Thought.

As she coasts through the city,
She's oblivious to the crowds;
And she wanders on barefoot;
Her thoughts scream aloud:

Is she going to live on happy,
Or does she want to end it now;
Does this life hold no more meaning,
Or is this merely God's trial;

As she stumbles through the alley,
She is clutching at her chest;
And she falls flat on her belly,
Puts it permanently to rest;

Blood is trickling down her leg;
Her breath comes out in gasps;
This is the eleventh hour;
Beyond her looms death;

As she lay there dying,
She is calm and at peace;
Consciousness is slipping,
And her thoughts are at ease:

Her soul is but dispensable;
It gone won't cause a ripple;
And to the world she may be dead,
But really, it's all in your head.

inspiration comes at the strangest times: i wrote this during work, on this dull afternoon while i was falling in and out of sleep periodically. after i wrote it i tried to think of a theme that this poem/short short story fits. i realized it's actually damn random. but to sound professional i should say it follows the development of her thoughts, from confusion and exasperation and doubt, to a morbid acceptance of where she is or is heading in life. the dramatization of her death, as mentioned, is all psychological. is it a reflection of my thoughts presently, i dont even know myself. dont ask me why i always come up with such depressing things, even though i'm generally a happy person.

Fossils

The tip of a pen scratched away at paper, furiously, purposefully. Inking away at thoughts regurgitated, facts spilled out faster than hands can move. Untidy, scribbled cursive font filled the once empty page with a strange consistency, printing paragraphs of ethical theories and conceptual linkages to hypothetical questions. The monotonous chime of the grandfather’s clock echoed in the still atmosphere, piercing the silence like an owl’s hoots in the night.

A cold, lonely night. Where the breeze whirred gently in the ears, whispering, calling. Sending shivers and chills down the spine. The streets void of a lingering soul, the streetlamps light up shadows alone. A stray trotted, hungry and curious, at the sound of the solitary car speeding by the deserted stretch of road, an unexpected change in the vacant night. It paused, sniffed, the senses wary but unexcited, the nerves working and the brain processing, uncovering the stark possibilities of a midnight snack waiting. But the knowledge was clear as reflection in a shiny glass window pane.

Knowledge that the relationship was impossibly fragile, inevitably teetering on its unstable edges. The rainbow sparks of light that once hit the prism were fading into nothingness, into a colourless hole like a bottomless pit.

And at the bottom of the pit there lay a dead body, a decomposing corpse nonchalantly dumped and forgotten eons ago by the heartless soul of criminal intentions. Flies and maggots and cockroaches and termites ravaged their delightful source of protein, savouring everything and leaving behind nothing to salvage save for the skeletal contents widely demanded of scientific research.

Fossils, they call it. 

***

  

this is something different!
i started off by just writing any description of something, which somehow became a description of my ethics midterm paper (which btw hasnt started yet its supposed to be this saturday) and at some point it leads to another topic, and with each topic another description develops from another scenario, and then it leads on and so on. 
i stopped at fossils cos that's where i realize i don't know how and what to describe anymore.
it's kinda fun! its just another version of my plotless excerpts.
although it's still kind of short i think. can be developed more! something i would want to try again when i have more TIME on my hands.

Unspoken

And she lay on the bed,

Stock still, eyes closed,

As if she's dead.

Her face pale,

As pale as sheet,

Her body frail,

Frail and weak.

And I look on helpless,

Unfeeling, unmoving,

As if I'm heartless.

But I am

Tearing up inside,

And I am

Fearing.

Please stay by my side.

I know my poems are horribly amateurish and far from good, but it's much easier to express sometimes, compared to long sentences and paragraphs of words and descriptors. sometimes the simpler things contain deeper meanings. sometimes the simplest words, are hardest to express. the simplest emotions, hardest to describe.

on another note, i found Fiona Xie's blog, an emo-ish site with few entries but mostly beautifully crafted words and phrases, and even poems. one thing she can do huh, is write. surprisingly, i really enjoy reading it. although it sounds really depressing.

http://www.alivenotdead.com/fionaxie/blog.html

these are the kinds of poems i really like! sad, angsty, but yet a really nice use of words.

gosh my adjectives are startlingly failing me.

I dread the day I know.

Is there something I really can't see
Or am I just in denial;

Is he someone who is worthy
Or will I get burned playing with fire;

Will there be a tomorrow
Or will there be no sparks and no desire;

Will I come to a decision
Or will he be the first to tire.

somehow, inspiration always comes in the form of depressing thoughts. sad, angsty thoughts. from a mere sentence that couldnt have meant anything deeper than it was.
and yet.
so therefore,
the title is as such.
he did message thereafter, which put me at more at ease again.
how easy it is to make me happy.

Feelings

A world of perspectives
A balance of lives
Of happiness and joy
and of sadness and despair.

Sometimes you are one,
yet others you are both.

You sit on the edge
feet dangling of the ledge,
you see both sides
and you are both sides.

The feeling inside
you have to hide.

Is it right to show joy
while others live on tears;
Is it wrong to enjoy
while others dread and fear
the worst -
has come
and the end is near.

You step off the ledge
but the less you know,
now these mixed feelings
they get stronger, no they don't go
away

till time eventually
erases them
away.

From the time I heard the news I have been wondering, is it right to still be happy, to celebrate, to have fun, while just on the other side of the ledge others are living in constant worry and despair. And you know both sides, but either may not know each other, may not be related and may not have a clue, and their lives are perfectly fine and nothing is affecting their moods. So you have to go along with them, act like nothing's happened on their side, while at the same time the other side suffers, and you suffer inside. I finally penned down these mixed feelings yesterday night, the last night, the night before the plug is pulled.

Poem Collection

I'm out of narratives, but I found a small collection of poems I wrote, with the earliest one done in JC, during one of my emo periods. But none of them are dated so I don't know when I wrote them, although I do roughly know where I got inspired to write those. They're all amateurish, I've no clue about poetry and stuff, I just write phrases and stick them together to make verses, and so, don't have any expectations whatsoever. Here goes:



Title 1: Candlelight

Immerse yourself
in the dim candlelight
that brings he slightest bit of warmth
in the still darkness of night.

Hypnotise yourself
with the glare of the glow
and let your thoughts take you back;
release the pain you withhold
within.

For the light gives you warmth
and the light keeps you calm
enough
to plot
revenge.

____________________________________________________________________



Title 2: Shadow

Cast a shadow
of doubt
on the thing most dear to you
and render it no longer
useful
to you.
no longer the faith you used to have in it
For the shadow grows longer
and darker
with time.

____________________________________________________________________



Title 3: Swans

Of memories
of experience
of drifting apart.
You are near, and yet far.

Of longing.
This inner desire.
It yearns to burst out at the seams.
And yet
you are not here.
You are near, and yet far.

Of closeness.
And separation.
You are near, and yet far.

Your gaze.
Of mystery
and of sadness.
You turn away from me
never to look back
Again.

____________________________________________________________________



Title 4: Hurt

Glitter in her eyes
Of tears that flowed
And flowed down her tender cheeks.
The taste in her mouth
Of tears that flowed
And dripped on her bare chest
And her arms crossed over
Her fingers grasped a single rose
The thorns cut deep
Inside.

Glitter in her eyes
Of blood that flowed
And flowed down her manicured hands
And formed a puddle on the floor.

Glitter in his eyes
Of tears that flowed
And flowed down his cheeks
And dripped as he leaned over
Kissed her on the lips
He closed his eyes
And whispered in her ear
The thorns cut deep
Inside.

____________________________________________________________________



Title 5: Fly

One day I'll fly away
From the emptiness in your heart.
From the torture you put me through
From the love you make me feel
For you.

One day I'll fly away
To somewhere free from your hurt
To somewhere I can start anew
To somewhere I can find love
Again.

One day I'll fly away
And I know you'll forget
And you'll find someone else
And yet I'll still remember
And yet I'll still cherish
The memories I had
With you.

One day I'll fly away
With my broken wing
Not far away
From here.

____________________________________________________________________

So that's it, I seldom write poems simply because I can't write well. I don't really like any of these, but my favourite is the first one, Candlelight. All the rest are just neutral, I write when I feel like it. The last one, Fly, sounds more like a song, and in fact it was inspired by the song too. Obviously a poor inspiration, but oh well. I rather stick to narratives.

The Adventures of Ah Kow & Ah Siaow: In the Woods

My second long short-story! another one that was put on a hiatus before i finished it i dont know when. the handwriting change is less distinct now, although there was a pen colour change half way through, so i would assume that was where my hiatus was. Again it features the lovely characters Ah Kow and Ah Siaow, this time without their gang!

Once upon a time, there lived two neighbours, Ah Kow & Ah Siaow. Ah Kow was the clever one and Ah Siaow, the 'gong' one. Both of them lived on the edge of Crazy Town, where it was near a rainforest.

One sunny morning, Ah Kow & Ah Siaow were lying in their own backyards, talking to each other through the fence that separated their houses. It was a hot day and there was no cloud in the sky. It was a day so boring that even Ah Kow & Ah Siaow couldn't find any adventure at all. Then, Ah Siaow had an idea.

"I know!" he exclaimed so loudly and suddenly that Ah Kow sat straight up.
"We can go into the forest for adventure!" he said.

Normally, Ah Siaow's ideas were dumb and ridiculous, and Ah Kow wouldn't bother to consider. But this time, it was a brilliant idea.
"That's it! Come on, Ah Siaow, let's pack our things. We are going to be camping in the forest!" Ah Kow said giddily. He was feeling excited even before they began their trip.

By late afternoon, Ah Kow & Ah Siaow were ready to explore the biggest and most dangerous forest in the world - the Destructive Rainforest. It stretched for miles and miles. In it were the many varieties of flora and fauna. One could get lost in the greens easily, and if that happened, it woould be almost impossible to find their way out - that is, if they didn't have a compass. Which was exactly what Ah Kow & Ah Siaow forgot. They had been walking for quite a long time in the forest without knowing which way they were heading. Suddenly Ah Kow stopped in his tracks. Ah Siaow saw that his pal's face was white as sheet and his lips were trembling slightly.

"What? What?!" Ah Siaow shouted into his ear.
Ah Kow stood motionless, unable to speak. He remained like that for a good one minute and a half, while Ah Siaow tried everything he could to make him move.

Finally Ah Kow recovered. He spoke slowly, trying to keep his voice steady.
"I think we're lost," he said.
The words slowly sunk into Ah Siaow's brain.
"Don't you have a compass?" he asked timidly.
Ah Kow shook his head. He looked around at the trees. They rose high above Ah Kow & Ah Siaow's heads and up into the sky, blocking out most of the sunlight.
He shugged and said, "Well, let's set up camp. We are, after all, the ADVENTUROUS PAIR!"
That brought them into motion. By the time they had taken their supper, it was already midnight.
"It's too late to do anything now," Ah Kow said. "Let's turn in."
He crawled into the tent and tucked himself in. Ah Siaow stood outside, scratching his head. He didn't know the meaning of 'turn in'. Finally he turned himself round and round until he 'turned inside' the tent (that's Ah Siaow for you).

They slept, and I really mean SLEPT! There they were in the middle of the Destructive Rainforest, in their tents, snoring like pigs and kicking each other in the face and butt. There was saliva everywhere they turned. Ah Siaow even urinated in his pants! It seemed as if they were having a really bad dream. So it went like that throughout the night and you could hear them sleeptalking, or should I say sleep-screaming, from the other end of the huge rainforest. Any living thing would have run the whole stretch of the forest just to get away from them.

The next day, Ah Kow & Ah Siaow woke up to - not a Destructive Rainforest - but more likely, a Destroyed Rainforest. The tent had crumbled, trees had been chopped down, plants had died; there were dead insects and small animals everywhere. It seemed like World War III had just ended.

Ah Kow & Ah Siaow looked at each other in disbelief.
"Last night, I dreamt that I tried to kill you," Ah Kow said cautiously.
He wasn't keen on what Ah Siaow was going to say. (Actually, he never was.)
"Me too!" Ah Siaow said excitedly. "I was taking a chopper and running about chasing you, and you were holding an axe and chasing me, and we were running around like mad people and screaming like sissies and..."
Ah Kow shut Ah Siaow's voice from his head. He didn't need, and didn't want, to hear the details. Instead, he started getting things back the way it was. By the time he had finished, it was already past breakfast and lunch and dinner. Wait a minute. Another day had passed! Ah Kow crawled into the tent sleepily.
"Oh, I forgot," he muttered to himself.
He crawled out again and pulled Ah Siaow (who was STILL talking) inside. A punch in the face quietened Ah Siaow and Ah Kow drifted peacefully to sleep.

***

"Ha! You lose again! For the 10th time!" Ah Kow jeered.
They were playing Chicken (something like Donkey).
"Chicken! Chicken! Where's your egg, man? Or are you a cock? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!....."
Ah Kow laughed at his own stupid joke.
"Shh...!" Ah Siaow 'shh-ed'.
Somewhere behind the bushes where Ah Kow was laughing, a hissing sound was heard. A very angry hissing sound.

Ah Siaow decided to check it out to prove his 'manliness' (Ha! Ha! What a joke).
"Now let's see who's the chicken!" he challenged.
"You're on!" Ah Kow replied.
He took a knife. Ah Siaow grabbed a hammer. Tense and nervous, they neared the bushes. The hissing grew louder. Ah Kow thought he heard two hissing sounds. All Ah Siaow could hear was his heart, pounding rapidly. They separated the branches of the bush and saw the scene: 2 pythons staring at each other menacingly, waiting for one of them to make the slightest move. They were oblivious to their surroundings.
"I'll take the one on the left for $50," Ah Siaow said.
"Ha! And I'll take the right one. He's sure to win," Ah Kow said confidently.
At the sound of the two morons' voices, both snakes turned and fixed their stony gaze on Ah Kow & Ah Siaow.

"Uh-oh," both of them said together.
Both snakes slithered towards the paralyzed pair. Without any warning, they jumped! Wait a minute, the snakes jumped? YES, they jumped!! And just when they were centimetres from their prey, time stopped. All of them just froze. The snakes hung in midair, mouths opened, fangs bared, while Ah Kow & Ah Siaow stayed in their petrified state. Suddenly, everything happened so quickly that it was a blur.

***

"Mmm...delicious!" Ah Kow & Ah Siaow commented.
Ah Siaow was eating the snake he had thought would win. It was the same for Ah Kow, of course. Their injuries weren't much to whine about, and the snakes were the most scrumptious-tasting thing they had ever eaten.
"Well, that's all for supper! Good night!" Ah Kow said and crawled inside the tent.
Ah Siaow, on the other hand, 'turned inside' the tent again. It was getting to be a really bad habit.

By six the next morning, Ah Kow & Ah Siaow were both ready to explore the Destructive Rainforest.
"Let's play a little game," Ah Kow suggested. His eyes were glinting with mischief. "Let's both take different routes, and the first one to reach the end of the Destructive Rainforest wins, okay?" he said.
"You're on!" Ah Siaow said.

They began packing their bags. None of them knew how long they would be walking, or how far the edge of the forest was from them. But neither of them voiced out their fears of meeting with some monster, or getting lost. Wait a minute. They were already lost.
"I'll take this route. You'll take that route, right?" Ah Kow said.
"Yup. So long, Kow. See you at the edge! I'll be waiting!" Ah Siaow shouted as he walked towards his route. But Ah Kow had already gone deeper into the forest. And so, the competition had begun.

***

Ah Kow was feeling really great about the route he had chosen (for now...). There was a clear path for him to walk on, and along the way, he could enjoy the fragrance of the flowers and look at the birds and squirrels. There weren't so many trees in this part of the forest, so Ah Kow didn't feel like he was completely lost. He took in a deep breath. And he almost puked. What in hell's name was that disgusting, rotten smell? Suddenly he realized. He had just farted.

Meanwhile, Ah Siaow was doing fine as well. Except for those mosquitoes. CLAP! CLAP! He clapped.
"Darn those mosquitoes!" he said.
Suddenly his mind wandered to a book he had read before. It said that in the Sahara desert, more people were killed by mosquito bites than anything else. Ah Siaow began to feel a sudden surge of fear. He started running and screaming like a lunatic (which he was).

***

From far off, Ah Kow thought he heard a scream. He was walking for a long time now and he felt really tired. But he knew he had to continue walking if he wanted to win Ah Siaow. He couldn't stand losing to lunatics.

Suddenly, his stomach couldn't stand it anymore. It tossed and turned and pleaded to be fed. The pain was terrible! Unbearable! Irresistable! Ah Kow quickly took out his emergency first-aid kit: Chicken McCrispy Meal!
"Ah...much better..." he said.

Ah Siaow stopped running and screaming to catch a breath. He wasn't sure where he was now, but he could sense that he was going to reach the edge. He was going to win, for once! Suddenly, he heard a sound. It was a low rumble, and it seemed to come from below him. Ah Siaow instinctively jumped, then realized it was his stomach that was rumbling.
"DOH!" he cursed. "I must eat something before I scare myself to death from this rumbling noise!"
He walked a bit further and found a rock.
"A green rock!" he exclaimed.
Green rocks were thought to bring good luck. At least that was what Ah Siaow thought. He quickly sat on it and started to eat.

***

Ah Siaow had been eating for over an hour. He didn't realize he was so hungry. He got to his feet and started to walk when he noticed his surroundings.

In front of him was a dead end. Beside him were two routes. He must have taken one of them to get here. But he was eating!
"How...?" Ah Siaow racked his brains.
Then he saw it. The Green Rock!
"It must have brought me here!" Ah Siaow realized, and cried out so loud as if he had just discovered a new law of science.

Anyway, he kneeled down and began praying and thanking the green rock.

Ah Kow was feeling hopelessly lost, on the other hand. He had been going around in circles (and I mean CIRCLES), totally unsure of where he was. That was when he noticed that the route he was taking had ended abruptly. He had reached the edge of the Destructive Rainforest! But so had Ah Siaow, he now realized. He had lost. To a lunatic.

Disppointedly, he went up to Ah Siaow and said, "Hey pal, you've already won, what are you doing, praying to a tortoise?"

Suddenly time stopped (again). Ah Kow stopped in mid-step and Ah Siaow stopped in mid-pray position. And then everything happened in slow motion, so slow that it would take one year to tell you everything.

***

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!...."
Ah Kow was still laughing, from the edge of the forest all the way back to the tent, while hunting for food, while eating their roast pig, while watching Scream 3, and now, while Ah Siaow was trying to sleep.
"Can't you stop laughing, you stupid kow?" he complained.
But it was in vain. Ah Kow was still laughing, and there was no way he could stop until he finally tired out. So Ah Siaow had no choice but to drift slowly to sleep listening to Ah Kow's mad hyena laughter...

It was eight the next morning when Ah Siaow opened his eyes.
"YAWN!!!" he yawned as loudly as he could.
A hand frantically covered his mouth. It was Ah Kow. His face was very pale and his eyes were surrounded by dark circles (like a panda) from lack of sleep. Ah Siaow wondered just how long Ah Kow had been laughing before he became afraid. So afraid that he was squatting at a corner of the tent with an axe in his hands, trembling from head to toe.

"What?" Ah Siaow demanded loudly.
He was not getting it. Ah Kow only had time to hand Ah Siaow a hammer before it emerged, huge, menacing and threatening. It was a giant anaconda and it slithered across the tent floor towards the source of the voice, which happened to be Ah Siaow.

Ah Siaow froze. His face turned broccoli green. His mouth started to froth, then his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.

***

Ah Siaow sat up like a dead man just come alive. He wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious or what he was doing with a hammer. He only had time to hear a very high-pitched, girly scream before bringing the hammer down, and realizing that it was Ah Kow's head he had hit.

Ah Siaow was shocked and scared peeless, but he had no time to lose. With incredible speed the anaconda slithered round and round the unconscious Ah Kow in an attempt to coil and strangle him to death. Ah Siaow brought the hammer down again, this time on the anaconda's head.

He started hammering it over and over again, like hammering a nail into a piece of wood. The snake slowly loosened its grip around Ah Kow and finally it lay motionlessly on the ground, dead.
"Now to wake Ah Kow up," Ah Siaow muttered.
He took an electronic fan and set it to life beside Ah Kow's head. Nothing. He tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Nothing. He even tried holding his breath. But Ah Kow still didn't wake up. Ah Siaow hoped that his friend was still alive. He was so worried that he had a sudden urge to pee.
"Pee?" thought Ah Siaow. "Yes! Pee!" he exclaimed.

***

"Cough! Cough!" Ah Kow woke up coughing.
It was raining, but somehow the rain only seemed to wet his face. And it stank. It stank like a rotten corpse mixed with his fart. Then he saw it: someone was peeing in his face!
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh......!!!" he screamed.
Ah Siaow stopped peeing. He felt much better now. He threw Ah Kow a towel and went about preparing the snake for lunch.

Ah Kow stood up and cleaned himself. He looked around and frowned. Where was he? What was he doing here? More importantly, who was he?

Just then, Ah Siaow came into the tent with a knife to look for a chopping board. Ah Kow jumped back as Ah Siaow grinned at him mischievously. He looked evil. Like a serial killer. A serial killer! That was it. Ah Kow couldn't stand it. He screamed like hell and hauled butt out of the tent and deeper into the dense forest.

Th Kow ran and ran and ran. Then he tripped over a giant green rock. A giant green rock? Green rock? Ah Kow thought for a while.
"Tortoise!" he exclaimed.
He looked around. He knew the trees, the birds, the squirrels, the flowers, he knew he was in the Destructive Rainforest. But what was he doing with that serial killer? He thought hard. He seemed to recall everything except for himself, that serial killer, and what had made him lose his memory. His mind was going round and round. He was getting dizzy. The world in front of him spun around like a tornado, then he blacked out.

Meanwhile, Ah Siaow thought Ah Kow had gone to relief himself and went about cooking the snake. He tasted it and almost fainted. The snake was SO delicious, the taste was so scrumptious, so everlasting, he felt like he was in another world. After eating his share, Ah Siaow thought Ah Kow had lost his way and so he went to find him.

***

In his dream, Ah Kow was playing Chicken with Ah Siaow. He dreamt that he won ten times. He dreamt that they wrestled with snakes. He dreamt that a giant snake had entered the tent. He dreamt...
"Ah Kow!"

He jerked awake. He looked around for the source of the voice. It was the serial killer. The dream was still fresh in his head. It seemed to be part of his past, or something like that. Before he lost his memory.
"Ah Kow!" the serial killer said again.
Ah Kow. That was his name? What a daft name! And what was that serial killer's name?
"Ah Siaow?" he said incredulously.

Then he heard it. They both had. A growl. From deep inside the trees. And it emerged. It, seven feet tall, brown, shaggy fur. Beady eyes, Powerful claws that could rip a human to shreds in seconds. It was a bear...
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...!!!" Ah Kow & Ah Siaow screamed together.

Ah Siaow tried to run but tripped over Ah Kow, who was still sitting down with a disbelieving expression on his face. They both got up at the same time and collided into each other. Then they got up again and collided again.

The bear dropped down on all fours and charged at the pair (who were still colliding with each other). That sent them running for their lives - Ah Kow ahead, Ah Siaow to the left. The bear went to chase Ah Siaow first, but he climbed up a tree just in time. Then the bear turned on Ah Kow who was still screaming and trying to climb up a tree - in vain.

"Play dead!" yelled Ah Siaow at the top of his lungs.
He wasn't sure if his pal had heard him. But as the bear neared Ah Kow, he toppled over and fainted. Which was just as well. The crazy bear charged head first into the tree, rebounded and lay on its back, dead.

Ah Siaow climbed down from the tree cautiously. He tip-toed over to the bear. It was motionless, either dead or merely unconscious. Ah Siaow decided not to find out. He went over to Ah Kow. This one was still breathing, fortunately. He began dragging Ah Kow away, heading towards their tent.

But they had not gone far when suddenly they heard another growl. Ah Siaow looked back over his shoulder, trembling. He got the shock of his life. The bear was up again, but this time it was staggering from side to side in a dazed manner.

Ah Kow, unfortunately, chose this time to wake up. He screamed his sissy scream and rushed to the nearest tree in another attempt to climb up it - in vain.

The bear stumbled slowly over to him. Ah Kow screamed even louder and tried even harder to scramble up the tree, but STILL in vain.

Ah Siaow knew he had to do something. He picked up a rock and hurled it at the bear. The bear was unfazed. Then a series of rocks and small boulders came hurtling straight onto the back of the bear's head. One of them bounced off and hit Ah Kow on the head. He crumpled to the ground.

The bear growled in pain and fury. It turned and began staggering towards Ah Siaow, who quickly climbed up the tree. He sat on a branch cowering, unsure of what to do next. The bear rose up to its full height, but it wasn't enough to reach Ah Siaow. It tore at the bark in frustration. Suddenly Ah Siaow heard a crack. He looked down and realized the branch under him was breaking. There was a jerk and Ah Siaow felt himself going lower. He saw the bear and screamed. He kicked off the branch and clung on to the trunk. The branch snapped and fell straight into the bear's face, sending it toppling over and falling onto the ground with a dull thud.

Wasting no time, Ah Siaow ran and grabbed Ah Kow who was lying on the ground, unconscious for the third time that day. Ah Siaow ran as fast as he could, while dragging Ah Kow, all the way back to the safety of the tent.

***

Ah Siaow decided he would let Ah Kow wake up by himself instead of peeing on him. Besides, he was feeling very tired after dragging Ah Kow for such a long distance. He felt his eyelids drooping and soon he drifted to sleep.

Ah Kow awoke just as his buddy fell asleep. His memory had come back to him when he was hit by the rock. He also remembered that it was Ah Siaow (he glared at him, nostrils flared) that made him lose his memory.

Sighing, he went out of the tent and finished his share of the anaconda. He, too, thought that it was the tastiest food he had ever eaten. Ah Kow had nothing to do after eating the snake and didn't see any point in waking Ah Siaow up when he would just fall right back to sleep. So he crawled back into the tent and tucked himself in.

***

When Ah Kow and Ah Siaow woke up from their 'beauty sleep', they realized that they had slept way past dinner. It was midnight. The pair found it hard to go to sleep now that they were both wide awake.

Outside, the forest was alive with the voices of the crickets and other insects. An owl swooped, silent but dangerous, over a rat and caught it in its talons. A cool night breeze was blowing, making 'whoo...' sounds in the air.

Ah Kow & Ah Siaow had given up trying to sleep and were watching The Shining on their portable TV. Suddenly there was a scream. A high, piercing scream that shook the whole tent, including whatever was inside it.

Ah Kow & Ah Siaow hugged each other in fear, both trembling from head to toe. It wasn't coming from the TV because the show had already ended long ago (they were watching the credits). They looked at each other, realized what they were doing and jumped back, hugging themselves instead.

"Whoo...Whoooo..."
Ah Kow & Ah Siaow trembled even harder and they both fell to the tent floor shivering.

"AH HAH HA HA AH HA HA HA HA...!!!"
The voice was so high and shrieking Ah Kow & Ah Siaow had to cover their ears.
"Should we check it out?" Ah Kow asked timidly.
"No!" Ah Siaow replied defiantly.
He wasn't stepping out of the tent until daylight returned.
"AH HA HA HA HA...!!!" came the voice again, this time nearer.

Ah Kow & Ah Siaow gave up their pretence and hugged each other tightly. Suddenly, they saw a shadow outside the tent. Their eyes became wide with fear and their faces became pale as sheet (actually paler).

Then something walked into the tent. Something dangerous, something terrifying, and something that was - drooling?!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...!!!" Ah Kow & Ah Siaow screamed together as it walked into the tent.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...!!!" they screamed again.
It was a mad hyena!!!

Ah Siaow screamed again and threw the first thing that he lay his hands on - Ah Kow. Ah Kow screamed his girly scream as he hit the hyena face first, and accidentally kissed it on its lips.

The hyena froze in its place. Then, screaming and spitting, it sprinted away from them and back into the forest. Ah Kow, too, was screaming and spitting in disgust. He hurriedly washed and rubbed at his lips to clean away any trace of that crazy hyena's saliva.
"Yuckk!" he grimaced when he thought it was safe for him to talk without any of the saliva getting inside his mouth.

Ah Siaow, on the other hand, was too busy laughing to be bothered with Ah Kow. He toppled over, clutching his stomach and laughing just like that insane hyena. There were even tears in his eyes.
"Can't you stop laughing, you siaow?" Ah Kow complained a while later.
But it was in vain. Ah Siaow was still laughing, and there was no way he could stop until he finally tired out. So this time, Ah Kow was the one who had no choice but to drift slowly to sleep listening to Ah Siaow's mad hyena laughter...(feeling a sense of deja vu?)

The sun shone bright and cheerful on that sunny morning, but Ah Kow & Ah Siaow were anything but bright and cheerful. They had been walking around since 6a.m., trying to find their way out of the Destructive Rainforest, for they had had enough of destruction done to them. They were both tired and frustrated and wanted to go home to their mummies.
"We're going around in circles," Ah Kow said.
"How do you know?" Ah Siaow asked.
He sat on a rock (not a green rock, unfortunately, if not they would have 'good luck') to catch his breath for a while. Ah Kow joined him.
"We came here about an hour ago and took that route," Ah Kow pointed to his left, "And now we're back here again."

Ah Siaow looked around and frowned. He seemed to recall something about this place. Something wrong. Something huge and scary and dangerous. Something -
"Grrrrrrrr..."
"BEAR!" Ah Siaow yelled.
They both got up to their feet and started running. They didn't dare to turn around and look, but if they did, they would have seen another bear - a sun bear this time - charging at them on all fours for they had been sitting on the rock that was blocking the bear's cave entrance.

On and on they ran, not even knowing that the bear had long stopped chasing them and had retreated back into its cave. Ah Kow was just wondering whether they were able to outrun the bear when Ah Siaow stopped him and said that it was gone. They breathed a sigh of relief. Then Ah Siaow looked up into the distance ahead of them.

"HOME SWEET HOME!" he screamed so loud that Ah Kow jumped half his height.

And it was their home they had been running towards, all thanks to the bear. They approached it and flopped down on Ah Siaow's backyard, too tired to get up.
"We did it," Ah Kow said triumphantly. "We explored the Destructive Rainforest!"

Actually, they didn't.

The Destructive Rainforest was at the other end of the town. They just explored the woods that was probably the most harmless of all jungles and woods. They just read the whole darn map wrongly before their trip.

"We should do it again, just to show our bravery!" Ah Siaow said.

Well, maybe next time they should explore the real Destructive Rainforest, and see just how destructive it really is.

The End