Friday the 13th

Today, Friday the 13^th, was a surreal day.

Part One

It started in my sleep. Still in a state of confused bio-rhythms, my afternoon dream saw me at a new job with Clara, a colleague from my old ad agency. Since she works for Integricity now, I guess I was working for Integricity too. The building we were in was like an apartment block, located on a hill. We occupied a few rooms on several consecutive floors. I was having conversations with a few people, getting to know the business and all; nothing terribly important. But then, out of the fogginess of my head, I heard my phone ring. Grrrrrr.

"Hellooo…" I groaned.

"Hey Lennie, I need you to edit an article." It was Rachel. "It’s going up today. Can ah?"

"Urrrggrrrrhhh…"

"Oh my God, are you still sleeping?" (It was 4.30pm.)

"Arrrrrrrrhh. Yessssss."

"I sent you a message earlier."

"You know, sleeping people don’t read messages," I mumbled.

"Oh. Nevermind la. So can? Edit ah? Faster! Okay, bye!"

Click. Toot. Toot. Toot. Toot.

In a minute, my dream went poof! But it left an impression. I realised that for today at least, I actually missed working with Clara. She’s super efficient, mind you.

So after dragging my feet out of bed, I went online. In a few minutes, an MSN window popped up.

Clara says:

hey

By golly, it was… Clara! The last time I spoke to her was like ten thousand years ago. So I told her my dream. She was pretty amused. And half an hour later…

Clara says:

clairvoyant siew lian

Clara says:

my colleague just messaged me

Clara says:

he said he got your resume through a friend

Clara says:

for the times when we need a copywriter

Clara says:

so maybe

Clara says:

one day we'll move to a place on a hill

Clara says:

and you'll be with us then

Muahaha. How utterly fascinating!

Part Two

I have been wanting to busk in KLCC’s LRT station for some time now. These past few nights, while my parents are in bed, I’ve been trying to memorise and practise Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’. I don’t particularly like it, but it seems to be quite a popular cover song.

I have also been meaning to ask my CG member, Syn Yan, about the buskers at KLCC. She takes the LRT there every working day. Today, since I was fetching her to CG, I finally remembered to ask her about it.

And that’s how I learnt that on this very day, Friday the 13^th, Star Metro featured a story on the buskers. (Which I should go read.) Apparently they earn RM40 to RM50 on average daily. With a little luck, perhaps I can earn more.

But Syn Yan wanted to point out something else.

"I don’t usually read The Star Metro. But for some reason, I read it today. And you asked about the buskers today. What a coincidence!"

This has got to be a sign. Of what, I’m not sure. Maybe that I should go busking soon.

Part Three

We had just finished mamak after CG. The naan and creamy mint sauce had been great. There was a soft, cool breeze blowing, against a purple sky that bore a sore reminder of the haze. Syn Yan and I were nearing the car, when suddenly, something didn’t sound quite right.

That’s when my primordial senses kicked in.

"Shit!!!" I panicked, immediately fleeing the paved walkway.

And indeed, looking up, then down, I saw that dozens of birds in the trees above were dropping runny poo en masse. I don’t know if they were doing it unconsciously while sleeping. But some were squawking and moving about, as the gentle ploop, ploop, ploop, ploop, ploop continued.

It was surreal. To put it bluntly, I’ve never seen so many birds shit at the same time, from so near a distance. The soft, constant sound of bird droppings became hypnotising; possibly comforting even. In a state of semi-consciousness, I could have perched myself somewhere nearby to listen to the rhythm of the falling poo. But no. Thank God, no. Instead, a dilemma quickly popped up. How was I going to get into the car? The ground right in front of it was flushed with bird droppings. I’ve played enough MineSweeper to know that even if you’re careful, you can be bombed at any time.

And that’s when I realised that I was looking at the wrong car. My car, a few steps back, was safely away from the scene of destruction. I heaved a sigh of relief and fascination. This was such a weirdly cool day.