I was reading this winning entry of this year's commonwealth essay competition entitled as above. It can be found on ST Review section, dated 10 Sept 2009.
I seem to be in the shoes of the bird in the story. It simply struck a chord in me.
I reckon that perhaps Chew Chia Shao Wei may have encountered such friendship before to be able to pen such expressive and simply yet profound story of friendship and the unconditional act of giving.
Oh well, honestly, after reading this story.. I was very emotional for a while that day..11sept 2009.. Not cos of the tragic remembrance of that 9/11 day @ New York that shook the world..perhaps partially but mainly due to the cool, "aloof" aka a rock/stoning friend of mine.. a friendship that I have many a time contemplated to put a full stop to it once and for all.. Friends sometimes are indeed passing clouds in one's life.. As I was saying.. I contemplated.. so till right this very moment as I am penning my thoughts, this very "cool" friendship is still being maintained though via msn or occasional group gathering though.
As I read on the essay, I simply could relate so well to all the characters and especially so, their dialogues about friendship and care. The scenario of the sea working at the rock in the story reminded me so much about this friend of mine, C who used to be so fully aware of the reality and harshness of life even back at those tender years of age when we were still in poly. C always chose to be a lonesome soul, wandering around campus like a "wandering spirit" with no traces left behind.. no sound of movement too.. Haha.. What a creepy, sneaky fellow siah? Oh well, I guess this is just the uniqueness of C bah.. Hehe..to the point of me seeking a friendship in C back then out of curiosity of this strange breed?haha.. nah..C is a normal being of normal IQ, EQ super low though then but has been great improvement in recent years.. This sentence "
I am sticking around" the bird told the rock, " so you won't forget me , even when you are just a grain of sand." reminded me of my inital purpose in seeing a friend in C.. Not so much of not being forgotten but to make a little difference in C's circle of life.
Perhaps our paths were meant to cross then and that was how our friendship began with me being the more vocal and chatty one while C as the thinker and analyser of situation. Those were the good old days ( just like the way the bird and rock shared stories with each other.) till one fine day, something happened that totally changed the friendship for eternally.. Nothing could help to bring it back to those good old days of fun, laughter and joy..oh well..sometimes frustrations too when C and I were emo as well as totally wrong frequencies.. Days, Months and Years have passed since then and life went on as usual since our graduation and entrance into the real-world life.
"The frustration, the laughter, and the gratitude that the rock had experienced with the bird would be preserved as colour images amidst a wash of sepia recollections".My nostagic feeling was so well-summed by the writer. Coming to the end of my reflection, I of course have long accepted the permanent change to this friendship and look to happier things in life as well as reminicising about those fond memories rather than the negativities.
With this, I shall end here with a well-wished to C 2 ve faith, hope and love in this journey of life & of course take care n all ze best in future endeavours. May C be no longer the silent rock waiting to become a little grain of sand but instead the bird who explores and seeks out knowledge from life.
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