Breezes

It’s the 7th post for the 7 days writing challenge. Fun fact, I totally forgot that I haven’t posted the 7th post coz I thought the challenge has been done! Lol! Well, as like the posts before, I took this challenge as my way to learn how to write and enriched the characters in a book I currently write. Today’s topic is quite long. This is what the challenge maker wrote : Write a page of things taken in by you in the surroundings of your choice. Write everything your senses take in. Everything you see, hear, taste, smell and feel. This short story is a short sequel from my previous post called Summer Break which is the 2nd post for this 7 days writing challenge.

Hugo’s holding his phone tightly. He keeps glancing over it every couple of seconds. His heart beats unusually fast and there’s something in his stomach that he can’t describe. On the way to the bus stop, he received a long-awaited message from Gina, his crush from his English class. It just consists of 2 sentences. “Sure, why not” and “Should we do Teams call today?”. Today. Hugo has been waiting for 4 days since the last time he texted Gina to ask her to be his writing buddy for their summer homework. Now that he’s giving up already, or maybe his mind is just being too preoccupied with the summer holiday and catching up with his mom, Gina finally decided to reply to his messages and asks him to have a video call today. Today. He suddenly feels a shot of hot lasers from his stomach right to his heart again reading the word “today”.

He lets out a sigh and looks around the bus he rides. Though it’s a cooler summer than where he comes from, some people here seem like can’t handle the summer. An old man who sits in front of him lets out a big grunt trying to open the window as wide as he can. His aftershave smells like lavender that Hugo can smell it through the wind that blows from outside. It eases him a bit somehow because the smell reminds him of how his father smells. He dares himself to take a peek to his phone again and regrets it right away as his last reply to Gina’s text still left unanswered.

Hugo’s bus is now kind of stuck in a traffic jam. Hugo curses himself why he didn’t bring his earphone. Now all he can hear is just some car horns honking to each other like they can help to end the traffic jam. A toddler who sits at the front sit just keep whining to her mom asking to eat the candy they just bought. The old man in front of Hugo is now doze off and Hugo can hear his snoring slightly. Some street peddlers are approaching the bus and offering their goods through the bus’s open windows. One of the peddlers offer some bracelets made by fake pearls and its bright color somehow reminds Hugo of Gina’s smile. He glances back to his phone. Still nothing. Another sharp twinge in his heart.

Hugo reaches into his backpack and grabs a chocolate bar. The chocolate bar is surprisingly still in good shape and not melting despite the hot weather. He chews his chocolate slowly, tries to not think about his proposed time to have a Teams call with Gina which currently still hasn’t been replied. The chocolate is sweet enough for his sweet tooth and he immediately grabs the second bar once he finishes with the first. His bus finally starts to move again, and some breeze blows from the outside and he can smell the lavender after shave from the old man in front of him. His mood lifts up a bit and Hugo decides to just put his phone in his shorts pocket. He tries to ignore his feeling and decides to enjoy the bus ride and his visit to the mall instead. At least, trying to.

15 minutes later, his bus is approaching the stop where the mall is. He grabs his backpack, puts his hand in his pocket just to make sure that his phone is still there, then walks toward the bus door. He passes the old man that now is awake and smiles at him. He stands in front of the toddler that is now busy with her candy and Hugo smiles politely to her mom. Her mom smiles back at him.

“Have a good day, young man,” she said to Hugo.

“Thank you, good day to you too!” replied Hugo while walking out from the bus. He feels the buzz in his pocket. He glances to his phone again and see a text from Gina, “Sure. See you tonight!”. Smiling, Hugo starting to believe it’s a good day indeed.

A Haiku

It’s the 6th post for the 7 days writing challenge. As like the posts before, I took this challenge as my way to learn how to write and enriched the characters in a book I currently write. Today’s topic is : A Haiku about a favorite childhood memory. This is a Haiku by Hugo Novacek, 14, for his school assignment.

Beyond the window 
Leaves falls and breeze is colder 
Your hug warm us, Mom

^{Hugo Novacek, class 8-5}

Milo’s Complaint Letter

It’s the 5th challenge out of 7 days writing challenge. As like the posts before, I took this challenge as my way to learn how to write and enriched the characters in a book I currently write. Today’s topic is : A Complaint Letter.

To
Francesco Vella
Vella & Co Manager
B265/36, South Drive

Dear Mr. Vella,

I'm writing this letter to complain regarding the frames I ordered to your company last time. We definitely ordered black slim frame with catalogue code : BM360X as you can see in attached quotation. I know this is actually not a big deal as you can just deliver me with the right one, if only our order came NOT 3 hours before we started our exhibition and your staff mentioned that our actual frames haven't been made. We ended up have to put your bulky polka-dots frames instead, which is actually not that bad, IF AND ONLY IF my exhibition was held on some random daycares. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Here, I attach you some pictures of it. Hope you'll understand how creepy it is to look at some black and white forests with a blue-yellow-red polka-dots frames.

Regards,
Milo Novacek
Novacek's Gallery Owner

Lost in Translation

The one who’s making this challenge really love talking about “love” I think. This is the 2nd topic out of 3 topics about love. Didn’t they realize that love is the happiest feeling on earth but at the same time it is the hardest thing to explain? Even to show. A lot of people lost in trying to understand the act of love. Figuratively speaking, they’re lost in a translation of love language .

We all know there are many kinds of love in this life. Couple love, parent love, sibling love, friendship, love to our pet, even love to our own place or city. But there’s a silver lining above all of those; belonging. If you don’t have the sense of belonging out of something, someplace or someone, there will be no love between you. When you feel like you belong to anything, you want to keep it dearly in your heart. You don’t want to lose it. You hold tight onto it. Once you lose the sense, you let go. Not all love can be let go, though. It is forgotten sometimes, but not let go. Confusing, indeed.

Love has 2 faces, if you aware about it. Let’s call it the white devil and dark angel. It could trap you without you notice about it. It took most of your time and energy. It ruined your concentration and mostly your mood. It sometimes ruined your relationship with your friends or family. Yet, we somehow still felt very happy. We didn’t realize that there’s a white devil luring us to the trap. It’s called love. It could as well give you a frustration with all the attention. You somewhat forgot that to show love it doesn’t always mean to give flowers or celebrate anniversaries, but still, you were demanding to have all of those. When your parents grounded you or gave you earlier curfew, you hate it because you forgot that it’s actually because they love you. Love, here, looks like a dark angel. Misleading, perhaps.

Love is when you feel home. Within a city or with someone. You want to leave, but you’ll miss it. You’re tired with all the routine, but you need it because it feels safe. Sorry to sound so cliché, but without one, you’re a lost soul. You need it as a compass, as a lighthouse, to remind you sometimes the purpose of your life. Yes, in it, you’re still lost in translation. But, you know deep down you have all the clues.

Catch me if you can

Nope, this is not a movie/book review. So if it’s somehow appear to you when you google it, you may leave now. Or, bear with me for awhile while I’m writing about today’s topic on this 30 days writing challenge : ways to win my heart.

It’s not that hard, though.

You just need to have a broad knowledge. About anything. Probably same interests of mine. Or different. I don’t mine. Because I can spend a whole day to talk with you. You’ll inspire me with your knowledge. You’ll teach or show me something I don’t know it ever exists before. You may also have a deep knowledge about something you passionate about. It’s always interesting to know another point of view from people who’s really into something.

We just need to have same sense of humor. As an extrovert, I absorb energy from other people. If we share the same sense of humor, we might as well share a positive energy when we meet. Your joke is funny, because you’re always thinking outside the box. Your humor is so fresh that it’s unexpectedly witty. And no, it’s not because you’re talking low about someone or make a fun of their physical appearance. It’s not funny at all.

Oh, if you can speak in many languages, you’ll leave me in an awe. Somehow I always think that when people can speak several languages other than their mother tongue, they’re not only smart, but also open-minded. When we learn another language, we learn about the culture. We learn about how to communicate the way the native think. We’ll be part of the world.

If you took notice, you can win my heart as long as you’re a great pal to talk with. This is actually the first reason why I said yes to Abang. When you’re growing old together, when your joints are shaking, when your breaths are getting shorter, when all you can do is just sit together, you’ll talk. You’ll talk about your happy memories, you’ll talk about books you just read together, you’ll talk about your children and grandchildren. You need something to laugh about when your mind is getting tired with the whole world you’ve just seen, passed and had. I couldn’t imagine spent my old time with someone who couldn’t provide any of that. I couldn’t imagine spent my whole time without Abang, the one who already won my heart 🙂