Dreams

On one of the rare occasions when I was allowed to watch television, I came across a strange movie. It wasn’t as action-packed and exciting as what my friends had told me before; rather it had a ghoulish feel to it. It was already late at night and the appearance of the bloody words “Apart From Living” accompanied by the terrifying music made me edgy, but watching the television was too rare a chance to pass up. So I eagerly snuggled deeper into the hard, lumpy sofa and focused my vision intently on the tiny black box.

A handsomely dressed man armed with a pistol and a torch was going about in a dingy house that was of even worse state than the apartment I lived in, with doors that would not shut properly and battered windows inviting in the night chill. It seems as though that he is searching for something.

With the ray of light from the torchlight searching frantically on the ground, it manage to chance upon a pair of legs. Slowly, it went up, the higher it went, it brought suspense and tension. The light came to a haut and it revealed were a pair of eyes. They were a luminous dirty yellow, with tiny black dots as his pupils. I could tell that it was a man with his beard under his chin, like many vines hanging around in the forest. The sight made me tighten my grip on the sofa.

The man’s hand swung towards the detective’s face as though it was a bat hitting a ball. Immediately, the torch from the detective’s hand dropped onto the floor. After that, it was the bloodiest scene that I had ever seen, the man took out an axe and hacked the detective into pieces. He severed every part of his body from his neck downwards. This sight was too much for me to hold, and I could not hold back my scream.

Suddenly the door behind me slammed open and I found myself flung from the sofa and onto the stony floor. I tasted copper in my mouth and looked up at the man who was glaring at me. My heart sank. I could smell the stench of my father’s drunken stupor; it hung around him like a heavy curtain. I knew that I was done for.

“WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO WATCH THE TELEVISION?” He thundered.

He did, but I dared not argue, for I had seen the beast in him when I had the courage before. When he was drunk, it was no use talking back. Drinking always made my father energetic. With all that energy, he had to use it; me.

That night I crawled back to the kitchen, which was my ‘room’, the floor that was my bed and a ragged piece of cloth that was my blanket with a few more bruises. I tried to forget what had happened, but the image of the murderer hacking the body of the detective just would not go away. I had nightmares: of him swinging his hand into my face; of my father hacking me bit by bit.

The movie changed my life. When I was awake my life was a living nightmare, but when I slept, I entered hell. The detective would not leave me and my father would not leave me. I could even taste his pungent odour when asleep. I tried hurting myself just to keep awake, but I never succeeded. Because of this, whenever my father laid a hand on me, I would imagine him to be the murderer. After a long period of time, I could no longer differentiate between ‘Living Hell’ and ‘Dream Hell’.

One particular midnight, I heard the sound of the door outside banging open. I also heard barking and shouting. I thought I was still in ‘Dream Hell’ but something made me stand up and go outside the living room. It was a sight to behold.

Three burly men in the same attire were pinning my father on the ground. Suddenly I no longer saw my father as a monster, but as someone who could be conquered. Feeling a mere bit braver I stepped on his face, a right I think I should have for taking his beatings.

‘Who are you’ I questioned.

‘I am from the police.’

‘What are you doing here?’

He bent down and inspected my arms and my face, taking in the patches of red and blue-black.

‘Son,’ he said with eyes shinning bright, ‘I’m here to take you away from this nightmare.’

That night, I dreamt of snow-white doves bringing branches of light.

FAVOURITE FAIRY TALE STORY

1) Orientation:
The story is about a lady, named Cinderella, who is poor and has a father who had just remarried to her step-mother. Her stepmother had two daughters which eventually became her sisters. It also involves a prince who is handsome and all the ladies in the village had fallen for him.

The family received an invitation for all young ladies of the family to go to the palace ball. It was for the prince to choose his future wife. So, the girls in the family was very excited and anticipating for the day to come.

2) Development
The family took out all their most valuable and most attractive jewelleries to match up with the gowns they were wearing. Cinderella was also going for the ball, but she did not have any good-looking dresses to wear so she had to borrow one from her sisters. Both of her sisters agreed to lend it to her but on the condition that Cinderella had to dress both of them up as pretty as possible.

3) Complication
The day came, the sisters realised how beautiful Cinderella looked even with the plain gown that they had lent her to wear. And because of jealousy and advice from their mother, they forbid Cinderella to go to the ball and even locked her up in the storage room.

But fortunately, she got help from her fairy god mother and she made it to the ball and left an impact on the prince. The prince fell in love with her at first sight and went searching for her with the glass slipper that she had left that day.

4) Resolution
The prince went to all the households in the village to find the woman that suits perfectly in the glass slipper that he was holding onto. But of course, he could not find any because it was Cinderella's. When he did reached Cinderella's house, her sisters tried to force their leg into the glass slipper. It did not fit. But Cinderella was warned by her sisters not to try to slipper no matter what. In the end, it was the prince personal request to ask her to try it on and she did. Cinderella admitted to going to the ball and then they were married to each other and lived happily ever after.

5) Coda
I learnt that even though there might be obstacles that obstruct your way to your happiness, there will still be a way to being happy, or maybe even happier than what you were supposed to be.