Think tank 1.1

He walked through the door and into a desolated tunnel. There was a few footsteps marking on the whitewashed wall but other than that, the place looked clean. The door closed silently as she stepped inside, causing the room darkened a bit before the lights grew brighter to compensate the semi transparent door.

"Change your clothes," Andran said. He didn't turn around as he began to walk, relying only on the sound of another pair of footsteps following close behind.Only when he stopped at a junction that he noticed the woman was still clad in black. She stood next to him, eyeing the different way the tunnel forked out to. Left led to another tunnel, while the right paved onto a climbing road. Meanwhile, Adran was eyeing her with his eyebrows creased.

"Why are you still in black?" he asked.
"Hm? Whatabout it?" she said.
"Change your clothes," he said.
"I don't have any spares," she replied.
Adran rubbed his right eyebrows.
"I am not saying you to get naked here, just change the colours," he said.
"Into what?" she asked.
"Into quartz. Into this," he said. He said 'Quartz!' to his wristwatch, before shaking his arms. The watch's colour began to swirl and a few second later it was aqua in colour. "Now change it," Adran said. This time he didn't move before seeing with  his own eyes.

"How did you do that?" the woman asked. Her face was solemn but her eyes betrayed her curiousity.
"It's Leetex. Don't you guys have them anymore?"
"Yeah. Yeah, sure," she said. "We have them, but it didn't manage to get through the rift?"
Adran rubbed his right eyebrows again. "I didn't know Leetex can't survive the Travel. They must have made them not like they used to, I guess," he said as he laughed, alone. Adran then pulled of his blue robe and threw it to the woman. She just watched as the cloth hit her body and slid to the ground, before picking it up and throwing it over her shoulder.Adran just shook his head in disbelieve before turning on his heels and walking up the inclining road. He said 'Skin!' to his wristwatch and shook his arms. The watch turned almost invisible on his hand, only a faint silver silhoutte of the watch can be seen along with the blue font displaying the time.

to be continued...

The think tank

He rubbed his left hands with his right, smoothing his skins till he saw the green veins underneath. He pulled out a packet and tore it open. There were three patches inside; he took one and stuffed the rest in his pocket. He flicked his palms downwards and looked at his wristwatch: 3:49.

He turned his hands and put the patch on the underside of his arms. There was a tinge of prick before it disappeared altogether. He rubbed his left hand quickly and the patch began to melt into the same colour of his skin. There was still a small bump but the patch was camouflaged completely. Satisfied, he crossed his arms together and exhale deeply . 

He took another look at his watch. The digital display didn't changH but the watch said, "he'll be here."

"I know," he replied, before adding. "I wish I've bought an analogue instead."

The watch didn't reply anything, but it began to tick a few seconds later in countdown. It's algorithm has shown that the owner has looked at it twice in a minute and sense an imminence urgency which had appointed the next minute to be important, hence the countdown.

The beeping continued to grow louder before it stopped after a 3 seconds alarm. As if on cue, a rift opened in the air in front of him.

"You're late," Andran said to the newcomer.

"I'm not," the newcomer replied, as he stepped completely out of the rift. He was wearing a whole black suit, from top to bottom, with silvers around the neck, wrists, and heels. His hands went to his neck, grasped around the silver strap before the clasp detected his prints and opened. He pulled of his helmet and looked at Andran. He, was a she.

"Good, a woman," Andran said, trying not to sound so surprised. The woman in black acted as she didn't hear anything. "Let's go," he said to her.

They walked down the road, past a vending machine dispensing sushis, before they stopped at a big, blue door. He put his palms on the door. "I heard they're using passable door already. Is that true?" Andran said.

"Maybe," she said.

He looked sideways at her and smile as he shook his head. The door opened.

"What a bitch," he said.

to be continued.

The dry wells

A man dwarved in black came.

"Murder! This is murder!" the boy said.
The mother hushed and kiss his forehead;
before sending him off to sail into the sea,
only the image of him dancing and jingling on the mound of earth, remains in memory.

for whom is the rose cut?
only a prickle of blood,
which tips from the thorn, and colours the leaf.
milled regrets make the worst flour,
seared heart hardens while charred promises turn to ashes.
what is then left for the cutlery?

neither everything or all.
the wind whirrs, the waves curl.
the eyes close, the waters fall.
the words said, the feelings hurled.

Elevator of Life

The time after lunch is always the slowest time of the day. Everyone seems to slow down, as if their lunch had weigh them down and anasthetize the urgency of work. On that day, I was feeling the same way as I ambled towards the lift. A girl and a man was already waiting in front of the lift before I joined them. She was standing close to a small LCD mounted on the wall, spinning advertisements after advertisement. The man was tinkering with his phone. We were all ignoring each other as we waited for the lift.

After staring at the display number of the floor counting down so slowly, I got bored and looked around. In the distant I saw an old man in dark blue suits with purple tie, his shoes tapping on the marble floor as he walked towards the lift. His face was a constellation of wrinkles and furrows, his eyes deep in concentration on his stern and rigid face. I quickly looked away and making an excuse to take another lift or even the stairs. The stairs! That's 21 floors. While I was torn between the physical torture climbing the stairs or the psychological torture of being stuck in the same lift as the old man who was almost approaching, the lift opened. The man and the girl step in, while I waited uncertainly outside. The girl raised her eyebrows, jerking her head, as if asking why am I standing outside. Meanwhile the old man had arrived and stepped past me, into the lift. Nevertheless, I decided to take lift.

"Hello boss," I said as I walked into the lift. I heard the old man replied a gruff. Or maybe it was the sound of his breathing? Anyways I wasted no time and quickly got into the back corner of the lift to avoid any contact with the old man. There were four of us, the old man with the girl behind her was on the left while the man with the phone and I were standing on the right. I stare straight into the man's back. At least I tried to, only I caught from the corner of my eye that the girl was staring at me. Her fingers jabbed the air, pointing at the old man in front of her. She then mouthed silently, "Your bos?"

I nodded. Maybe my face was so worried that the girl laughed, before patting the air in my direction. It took me a while before I understood that she was consoling me and was mouthing the word, "There, there." It felt ridiculous, so I laughed. The man with the phone turned his head around at us, so we pretended to stare dead ahead. At the fifth floor, the man with the phone stepped out and to my relief, my boss followed. His face was still deep in concentration and he didn't look back at me at all. The door then closed.

"How is he like?" said a voice. I turned.
"Who?" I asked.
"Who else," she said. "Your bos lah."
"Oh, he is not really my boss. He is my boss, but there is another boss. So he is my boss' boss, so . . ." I stopped myself because by then I sounded silly.
"But how is he like?" she continued asking. I was silent, thinking of an answer, when she added, "I know you've met him before. You didn't want to be in the same lift, right?"
"Is he always like that?" I asked suddenly.
"Like what?"
"Like this," I said as I creased my brows and crossed my eyes. I also exhaled a few puff  in exaggaration for effect. She laughed.

The door opened at the 10th floor and a cleaner with her trolley glided into the lift. The girl sobered up and said, "I don't know. Maybe." She smiled, "What do other people say of him?"
"Well," I replied, "people said he had constipation when he was a child, and hasn't recovered since."
The girl roared into laughter.

The lift arrived at the 15th floor and the cleaner got off with her trolley, all the while eyeing the girl who can't stop laughing. "I've never heard anyone said something 'over' like that!" she said to me. I didn't know what to say so I just shrugged.
"Everyone in my office says so," I said.
"And what do you think about him? Your, boss' boss," she asked.
"I think. I think, he just needs a little holiday," I said after a pause. She looked at me solemnly and nodded her head.
The door then opened. "So this is my floor," she said as she stepped out. The door then began to close.

"Hey!" I said. I stopped the door and she turned back around. "Hey, urm, do you mind having lunch sometime?"
She paused for a while. Quite a while. (Years later she told me she deliberately took her time, just to make me sweat.)
"Yeah," she replied shortly before walking off.

I let the door closed before I realised I forgot to ask her number. Or her company. Or her name. When the lift arrived at my floor,I went straight to my desk and asked my friend, Chin, about the girl who was working on the 19th floor.
"What girl? So many girls in building la," he said. I gave a description of the girl but Chin only shook his head and said he didn't know her. I was about to ask someone else when the boss called me and it slipped out of my mind. Only after working hour, did it came back to me, when I saw the girl again. She was getting into a car and I got a glimpse of her before the driver closed her door. A few minutes later, the old man(my boss' boss) went across the lobby and into the same exact car. The car drove off instantly.

My mouth was still gaping wide a minute later and it took another five minutes before I calmed down.

Meeting and Fleeting

Hey you, do you know me?

We've met before, about a year ago.
Or maybe it was, more than a year ago.
I am now not so sure.
But we've met here, before.

what, you've never been here?
but I'm sure I met you with your sister.
she had bracers and you wore spectacles.
we've talked and talked and sat a table.

now, now don't tell me that,
you've never wore specs nor hat.
I'm quite sure we've met that evening,
we've met before... I think.

Have we?


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