{"id":1787,"date":"2023-04-24T13:08:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T13:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/?p=1787"},"modified":"2023-05-08T13:56:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T13:56:38","slug":"could-you-repeat-that-one-more-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/?p=1787","title":{"rendered":"Could You Repeat That One More Time?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Aditya Dharmawerndra Barki, Secondary 2<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
iStock (2015). Bus Shelter At Night [Photograph]. Retrieved from https:\/\/images.app.goo.gl\/YrzTnSCYfYXkEVtK9<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be leaving now\u2026 thank you so much for being a great friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was what Elisa said before creaking Nia\u2019s door shut. Nia didn\u2019t think much of it; she even forgot about it till it became relevant a day later. She even watched her walk up the steps of the bus before it drove off into the cold night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was only the next morning that Nia heard from the news, a familiar name, and a familiar face on the rigid ground of the pavement. A crash and splatter of coffee were heard just ahead of her tensed-up toes as her eyes widened and her mouth fell agape, her world shattering along with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if Nia were to impulsively blame and jump to conclusions impatiently, that wouldn\u2019t have fixed anything. It wasn\u2019t the first time Nia had imagined her last day alive but nothing would have made her imagine that Elisa wouldn\u2019t be watching her then or have that chance of seeing it in the far future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nia\u2019s fixed, gloomy, blank expression infected her face as if nothing would bring Elisa off her mind. Wherever she went, whatever passed her eyes, was filled with the same dark aura. Water seeps from the ceiling tiles, from the entrance of the arcade, and from the theme park allies. Even running from the water can\u2019t be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of the mall being a distraction fell apart as she noticed the walls suddenly being shrouded in murky water before her eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you so much for being a great friend\u201d, a voice calling her from the dark abyss of the alleyways reminded her of the memories of what could\u2019ve been. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dinner plate-sized eyes blinked wide open and pinned her to her spot. A colossal maroon tentacle swam through the void in the direction of her face, inching closer, and closer, and closer. In a blink of her eye and all that disappeared; and all that remained were the crowded halls of the mall and Nia\u2019s exhausted sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why, Elisa?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nia gazed across from the open door of the floor overlooking the skyline as she sat on the fence, her legs dangling over the buzzing cityscape. A garish yellow sky swirled around a quickly falling night, just meters above Nia.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did she ever get to notice how wonderful sunsets are?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wouldn\u2019t she want to stick around further for her interest in marine biology, for everyone around her\u2026 did she not think of me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did she not trust me enough? Was there something stopping her from telling me further? Did I not give her enough?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couldn\u2019t we have met up again at ten at the bus station or had a sleepover or something?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe write me a memo? How was I supposed to know that was our last night?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You really could have told someone\u2026 it didn\u2019t have to be me. Write me a letter, anything. Come on, put it into words\u2026 I beg you to give it a voice\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you think I\u2019m being stubborn or narcissistic but I\u2019m trying my best to forget it all. I know I can\u2019t keep pretending forever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if I could make my wish come true just this once, I\u2019d be able to meet you on my last day of life, no matter when that would be. I\u2019d sing my heart out for you and I\u2019d express my gratitude for having you exist in my life, no matter how long that would be. I\u2019d shout the lyrics out if I have to till my vocal cords give in, because you, Elisa, told me none of it was in vain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t want to believe that you wouldn\u2019t be here near my deathbed, physically or figuratively. And I still struggle to understand why.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nia looked down at her legs as her dress flowed through the wind, the streets below her calling for her to reach them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s meet again someday,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sorry I couldn\u2019t realise sooner.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Aditya Dharmawerndra Barki, Secondary 2 \u201cI\u2019ll be leaving now\u2026 thank you so much for being a great friend.\u201d This was what Elisa said before creaking Nia\u2019s door shut. Nia didn\u2019t think much of it; she even forgot about it till it became relevant a day later. She even watched her walk up the steps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1787"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1817,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions\/1817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quill.binabangsaschool.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}