commonwealth

Slow Down, We're Going Too Fast

The Girl

She was awoken by her alarm clock at six in the morning. She brushed her teeth, took her shower, had her breakfast, packed her bag, and was out of the house by six-thirty. She got into her daddy's car, and was off.

The sun was rising, rays of light poured onto her little part of the world. Birds chirped merrily. It was winter, but she could feel the warmth of the sun creeping in. She looked out of the window. A cool breeze greeted her. She looked at the cat sleeping by the park bench as they drove by.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew in her face like a gale. Slow down. Daddy answered her, "That car in front is crawling, I have to overtake him." He drove even faster. She noticed that the car they overtook started to follow them closely, until the red light, which Daddy drove past. The car behind stopped.

Daddy zoomed quickly through the streets. She looked at the lake nearby. To her amazement, she saw two swans in the lake. They looked so peaceful, as though they had all the time in the world to enjoy a morning sunbath. They did not seem to be afraid of the cold. In a split second, they were past the lake and a building had blocked her view.

Irritated by the gale that kept blowing in her face, she shut the window. Building after building whizzed past her.

Finally, she reached her school. The construction workers had already begun work at their site next to the school. There was a continuous banging and drilling.

"Bye, Mia."

"Bye, Daddy."

It was twenty minutes before classes started. He could have driven slower. A construction worker knocked into her while running to his workplace. He did not even stop to apologize. How rude.

~*~

English class was boring her guts out. She kept thinking about the two swans in the lake. She imagined herself sitting with her special one on the bench by the lake, watching the sun rise. At the end of the lesson, the teacher gave everyone a short, or so he said, assignment to do. It was a thousand-word essay, and they had to hand it up in two days.

Geography class was more interesting. Everyone learnt about the famous A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy through watching a video. The video showed molds of humans and animals in the city of Pompeii just before the ash from Vesuvius buried them. They all looked like they were struggling to escape death, Man's eternal enemy. She thought of the swans and the peace and calm that was wrapped in Mother Nature's arms.

It was break time. She walked to the hallway. Sunlight poured in through the windows, illuminating the long passageway. She looked out of the window. It was nine. The streets were filled with people rushing to work.

She looked at the ice skating rink just around the corner of the street.

***

The Teacher

He woke up at five-thirty in the morning. He brushed his teeth, got changed, had breakfast, and left his house by six.

After a ten-minute drive, he realised that he had left an important document at home. It was a proposal he had to show the principal. Frustrated, he drove back home. He retrieved the document, and was on his way to school again.

Feeling so tired after driving back and forth, he decided to slow down and enjoy the scenery. There was a cat sleeping by the park bench. Suddenly, a car zoomed in front of him. What a rude driver.

He picked up his speed to catch up with the car in front of him, wanting to stop the driver and tell him how rude and dangerous it was to overtake without signalling.

He lost the car at the traffic light.

~*~

He gave his class an assignment to do. "It's really a short assignment. Write me a thouand-word essay explaining the arguments in Semiotics. I want the essays back in two days."

He looked at all the sulking faces giving him death glares, put on a weak smile, and left the classroom. He went to his office and began marking the scripts that he left in school overnight. He had intended to mark them early in the morning, but since he left his proposal at home, he lost the time to do so.

The tiny words written on the papers were tiring his eyes. Soon, they became like ants swarming the paper as if it was honey. He decided to take a break from the words that went on and on without any indication full-stops. He walked out of his office, into the hallway.

It was break time, and there were students running everywhere. He walked slowly and carefully to one of the windows along the hallway and looked out. The sun was shining brightly. He turned to look at the skating rink at the corner of the street.

***

The Construction Worker

He woke up, to his shock, at six. He brushed his teeth, changed, took a bite of his bread, and was out of his house by quarter-past-six. He ran and ran. There was still a long way to go. I'm going to be so late!

He ran until he reached a park. It was six-forty. Exhasution overtook him. Panting heavily, he sat down on the park bench and rested. When he got up again, his foot hit the cat that was sleeping beside the bench.

It meowed angrily.

~*~

He ran and ran. The construction site crept into view. The banging and drilling had already started. He was already late. He ran even faster, not seeing the schoolgirl in front of him, and knocked into her. Without even turning back to apologize, he continued running.

His supervisor was already there waiting for him. After five long minutes of listening to his supervisor berating and threatening to fire him, he was sent to work.

Banging and drilling, banging and drilling. The air was cold, but he was perspiring, showering the ground below him with sweat. He was worn-out from the running. Standing on the scaffolding and catching a moment's breath, he looked at the city around him.

The streets were busy with people and cars. From where he stood, all of them looked like ants scurrying. Beautful clouds stretched across the morning sky. He looked at the lake far, far away. There was a tiny speck in the lake that looked like a pair of swans.

He looked at the skating rink just across the street.

***

The Skaters

The couple got up at seven. They had their breakfast while watching 'Prime News'. Baths taken, skating gear brought, they took a stroll down the streets.

They walked past a park. A cat meowed at them. They sat down on the park bench and watched other couples passing by. Some brought their dogs out for a walk. Others were simply walking around leisurely. The couple just sat and enjoyed the morning air. Soon the other couples dispersed. Office workers began to pour onto the streets. They just sat on the park bench. Everyone around them was bustling around.

They continued their walk, and passed by a big lake, stopping to look at a pair of swans. The swans had a sense of peace and calm about them, and moved with such grace that mesmerized the couple. For a moment, everything was quiet and still.

The couple walked on. They reached the skating rink. There was a loud banging and drilling coming from the construction site. Despite the noise, the couple started skating gracefully.

They drew beautiful patterns on the ice with their blades, their movements like the swans'. They skated freely as they glided across the ice, letting the wind take them into the air.

***

The girl sighed. The teacher sighed. The construction worker sighed too.

The skaters danced.

***

It was evening. The sky turned to a warm violet.

Daddy was driving her home. If we drive so fast, we're going to miss out on the scenery. Daddy answered her, "We have to get home before the jam."

Slow down, we're going too fast.

The End