My Fitful Trip in Fragments of Memories

We're shifting by the end of next month.

Mom and dad are thinking of having a garden party for Christmas in our new dwelling.

We're allowed to invite friends. The problem is... I don't know who to invite.

Felt the need to tidy-up my room. Since mom already started to whittle old stuffs in the storeroom, I might as well make myself useful.

I started on my old study table.

In detail, I started on these 3 cupboards of my old study table.

Systematically, I took out everything and sorted out the unwanted books (yea, everything inside are books, papers, magazines... my room is like a library).

I threw the garbage behind my back, they all landed on my bed.

After a few short minutes, I finally finished emasculating the contents of my old study table. I reached for the plastic bag to collect the rubbish I threw out.

Later, I found my hand not on the plastic bag... but on my mouth.

I never obliterate anything from the cupboards since I shifted to this house, and this was the 8th year I'm staying under this roof.

There you go, 8 years of buried 'treasure'.

1 plastic bag wasn't enough. A total of 4 BIG plastic bags were used.

Whilst clearing them off, I flipped through the unwanted pages printed with knowledge. I realised how much I've grown, such reading materials no longer ensnare me.

Damien came into the room and we started clearing the upper part of my wardrobe, where mom kept all our photos.

We emptied the cupboard and sat down for a break.

Suddenly, he roared with laughter.

"You took nude pictures!!" he barked, choking back another laugh.

"What?! Who took them?" I was sure I've never done something so sinful. I'm no Kate Moss or Pamela Anderson, with a D-cup and sexy bodies, to afford to be so narcissus.

I snatched the album from Damien's hands and gawked.

Somehow, parents have this uncanny hobby to snap pictures of their babies, naked (mom, dad, we need to talk).

Digging through the pile of albums, I found a huge one with a blanket of dust. "Must be some ancient pictures," Damien said, "hey, maybe there are pictures of mom and dad dating in there!" Meticulously, we flipped open the album, as if waiting for something imminent.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"It couldn't be me... I look much more handsome," Damien replied. I slapped the back of his head (syok sendiri, eww).

We peered at the date and I gasped, "No wonder that baby is so cute, it's ME!!"

My turn to syok sendiri.

Ei, really ma... I'm quite cute, when I'm an infant, that is.

Grandma and I. She could still walk and talk that time, before she experienced that fall that required a major surgery 8 years ago. Diagnosed with Alzheimer, she couldn't even recognise me. *sob*

I felt the invasion of nostalgia.

Went to Ikea and The Curve for furniture-shopping today. Actually, the main point of driving 25km to Ikea was mom's idea. She wanted a glass vase, which was an item suggested by our interior designer.

The ground floor was fraught with a plethora of decoration items. I spotted a bundle of sticks used for decoration, the price was absurd.

RM 45 for a bundle of sticks?!

Where are these from? The Artic?! I can just walk a few steps out of my house and chop a few of these and not even perspire. The most I will pay for this is RM 10.

My yen to swim bloomed when Damien asked me to bring him to the pool in a polite manner (which was very unusual).

To tell the truth, I've been absent from the pool for 2 years. And I seriously need new swimsuit, I'm opting a bikini (as if dad would allow).

The moment I immersed myself into the water, a puissant emotion blanketed my mind. It was like a reunion or something, sorta like a welcome.

Long ago when I was younger, a week without swimming was equivalent to chopping off my limbs. I was very attatched to the pool then, I even thought that I belong to the waters.

As I lay floated in the pool, watching the vista of clouds in the sky, I realised how Ophelia felt when she was floating in the stream. It must be a very comfortable death, being able to ensconce oneself.

My skin looked pale in the water. It wasn't like this last time. I remember it being very dark in the water. Somehow it felt so alien to see my skin ivory-like in the blue pool.

Just like my recent exercise, my thoughts swam in the serene pool where shards of reminisces floated and some, sank into the unfathomable pool. No matter how deep I dived, I could only bring a few of them back to the surface while the others...

Well, they lay forgotten. But, waiting to resurface, one day, another day.