucy turned back to the Professor and replied, "Yes, sir. I will. Thank you."

With that, Rupert and Lucy stood right in front of the door and Rupert stamped again three times but this time not as hard. He then opened the door to reveal Lucy's room, but they were seeing it from the ceiling. Lucy looked through and could make out through the invisible veil, herself sprawled on the bed sleeping soundly.

Rupert said, "Tomorrow night.. Just do the You-Know-What and you should get to the starry fields again. I will meet you there. Goodbye."

Before Lucy could ask him a question, Rupert had pushed Lucy and she stumbled through the door. She thought she would fall to the other side and land on flat on her face on top of herself on the other side. So she squeezed her eyes shut. Lucy held it shut for several moments. Then several moments more. But she found there was no great big crash. She opened her eyes and found herself in the big starry field again. But this time there were sheep everywhere! And she had a lovely time playing with all the sheep. She played with the sheep for such a long time. Lucy was very tired but also happy. And then she laid down to stare at the stars, with all the sheep laying by her side. 

She opened her eyes and was snug in bed. Sunlight was shining through the window. It was morning.

To be continued...

Dreamweaver (Part 1)

This story is about a girl called Lucy. She is eight  years old. Like any other girl her age, she likes playing with dolls and with her little cooking set. But most of all she likes her farm animal set. She likes the sheep particularly because they are soft and fluffy.

She likes her friends at school and they like her a lot too because she always share her toys and treats. She is very sweet and polite to everyone. Lucy is also very smart for her age. She asks plenty of intelligent questions and is curious about things she sees and people she meet. her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Adwater are very proud of Lucy. They would often show off to their friends what a wonderful child Lucy is and they all agree when they meet Lucy how perfectly delightful she is.

There was however something which would change Lucy's life from being an ordinary girl to an extraordinary one. Here is what it is. One evening, Lucy had a great big supper. Lucy was finding it very difficult to sleep. She flipped left and right, and turned around and laid on the opposite end of her bed. Then she tried jumping up and down several times and then standing on her head. She even counted fluffy sheep. She was very smart and could count to a thousand sheep. Then after that she counted another thousand sheep. She did all this and did it again to make sure. She tried everything. Nothing worked. She could not sleep. She finally gave up and laid there exhausted. Then she fell asleep.

The dream she had that night was a dream unlike any other dream. Normally she would dream of castles and fairies and sheep. Lovely sheep. She loved sheep. No, tonight she did not dream of castles, nor fairies, nor  sheep. In this dream it was night time and she was lying on a plain grass field stretching flat in all directions. She looked up at the sky and the stars were shining and blinking at her. She laid down and looked at the stars and smiled to herself. Normally Lucy was not allowed outside at night, so she was really happy she could see all the lovely stars. But then she was interrupted by a figure standing over her. The figure was blocking her view. Lucy sat up and the figure jumped back when Lucy did so.

"Hi, I'm Lucy. Who are you?" Lucy asked and extended her right hand to the figure.

"I...I...I Rupert," the figure said shuffling away from Lucy. "I mean my name is Rupert. Rupert Yellowstone. What are you doing here? You are not allowed here."

"Very nice to meet you Rupert Rupert Yellowstone."

"No, just Rupert Yellowstone. You just say Rupert once."

Lucy giggled. "Well, you really should just say it once then if you want people to say it once."

Rupert's pale face had now turned quite crimson. "What are you doing here I said. You are not allowed here."

"I don't know. I was trying very hard to fall asleep. I turned left and right and up and down and nothing happened. Then I jumped up and down. And I counted sheep. To a thousand. Twice. And still I could not sleep. Then I did it all again. And I just found myself here."

"Well, that's just great. And the great Professor said no one would EVER do such a ridiculous thing. Obviously he wasn't thinking of ridiculous little girls who could not get to sleep like you."

"What are you talking about. Never mind about that. Have you seen the stars tonight? They're awfully bright, aren't they?"

Lucy looked at the sky again and began skipping around Rupert. Rupert looked up and saw the stars stirring with Lucy's skipping, following her path.

"No, no. This is no good at all. Come with me." Rupert grabbed Lucy by the arm and began walking.

"Wait, where are we going? There's nothing anywhere around."

They were pacing along in what seemed like no particular direction. The flat lands stretched everywhere and there was nothing to be seen over the horizon. Lucy tried to pry Rupert's hands off her arm but he grip was firm. Lucy struggled all the way till Rupert suddenly stopped and let go of her arm.

Rupert reached into his right coat pocket and pulled out a little pouch. He reached into it and his hand grabbed a handful of dark red powder. He sprinkled it onto the ground in a straight line. Lucy stepped closer to look at the line of red powder Rupert had sprinkled. He then stomped on his foot three times. A door sprang up from the ground and Lucy jumped back to avoid being hit square in the chin. The door looked perfectly solid and strong. Lucy knocked on the door to make sure. Rupert held her arm to stop her after her third knock.

"That's quite enough. Let's go."

Rupert opened the door and through it was a great big room. It looked like it was covered by an invisible veil where the door was which made the room on the other side distorted. Rupert held onto Lucy's arm and led her through. Lucy looked back one last time leaving the starry open field, moving through the door. She thought to herself, this would be a wonderful place to have sheep.

To be continued...

Lucid Sands

by the not-so-lucid mind

Golden sands surround me. Spreading sheets lay soft on the ground, layer upon layer of silk. Little grains of  millions. The vastness and minuscule detail of something so big made of something so small. I grasp onto it hard, and the grains slip through my hand and fall back to join the rest. The coarse matter, something so harsh yet fluid.

I sit down and close my eyes. The warmth envelop me and I breathe in the salty air. The warmness pulse through me. It starts from my back and moves down my spine and extends to my arms and legs, calm waves of the heat moving through and washing out. Sweat runs down my temple. I do not wipe it away, I have no want to do so. I am comfortable here.

The wind wisps and I hear the echoes carried from the infinite spaces around. With shut eyes, I imagine the far reaches of the world. In the far North there would be the cold ice caps. Ah, the whiteness. The cold. And an involuntary shiver runs through me, but it subsides almost instantly and the heat runs through me again. To the east, the great jungles of Asia and the forests filled with strange creatures. To the west, the great cities with their people-filled streets. The crowd, the noise, the stench. I am happy to be away from these. To the south, I do not know. I have not been there.

But I am here, no more I imagine of where I am. It does not matter. I am here. I am nowhere. And I am at peace.

Then the voice of consciousness says, "Fuck! Stop this fucking nonsense. You are going to die out here."

The Written Road

by the morbidly optimistic student

Completed the 1st draft of The Beckoning last week. Pretty pleased with that, received mixed responses from my friends, will improve upon it to really bring the point home.

Just today started writing another horror short story called Logical Relations. This one is going quite fast, in that I'm almost done with it. And it isn't that much shorter than The Beckoning which took me about a month plus. Hopefully that means I'm going faster. Anyways, Logical Relations is up to 1600 words now.

I will probably go back to Play With Me when I'm done with this. That is the first short story that I started with and have of yet, to sew it all together. All the main bits are there, just need to put the finishing touches. Considering to enter either The Beckoning or Play With Me for the AHWA competition.

Then I will perhaps look to get into working on Town for Two, ah, my fossilized gem. I shall dig more and polish you yet. My precious...

Maybe move away from horror a bit, getting me a bit nutty now.

The Lunatic Next Door

To the Building Management


Dear Sir,

My name is Larry Henderson and I live in Block H. I think I'm a decent enough guy, I don't give my neighbors trouble and greet them every time I pass them in the hallway. Mrs. Dailly lives across me and we are on very good terms. Well, given she is a nervous creature and I can never tell what she is muttering half the time. I have lived in fairly stable financial conditions for the past seven years and take good care of my space and lead a healthy living. I also appreciate very much the well-maintained garden and well-provided eatery.

Now you must wonder sir why has this individual written to you telling about how well he is doing. I just liked to start by pointing out the things that the management has done well and I applaud your continuous diligence in these aspects. But all is not well. The pressing issue I wish the management to consider is the new tenant that has just moved into the space next to mine, a Mr. Edward Collins. During the day, I can hear incessant noise of things being thrown against the walls and someone jumping around. Also a horrible shrieking voice I could only think to be of Mr. Collins attempt of what I believe is singing. Once I approached Mr. Collins in the garden to discuss these issues. I was greeted with rudeness and he shoved me to the side. The squabble that ensued I fully regret.

I understand the management's desperation to fill the empty space left by the late Mr. Donnegan. So unfortunate for the boy to have his life ended in such a manner. Such a peculiar accident to be drowning in a sink of water. I was actually present to witness this and even attempted to revive Mr. Donnegan by releasing the water from his body by puncturing an airway for him to breathe. Even after this was done, Mr. Donnegan could not be saved. Though this being an unfortunate event, I believe it very poor judgment that the management should settle for such lowly an applicant to fill the late Mr. Donnegan's quarters. This affect not only immediately me for the reasons I have stated previously, but also that of my fellow neighbors who would surely not approve of Mr. Collins.

I impress you upon this last point if you are not as of yet completely convinced of your erroneous decision. During the night when all is quiet, I hear crying and screaming and laughing from Mr. Collins's room. The very first night this occurred I was very much frightened for my safety. I was hoping that this would stop but it seemed to continue for some time. There were knocks on Mr. Collins's door by some of my more impatient neighbors. This would calm the noises for a while but the noises would start again. The neighbors would knock on the door again and perhaps go into his room an persuade him to be quiet. I myself would never intrude upon another man's business in such an unbecoming hour but from this the management should clearly see this man is not really of sound mind.

I implore upon you sir to evict Mr. Collins from our complex. If no action is taken, I believe the situation might escalate. If this is the case, I fear I have no other option but to take this issue upon myself and find a resolution.

Yours sincerely,
Larry Henderson

















-------------------------St. Mary Mental Institution-----------------------

Lords and Ladies

by Terry Pratchett

Went to see this play at Stirling Players in Innaloo just now. Description from the website.

Based on Terry Pratchett’s fantasy novel
Adapted for the stage by Irana Brown and Simon James
Directed by Christine Ellis



In the mountain kingdom of Lancre, three witches return home from a broomstick tour of Disc World to find the elves are back and there is a very real threat of the entire Disc being destroyed. Granny Weatherwax and her tiny coven must do battle with the elves who threaten to take control with their hypnotic glamour. 

It was really nice and funny. The whole thing was almost 3 hours with a 20 minute break in between, and did the time fly. It was lovely start to finish. Real witty and nice characters also. I can't pull out any single character that I'd say I really like, I love all of them. Each having their distinct characteristics and funny all the like. Wonderful, can't wait for the next play based on Terry Pratchett's book. Fantabulous.

The Other Hole

by Harold the other mole

My name is Harold. I am a mole. I live in a hole. My hole is very big because I dug it very wide and very deep. It is huge, it is lovely. But the other moles say George's hole is better. Why? Mine is bigger. And grander. So mine is best isn't it? I invited Marjorie over and she said George's hole was better too! The nerve, in my own house! So I slapped her. That really had her going. She whacked me across the head and I passed out (widely known fact female moles are much stronger than male moles). I woke up and Marj was gone. I hate my hole. I want George's hole.