Small World (Scene 1)

A detailed (?) recap of the drinking session at Alan's Grill last May 16, 2008... And now, for the characters:

What the Hec (WTH): an office worker and career man but has not yet let go of his interest in animation, television and such... But in a more subtle manner than before...

Smart Alec: A witty and good natured guy...

SWIPE: another office worker and career man...

Little Nicky: the... topic of the night...

Scene 1: WTH, Smart Alec and Little Nicky are having a few drinks at Alan's Grill.

[fade in] Nursery song "Its a Small World" [fade out}

Smart Alec: Ei Nick, where's you're imaginary friend?

Little Nicky: Don't worry, he'll come. He just came from work.

SWIPE arrives.

Smart Alec: So this is your imaginary friend, Nick?

SWIPE: Yep, the imaginary friend has materialized.

Handshakes were exchanged.

Little Nicky: Hey SWIPE, did you know that me, Smart Alec and WTH have a common friend who knows your ex-gf?

[fade in] Nursery song "Its a Small World" [fade out]

Slideshow of several pics showing drinks and food. Little Nick ends his story of seeing a nice BMW.

Smart Alec: Nick, your reaction to that BMW reminds me of how a deer reacts when flashed with a cars headlights: clueless and awestruck in the middle of the road.

Little Nicky: Really?

SWIPE takes a photo of a clueless Little Nicky.

Little Nicky: DAMN YOU SWIPE!

SWIPE: [snickers]  This will look good on friendster and multiply...

Little Nicky: SWIPE...

Smart Alec: Your world just got smaller, Nick.. hehehe....

SWIPE: [looks at Little Nicky] You're screwed man... [flashes evil smile]

WTH: Oh yes...

Little Nicky: What have I done?...

[fade in] Nursery song "Its a Small World" [fade out]

*End of Scene 1*

 

*pics of Little Nicky emulating a dumbfounded deer will be posted later this week...

Anemic Bar & Grill

Yes dear reader, Club Insomnia now has a partner joint where its patrons can go after spending a couple of hours at the club.

Its called: ANEMIC BAR & GRILL

It serves you a weakened state of mind and body throughout the day that you'll be practically begging for sleep at the most inappropriate times of the day... Its also open to guests that Club Insomnia can no longer accommodate...

So what are you waiting for? The night is still young and sleep will always be hard to come by when you need it most.

ANEMIC BAR & GRILL, where sleep is always a luxury.

Summer Dash: Interlude

Rain. There was something about it that makes people stop, think and relax. For some, it is also a time to reflect. From her seat by the coffee shop's window, she looked at her sunny yellow mount parked outside as she listened to the falling rain's rhyme.

Accompanying that rhythm, were the questions that were occupying her mind:

Who was that?

Where did he come from?

How did he do that?

And with each question, she recalled every aspect of her encounter with the scarlet wind: the place, the time and the characters involved. Reclining on her chair, she closed her eyes and began to wonder if she will ever come across him again...

The gentle ringing of chimes attached to the door signaled the entrance of another customer. Following the sound of the newcomer's footsteps, she saw the back a young man walking near the coffee shop's bar. Looking back out to where her car was parked, she was surprised to find the red wind parked behind her sunny mount. She then looked back to where she last saw the newly arrived guest but couldn't find him among the seated customers.

How on earth did he disappear?

And she found herself looking again at the scarlet wind in wonder and curiousity.

 

*edited cliffhanger part of story...

Summer Dash: Chance Encounter

Dawn. The sun is just about to peek over the horizon. Save for a few trucks here and there, there was hardly any activity at all. Except for a solitary figure running at speeds normally found and heard of in the middle of the night..

She made her way down the road, gently weaving and smoothly avoiding trucks here and there. To the vehicles that she had passed, she was nothing more than another sports car... Yet, there was still something about her ride that caught their attention: Her ride's vibrant yellow made a subtle impression of a light and bubbly personality, quiet as she may be.

As she approached an intersection, she decided to turn left. And with that, she slid her car in anticipation of the turn that she was about to make...   But nothing prepared her for a surprise as a red blur slid in front of her, so that it may be able to enter the road that she just left...

As the red blur disappeared into the road that she came from, she quickly slowed down the pace of her ride as she entered the lane that she was aiming for earlier... Relishing the sweetness of being alive after a near-miss, she suddenly realized that there she has much pondering to do... So many questions... All of them pointing towards the red blur that she saw earlier. Who was that?

Little did she know, that she left an mark on the mind of the red blur as well...

An Afternoon Nap

I closed my eyes... Finally, a chance to catch up with my sleep... And then it starts to feel strange... a thin mist covers everything that I could see.. I don't recall dreamland to look like this... Then again, dreamland does change its appearance from time to time... The mist clears... and I find myself in a sepia colored environmnet of my old grade school building...

The Pilot

I saw a kid run past me... He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a white polo shirt and leather shoes... He was... laughing... full of dreams... and he was holding a toy airplane in his hand... He turned around and waved at me...

"Who are you, mister?" he asked. I couldn't help but smile... Such innocent and naive nature... too gentle... and too trusting..

"A friend." I replied. I couldn't help but to think that this was who I was so long ago... all those long years ago... "Let me guess... you want to be a pilot?"

The boy nodded his head and showed me his toy airplane, built with love and care. Again, I couldn't help but smile... I started to walk with him around the school grounds.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I don't know yet.."

A mist then engulfed me again. And it disappeared as quickly as it had seperated me from the little boy... The environment is now colored... akin to an old photograph from the 80s... And now I'm walking down the halls of my old high school building... nearby, I see a lone figure standing by the windows, staring at the clouds...

 

The Dreamer

Approaching him, I noticed that he was wearing almost the same uniform as the kid... only this time, the khaki shorts was replaced by a pair of black pants. And he was wearing glasses. While he has a faint smile on his face, one could sense the air of sadness around him... One could sense that he had just been through a mental and emotional torment of sorts.. And then he spoke: "Where have you been?"

I choked on my reply: "I beg your pardon?"

"Where did you run off to when I was a little kid? I was about to ask you another question when you suddenly disappeared." I realized that this was the kid that I met earlier. I was speechless... and he continued speaking.

"The second you left me, a group of boys showed up and stole my plane. They threw it and crushed it. And they have done so to every last one of my endeavors... Ridiculing them... Belittling them..."

With his true friends far and few in between, it was evident that his dreams were the only form of escape that he has... And as I sought for words to console him, I was surrounded yet again by a mist... Moments later, the mist disappeared... and I found myself in the familiar environment of my college school grounds...

 

The Romantic

I saw him from afar... He was smiling... he was with friends... and a love that stirred in him a fire and an urge to live on and not just survive the challenges... They were holding hands... Exchanging sweet glances... I was tempted to approach him and say hi but I stopped myself... It wouldn't be nice to disturb him in his moments of joy... And as the mist envelopes me again... I couldn't help but smile at the scene... And as the mist gave way again... I found myself in the middle of an urban environment at night...

 

The Wanderer

I was standing face to face with him... An older, more mature version of the first three people that I encountered... His soft and gentle features have hardened a bit... He was wearing a pair of slacks and a long-sleeved midnight blue polo that was rolled or folded up to his elbows. The smile that he used to have was already gone...

"It's been a while..." he spoke...

"I couldn't agree with you more.." I replied... "What happened? Why are you alone now?"

"I came, I saw and I got my backside kicked a couple of times." was the reply.

"It must've been rough."

"It is..."

"So what are you up to now?"

"Wandering around... Looking for my dreams that had disappeared..." There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice... I couldn't really fault him after being forced to give up many of his dreams...

"You sound like you've almost given up." I said.

"Almost," he replied "is right... But I don't buy the idea of just wandering around aimlessly... Yes, I am a wanderer... But I am wandering around, looking for my dreams..."

"How sure are you that you will find them?"

"From the way things are looking up, I'd say that I'm pretty sure about it." A gentle smile formed on his face as he saw something far away. I turned to looked at the source of his smile and I saw a woman with a charming smile approaching us. And then a rather heavy hand tapped on my shoulder. It was the young man that I was talking to. Standing right beside me, it was evident that he was trying to keep his poker face on.

"Do me and the three other fellows a favor, will you?" He began "When you wake up, don't forget to continue fulfilling the dreams that we reminded you of. We grudgingly gave up ours so that you may eventually fulfill the dreams that are really meant for you... for us..."

And with that, he walked towards the lady and I slowly found myself waking up back in reality... with a gentle smile formed on my face...

Club Insomnia

A friend and I coined a name for this kind of situation wherein you stay awake well into the wee hours of the morning for no reason at all. We called it Club Insomnia. Come to think of it, I think I already used this title for one of my posts a while back...

Anyway, I'm about to become a certified insomniac... Granted, my work load in the office has slightly "improved" (better time management) but for some reason, my mind just can't seem to adjust... Its as if its always on the go, never letting me sleep... and to think I haven't even had a cup of coffee in a while...

Tonight, I became desperate. Desperate for sleep. Desperate to do something that will put me or send me to a lovely trip to a place called dreamland: added some new pics into my Matchbox album, turned myself into a lurker (stalker/idiot) of sorts by checking into the profiles and pictures/albums of people that I know, adding a new blog... all in the hopes that I would eventually get sleepy and start having a good night's rest... which unfortunately, is not the case...

Looks like I have to go to my last resort of counting sheep just to get some sleep...

 

Midnight Trance: Revival

It felt different...

Accelerating out of a tight turn, I began weaving my way past traffic. In spite of running at the same insane speeds that I used to, I can still see them, each car, van or truck, clearly. Whereas before they would have already become blurs. And every dash, slide, turn and maneuver was literally effortless...

And very natural...

I once again carry my personal color. The color which I was identified with from the start. The very same color that I carried during my days as a knight in the service of a queen. But while my ride still bears my color, it is vastly different from the one that crashed - and it had no doubt improved from the time I first saw it. From the time I got my new mount, there was in fact, much to think about. And for a brief moment, I was lost in a flash of light...

Just like the black color that came before it, the silver that covered the frame of my mount disappeared, slowly giving way to a very shiny shade of red. The mechanics make their way around my steed, carefully and gracefully applying each coat as if they were renaisannce men, wroking on a masterpiece; their airbrush was the paintbrush and the metal frame their canvas. Watching the procedure, I slowly recalled each event, every moment that led to this. Remembering. Contemplating. And learning. A distant voice breaks my silence.

"Sir, the masterpiece is complete."

Another flash of light brought me back to my earlier trance. A trance wherein I was gainin more speed than ever before... The road ahead is long, filled with large, gentle and sudden curves - but also filled with obstacles, mobile and otherwise, that leave little or no margin for error. The citylights flash by. I'm once again back to my senses. I see a pair of trucks ahead, side by side, with a little space in between, just enough for me to pass through. 

Impossible?...

While it does take a lot of un-salted nuts to pull off such a trick, the thrill and the challenge beckoned to me. Unknowingly, a faint smile formed on my face as I shifted to a higher gear and floored the accelerator, racing towards my doubts, my fears and my dreams.

Difficult. But not impossible...

 

 

*Revisiting the Midnight Series.