Sunday, October 16, 2005

hide-and-seek

i looked around, lost, in a large, empty building. Lifeless plastic plants stood stonily along the corridor, the cold white lights throws everything into illuminance, the tiled floor is dustless, with no trace of any footprints. It was a world separate from all the rest, with only me and him.

He is not here. At another level?

The elevator door opened with a loud chime, echoing in the silent hallway. I chose the highest floor. The gears and wires whirred into action, the elevator slowly, painstakingly, pulled itself up one floor, two...

The doors opened to an empty hallway. The identical plastic plants waved at me. I pressed the next floor, the doors slowly closed shut.

i repeat the process mechanically, anxiousness growing in me. Every floor, an empty hallway. The faint traces of hope are trickling away. Yet, i know. he must be somewhere. is he looking for me as well?

An hour passed. and another, and another... i lost count of how many floors i had tried. i stepped out of the elevator, it whirred on to its next destination. looking around, it is still the same scene. sitting under a branch, i rested. and woke to the sound of the elevator doors closing.

jump up. make for the buttons- the elevator had already moved off. turning, i ran for the stairs. scaling upwards, i threw open the door to an empty hallway everytime. up and down, up and down... up and down, up and down... occassionally hearing light footsteps on the stairs, and the distinct sound of the elevator's whirring and closing.

the elevator whirred to my floor, the doors opened with a clank... i turned in surprise to an empty elevator. the doors closed with another clank, and the it pulled itself elsewhere.

had he already given up and left? am i the only one left in this complex?

i went to the first floor. the gates gave no clue. i almost gave in to the impulse to just run through them to the big, lively world outside. but no, not yet. for once you leave, you can never re-enter again.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

...tired

tired out, burned out, trodding on half asleep in a cold cold mist.

too tired to love, too tired to feel, too tired to think, too tired to stop.

And when it all ends, regret would flood my heart, for forsaking all that's dear in all my lethargy. But now, the little naggy voice at the back of my mind is too weak to sound, and i just trudge on blindly, heavily, leaving a huge part of me behind.

Smothering into ashes, disappearing into the dusk.