back to ib

i started off friday the usual way

i overslept the lunch i was supposed to have with melvin in school

but nonetheless made it down to have my $2 magi add vege at around 2pm

first teacher i bumped into was ong siu lian

the one whose veins pops out when she carries an empty paper bag

simple hi, bye

i remembered how she was so excited

when she saw me join the chinese karaoke competition in year 6

cos she knew for sure i was gonna sing something from out of her generation

then there was terence chiew

much skinnier than the last time i saw him

he looked like a stickman

as usual he recounted to us about his sporting adventures

this time a 333km track across some desert

the usual parting shot for a teacher meeting old students might sound like

"all right guys, wish you all the best!"

very thiru sounding

i can still picture her merlion-ing politically correct comments

but of course, this was terence chiew

"i really appeared on the news! go google 'newpaper terence chiew' "

at this juncture i went to the irreplacable sac

had my noodles

and for nostalgia's sake

had 50 cents ribena, milo peng and blueberry tart

although i bemoan the shrinking size of the ribena cup

i must commend the apparent R&D that they did on the tart

we went to visit our pioneer batch mural after that

i looked for the little note that i scribbled on that board 3 years back

took in the pointlessness of that little sentence

and found comfort in that i haven't changed much

"If you notice this notice, you'll notice that this notice isn't worth noticing at all"

i went separate ways from melvin and gang thereafter

and spent the next hour sitting and gazing in the sac

greeted teachers who no longer recognized me

bought food from vendors who pointed me out straightaway

looked around at tables and replaced the strangers

with images of those i knew

i saw again the poster of !nk

and was surprised to see karen liau's name on it

so the mighty prefect mistress is back

i wondered if she remembered me

i wondered if she remembered me if not for my surname

i realised i wasn't bothered enough to find out

so i went away and walked

i walked down the corridors and alleys

retraced the familiar routes that i used to take

walked past the b3 classrooms

remembered one valentine's day

when i put that present that took me 9 hours to make in the locker

and made it supremely sandy

i descended the spiral staircase

remembering always to look out for shadows of those coming up

i arrived at the teacher's office

wondered if i wanted to see anyone

wondered if anyone wanted to see me

and like all those times back in school

i turned and walked the other corridors and alleys

i walked past the newly refurbished library

and remembered the cosy, dim library of old

remembered how everyone abused the computers in there

remembered how i always pretended to study in there

i walked to the track via the small path by the library

remembered my 3rd ankle sprain

remembered the deep breaths i always took

as i left the books

and hit the track

i walked past the basketball courts

and tried to wonder something

but it left me as i thought

so i walked again, to the track

i sat at the steps leading up to the boarding school

facing the track

and half-watched the rugby game that went on

i remembered the cheering committee

remembered the last rugby game i watched in uniform

i saw some ruggers sprinting with parachutes for training

thought to myself

"that's not the way to run"

and felt a sensation course through my veins

and saw myself sprinting down the track

black top, red spikes

dark sky, red track

i watched as i rounded the bend

i remembered to swing my right arm more

i felt the tapping on the balls of my feet

i felt the spikes dig into the track

and then i felt the run

i walked back to the main building again

i walked, wondering what i was wandering for

i realised i was looking for something

but couldn't really place it

i came to the circular classroom

remembered the hours feng and i put into the prom dance

i walked some more

and realised i was looking for someone

but i couldn't tell who

i looked down the ib building

saw the pond and remembered fabian the catfish

remembered poking fabian

remembered playing frisbee there

when we were supposed to study

i walked around more

hoping to see someone

i wondered who that was

was it dear old oldham?

i realised i wasn't finding out

so i left

and spontaneously,

like always,

spontaneously,

i went to cut my hair