I met my childhood sweetheart today

I met my childhood sweetheart today
And she looked as pretty as I remember her to be
When we played hide and seek twenty odd years back
When I was so sure we were going to be together forever

But no too long after, she did go away
And my heart was cruelly taken away from me
So I started to search for her everywhere
And I would never stop until the day I find her

I didn’t care what other people say
I wasn’t wasting my life but they just couldn’t understand
That I had to search every road, every aisle, every row
And I bound to meet her sooner or later

I thought about her every night, every day
And I was sure at the very moment, she was also searching for me
And one day we would find each other again
And then we would just fall into each others’ arms, into each other’s lives

I always knew I would find her someday
But I wasn’t prepared that I would run into her today
Twenty odd years have come and go
And she still held my heart tightly in her hands

For a moment or two I couldn’t find anything to say or do
I stared at her, not believing what I saw
And I reached out my hand to see if she was real
She took a step back, out of my reach

Then she hesitantly reached out her hand towards me
And I was overjoyed or thinking what would come next
We would surely fall into each others’ arms
And my lifelong search would finally be over

But instead, she was just handing me back my heart
“sorry I’ve kept it for so long,” she said
“but I really didn’t know where I could find you”
Then she turned her back on me and walked away

I was left with my heart on my hand
And I saw that it was already broken

1 Jan 2007 19:27

At Bras Basah

It was a Sunday afternoon down at Bras Basah
I was sitting by the escalator with a stack of secondhand books
The rain started to fall, wetting the floor of the semi outdoor complex
It was actually a perfect day for book shopping,
But there was not that many people at Bras Basah that day
A few walked pass me, with Popular plasticbag in their hands
I know where the thers were! They were down at Orchard to look at the Christmas lights
I sure haven’t been here for the past many Christmasses
But still I prefer to be here at Bras Basah than there at Orchard
Walking through aisles of books whose smell I know so well
Bringing back old memories and I suddenly thought of you
We used to come together to Bras Basah
Where a mere 10 dollar can get us quite many good reads
And the aisles at the philosophy section can hide a kiss or two
But those belong to another decade which seems like another life
And that was not the reason why I came back today
I gathered my books and got ready to leave
Then I saw a man in a white shirt typing sms into his cellphone
And a moment after, our glances met and locked
And for a time that seemed like eternity, we just looked at each other in disbelief
I trully didn’t come for him but he was there at Bras Basah
And when he offered his hand, I gladly accepted
No words was said as we entered a secondhand bookstore hand in hand
But we both knew we were heading right to the Philosophy section

Bras Basah Complex, Singapore
Sunday 24 Dec 2006, 15:44