A GIFT I GIVE MYSELF

Books and more books 📚!

All I talk about are books and Babylou. And for good reason. One is my creative board and the piece of my heart is a wise Sounding Board. When I interact with either of them I get great eye openers and enlightenment. There's of course a story behind this with these two main star casts and in no way are disconnected at all with random mentions.

Yeah, so with all my Ring Binder Journals and the various diaries having been filled to the brim with my daily writing plus visual embellishments, they now look no less than chunky blocks--overfed and hard to shut close. Having almost run their course, it was time to get new ones to document the rest of the year.

Amazon showed me the Paperideas A5 Journals with a shipping price to Singapore that would buy me month's worth of groceries for the household! Heck, ah ?! What the...! Is it trimmed with gold and encrusted with precious gems ! Plus the aesthetic pastel colours were all SOLD OUT with only some gaudy, cringe colours available! What a wave upon wave of disappointment! Why so pricey didn't get me any answers.

But I got the books! And how…is the real story.

I don't know how, but maybe, over time my manifestation works by default without my pouring every ounce of my energy into the outcome....

Came across them at a hardware store (of all the places) called The Grey Shop while mindlessly scrolling for itinerary on another item and what do I see?! The leather bound 180 pages flat lay A5 Journals !

Only 7 books were listed of different colours at only a nominal $7 each compared to the exorbitant, almost close to a three-figure pricing I saw earlier. (Must have been a one-time sale wandered into this shop for clearance I guess because Grey Shop deals in a totally different arena of occupation)

Well, without losing a moment I chose the Berry Blush and Icy Blue which are in mint condition. No defects, no flaws and not currently on the market either!

The seller asked me for a meet up at the next station from where I am...but after 8 pm ! *Sharp exhale on encountering another disappointment! So near yet so far. Why was I doing this to myself 🙄*

Just as I was about to go no deal, I took a chance with a request to meet at an earlier time slot. What did I have to lose? At the most they would refuse, which in any case I had come to accept that these books wouldn't be mine anyway. To my surprise he offered for a meet up with an evening slot the very next day!

Even as I was dancing for joy, there comes another message. To give them my postal code. When I obliged, he instantly replied that one of his drivers stayed in my area and he would drop by the books on his way home this very day at 9 Pm at no extra delivery charges !

I went downstairs to the lobby at the scheduled time and this gentleman had arrived punctually even before I did and was waiting with the package in hand.

Babylou (like my warrior bodyguard had accompanied me 😆😅🤣) "Amma! I don't like this! You going down alone at this time. I'M.. COMING.. ALONG WITH YOU! Don't argue with me."

😄 Well, well, well...I have an athletic looking personal security now...at this point I let the role reversals take place organically and amused myself.

She didn't leave my side even for second. He handed me the package, walked away without a backward glance, neither daring to breathe nor saying a word... So much for her overprotectiveness but that's my admirable Babylou wise beyond her years.

The 188 pages of A5 dot grid journals from Paperideas in Turquoise and Avocado Green were also garnered at $5 each! Not in the mind-blowing BS quoted prices in 80s 🙄

Holy Smokes, is that what you call my luck turning in my favour or what?! Handed down on a silver platter...🙏🏻

Food for thought ---Amazon prices... ! I'll leave the sentence unfinished 😅.

For now, my books await in their fresh, papery fragrance. In the 'Instagrammy' colours I preferred.

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ANAM CARA

The waves are soft and frothy. Laced with gossamer frills tenderly kissing the tips of my toes covered with the grainy sand of the rugged seashore where I'm sitting, wistful. A gust of briny breeze tousles my hair as I gaze as far as my eyes can see. A flock of terns wheel overhead, their sharp, shrill cries punctuating the air as they dive and swoop over the surfs. A lone frigate bird , its crimson belly dazzling like a jewel skims majestically above, its long, slender wings outstretched as it rides the thermals high above the ocean. I absorb the sights and sounds of the late afternoon while absentmindedly scooping seashells beside me. As the afternoon phases, the furthest rim of the ocean is fringed in a gilded hem and the sleepy sun yawns, its dipping glow streaking the sky in a mellow tangerine and warm cherry. As I continue sitting there, the ships and yachts appear --specks of light from the portholes glimmering in the distance, reminding me of the phrase “That ship has sai...

ARIEL AND BLUE-BLOOD SHOES

The waves crashed violently against the craggy mountainside and the moonlight shone on the lacy froths. As I waded through the water and stepped on the wet sand, I remembered another night which was many moons ago. The same glinting lights through the palace doorways and windows, the fireworks adorning the night sky like shooting stars and meteors. A royal celebration with all the works and the guests dressed up in their best finery and aristocratic jewelry. Of noble births they all were. Blue blooded as the matriarch had pointedly told me once. That unholy night! That night of icy hearts and howling laughter, the echoes of cackling that followed me till I ran on wobbly legs to find my place of comfort where the land met water… Hot tears streaming down, I regretted those days when I lost my heart to a man so spineless. Had I not dragged him to the shore, he would have been a mangled mass after being torn apart by the piranhas and other monstrous maws. How I regret…Oh!...

HILANG

Chapter 2 Muay, the Maddening Scamp Seasons had gone by with vibrant autumns and chilling winters. Muay Thai had now become very outgoing and social. On a full moon night, this newly transformed scamp had bounded away on some nocturnal adventure. I waited for her return for almost a week. As I searched high and low for Muay Thai, my heart raced with panic with every passing moment. On one of my search treks, I spotted something that made my blood run cold. Lying on the ground, partially hidden by the underbrush on the curbside, was Muay Thai's collar. The vibrant fuchsia leather was faded and dirty, but the delicate zircon pendant still sparkled in the sunlight and that had caught my attention. Holding it gently in my hands, I examined it for any sign of what might have happened to Muay Thai. But there was nothing - no blood, dried or otherwise. Maybe, just maybe, Muay Thai was still out there, wait...

GATOS MEUS QUERIDOS

Chapter 1 Muay The Warrior Cat Muay Thai came to be called so for the feisty and spirited little thing she was, reminiscent of the intense and energetic martial art of Muay Thai . Her bold personality inspired me to give her a name that reflected her sass and vigor. Muay Thai's antics were the stuff of legends. She was a buzz of energy, always getting into mischief and mayhem. Whether she was chasing invisible bugs, leaping over furniture like an acrobat or wrestling with toys, Muay Thai was a force to be reckoned with. Her favorite pastime was "attacking" my hands and feet, using her lightning-fast reflexes and razor-sharp teeth. It was a game she loved, and one that always left me in stitches. Despite her tough-as-nails persona, Muay Thai was also a total softie at heart. She loved nothing more than curling up in my lap and purring contentedly, her eyes gleaming with adoration before snoozing into the deepest of sl...

EILÍFUR GJÖF (ETERNAL GIFT)

It was pre-dawn and still dark. The shrill alarm jolted me from the depths of a death-like sleep even as I tried to cling on to the fading vestiges of a sweet dream. I was just within reach of seeing its mysterious ending but it was gone. Like a wisp of smoke! I tried to slowly blink away the remnants of sleep from my eyes---heavily lidded and which just refused to open even a crack at a grim time like this. The alarm was ringing incessantly. Could it be a mistake that I set it to go off so early? At this bleak hour?! Uh! Hold on, it wasn’t the alarm but a phone call for crying out loud!” At this unearthly time, when most of this side of the world was asleep, I dearly hoped that it would be from one of the two sources--Either from ** Piny Woods Primary School or ** Woody Pines Primary School . Yes, Thank God! I was right! I recognised ** Carrie’s number of **Piny Woods Primary School. Phone calls during pitch-black hours did tend to give me the chills, driving me to think ...

Sangeetha Kamath

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