Okay, I’ve got a cold. Nasty cold. Woke up in the middle of the night (midnight, to be exact, or at least a quarter to it) to find that Nemesis had arrived. It was the biggest storm ever. Father came to wake me up to unplug the computer because there was frequent lightning outside. And were they loud! I unplugged the computer, and father went downstairs. Then I found him calling from inside my tummy, as he always does, quiet but persisting — not my father, but the child in me. So instead of going back to sleep I went to the roof and watched the storm for a few moments. The rain poured in sheets of white, blinding out everything beyond the surrounding houses. Every few seconds a peal of lightning lit up everything like a momentary huge electric white flashlight, and in that infinitesimal moment you could see every single drop of rain hanging in mid-air, sharp and bright, frozen in time. Then everything would go dark again and the drops would get lost in the crowd and turn into just a huge sound and their individuality would melt into oblivion in the dark.

That’s when I think I got the cold.

When I returned to my room, there was water on the floor. It had climbed down the stairs from the roof and wanted to check out my room. I didn’t mind. But I already had a cold. Small price to pay for being able to watch such a huge flash camera go click click in the heavens and light up the raindrops before they went touchdown.

Growing up is like the evening sky changing colour. You keep staring at it and you notice nothing. Then all at once, you turn and you see it has changed colour when you weren’t looking (or is it actually something else that’s the matter?) and you can only stare more and wonder at the strangeness of it. And yeah, you also strangely forget what the colours before the current one were. It’s the same thing with growing up.

And hey, I just grew up in terms of some things. For one thing, in cardiac matters, I think I’ve grown up. I know the meaning of commitment and self-analysis and contentment and gratitude.

And yeah, the pillow I sleep on doesn’t shake when it laughs, unlike my other pillow…

Don’t ask questions. The answers belong to us. Us? Well… hey, I said no questions.

1Life.