She picked up the pebble, fiddled it in her hands, and heaved it straight into the sea with all her might. The pebble formed a ripple in the water. A ripple. The never ending, always spreading outwards ripple; the ripple that is formed from a single source, a single pebble, a simple pebble.

She stared in the direction of the sea, entirely immersed in its majesty. Such was splendour and grandeur of the dawn. To others, it might just be a sunrise, a simple sunrise that happened daily, an ordinary sunrise that no one would notice; but to her, it was probably her last sunrise around, her last sunrise in Singapore, her last sunrise in East Coast Park, her last sunrise in the place she knew, her last sunrise in the place she grew up in…

All along, she stayed in Singapore. She wasn’t born in Singapore, nor was she a Singaporean, but it was in Singapore that she found her friends, found herself, and most importantly, found a place to escape from the hubbub that happened at home. But that phone call, that simple phone call from her stepfather, had to disrupt it all. They had to ask her back to Britain, to the place where her family was, to the place where she was born, to the place where she…hated.

She didn’t understand their decision. They were happy in Britain alone. The three of them. Papa, Mama, and her. Why do they have to call her back? Don’t they want their peace? Doesn’t little Jamie want the sole attention from her darling papa and mama? Why? Why can’t they leave her alone in Singapore? Why can’t they give her some peace? Why do they have to ask her back, to them, to suffer?

That ordinary phone call. That phone call that she just picked up without hesitation or contempt. That phone call that came to her when she was there laughing together with all her friends. That phone call that materialised uninvited and changed her life.

All her friends promised her that they will be friends forever. Friends forever, she thought. Do they know what they mean? Forever. That’s such a big word, a big word to her. She cannot even imagine what would happen the next day as she returns home to Britain. She cannot imagine what would greet her when she opened that door, that very door that she walked out of ten years back. What about forever? It seems so impossible. They are just comforting me, she concluded. If even a family, supposedly an acronym for “Father And Mother, I Love You”, cannot fill up her empty emotional vault with love, what more can friends offer? She doesn’t believe in love anymore.

Pushing all the heart-wrenching thoughts to the back of her mind, she sat upright on the breakwater again. I am supposed to be courageous, she thought. Brave, strong, cool-headed. If there was one thing she had to thank her parents for, it would most probably be the lesson that they had taught her since young – the lesson not to cry, not to moan, not to grumble, but accept. She learnt it the hard way. Mutilated strokes and burnt patches on her body had always reminded her of that lesson. Never complain, just accept. No amount of tears or words can do the magic that silence can perform. The more you retaliate, the more trouble you beget. “Stay strong”, she muttered to herself under breath, with a quieter “you can do it”, as if to affirm herself, to delude herself.

She stared back at the ripples and the dawn, in awe. She never did believed her teachers when they told her that a single ordinary boy named Jesus was able to change the world alone. She never believed that something small could fuel a big change. She never believed that she had a part to play in the decision-making process of her life. She was so unessential, so small; a little fry, that’s how her parents always put it. She could never take part in making decisions for anything, even her own life, her own future.

But the ripples, the ordinary ripples, seemed to change her perspective of everything. It was just a pebble, a simple pebble, a simple pebble that she a simple person threw in. But it was capable, capable of making so much change, capable of sparking of an entire series of events, a ripple.

And the dawn. It took place everyday. It was ordinary…yet, extraordinary. She knew this fact long ago. She did not need the teachers in school to instill it into her mind. She could recite it even with her eyes closed. She knew that she needed the sun; she knew that everyone living needed the sun. Without the sun, everyone would have no lights, no solar energy, no food from plants…nothing. Yet no one noticed the sun, the dawn, and their magnificence. It was ordinary to them, nothing important, nothing worth noticing.

There and then, in front of the dawn she admired, the ripples she gained insights from, she made her decision, her silent vow to herself. I am going to change my life. I, the simple ordinary person named Jasmine Lynn, am going to change my life. She decided that she would not let her parents manipulate her any further. She was not their puppet which could be controlled purely for the entertainment of the audiences, and the money-making process of the backstage crew. She was herself, Jasmine Lynn. And she leads her own life. She is not going to be maneuvered.

966…78…7…6… She clicked back her phone. She needed time to think it through, time to consider what to tell her parents. After all, this is her first time calling them. All along, she was the one avoiding them, the little rat who hid from her predators. Although she hated her family, she never made it known to them. Silence was always the best way to end the war, she thought. So she allowed herself to be pushed around, to be controlled. Right…left…right…left, she let the commands lead her life. Now that she had to be the one speaking up, an unknown burning fear was eating at her heart. But she knew that she had to do it. Now or never.

Gritting her teeth, she tried again. 96678…7…6…9! There, she did it! Sticking her phone speakers to the side of her face, she closed her eyes, awaiting the voice she loathed. “You can do it,” she mumbled again.

“What’s up? You better have a good reason to call me. It’s not as if you cannot tell me the things you want to tell me later, when you are back. Overseas phone calls are expensive; I’ve told you thousands of times. Sometimes I really don’t know how to drill facts into that hollow brain of yours,” her mother’s voice boomed through the speakers, numbing her whole being with fear, and…hatred.

Though determined, she still didn’t dare to talk back at her mother, “I am not going back,” her voice quavered and trembled as she allowed the statement of freedom squeeze out of her mouth.

“What?! You ingrate! You heartless creature! You better get back here right now! How dare you disobey me?! Don’t your useless school teachers over at Singapore teach you respect? Don’t forget you still depend on me for all your financial needs! Don’t yo—” Callous words cut right into her heart. But she knew that it is going to be the last time this would ever happen anymore. She’s now free. The phone that she just slammed down into the hard rock beneath her had allowed herself to declare her own freedom. Freedom.

Her mother apparently doesn’t know her well enough, or maybe not at all. Don’t forget you still depend on me for all your financial needs. That was probably the last thing she had ever had in her mind. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy in the future. But she was willing to try, to work, even if it means to wear herself out for a living, for her freedom, for her to be away from the place of hatred.

Finally, a smile dangled on her face. She had never felt the feeling of freedom before, and the feeling of genuine happiness. Words would never be able to describe the emotions she was feeling inside her. She had made it! She, the ordinary person, had done something extraordinary to change her life. Her feet danced around like her heart, as she continued sitting on the breakwater, contemplating her next step.

She stared down the pebble she was holding in her hand. A pebble, a rock, a sturdy hard object. Then, she remembered her friends’ promises to her. The friendship that would last forever. She wondered if it would really be as hard as this rock, as able to be subjected to tests as this rock. But she wouldn’t think further. She believed she had enough realisations for the day.

She was unsure as to what would happen ten years down the road, or fifty years later. She knew that life in itself was full of mysteries and commas, not periods. Her act of calling her mother just made her reconfirm this notion. Nothing is going to be an end unless the person involved dictates it to be. No one is ordinary enough to be unable to make decisions in your own life. Every small action, every small person, makes a difference. She doesn’t know whether the word “forever” really exists, but she is willing to experiment and try it out. Afterall, how can someone claim something without putting it to a test?

Full of hope, she walked off from the beach, the East Coast Park, the place she knew, the place she grew up in, and the place where she would be staying for the near future, at least. She had sparked off her own story, her new life, with her phone call. She is going to test out the word “forever”. Life, though ordinary, is full of mysteries, and it is only for us to find out, for us to dictate. Only we can direct our pathways in life, and what mysteries we wish to unfold while traveling through it, even if you are the most ordinary person around. No one can ever know everything, even the least ordinary one, but at least, while trying, you would know something.

The trying never ends, just like the dawn continues, and the ripples spread.
No one is ever too ordinary for the dawn, or the ripples.

(1785 words)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Idols

She stared right down at her watch. 7:59! The watch seemed to gleam at her. “One minute left,” she muttered under her breath, careful not to let anyone else hear her.

She had to keep up with her image. Afterall, she is a professor. Even if she wanted the freebies as desperately as the scavengers wanted their prey, she had to keep calm, or at least pretend to be. No one should know that she was counting down secretly in her heart for the fair to be begin, no one should know what she wanted to be the first in the fair so as to be able to grope all the stuffs she desired, no one should know that she intends to walk out of the room without donating anything… They cannot see through her ploy.

Five, four, three…two, she recited the numbers in her brain excitedly as she continued her gaze at her watch, without batting an eyelid. She was now all ready. She had her script prepared. She knew what she was going to say exactly later on as she steps into the room.

“Oh! Hi! Morning, Shashi! What a coincidence to see you here today!” she rehearsed, grinning from ear to ear, as she took the posture of a demure yet exacting lady. Careful not to let her act be exposed, she wore her usual smile as she walked down the corridor, greeting everyone who passed by in her high, demeanour voice.

Finally, the anxious eagle reached her destination. She eyed her surroundings and the vast array of preys in front of her. Exhilaration numbed her whole being. “Stay cool,” she mumbled, reminding herself of her position in the prestigious research company. At that, she advanced, charging at her preys.

Upon entering the room, collections upon collections greeted her. These are all rarities, she thought. I would be a fool to miss them. Entirely captivated by the books and videos in front of her, she forgot her position and her plan. Instead, she transformed – into a beggar, into a scavenger, into an animal that desperately wanted her prey.

The battle begun. Everyone streamed in from behind her, eyes fixed on the set of rarities. Shashi had made it clear that all collections are free for taking, and most importantly, for anyone, without any discrimination due to position or ranking. There, she was at a disadvantage. She was always used to using her superior position in the company to get her way through. “I am the professor! What I say goes!” her famous tagline was made known to all her employees within their first week of work there. But there, in front of all those rarities that pleased her eye, she was deemed as equal as the rest of the staff, the unimportant, incapable staff.

With that, she had to act quick, before they are all gone. Blending into the crowd, she wished that no one was noticing her as she groped around at the books, the films. Everything seemed so perfect to her. She clicked open the phone. 9…6…6…She had the urge to call her assistant over to help her carry all the collections back to the office. But Shashi’s booming greeting snapped her back into reality. She was a professor. If she had her assistant over to help her carry freebies, what would the rest think? She would be the laughingstock in the entire company, and she is never going to let that happened.

“Oh, I cannot take this. It’s your collection. I’ll leave it to the rest. Those that cannot afford these. It would benefit them more,” she delivered her well-rehearsed line, after being awoken from her dream by Shashi. Stroking up and down the room like a professional, she then began her great belief in charity and how she would donate even without taking anything. She had it repeated tens of thousands of times before she came. She was quite sure that she wouldn’t make any mistake that would enable anyone to know her real thoughts.

Her best sign of affirmation came when Shashi bore a laugh. That allowed her to heave a sigh of relief as she anticipated her prey’s well-expected line of “Come on, just take it. It’s nothing. Really.”

As she sees her plan unfold right in front of her eyes, she knew that it was time for action. Book by book, film by film, she stacked them up right in front of her. “Oh, go on, serve the rest. I’ll look around myself,” she offered, wishing that Shashi would just vanish right in front of her, to give her some peace, some place where she can reveal her true self.

As the kind young man walked off, she decided that it was time for departure. She had already had her fun here. The tons and tons of heavy materials she placed her eyes on were already in her bag. She knew that if she does not get out fast enough, she might have to make a huge sum of donation, if the strap of her bag broke and everyone sees the amount of things she had devoured. She would not allow that to happen. Never. That would cost too much – to her fame, her rank, her monetary benefits…

Creeping out of the room, guilt bit at her heart as the three golden emblasoned words “BOYS BRIGADE CHARITY” seemed to scream right into her face. Fate seemed to not want her to have an easy way out. She was pretty sure that Shashi had held the fair in order to raise funds for the boys brigade charity, yet she is going to steal the goods. I am a professor, she deliberated, unsure if what she had just done is right. They say that God can see what everyone does, even if others miss it. That would mean that I would be deprived of fame and wealth when I get up to heaven then. Words of enlightenment seemed to hit the bull’s eye as she fished out the wallet.

One, two, three…She counted her notes.

“Ten and it shall be. Enough to pay for everything I took, I hope. Afterall, they say that God’s fair. It’s the sincerity that matters. He favours the one who gives sincerely. I do. Ten dollars for twenty free- No, ten dollars for twenty bought goods. Sincere.” she mumbled, placing the ten-dollar note into the charity box. “These books are mine now. Bought by me,” she added, as if to reaffirm herself and her deed. “I have not done anything wrong. God will not punish me. I will still be as successful and famous as I am here on Earth, when I reach the heavens.”

With that, she stroked off – into her office, into her world; full of idols of wealth, fame and success. She would probably never get the idea of charity right, just like the others in the society. Everyone rushes pass one another, dashing to be the first to attain the idols, to please the idols, to be manipulated by the idols. They pushed one another down, during the race, hoping that they will get an edge at it. They tripped one another over, during the race, hoping that they will be able to reach there first. They hide their face from one another, hoping that they will not be laughed at. They try, irrationally; numbed by the multitude of entices apparent in the world.

They try. Masked and unmasked, they strive.

(1248 words)

She picked up the pebble, fiddled it in her hands, and heaved it straight into the sea with all her might. The pebble formed a ripple in the water. A ripple. The never ending, always spreading outwards ripple; the ripple that is formed from a single source, a single pebble, a simple pebble.

She stared in the direction of the sea, entirely immersed in its majesty. Such was splendour and grandeur of the dawn. To others, it might just be a sunrise, a simple sunrise that happened daily, an ordinary sunrise that no one would notice; but to her, it was probably her last sunrise around, her last sunrise in Singapore, her last sunrise in East Coast Park, her last sunrise in the place she knew, her last sunrise in the place she grew up in…

All along, she stayed in Singapore. She wasn’t born in Singapore, nor was she a Singaporean, but it was in Singapore that she found her friends, found herself, and most importantly, found a place to escape from the hubbub that happened at home. But that phone call, that simple phone call from her stepfather, had to disrupt it all. They had to ask her back to Britain, to the place where her family was, to the place where she was born, to the place where she…hated.

She didn’t understand their decision. They were happy in Britain alone. The three of them. Papa, Mama, and her. Why do they have to call her back? Don’t they want their peace? Doesn’t little Jamie want the sole attention from her darling papa and mama? Why? Why can’t they leave her alone in Singapore? Why can’t they give her some peace? Why do they have to ask her back, to them, to suffer?

That ordinary phone call. That phone call that she just picked up without hesitation or contempt. That phone call that came to her when she was there laughing together with all her friends. That phone call that materialised uninvited and changed her life.

All her friends promised her that they will be friends forever. Friends forever, she thought. Do they know what they mean? Forever. That’s such a big word, a big word to her. She cannot even imagine what would happen the next day as she returns home to Britain. She cannot imagine what would greet her when she opened that door, that very door that she walked out of ten years back. What about forever? It seems so impossible. They are just comforting me, she concluded. If even a family, supposedly an acronym for “Father And Mother, I Love You”, cannot fill up her empty emotional vault with love, what more can friends offer? She doesn’t believe in love anymore.

Pushing all the heart-wrenching thoughts to the back of her mind, she sat upright on the breakwater again. I am supposed to be courageous, she thought. Brave, strong, cool-headed. If there was one thing she had to thank her parents for, it would most probably be the lesson that they had taught her since young – the lesson not to cry, not to moan, not to grumble, but accept. She learnt it the hard way. Mutilated strokes and burnt patches on her body had always reminded her of that lesson. Never complain, just accept. No amount of tears or words can do the magic that silence can perform. The more you retaliate, the more trouble you beget. “Stay strong”, she muttered to herself under breath, with a quieter “you can do it”, as if to affirm herself, to delude herself.

She stared back at the ripples and the dawn, in awe. She never did believed her teachers when they told her that a single ordinary boy named Jesus was able to change the world alone. She never believed that something small could fuel a big change. She never believed that she had a part to play in the decision-making process of her life. She was so unessential, so small; a little fry, that’s how her parents always put it. She could never take part in making decisions for anything, even her own life, her own future.

But the ripples, the ordinary ripples, seemed to change her perspective of everything. It was just a pebble, a simple pebble, a simple pebble that she a simple person threw in. But it was capable, capable of making so much change, capable of sparking of an entire series of events, a ripple.

And the dawn. It took place everyday. It was ordinary…yet, extraordinary. She knew this fact long ago. She did not need the teachers in school to instill it into her mind. She could recite it even with her eyes closed. She knew that she needed the sun; she knew that everyone living needed the sun. Without the sun, everyone would have no lights, no solar energy, no food from plants…nothing. Yet no one noticed the sun, the dawn, and their magnificence. It was ordinary to them, nothing important, nothing worth noticing.

There and then, in front of the dawn she admired, the ripples she gained insights from, she made her decision, her silent vow to herself. I am going to change my life. I, the simple ordinary person named Jasmine Lynn, am going to change my life. She decided that she would not let her parents manipulate her any further. She was not their puppet which could be controlled purely for the entertainment of the audiences, and the money-making process of the backstage crew. She was herself, Jasmine Lynn. And she leads her own life. She is not going to be maneuvered.

966…78…7…6… She clicked back her phone. She needed time to think it through, time to consider what to tell her parents. After all, this is her first time calling them. All along, she was the one avoiding them, the little rat who hid from her predators. Although she hated her family, she never made it known to them. Silence was always the best way to end the war, she thought. So she allowed herself to be pushed around, to be controlled. Right…left…right…left, she let the commands lead her life. Now that she had to be the one speaking up, an unknown burning fear was eating at her heart. But she knew that she had to do it. Now or never.

Gritting her teeth, she tried again. 96678…7…6…9! There, she did it! Sticking her phone speakers to the side of her face, she closed her eyes, awaiting the voice she loathed. “You can do it,” she mumbled again.

“What’s up? You better have a good reason to call me. It’s not as if you cannot tell me the things you want to tell me later, when you are back. Overseas phone calls are expensive; I’ve told you thousands of times. Sometimes I really don’t know how to drill facts into that hollow brain of yours,” her mother’s voice boomed through the speakers, numbing her whole being with fear, and…hatred.

Though determined, she still didn’t dare to talk back at her mother, “I am not going back,” her voice quavered and trembled as she allowed the statement of freedom squeeze out of her mouth.

“What?! You ingrate! You heartless creature! You better get back here right now! How dare you disobey me?! Don’t your useless school teachers over at Singapore teach you respect? Don’t forget you still depend on me for all your financial needs! Don’t yo—” Callous words cut right into her heart. But she knew that it is going to be the last time this would ever happen anymore. She’s now free. The phone that she just slammed down into the hard rock beneath her had allowed herself to declare her own freedom. Freedom.

Her mother apparently doesn’t know her well enough, or maybe not at all. Don’t forget you still depend on me for all your financial needs. That was probably the last thing she had ever had in her mind. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy in the future. But she was willing to try, to work, even if it means to wear herself out for a living, for her freedom, for her to be away from the place of hatred.

Finally, a smile dangled on her face. She had never felt the feeling of freedom before, and the feeling of genuine happiness. Words would never be able to describe the emotions she was feeling inside her. She had made it! She, the ordinary person, had done something extraordinary to change her life. Her feet danced around like her heart, as she continued sitting on the breakwater, contemplating her next step.

She stared down the pebble she was holding in her hand. A pebble, a rock, a sturdy hard object. Then, she remembered her friends’ promises to her. The friendship that would last forever. She wondered if it would really be as hard as this rock, as able to be subjected to tests as this rock. But she wouldn’t think further. She believed she had enough realisations for the day.

She was unsure as to what would happen ten years down the road, or fifty years later. She knew that life in itself was full of mysteries and commas, not periods. Her act of calling her mother just made her reconfirm this notion. Nothing is going to be an end unless the person involved dictates it to be. No one is ordinary enough to be unable to make decisions in your own life. Every small action, every small person, makes a difference. She doesn’t know whether the word “forever” really exists, but she is willing to experiment and try it out. Afterall, how can someone claim something without putting it to a test?

Full of hope, she walked off from the beach, the East Coast Park, the place she knew, the place she grew up in, and the place where she would be staying for the near future, at least. She had sparked off her own story, her new life, with her phone call. She is going to test out the word “forever”. Life, though ordinary, is full of mysteries, and it is only for us to find out, for us to dictate. Only we can direct our pathways in life, and what mysteries we wish to unfold while traveling through it, even if you are the most ordinary person around. No one can ever know everything, even the least ordinary one, but at least, while trying, you would know something.

The trying never ends, just like the dawn continues, and the ripples spread.
No one is ever too ordinary for the dawn, or the ripples.

(1785 words)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Idols

She stared right down at her watch. 7:59! The watch seemed to gleam at her. “One minute left,” she muttered under her breath, careful not to let anyone else hear her.

She had to keep up with her image. Afterall, she is a professor. Even if she wanted the freebies as desperately as the scavengers wanted their prey, she had to keep calm, or at least pretend to be. No one should know that she was counting down secretly in her heart for the fair to be begin, no one should know what she wanted to be the first in the fair so as to be able to grope all the stuffs she desired, no one should know that she intends to walk out of the room without donating anything… They cannot see through her ploy.

Five, four, three…two, she recited the numbers in her brain excitedly as she continued her gaze at her watch, without batting an eyelid. She was now all ready. She had her script prepared. She knew what she was going to say exactly later on as she steps into the room.

“Oh! Hi! Morning, Shashi! What a coincidence to see you here today!” she rehearsed, grinning from ear to ear, as she took the posture of a demure yet exacting lady. Careful not to let her act be exposed, she wore her usual smile as she walked down the corridor, greeting everyone who passed by in her high, demeanour voice.

Finally, the anxious eagle reached her destination. She eyed her surroundings and the vast array of preys in front of her. Exhilaration numbed her whole being. “Stay cool,” she mumbled, reminding herself of her position in the prestigious research company. At that, she advanced, charging at her preys.

Upon entering the room, collections upon collections greeted her. These are all rarities, she thought. I would be a fool to miss them. Entirely captivated by the books and videos in front of her, she forgot her position and her plan. Instead, she transformed – into a beggar, into a scavenger, into an animal that desperately wanted her prey.

The battle begun. Everyone streamed in from behind her, eyes fixed on the set of rarities. Shashi had made it clear that all collections are free for taking, and most importantly, for anyone, without any discrimination due to position or ranking. There, she was at a disadvantage. She was always used to using her superior position in the company to get her way through. “I am the professor! What I say goes!” her famous tagline was made known to all her employees within their first week of work there. But there, in front of all those rarities that pleased her eye, she was deemed as equal as the rest of the staff, the unimportant, incapable staff.

With that, she had to act quick, before they are all gone. Blending into the crowd, she wished that no one was noticing her as she groped around at the books, the films. Everything seemed so perfect to her. She clicked open the phone. 9…6…6…She had the urge to call her assistant over to help her carry all the collections back to the office. But Shashi’s booming greeting snapped her back into reality. She was a professor. If she had her assistant over to help her carry freebies, what would the rest think? She would be the laughingstock in the entire company, and she is never going to let that happened.

“Oh, I cannot take this. It’s your collection. I’ll leave it to the rest. Those that cannot afford these. It would benefit them more,” she delivered her well-rehearsed line, after being awoken from her dream by Shashi. Stroking up and down the room like a professional, she then began her great belief in charity and how she would donate even without taking anything. She had it repeated tens of thousands of times before she came. She was quite sure that she wouldn’t make any mistake that would enable anyone to know her real thoughts.

Her best sign of affirmation came when Shashi bore a laugh. That allowed her to heave a sigh of relief as she anticipated her prey’s well-expected line of “Come on, just take it. It’s nothing. Really.”

As she sees her plan unfold right in front of her eyes, she knew that it was time for action. Book by book, film by film, she stacked them up right in front of her. “Oh, go on, serve the rest. I’ll look around myself,” she offered, wishing that Shashi would just vanish right in front of her, to give her some peace, some place where she can reveal her true self.

As the kind young man walked off, she decided that it was time for departure. She had already had her fun here. The tons and tons of heavy materials she placed her eyes on were already in her bag. She knew that if she does not get out fast enough, she might have to make a huge sum of donation, if the strap of her bag broke and everyone sees the amount of things she had devoured. She would not allow that to happen. Never. That would cost too much – to her fame, her rank, her monetary benefits…

Creeping out of the room, guilt bit at her heart as the three golden emblasoned words “BOYS BRIGADE CHARITY” seemed to scream right into her face. Fate seemed to not want her to have an easy way out. She was pretty sure that Shashi had held the fair in order to raise funds for the boys brigade charity, yet she is going to steal the goods. I am a professor, she deliberated, unsure if what she had just done is right. They say that God can see what everyone does, even if others miss it. That would mean that I would be deprived of fame and wealth when I get up to heaven then. Words of enlightenment seemed to hit the bull’s eye as she fished out the wallet.

One, two, three…She counted her notes.

“Ten and it shall be. Enough to pay for everything I took, I hope. Afterall, they say that God’s fair. It’s the sincerity that matters. He favours the one who gives sincerely. I do. Ten dollars for twenty free- No, ten dollars for twenty bought goods. Sincere.” she mumbled, placing the ten-dollar note into the charity box. “These books are mine now. Bought by me,” she added, as if to reaffirm herself and her deed. “I have not done anything wrong. God will not punish me. I will still be as successful and famous as I am here on Earth, when I reach the heavens.”

With that, she stroked off – into her office, into her world; full of idols of wealth, fame and success. She would probably never get the idea of charity right, just like the others in the society. Everyone rushes pass one another, dashing to be the first to attain the idols, to please the idols, to be manipulated by the idols. They pushed one another down, during the race, hoping that they will get an edge at it. They tripped one another over, during the race, hoping that they will be able to reach there first. They hide their face from one another, hoping that they will not be laughed at. They try, irrationally; numbed by the multitude of entices apparent in the world.

They try. Masked and unmasked, they strive.

(1248 words)