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Trisyia's Story

                                                        ▲    In The Dark   ▲  

     Music blaring through the speakers everywhere, almost deafening but bearable, enjoyable even. Homecoming was off the roof, literally. I danced like there was no  tomorrow with my partner. Her arms were in the air like some kind of helicopter blades while holding a cup that contained a fermented beverage, dancing to some song that everyone has been talking about ever since it came on.

Then I felt something tingling in my gut. That was it. I dragged my partner to the men’s room and ordered her to stay outside as I heave my intestinal fortitude into the toilet bowl. Yes, it was that bad.

Quickly I got out and gathered my partner and requested her to help me home. On the way out people were praising and chanting my name. I was partially bewildered yet gleeful. What happened? Did I win for an Emmy or something? “Yo! MY KING! ,” One of my classmate chanted. That was when I got the real issue, I was homecoming king. I was not surprised. I was Prom king last year, School’s Vice president and now Homecoming king. Sweet.

It all has passed. Today is just another day of reality. It has been a few years ever since high school ended for me. It was the absolute greatest years of my life. But now I just feel empty in my high quality condo. Sure I’m successful, way above your imaginations. I’m a huge business owner for goodness sake.

But that was it. Call me ungrateful. I’m just filled in complete agony. I couldn’t share any of my accomplishments with anybody. That was the only complication that I had to face.

 Every time I try to find a decent companion, I can tell they did not respect nor appreciate my affection towards all of them. They yearn the success that I earned and owned. 

Love. That was the only thing I need. Easier said than done. 

What’s the matter with family you say? They clearly abhor me. Ever since I moved my destination to stay they were completely against my resolution. Every time the case was brought towards the dinner table my old folks just had their eyes rolled, whereas my brother kept quiet through the whole controversy.

“So I was thinking, maybe the idea of moving and to establish my flourishing call isn’t so bad at all,” I suggested. They lost it. Chaos was made. Quickly I took the opportunity to escape to my room. I snagged my suitcase and loaded my necessities into it and most importantly money. I used my plastic money, it was so convenient. 

So here I am, I temporarily rented an apartment to just have a place to sleep. Once my business flourished even more. I could afford more than just an apartment, just name it.Despite all the depressing moments I had breathed through out the years I had some light to hold on to.

Last month, an adolescent fine lady came by to visit. Not to youthful but about 2 years younger than myself. I didn't recognise her at all. She knocked on my coloured brown door. “Mr.- um Mr. Sykes? There was a packaging on my door that has your name plastered onto it.” Her lovely voice rang.

I hurriedly snagged the door open.

“Oh… So you live next to me?”, I beckoned her.

“Thats what my door says,” She replied goofily while motioning towards her silly sign on the door that says ‘Hey I’m you’re neighbour!!! Hi neighbour’ as it was refereed towards myself.

“okay then thanks”, I took hold of the parcel and brought it inside while she went back to her condo.

“Wait, can I get your name? I mean since were neighbours why not right?”. I started to get fidgety, my hands started to sweat like a gallon of water.

“Melanie, Melanie Martinez”, then she finally entered her humble abode.

I shut the door, leaned on the door and sighed good vibes as i slid down onto a squat. 

That was the hope i held onto from now.

Nurul Najihah's Story

  The day started ordinary as the door had been knocked. “Marilyn, it’s already 10”, said my mother. Today is a massive day, I still can’t believe this is happening in my life. I took a bath right away and wear the clothes that my mother bought yesterday. I was trying to reach for Doug that promised to be my companion but to no avail. 

         “Mom, I’ll be going now!”, I shouted as I jumped into the car waiting for Doug. I stared the flyer in my hand intensely followed with a wide smile. Doug, my beloved best friend knew that I am one of the Die Hard fan of the singer called Pharell Smith. Thanks to Doug I get the VIP seats for the concert, moreover at the end of the concert the Manager of the show will choose one of the audience  to get a special prize where that lucky winner will get to have a candle-light dinner date with Pharell Smith. But, it makes me wondered how Doug get the tickets that cost almost a thousand. I tried to called Doug again but he’s not answering. Car’s watch shows 12 sharp, it’s running late! I better go.

      The roads were crowded with fans along with the banner on their hands including the picture of Pharell Smith. I envy of them which I should do that too. But it doesn’t matter because I’ve got a VIP seats that obviously they couldn’t afford. Beep! A message came shows ‘Hey Lyn! I’m Sorry I couldn’t make it for today, I have to do my works. Anyway, did you wear the clothes that I bought for you yesterday?’ Doug asked as if it’s an important. But I don’t have time to replied as I saw the others rushed going inside the theatre.

      Thanks to Doug, I got a perfect view of the stage. The stage is well organised as i imagined. Soon after, the only dim light comes from the stage. Someone appear from the backstage caused non-stop applause and cheer from the audience including me. Pharell Smith with a pair of black jeans along with a white shirt makes me speechless. We wear the same style from head to toe. The theme is black and white. Is this my destiny? I started to daydreaming.

     He starts singing calmly as he sat on the stool with a guitar in his hand. The melody goes well with his calm expression and I could feel that he’s staring at me. The concert ends right after all his songs sung. Pharell Smith starts giving a short appreciation for the attendance.

   “It’s time to reveal the results which, Pharell Smith himself will choose the lucky girl to be her date”. The manager gave a speech which makes everyone screaming enthusiastically saying ‘me!’. How great it will be if I got chosen. That’s one of the reason why I want to be here. From my seat I could see that Pharell starts to look around and stops in my eyes for a moment. Will it be me because we are wearing a similar outfit. In a blink of eye, he jumps from the stage which was very unexpected idea. 

      He walked towards me and held my hand tightly. I still can’t believe this! Is this a dream or this is the truth? He whispered romantically “ Will you be my date?”. For a moment I stared his eyes down to his lips. He seems familiar to me. Not a strangers, it’s someone that I know. Could it be him? But why now? To know the truth I rudely bring his hand right in front of my eye. It’s real! How come I don’t realise after all this years?

      With tears streaming down my face I ran without looking back.  How could you fooled me for all these 3 years?. I started on the engine car and drive randomly. But there’s one place that may comfort my sadness. The time strikes 3.40 afternoon as I arrived. The sound of the ocean released my tension and empty up my mind. 

      Doug is such a liar! But why did he do this? The ring that I saw earlier is real, it’s our friendship ring. We promised that we would never lose them or not wearing them. All of sudden I could feel someone’s touching my shoulder that makes me turn back. It’s him. 

    “We don’t have anything to discuss!” I stared his clothes. They were same as mine and the one that I wear now is from him. It’s too obvious that he’s the artist. Shame on me that after all this years I didn’t notice this simple thing. Every Sunday he was needed to be in in grandma’s but the truth is he’s going to preparing  his concert. And every time I asked him to hang out with my family he’s way too busy and  couldn’t make it. With all possible reasons i trusted him. Am I still his fan because of his voice? If I know Pharell Smith is Doug and Doug is Pharell Smith, I should have asked him for a date at the first place. 

    “I know it’s my mistake, but now I realise that all my wrongdoings will hurt you later. I’m sorry for all this matter, but I just want to say that, I think I wanna have a date with you, because you made me realise what is life when there is no love…”, confessed Doug hoping that I would forgive him. I can’t hold it any longer. Doug that I know have a matted hair, a shabby clothes and doesn’t have makeup, but now he dress neatly and no more matted hair, instead a jewelry hair.

     “Alright, I’ll forgive you, but you need to promise me that there’s no more secrets among us” As I said that we did a pinky promise and hugged. Above all, all my dreams is come true and now he’s officially become my guardian angel that will now walk along my comfort zone.

     

       

Mel's Story

MY STORY

Don’t ask me why I did this. Don’t ask me why this happened to me despite having a life that everyone envied. Don’t judge me as you don’t know the real reason why. People around me always tell me how lucky I am to live such a happy and carefree life but they don’t know all of this was just a facade. What people don’t know is that I have another side of me that is only for me to know. I have kept a big secret from people around me especially my family and friends. 

It started when I fell sick for days and had even vomited blood, that was when I decided to go to the hospital to get a checkup. I had my blood taken to be tested then waited for the results. I thought it was just a normal flu people get every day and I would be given medicine for it but little did I know, in a few hours my life would change. When the nurse told me to go inside the doctor’s office, the adrenaline came rushing. I sat down on one of the chairs in the room and what the doctor told me made my world crash.

 “I don’t know how to say this but you have a growing tumour in your brain and you only have 3 months to live”.

I said “Okay, We could carry out surgery right?”

 

The doctor told me it was impossible as it would be a life threatening surgery and it could kill me instead of curing me. I was really devastated because all my hopes and dreams were crushed. I didn’t want anyone to know as I was afraid that they would feel sorrowful.

As I was sick often, obviously I should be resting but I didn’t want my parents to know so I went to school regardless of feeling pain. I could not concentrate in class and on numerous occasion, I was late to hand in my assignments. When the exam week came, I didn’t get to complete most of my exam papers since the pain in my head started to get stronger every day. 

When it was the day of the results to come out, I was extremely nervous as I know I would not succeed all my subjects with flying colours. As I was heading to the classroom, my homeroom teacher called me to her staffroom to talk about my results.

“Is something wrong? Why are your results dropping suddenly at the most important year in your life? You used to get A’s in your exams but what happened?”.

“It’s nothing miss, I think I didn’t do enough revision. I promise you that I will get higher marks in the end of year examination compare to now”. 

“That is if I would still be alive by then” , I thought sadly to myself.

As the school bell rang, I went straight home and what I didn’t expect was my parents to sit on the sofa with my result in my mother’s hands. I was expecting them to get angry at me but I was surprised when they said, “It’s okay honey, you will do better next time. I believe in you”.

When my mum said that I cried and said I was sorry that disappointed them. They encouraged me to do better next time but the secret that I kept from them suddenly crossed my mind. That day I decided to tell my parents that I have a tumour in my brain, saying they were overwhelmed with sadness would be an understatement. Mother cried all night while father told me it was going to be okay and that he would do anything to get the tumour out. He called his friend who was a doctor and told him about my condition. Miraculously, his friend said that he’ll be willing to do the surgery but it could be life threatening. At first I didn’t want to do it but after all the thoughts of leaving my parents behind, not having the chance to fulfil my dream, I decided to go along with the operation even though it could cost me my life.

After 6 hours in the operating theatre, 24 hours of unconsciousness and a month in the hospital, it turned out not to be a waste of time as it was a successful surgery. After a week of rest, I can finally go to school, see my friends and live the life of a healthy person.

From the day I got diagnosed, all I ever thought was ‘ what do I want more than anything in this world’,  I spent weeks trying to figure it out but I was so busy keeping my secret from everyone that I don’t realise all I ever wanted was in front of me all along. 

It took me to be diagnosed with a tumour to realise that my family’s love was enough for me to fight for my life and also my friends’.

Michelle's Story

WHO’S LOOKING AT ME?

Do you believe in ghosts? If you don’t, then you have to be careful because I was once just like you. Before everything happened, I (Laura Maggie) used to be a girl who thought that ghosts and magic was just an imagination. I always thought that the people who beliefs in ghost were ridiculous but after everything that happened to me at my ballet school last month has completely changed my opinion about ghosts.

Everything started when we decided to register for a famous ballet school called “Ballet Queen”. Most ballet dancers would love to be in this school because it was the best ballet school in our country but not everyone could get in. Luckily, my ballet teacher, Ms. Blare, is one of the teachers in that school, therefore two of my friends, Daisy and Jess including myself were accepted into the school.

After being in the school for three months, Ms. Blare announced to all of us that I have been chosen to represent our country and compete at the world ballet competition. I was very surprised at the fact that I had been chosen. Daisy and Jess kept talking about this for the whole lesson.

After practice, the three of us decided to go to the Coffee Bean café. In the café, Jess was telling us about a lady, who was the best ballet dancer in our ballet school for the last few years and the lady was representative of the country who attended the last world ballet competition but she didn’t win in the competition. When I heard this, I was so excited to meet her but Jess told me that she disappeared after the competition. There were no signs of the lady and where she disappeared to.

The next day, we were having our usual lesson but after that, I had to practice for the competition. The competition was next month. So, Ms. Blare told me to try on the costumed that I was going to wear during that competition. After I have finished putting on my costumed, I ran as fast as I could to the class because I was late. As I got to the door of the classroom, I realized that there was an odd lady staring at me with her cooled violet eyes from the corner of the hallway.

The lady was wearing the exact same purple coloured ballet costume as mine but her one was dirty. I thought that was the reason she kept on staring at me. There was a lot of red coloured liquid on her costumed. Since I don’t know what that was, therefore, I kept on looking at her and I realized that while I looked at her, she started to say something but I couldn’t hear it. “Laura, hurry up! Everyone is waiting for you!” Daisy called me from inside the room. “Alright, alright, I’m coming” I replied. I turned around to take a better look at the lady but she wasn’t there anymore.

Ever since, the image of the lady kept appearing in my mind. The lady looked angry while she stares at me. She has untidy long hairs that cover half of her face but I could saw her cooled violet eyes clearly. I kept on wondering which class she was from. I thought she was a new student because I have never seen her in the school ever since school started.

Today I was late for the practice and I had to wait for the others to finish their rehearsal before I could start mine. While waiting, Ms. Blare told me to change into my costume. Before I got changed, I heard music coming from the class in front of the fitting room. I became curious because there shouldn’t be other classes for the day except for our class. So I decided to take a look in.

There was a lady dancing in the room. I recognized her; she was the lady that I met yesterday. I observed her from the outside of the room. She danced perfectly, better than me. I was thinking that the school should’ve chosen her to attend the competition instead of me.

The lady saw me watching her and we were having eyes contact after that. Her eyes were scarier than before when she looked at me. She was laughing but I couldn’t hear anything. She came towards me with her hands pointing at me and suddenly, “There you are. What are you doing here? Ms. Blare is looking for you” Jess shouted at me from behind. “I was looking at the lady who’s dancing inside the room” I told her while pointing my finger toward the room. “What? There is no one in the room. Who’s the one you looking at?” Jess asked but I could not answer because I was shocked. The lady was just in the room and she didn’t even come out from the room but she wasn’t there anymore. There weren’t any music anymore and the lady was gone.

After the end of the class, Daisy and Jess had gone home early. I had to wait for my dad to pick me up; he told me that he would be a bit late. I sat on the swing outside the classroom while waiting for him. It was 8pm already and there was no one left but me. 

Suddenly, there was music coming from one of the classrooms and there were sounds of footstep. I started to feel nervous as I stand up from the swing. On my way to the room, I felt someone followed me from behind and the music stopped as I turned around to see who it was. There was no one and suddenly, “LAURA!” there was someone shouting my name from the room and the music was now to be heard again and it even got louder than before.

 I started to shake as I continued my way to the room. Then, I felt that the floor was wet and as I looked down, I saw the floor was red in coloured. I was afraid and decided to leave but then, I saw a lady standing not far from me. I couldn’t see her clearly because it was too dark. As she came near me, I found that she was the lady that I saw during my class not long ago. She looked creepy and her eyes were bleeding. She gets faster when she walked towards me and she asked me sadly “Laura can you help me?” I tried to say something but my voice came out like a squeak. My throat felt sore, my neck felt pinched, and I was shaking all over. Sweat trickled down my cheeks and my heart pumped furiously.

Since I don’t answered her question, she continued “Do you know that I’m the best ballet dancer in the country and famous before, but, since I’ve lose in the world ballet competition, all of the peoples are laughing at me and my ballet teacher is very mad at me. She kicks me out from the school. Even my family says that I’m useless. From that on, I cry every day until my eyes start to bleed. I remember the day I went swimming with my family and I’m drown, I’m so scare, I shout for rescue but not even a person save me and after that, I’m in the deep sea. Alone!”  She laughed after that and after what she said; I know she was the lady Jess told me in the café. She was dead. I felt more nervous than before because I was now talking to a dead people, so, when she wasn’t paying attention at me, I staggered back, trying to escape, but I was out of luck! 

Suddenly, she was pressing down on me and shouted in front of my face “Don’t you dare to escape from me! Do you get me?” “Yes” I replied with my shaky voice. Then she asked me softly “Can you help me?” I said “Yes”. 

“I want your body” she told me but I didn’t understand why she wanted my body, so I asked her “For what?” “For my soul, we are mean to be together, don’t you think so”. That’s when my face got pale but she continued “We are the same. We love to dance. We are the representative for the same country and competition and the most important is we have the same name. You are Laura and I’m also Laura” she touched my face slowly with her bloody hands. “That’s all. Is time to say goodbye!” She told me with a creepy devil smile, I wanted to shout for helped but there’s no voice coming out from my throat and I slowly felt that something coming into my body. At last, I felt nothing. 

There was a men coming towards me and asked “Are you alright Laura? Sorry, I was late. Come on; let’s go home, your mom is waiting for us”. So, this man was her dad then. I told myself, from now on, I (Laura James) was going to start my new life. “It’s alright father, let’s go” I replied.

The day of the competition: “The champion for the ballet competition is Jacqueline Lawrence” The winner should be me not her!