
"On the way to where my heart was gone"
Tanjung Lumpur, 1st June 2009
“…they fall, cry…and then in a few minutes, they get back up, happy… and running again…” This is a view of my friend about being childish. She said that there is a child in every adults’ conscience. Each adult deserves to act childishly whenever they are feeling down, but in the right way, the way she view earlier. A child knows no fear, they understand, and absorb and learn, and willing to take the next step without hesitation. Unlike adults, who kept being adults, are unwilling to accept the reality, therefore, unable to understand, unable to take the next step…
As I was driving to somewhere we used to have fun together, I felt lonely. Although there’s so many cars on the road, I felt empty. Usually my heart would jump for joy when I’m heading there. Usually my mind would think, what should we do first, second, and so on. Usually I would be smiling the whole journey. But this time, I felt nothing. There’s nothing for my heart to jump, there’s nothing to plan about, there’s nothing to smile to.
I reached her house in the evening. Her mother, was expecting me, and another person who turn out a few hours later. When I was inside, I saw her room, the door was not closed. The poster we drew together, still hanging in her wall. The poster of me and her, standing, holding hands, in a garden filled with torched sheep. I laughed a little bid, although a tear came out of my right eye. I started to reminisce the things she said. She always said that, she really wanted to see how would a sheep react when it is torched with a flamethrower. The words in the picture, she wrote it… “if you spent your life loving someone who really loves you, it would not be a wasted life…” I sat on her bed, her ‘study’ bear is still there. It was a teddy bear, but she pronounced it as ‘study’ bear which made me confused a bit at first. This was a few years ago. Then I lay down, looking at her ceiling, a picture of me and her was pasted there. We snapped it at the “Merlion” in Singapore. It was a really fun holiday. Her scent was still in her bed, the scent that I really miss. It was not from her perfume, it was from her body. The scent is sweet, it always makes my mind relaxed and happy. But that day, it made me miss her until I went out to cry silently in my car. I really miss her.
I went to her place where she lies sleeping peacefully. I cried reciting my prayers for her. I had a ciggie. She once said, “Although these things could kill you, you really look cool sipping them,”. And then she smile. Her smile, cute and innocent. When I wanted to fall in love, it wasn’t the body figure that I look at, but it will be the smile. When we first met, she smiled, and that, put in into her spell. I’ll always miss her smile. My cousin Am arrived with his girl, Mina’s best friend Azni, arrived. They know where to find me. Am gave me a brotherly hug, maybe he knows how depressed it has been all these days. “Allah has big plans for all of us.” he said. I just smiled, knowing that the truth was very hard to digest. These two people, a happy couple, was my best friends. They were Mina’s best friends too. They help out whenever any of us had problems. They wont point any mistakes towards any of us if something was wrong between us. Unlike some people I knew years ago, making each other believed that the other person is the culprit. Am and Azni are the best. We hung out so often, but each hang outs were like a very big reunion. We were a very beautiful picture. That day Azni’s tears dropped, like a piece of puzzle, dropped from a very beautiful picture. A piece, so important that you won’t ever understand the whole picture without it. The silence was uncomfortable as Am failed to comfort his precious. So, we went for tea at a local.
We recited Yassin and prayers that night at her mother’s house. I had never have any problems reciting the Yassin, but tonight was the same like back in 1993 when I was reciting Yassin for my late grandfather. My tears blocked my sight. I cant really see the Yassin, but I kept on wiping my eyes of. We went out after the ceremony ended with a little feast. I told Mina’s mother the truth, “Being in this house, there’s too much memory to me,”. She understood. We went to town, in our own cars, we drove. When Mina was still with us, we loved to play dangerous. Me and Am would always try to take over each others’ car on the road, ramming our engines to the max. But tonight, our cars were as silent as the lonely roads. I drove behind him, as we headed to town. Bon Jovi’s “My Guitar Lies Bleeding on Me” appeared on the mp3 regulator and the song was in the air. It saddens my heart.
“What is your next step?” Am asked me the same night as we were chillin’ at one of the locals. I couldn’t answer. I remained silent, looking at the floor, avoiding the question.
Azni: Mina wouldn’t want you to be sad. She wants you to live your life…
Me: I heard that a lot thank you…
Am: Fuck head! You heard it a lot because you fucking know that’s true.
Am was really angry, maybe he thought he would loose his wingman in the “funtime battle”, well, maybe his thought was right. That night I was about to let go of everything, but then, Azni, said something I’ve heard from another friend. The choice of words was different, but both convey the same meaning.
“Dzull, it’s okay to be childish for now, its okay to fall down, to sulk, to cry, as long as you decide to stop sulking, stop crying, get up on your two feet, and start to take the next step. Even a child wont have any fear taking the next step, why should you?”
That other friend of mine said something like this;
“A child knows no fear... they understand, and absorb and learn... they fall, cry...and then in a few minutes, they get back up, happy...and running again..”
These two sentences, haaunted me till this hour. In a few minutes, I'm gonna drive home.
Good Bye...