Notion

Well, I've had my fair share of out-of-the-norm dreams lately.  I mean, weirder than weird dreams.  So I thought: why not do a (few) write-up(s) based on these dreams?  Who knows?  It may be fun.  I think I'll do two tonight.  And to make it a little more spruced-up, I'll titled each one of them, just like a short story.  Here goes:

Departure

I lugged my travel case off the taxi as I crossed the freshly coated asphalt of KLIA's drop-off point, my luggage threatened to explode its contents out at any given moment.  It's 10.30 pm and my mind's still foggy from that nap on the ride here.  I set foot past the automatic doors and was greeted with the crisp, cool blast of air conditioning, as the hairs on my arms began to stand.  There was not much of a good feeling as it was my last day on Malaysian home soil for a couple of years.  

With depressing seeping deeper every growing minute, I was greeted by a group of my closest friends, most of them trying their utmost best to force a smile.  I saw past it, but they meant their best intentions, so I faked one back as I approached them.  We chatted for a while with mostly small talk, anything to divert from the main event of the day, as countless announcements went blaring overhead from the PA system.  

I was taken off-guard for a while when the crowd parted briefly, giving me a glance of someone else who made it that day.  She was unnaturally quiet today, perhaps because she wasn't that close to my other friends.  Her eyes just momentarily looked up, before reverting back to her reserved self.  This was odd in any circumstance, as she had always been the extroverted one.  Nevertheless, I was glad she came.  It really did mean a lot; she was still a good friend, regardless what had happened in the past.

So I excused myself and chatted her up for a little while.  Nothing significant came out of that conversation, my un-conversational self contributing to that.  I still mustered enough to show her my appreciation of her being here today.

Everything else went by in an uneventful blur, check-in, baggage drop, etc.  And in my last moments with my friends, there I stood at the foot of the escalator, about to enter immigration.  There were an exchange of long hugs and tears, as we parted with our own personal messages.  Then, the final goodbye was left to her.

She was standing there, tears already staining her t-shirt as she sobbed uncontrollably.  Then she paced towards me and we hugged goodbye, she not saying a word.  I didn't either.  It would've made it unnecessarily harder.  Then, under bated breath, she said one word: "Sorry.".

And that's what it all mattered.  Closure.  She smiled, her nose reddening from the uncontrollable weeping, and I smiled back.  I can finally leave this place without any regrets.  That finally, we were wholly friends again, nothing more, nothing less.

END

Okay, that took me an hour and 15 minutes to do so...  I think I'll do the other one tomorrow.  Till then!

What a Difference a Day Made - Jamie Cullum