"Sorry, but my battery is flat." That was the most embarrassing excuse for a girl especially when you are meeting someone new who just wanted to be friends (sincerely or not) with you. That was what I said some years back when I was dragged along to meet my father's friend at his place. To pass time while the adults were having their own set of conversation, my brother and I were plonked down on a sofa with my father's friend's children. 2 girls, 1 boy. The elder of the 2 girls who was a year or two my junior was just trying to spark some friendly conversation to add us to her contact list and friendster. Well, obviously you knew what I said...
I remembered that night because it was something that I would not have said under normal circumstances. Perhaps some unexpected people at their house made me stand my ground, they were the group of girls who were having a sleepover when we came. But then again, it might not be a very good excuse. Maybe, it was something else, maybe at that time, I was not interested because my heart belonged to someone else. I also thought that such visit would not trigger any short or long term friendship so I was not too bothered with what I said, after all, it would take a miracle for us to meet again anyway.
But when end of December loomed, a miracle did happen. Karma, I figured, had fallen. It was planned that my family would go on a trip to Malaysia with that girl's family, with a few days stop-over in Singapore. I was shocked. What if she remembered what I said? How am I going to face her this time? So I decided to pretend that I have forgotten about her and start anew. But deep down, I was feeling rather uneasy. I felt I should have apologized when I had the chance.
So began my days as an escort, a tour guide and all during their 4 days stop-over. And of course the long anticipated Malaysia trip. I'm sorry but I'm not going to disclose the details of the trip. There were many things I'd rather keep to myself because they are my precious gems of memories. However, there is one thing that I feel necessary to write about. It was during our last day staying in Malaysia, right after the New Year's Celebration and all the fireworks. The four of us (myself, my brother, herself and her brother) got together at the hotel lobby trying to stay awake throughout the dawn. Why? Well, their flight back to Indonesia was in the early morning and they needed to leave the hotel around 4 am. And also, it was our last stay after all the joy we had, the laughters we shared, the photos we took together and much more. So we wanted it to be meaningful for it could be our last chance to see one another before our academic year began in January and our paths started to diverge.
We discussed many things that early morning. All our personal experiences were talked about, whether good or bad. It was rather a warm and mature conversation for young adults like the four of us. I thought this was what supposed to be years ago when we first met them at their place. I realized that we had so much in common and we were so gelled up together. Never in my family's history that all of us could get along fine with all the family members of another family. The time we spent during this few weeks bonded us that our friendship bloomed. And that night was the night we realized that it would all soon end. We knew we were going to miss their their companion. The good things in life never last...
I thought that it was the appropiate time I should confess that I still recall the incident of the flat battery. And I did. Well, just as I thought, she still remembered that incident but she was alright about it. We have shared so much in these few weeks that the past incident no longer matter. And so, we started anew, we exchanged contacts which was long overdue, which we should have done a long time ago. This was something like deja vu. You were put back in a position where you once were in the past. This time, we made the correct decision. There was something more significant actually. They were the first Indonesians who I build special friendship with ever since I came to Singapore 9 years ago.
Some might find this post ridiculous because humans can make friends easily with strangers. But for me, to spend the holidays in Malaysia and the New Year together as completely 2 different family under the same hotel roof and have our meals together, was something I have never experienced before. That dawn, all of us hoped for one thing, for us to meet again in the future, sitting with each other and to continue building the friendship that we started. Truly, "Sorry, but my battery is flat" was the very beginning of all these good things in life that never last.
This post is dedicated to Steph & family.Thank you for your companion and friendship.
Sincerely, William.
