Snakes

The lower six came in on Monday. MUET exams were over on Sat, so our MUET periods were suddenly chat fests on nothing in particular. Free time. Then our MUET teacher started lamenting the lack of people this year: "You guys were born in the year of the Snake right? And that means this year's lower six is the year of the Horse ..." She scrunched her face up, as if Horses were inferior creatures.

"Snakes are handsome and cunning." I cut in, for no particular reason.

"Yes!" said Teck Chaw. "Like Cedric!"

I grinned at him, but then he continued:

"Only you are small snake, and I am big Cobra!"

*

Exams are on, and I'm half dead trying to motivate myself to study. It's not easy, considering how much there is to cover and how little time there is to do it. I smuggled the laptop into my room one day and spent the whole day browsing blooks for the sake of 'research'. Not a particularly good idea.

On the other hand things in Upper Six are looking brighter. I'm no longer going for Sukma, after choosing the STPM over State obligation. Nationals were tough enough. There were times when we were pushed to our limits, and we weren't allowed to stop for fear of being called a loser. We ran, we pushed weights, we threw. Tiredness was never a good excuse for Sensei. I'll still be going for training over the holidays, but that would be helping the state team out in the run up to the competitions.

Debate is over. Square is finished. And for the first time this year I can stay in class and pay full attention.

Wonderful times ahead.

I Heart The Time Traveler's Wife

1984 (Clare is 12, Henry is 36)

After an interval of tickling and trashing around we lie on the ground with our hands clasped across our middles and Clare asks, "Is your wife a time traveler too?"

"Nope. Thank God."

"Why 'thank God'? I think that would be fun. You could go places together."

"One time traveler per family is more than enough. It's dangerous, Clare."

"Does she ever worry about you?"

"Yes," I say softly. "She does." I wonder what Clare is doing now, in 1999. Maybe she's still asleep. Maybe she won't know I'm gone.

"Do you love her?"

"Very much." I whisper. We lie silently side by side, watching the swaying trees, the birds, the sky. I hear a muffled sniffling noise and glancing at Clare I am astonished to see that tears are streaming across her face toward her ears. I sit up and lean over her. "What's wrong, Clare?" She just shakes her head back and forth and presses her lips together. I smooth her hair, and pull her into a sitting position, wrap my arms around her. She's a child, and then again she isn't. "What's wrong?"

It comes out so quietly that I have to ask her to repeat it: "It's just that I thought maybe you were married to me."

Note: Yes, The Time Traveler's Wife is a novel. Nadia recommended it to me about two years ago, but I ignored her advice ("There's a lot of sex in it!"), until a lack of books in Penang's Popular forced me to purchase a copy. I love it. It is one of the most intelligent, heart-rending love stories I have ever read. I have since learnt my lesson: when Nadia recommends a book, BUY IT. Immediately.

Here are some more stills from the movie, slated for release later this year.