Orchids

Friday, January 1

It feels weird writing such an emotional post after giving up on that story below. But no one's doing it, so I think I have to.

So yeah. Everyone knows it. No one wants to say it. Mostly 'cause we don't have to I think. The year's ended. It's the new year.

We are no longer 2T

There. I've said it. It's really just as simple as that. But, since its only the first day of 2010 (or for me right now, the first 5 hours) let us all just take a moment to pretend we're still a class and reflect on 2009, maybe 2008. To back when we were still a class together.

Do you remember in 2008, when we had that big hooha about Joni? I wonder why that was now, because... What was the entire point of it? Joni got hurt, we probably felt guilty. I guess we were just, well, bored I guess. Isn't it nice that we're all nice to each other now?

Do you remember when Claire booked almost every single person in the class? I do. She felt really sorry about it. But really. Right now, I think its quite funny. It should be put into the book of MGS records or something haha.

Or how about the poems we did for LA oral. Or LA altogether? Algernon, Napoleon...The plays we did. I remember. (well, mostly 'cause I did quite well in them. Agree?) And, haha, we never did find out who was Napoleon. Who do you think it was?

How about that monkey story? It was a big thing...wasn't it? I can't remember haha. But I think people liked it. Guess I forgot to thank my loving fans.

THANKIES.

And maybe you don't know about it. Well, I think everyone did. Do you remember about how there was this HUGE situation where LKY really tried her best to persuade Christine to let her bunk with someone else during the China trip? I think it was Maria or Saumya or someone. And the strangest thing was, in the end, during the China trip, they didn't really get on each other's nerves that much! Well that's what it seemed like to me.

Speaking of the China trip. Do you still remember it? The website guy, the industrial park. Having an ALL OUT party on the last day (well my group did. Did yours?) Oh!!! And flying kites! That was reeallyyy fun :D Do you remember?

Then in 2009, we discovered that our form teacher was Ms Tan. That crazy short LA teacher. I remember thinking that school was going to be really fun. So different from Pandan (Unity girls! Unity!) Drawing on the chalk boards. My 2T STONE AGE. Haha. Forgive me for being bias. I AM me, after all.

Swimming! Swimmingswimmingswimming. Doing somersaults, me hitting Sauma on the head with that float thing. Yellow caps complaining that they look like bananas. COLD SHOWERS. COMPLAINING in showers. Do you remember? 'Mensies' Haha.

Then there was Love with a Cause. All of I remember of it was that Dr William Tan came, went around the track. Left. Oh. And we made the newspapers. Really, thats all I remember. I think I ran without paying for it. :P

Do you remember crosscountry? Chip got 6th, Shree got 9th, and 6 of our class got into the top 50. HA. Seems like we're not as bad in sports as we think haha. Do you remember sweating through the whole 2.8km? Do you remember the awful feeling you got when you were told you had to run 2.8km? Do you remember your euphoria when you ACTUALLY RAN 2.8KM?

Do you remember my Tuti story?(which I deleted 'cause it got boring)

Do you remember the class party when after all the celebrations were over, Ms Tan announced that she'd be transfering? That sucked huh. And then we got HER. Sigh. But I suppose she's not bad after all. (I'm only saying that cuz I'm sec 3 now so I have to be mature) Do you even remember the class parties? Running around... Dancing around newspapers. Stuffing your tummy with AWESOME food. Do you remember?

Do you remember the fun-er LA lessons? Where we acted out scenes from R&J? Do you remember the REALLY GOOD Romeo and Juliet, Maria and Christine made? Do you think they should do it again? Haha. I think so. Mun and Hini too (: How about that game where the matriachs basically sold the girls in their group to the boys in the other group. Me and Kara got hooked up together. I think someone had a gay pair.

Oh yeah. And WML was the dead village boy.

Do you remember the sports day not so long ago where we Actually WON against the sports class? I remember I was counting the goals, telling myself we were definitely going to lose, even though I was sure we had more goals than the other team? (I was the goal keeper. So I was really quite certain. Goal keepers have nothing to do) Do you remember that feeling when the whistle blew and 2T was declared the winner? I do. And it is AWESOME.

And finally. My biggest. BIGGEST. 'Do you remember'. DO. YOU. REMEMBER. CATS?

Well. Of course you did. And I bet you will never forget it. It'll always stay in the back of your mind, reminding you of the time when you were part of a 'musical'. Well kinda I guess. Do you remember the splits? Ugh. The FANKICKS. Double-Ugh. Do you remember the feeling you had when Family Night was canceled? Do you remember the feeling when we finished the entire thing? Now compare and contrast them. Just kidding. But do you remember? Do you remember Christine's amazing sexual-tension-ooze. Haha. Do you remember the hard work you put in? Do you remember you doing the sequences again and again and again till they were ingrained into your body? Do you remember 'JelliCLE songs for Jellicle CATS, JelliCLE songs for Jellicle CATS'? Do you remember that awful awful aaaaaawful makeup we had to put on? Do you remember our worry when WML and LKY Just Didn't Showup till it was sooo late?

Do you remember? Because I must, you must, WE must, never ever EVER forget.
Our days as 2T.
Yeah.

one-tee landers at 1/01/2010 05:17:00 AM

Okay. Sincerely, I meant to write and finish a story by 1AM 1/1/2010. However I got distracted, and then the story grew longer and longer and longer with the end nowhere in sight. So. I'll just post what I've written now and finish it next time. OKAY? XD
Evil Queen – Bella
Huntsman – Kara

7 Dwarfs
Sleepy - Shree
Grumpy- Mun
Doc – Maria
The-One-Who-Has-A-Long-Fringe-And-Who-Plays-The-Guitar-And-Is-Generally-Quite-Awesome (Abby)
Sneezy - Seet
Tiny - Chip
Skinny - Gladys

In the land of Tuti, long before Saumya or Hini, was Don. And before Don, of course, was her mother the Queen. The Queen (who shall remain nameless because she’s going to die any minute now) had long been barren. Many years she had waited for a child, to the point that she was almost mad with despair. She had tried everything. From old wives tales of children jumping on her bed, to the modern magics of genetic engineering and test-tube babies. Nothing worked.

She remained childless and age was slowly catching up to her.

Just as she was about to give up completely and leave the kingdom heirless, along came a crone who was ugly and warty, with a large hooked nose and a black cat which glared menacingly from the shadows.

“I can help you, Queen. It would be simple for me to make you fertile with my magics, learnt from the four ends of Tuti. It would very very easy, Queen” She croaked, then she grinned and there was nothing nice in the open mouth which stretched from ear to ear and the yellow eyes that stared greedily and reflected nothing.

The Queen swallowed. It seemed like a good idea, but also a bad one. Like a man offering expensive chocolates from inside an open van. They were beautiful, wonderful-smelling chocolates, yes. But then again...What had mother said?

The old lady’s eyes flickered. She licked her lips.

“The child will so beautiful, you know? Just like her mother. The finest of legacies you could leave behind. What do you say...Queen?”

Her thin lips curled around the word, drawing it out, changing it into something quite unrecognisable. Quiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

The Queen shuddered with unrestrained disgust. She desperately did not want the help of such a creature but how could she leave the kingdom heirless? It was her duty as a Queen. Perhaps her most important duty, now that she was old and tired, and Death lurked behind every door.

The line had to continue.

“I accept”

*****
The death of the Queen at childbirth came as no surprise to the citizens of Tuti (although its real circumstances were known only to a crone with a warty nose and who owned a cat), they mourned for her as was customary but the mourning was held alongside much celebration for a princess had been born.

That was Don.

She had eyelashes long as it was possible, pale skin and hair as black as a raven’s feather (although it wasn’t as dirty). By all normal and abnormal standards, she was as beautiful as the crone had said. And so, the citizens celebrated.

But of course she was too young to of yet ascend the throne, so there were a few days of confusion before it was filled by a long distant relative of the dead Queen. She was of medium height, medium weight and was strangely….. strange. Her name was Bella.

Cue ominous music.

Bella took to the task of Don’s upbringing with unusual enthusiasm. And slowly (well not exactly, just the appropriate amount of time) Don grew up.

Now as the plot is finally going to begin, I should bring to light a certain fact. Bella had a magic 8-ball which she kept in her labtop and talked to everyday. It was magic due to an enchantment placed on it a long time ago *ahem coding coughcough html sniff* which allowed it to speak truthfully and not just offer phrases such as “Yes, but only every seven months” or “Perhaps.

What does your mother think?”

Now most of you would ask, What would Bella do with such a dangerous artefact? What would she ask it?

The answer is quite simple. Every day, Bella would start up her laptop and ask it one simple question.

“Who is the most awesome person in the land?”

And even though it was certainly capable of answering Bella’s question *ahem Don ahem* due to its instincts of self-preservation, it always answered:

“It is you, Queen Bella. You are the most awesome person in the land.”

And Bella would close the application with a curiously calm expression and leave the room to perform her normal Queenly things. Only one day, it all changed. The 8-ball, unable to stand the burdens of lying finally burst out,

“FINE! FINEFINEFINEFInefinefinefineeeeeeee! Its Don, okay! Don is the most awesome person in the land! I can’t STAND IT! Be angry at me but I CAN’T LIE ANYMORE. “

And it closed itself and the quiet it left behind was…sulky, in a matter of speaking.

There was a pause.

It was an ominous pause.

Bella smiled, but it wasn’t a good smile. One end of her mouth twitched and drew itself up. Then the other yaaaawned and stretched and then drew itself up.

And by up, I meant from one ear, to another.

It wasn’t a good smile, the ears agreed.

“Servants!” She called

The servants appeared behind her in the way that only servants can.

“Bring me the huntsman.” She ordered.

The huntsman was duly produced. Her mouth twitched again.

“Kara!” The exclamation was more of a bark.

She turned around swiftly and the full force of the Smile was directed at said Kara. She shuddered. But her eyes were drawn to it in the way eyes are drawn to a trainwreck.

Horrified, but unable to look away.

“Bring me Don,” She whispered, “I wish to give her a –“ Her mouth twitched again. Kara drew one hesitant breath. “Hug.”

Kara gave an ENORMOUS twitch and saluted, almost tripping over her feet to get away from the Smile.
******
At that present moment, Don was in the forest as there was a problem with the internet connection in the castle and there was nothing to do.

“Fshhhh”

She exhaled strongly. “I’m bored.”

She looked about. The sun was shining, there were birds hopping to and fro on the ground. The world was a JOLLY AND HAPPY PLACE.

“Huh.”

And then she was back to being bored. Just then, Kara arrived. She had regained her composure but was panting slightly from the long distance between the castle and the forest. She bent over, hands on her knees to regain her breath.

When she recovered, she looked back up at Don and grinned weakly at her.

“Hey Don.”

Don nodded back at her.

“Hey.”

She was familiar with Kara, and most of the castle population. It was no fault of hers. She didn’t purposefully go out to meet people. People were just…drawn to her.

“So?”

Straight to the point. Just like Don. Kara smiled.

“The Queen wants to give you a…Hug, Don. I’m supposed to bring you to her. Officially, I am highly supportive of this. Unofficially,” She looked faintly uneasy. “I think you should escape. Something’s going to happen and…It’s not pretty, Don.”

Don thought for a moment then stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans.

“Thanks for telling me, Kara but I think I’ll go to see her. She’s Bella after all. I don’t think she’d do anything too drastic.”

And with that, she started moving towards the castle. Kara grabbed her arm.

“Don’t! I don’t think she’s herself. She doesn’t LOOK like herself. Don, please. I don’t want you to get hurt. You could DIE, Don. Please, PLEASE escape into the forest.”

Don looked at the desperation on Kara’s face and reassessed the situation.

“I could get killed in the forest, you know. It’s not safe. There are wolves in it-“

“Don!” Kara was near tears.

“Fine. Hmph.”
She headed towards the forest.
Now what am I supposed to do? Thought Kara.

*****
Bella looked at the lifesized doll Kara had covered with a blanket and was supporting secretly with her arm.

“Why is she covered with a blanket?”

Kara coughed.

“Um. In the afternoon, she joined a nunnery which um, takes a vow of um, not showing their face to the world um yeah.”

Bella’s eyes narrowed but she nodded anyway. Then…

Oh Go*, Kara nearly swooned. The Smile was back. There was a tickling in her plastic-clad stomach that hinted heavily that she was going to die soon.

Bella stretched her arms, one after the other. She reached out.

There was an explosion of HUGINESS, destroying half the room, killing most of the inhabitants except Kara and the Queen. The remains of the doll were scattered among the ruins of the room, mostly dust although an odd body part poked out here and there.

There was a vague smile on the Bella’s face. It was odd, but it wasn’t the Smile. She giggled.
“Oops.”
Kara fainted.

******
Meanwhile, Don was wandering around in the forest, bored. She thought about going back to the castle where she was SURE the internet connection had been fixed but then she remembered Kara’s face and decided against it. She really was bored though.

Then she heard a sound!

It came from far away but the tune was easily recognisable. And as the noise became louder and louder, Don made out the words they were singing: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry nake nake nake nake nake nake bajoh bajoh bajoh bajoh etc etc…

Recognising the people as possible KPop fans, Don almost decided not to approach them. Bu-ut…
She really was bored.

So she set out in search of the anonymous KPop fans.

After a gruelling long time, she arrived at a house. It was an ordinary house, absolutely nothing abnormal about it. Well, except that it was in the middle of a forest with no other houses within a 700m radius. But…that’s no big deal huh.

It was also booming out KPop music at the highest volume it could possibly go.

Don looked at the house. It looked back at her. Neither one wanted to approach the other.

Finally, Don mustered up the courage to ring the doorbell.

Ding-dong.

She waited. There were loud crashes coming from the vicinity of the house. Something went ping. The music stopped. She waited.

Finally, the door opened. A grumpy looking face stared out. It had a mass of curly hair with a hat on top. It was green (hat, not hair).

“What do you want? Whatever you’re selling, we’re not interested.”

The grumpy face was pushed out of the house by two other people. Both were petite although one was predominantly small while the other was predominantly skinny. They looked up curiously at Don.

“Who are you? Are you a salesperson?”

“We’re not very interested, sorry.”

There was a clatter from inside the house and Don could hear people shouting.

“I want to see the person too! Let me seeee! Don’t crowd the doorway”

“Let’s ALL go out! Come on Doc. Stop reading! Let’s go see the stranger!”

“I don’t see what the fuss is. I don’t want to.”

And above all the pandemonium, a small ‘zzz’ could be heard.

Suddenly, a whole pile of people piled out of the house. Don waited as they sorted themselves out. She was curious, but mostly indifferent.

They were strange people, all dressed in loose clothing and hats (although some hats had fallen off and were being retrieved by their owners). They all looked different, some with curly hair, some with short hair, others with long hair. Some had a tan, others did not. None of them looked related to any of the other people.

They looked at Don. Don looked back. The grumpy one broke the silence.

“So? Are you a salesperson? If you are, I’m going back in.”

Don blinked and there was a pause before she replied.

“I’m running away from someone and I need a place to stay. Could you lend me a room to stay in for a few days?”

There was a silence.

“Sure.” Said the short one.

“I’m fine with it.” Said the skinny one.

“I think we have room.” Said one of the people, this one with bangs.

“Okay!” Agreed another person enthusiastically. She had a reddish nose and she held a tissue box.

“Okay!” Agreed another one. She grinned and there was a glint of metal.

“Hmph. Fine, come in.” Said the grumpy one, and then went back into the house with an air of someone who had completed a needed but troublesome task. With a lot of noise and exclamations, the rest of the group followed suit.

Don followed the last of the strange people and went into the house.

It looked ordinary but cozy. There were framed photos placed haphazardly on tables and hung on the wall. A few chairs were placed here and there, coupled with two sofas. The rug on the floor had clearly seen better days.

The short one collapsed into a chair. Some sat on the floor, some sat on the sofa.

“I suppose we shall have to introduce ourselves. I’m Tiny,” she said. And scowled. Don got the idea that she greatly disliked her name. She wore glasses and had a yellow hat, her short hair was pulled back into a small ponytail and her legs barely reached the floor.

The skinny one, who sat on a chair beside her kicked her legs and relaxed. There was a friendly air about her and her actions were graceful, but completely natural. “I’m Skinny.” She said, and smiled.

The one with bangs nodded. She had bangs that nearly covered her eyebrows (but didn’t). She was attractive in a sophisticated, poised but exotic way (A.N. Contributed by Christine!)and she held herself with great pride. A pair of perfectly rounded glasses rested on her nose. “I’m Doc.”

The one with the reddish nose grinned. She put her tissue box on the table beside her and waved a sleeved arm. “I’m Sneezy!” And as if calculated…She sneezed.

The grumpy one sniffed. She had, as I have said before, a mass of curly hair which was barely controlled under her hat. She was what people would call pleasantly plump (although in her case, more grumpily plump?) and she pulled it off with aplomb. Instead of being a detriment as it would on others, it instead only increased her natural authority. “…Grumpy.” She announced.

The last one in the room grinned lazily, as if having not only an ace up her sleeve, but a King, a wildcard and a 2 of spades. “I am-“ Pause. She stared at Don and her grin widened. “The-One-Who-Has-A-Long-Fringe-And-Who-Plays-The-Guitar-And-Is-Generally-Quite-Awesome”

Don projected a silence which showed an utter disapproval of that name. It also insinuated ‘You are forever going to be called Oi’.

The-One-Who-Has-A-Long-Fringe-And-Who-Plays-The-Guitar-And-Is-Generally-Quite-Awesome slumped back into her seat and mumbled. “But you can also call me Abby.”

Don nodded. “So there are six of you?”

Tiny shook her head vigorously. “No! There’s one more!” She held a finger to her lips, grinning. And then she slowly pointed to an arm chair in a dark corner which contained a previously unseen occupant. A soft snore rose from the figure and subsided.

“That’s Sleepy.” Tiny whispered. “She sleeps a lot.”

Don nodded again. Then a thought struck her. She forgot to ask something vitally important!
“Do you have internet?”

******
There was a funeral as was customary for the poor princess who ‘died so young’. People from all over Tuti gathered to mourn for the poor deceased Don. And among them all, Bella was the loudest mourner. People within a 500 mile radius could hear her sobbing.

“Oh Donnnn…DONNNN!!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIEEEEEE???!!!”

Kara merely covered her ears in her bed and quivered.

The funeral lasted for 2 weeks, in which Bella spent the entire duration beside ‘Don’s coffin and refused to leave. As a result, she didn’t touch her 8-ball for the entire 2 weeks. But when those 2 weeks were over, she opened the application and carefully asked:

“8-ball, who is the most awesome person in Tuti?”

The 8-ball replied sulkily.

“I told you didn’t I? It’s Don. Don I tell you! Don!”

Bella’s face went stiff.

“Don..?”

“Yup.”

“8-ball, where is Don right now?”

“In a house in the forest. Probably a sleepover or something. I don’t care anymore.”

Bella slowly closed her labtop. She closed her eyes. An observant watcher would have noticed a vein throbbing in her forehead. A very observant watcher would have noticed the ends of her mouth…twitch. Those two observers would also be dead, due to the immense fury radiating from her.

She opened her mouth.

And.

Screamed.

“KAAAAAAAARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Kara jumped out of bed and ran for her life towards Bella’s bedroom. Every cell in her body, every tissue, every organ was screaming for her to run in the opposite direction and that if she reached Bella’s bedroom, she would definitely ****ing die.

She reached the bedroom.

Bella sat on her chair facing the door. And oh go*s, she had the Smile.

“Kara?” Asked Bella sweetly.

“Y-yes Queen?”

“Why is Don alive?”

Oh sh*t, thought Kara. I’mdeadI’mdeadI’mdead.

“I’m not sure Queen, I thought she was dead?”

“No. She isn’t. Bring her to me. Or you WILL die.”

When Kara left the room, she immediately went to her room, packed her bags and left. Presumably to Timbaktu, or more likely, another planet.

****
After waiting a day for Kara to bring Don, she finally found out that Kara had left for another planet. Sick of all her useless servants, Bella decided to take matters into her own hands.

She would go to that house in the forest, and then she would hug Don! Brilliant! She was such a genius. Bella patted herself on the back.

But…How would she make Don open the door? Don probably knew she wanted to hug her by now and she would NEVER open the door. So how would she trick Don?

Cats! Of course. Everyone loves cats, she reasoned. So if she dressed up as a cat, Don would DEFINITELY let her in.

Humming to herself, she began her preparations.
*****

Meanwhile, Don was playing cards with Tiny, Skinny and Doc. She had been playing cards for 3 straight hours and she was quickly getting bored of it. But what could she do? There was no internet, no gameboy, no PSP, no Xbox, not even a TV! Only a radio where Skinny, Tiny, Abby and Sneezy could play their KPop. She didn’t even have to think about listening She yawned.

Just then, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.” She volunteered. She thought everyone would rush to get the door just like when she first came. But no one did. That day was probably a really boring day, she thought to herself.

Before opening the door, Don checked the window to see who it was. She blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked again.

There was no mistaking it. Bella was outside her door, dressed as a cat! Don thought slowly. She wanted Bella to leave. But how?

Maybe…. It couldn’t possibly work.
******

Bella stood outside the door of the house in the forest. She was dressed as a black and white cat, complete with tail and makeup. She miaowed to herself absent-mindedly.

Just then, she noticed a piece of paper being shoved outside through the underside of the door from inside the house.

She picked it up, read it aloud.

“Hmm…House..empty. Gone…to…Timbaktu….Leave…Milk….Outside…Door.” She blinked.

“Oh. They’ve gone on a holiday. I shall just go home then.”

Don sighed as she watched Bella turn back. She couldn’t believe it worked.

Bella only realised it the next day and a wave of fury swept over the castle.
*********

The next day, Bella went to the house dressed as a sheep. Because sheep are harmless, she reasoned. Don would surely open the door for her. But then she got distracted by a butterfly and ran off.
********

The day after, Bella tried to land on the roof in a parachute and go down the chimney of the house but she was blown into a river and had to spend the rest of the day at the spa fixing her hair.
******
After 3 days of trying method after method, Bella was about to give up. But then she realized… There was still one more method. One more method that would definitely get Don to open the door.

WHAT COULD IT BE????????? Tag if you know. Tag if you have something you want me to put in. Tag if you're bored. Tag if you want to tag.

Just Tag.

one-tee landers at 1/01/2010 05:00:00 AM