Thursday, February 19, 2004
...a pitch-black room.
"Lydia??" Henry asks uncertainly as he reaches for the switch-light. There was no response from her.
"Aaron?" The lights remain off even as he flicks the switch. They must have blown.
Unable to see, Henry rushes out and switches on the corridor light to illuminate the bedroom. He then hurries back, only to be greeted by the sight of two motionless bodies on the ground and an overturned chair.
With a sick feeling in his stomach, he runs to check on both mother and son... and his hands turn cold from what he discovers.
terryo sat on the chair alone @ 12:26 AM
Friday, February 06, 2004
Henry makes to go upstairs to check on Aaron, but the ensuing silence makes him pause. *add a beautiful line here, best one on tag will be pasted here* Outside, he can hear the autumn leaves rustle as the twilight breeze goads them into motion. In the distance, a cat shrieks shrilly, a sound gripped in terror and pain. He starts for the stairwell, his footsteps tentative, unsure.
"Arghhhyaahhah!"
Lydia's muffled cry shakes him to his core and he bounds up the remaining steps three at a time, heading straight for the source of her scream.
"Lydia! What's wrong!!"
He reaches the bedroom but finds the door locked. With hardly a second thought, he steps back and throws his entire 200-pound mass upon the door, crashing into the room to see
Yongchuan sat on the chair alone @ 12:47 AM
Thursday, February 05, 2004
"..Henry." It's been a long time since he last heard her voice at such proximity. He wants to follow her, to hear her voice and to ask her how she's been. But he hesitates. Instead, he turns his attention to the envelope.
What could be inside? He tries looking at the contents through the ceiling light. It looks like a letter, but there seems to be something else too. Filled with trepidation, he finally brings himself to tear it open.
As he pulls out the neatly folded letter, a check and a pendant drop out and land on the floor. He quickly bend down and pick up the pendant which he recognizes as a birthday gift he gave her 3 years ago.
"What is the meaning of this?" he wonders as he picks up the check, and sees that it's blank and made out to him. With trembling hands, he unfolds the letter and reads through it hastily.
He could not believe what he just read. "She's leaving...?" He reads the letter again, and again. But its contents did not change. Neither did the pendant nor the check on the table.
"So this is what I get in return..."
A sudden cry from Aaron in the bedroom jolts him out of his thoughts.
terryo sat on the chair alone @ 12:25 AM
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
He hastily runs his hand through his tousled hair and adjusts his slightly askew tie, looking over his shoulder just as Lydia steps into the dining room. It seems almost as if he were seeing her for the first time again - her exotic, porcelain features that hints of a mixed heritage; dark brown hair that rests upon her supple shoulders; and those eyes, those eyes that seem to tell a tale of their own, all at once happy yet melancholic. And yet she has changed. Perhaps it is the streaks of grey that have slowly but gradually found a home among her lustrous hair, or the thin, nearly indiscernible lines that threaten to journey away from the corners of her eyes. Yes, she has changed.
"Oh... hi. You're back early today."
"Yah," Lydia mumbles, turning to pick up little Aaron.
"Ah....." He stares into his lamb stew, studying the chunks of meat in dark gravy. "Er..., have you had
din-."
"I've something for you Henry." She interjects, struggling with Aaron as she takes out a long thin envelope from her bathrobe pockets. "Here." She turns and walks out, carrying little Aaron who is reaching out his tiny arms towards the unfinished meal.
Yongchuan sat on the chair alone @ 6:43 PM
Still, he cannot help but wonder what would have happened if he had not chosen that path five years ago. Was it all his own fault? Memories flash across his mind. The very first time they met at the lawyer's office. The very first time she broke down in front of him after confiding her troubles. Perhaps life would have been so different if he had grasped the opportunities that Fate had dealt him.
Ahh well, I did what I honestly thought was the best for both of us at that time.
The sound of footsteps coming towards the dining table jolts him out of his thoughts. There was only one other person who had the keys to this house, yet it was impossible that she should come back at this time... or was it?
... sat on the chair alone @ 12:15 AM
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
He sighs. What is a lawyer doing as a part-time babysitter? He has papers waiting to be written, files waiting to be looked through, clients waiting for his call, yet he chooses to be rejected, day after day, by the one whom he waits for and loves dearly.
His consolation is the boy. As if he knew what the man was thinking, the boy looks up at him and slips his little hand into the bigger, more tired one. Silently-for they need no words to feel the familiarity and ease between them-they sit at the table and start eating.
Lamb stew, his favourite. The carrots being cut to perfectly equal pieces, broiled till soft; potatoes he always had a weakness for, picked with a feminine hand at the market nearby; his mood lifts. Five years without seeing her, yet five years he was content to wait, for he feels her love through the dinner she gives him, and he sees her through her son.
Leediah sat on the chair alone @ 11:18 PM
he lets the coldness run through his body for that brief moment. The coldness wakes him up from his senses, and brings him back to the cold hard truth. She will never love you, the same thought came to his mind. Every single day of the past five years, there has been only one thought. It has been five years since her husband died, and he knows she'll never open her heart again. He doesn't step out, but closes the door back gently in consideration of the little boy. Click. He wonders to himself, "Why am I doing this?" It's almost as if it's a trading affair: a home-cooked dinner for each time he takes care of Aaron. He imagines how she would have done the cooking at half past five, then gave Aaron a peck on the cheek before leaving dressed in white. The hospital is a fifteen-minute walk from her home, and it is also just enough time for him to drive from the law firm to the house. Usually, after Aaron fell asleep, he would then lock the doorknob with the familiar gold key and drive back to his home in solitude. She has put in immense effort in planning so that they will never have the chance to meet.
sk sat on the chair alone @ 8:44 PM
He puts down the boy and lets his eyes survey the expanse of warmth around him. Books line a tall mahogany shelf, each with a tiny life, each telling a poignant story. The fireplace at the end of the room draws him in, engulfing his mind with burning passion, like a hungry, urgent embrace. He walks across to the dining table, laid with a simple yet familiar meal. Five years of home-cooked dinners. Well, five years and a day now, this constant in his life, never changing, always greeting him with the same sense of safety and comfort. He does not sit down. He takes a step back, and retreats to the door. It is closed... did I close it? He turns the knob again...it resists him a little. The door creaks reluctantly open, letting in a strange world. It is much colder outside now, but
Kenneth sat on the chair alone @ 5:02 PM
Monday, February 02, 2004
He steps in, and he blinks back the discomfort of the bright light meeting his eyes. A moment, and he recovers his composure. A little boy runs up and hugs him around his knees with the simple joy only a child understands. The gift of a sweet, the appearance of a rainbow after a moody rainstorm, these are little things that children understand as happiness and surprises. This man smiles to himself, his weariness forgotten, as he bends down and scoops the boy into his arms lovingly.
This must be home, this feeling of being welcomed and being hugged with such ferocity at the doorstep...yet it isn't.
Leediah sat on the chair alone @ 6:48 PM
haha me next!
...
er only tt i can't think of what to write now
...
aiyah testing first =p
... sat on the chair alone @ 5:53 PM
The last light of day had vanished a while ago. The world is silent, save for the occasional rustling of leaves kept awake by the late autumn breeze. It is a time of restfulness, of slowed heartbeats. It is a time when cars turn gratefully into their garages, and families sit down quietly for dinner. Andante. He stares at the door for awhile, lost in thought. Then reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a single key. The doorknob turns slightly. He slips his sneakers off, pushes the door open, and steps into his house.
Except it is not his house.
Kenneth sat on the chair alone @ 2:02 AM
