photo for illustration
What is the difference between like and love? If you like a flower, you plucked it down and keep it inside your pocket. On the other hand, when you love a flower you water it every single day.
Once upon a time, there was a ugly duckling. In terms of attractiveness, she was definitely the first from the bottom. For her entire life she had never received a single present on Valentine’s Day. Despite being ugly, duckling believed that she still have the basic human rights to woo handsome guys! Whenever she felt bored during lesson, duckling would ask the teacher for permission to go toilet. This is when it gets really exciting! She would visit every single classes to check out on leng zai(s).
Duckling had a friend called Piggy. He was definitely the top no.10 leng zai in her school, ranked from the bottom. Piggy’s favourite hobby is singing, he want to be singer when he grows up. Although piggy sounds like he is in a slaughterhouse, duckling promised him to become his 1st fan if he ever gets his debut. Unlike boys around his age, piggy doesn’t express any interest in girls. Therefore, duckling thought that piggy might be gay. In fact, she doesn’t know that piggy had feelings for her secretly. Nevertheless, their friendship continued to blossom. Whenever duckling suffered any rejection heartbreaks, piggy would always motivate her with encouraging words.
Duckling: Am I that bad? No guy will ever like me.
Piggy: Don’t emo already lah! I’m 100% sure that there is a guy that loves you a lot.
Duckling: You tell me who is it? Ghost ah!
Piggy: ….
Well, piggy is a timid guy who doesn’t have the courage to confess his true feelings. But he would always create surprises for duckling anonymously. On Valentine’s Day he sneaked back into class during recess just to put a packet of chocolates and a stalk of rose under duckling’s table. Of course, he is really stupid for not writing down his name. Although ducking was extremely happy, she had a hard time figuring out who was the secret admirer.
Guess what? Puberty strikes and ugly duckling became a swan. She stops wearing glasses and long skirt which covers her knees. In addition she learnt to doll herself up with the most trendy hair style. On the other hand, piggy also improves a lot. He became the top 30 leng zai in school, ranked from the bottom. Fast forward, after ‘O’ level ended, all the students attended graduation night. All eyes were directed at swan, when she walked into the event hall with the most elegant white dress. Piggy’s heart was beating super-fast when he was about to take a photo with swan. He wanted to place his arm over swan’s shoulder but he hesitated for a moment before shoving his hand into his pants pocket.
Someone told Piggy, “When you fire on your target, you might miss 99% of your shots. However, if you don’t fire at all, you will definitely miss 100% of your shots”. He decided to enroll into the same JC as swan because he will definitely man up and confess his feelings this time round. Easier said than done, a new character Little Prince appeared into the equation and significantly decreases the chances for piggy to woo swan. Prince is the polar opposite of Piggy. Popular, handsome, charismatic and intelligent. When two love rival’s eyes met, none of them can tolerate each other’s existence because they knew that there can only be one winner.
Swan went on to become the star player of their JC netball team. During every competitive netball match, Piggy would always sit at the front row. Whenever Swan receives the ball, he would shout using all his lungs power. On one particular occasion, Swan didn’t time her landing properly therefore she landed in an awkward position and fractured her forearm. She was shocked by the sudden pain and started crying non-stop. Upon seeing this, Piggy and Prince quickly rushed to her aid. The hot afternoon sun made the floor hot and uncomfortable for Swan to lie onto, therefore Piggy attempted to carry her to the nearby shelter. But Prince forcefully shoved him away, “Get lost! Don’t touch her”. Piggy watched helplessly from the back while Prince carried Swan away to the shelter. Deep inside his heart, he wanted to be the one carrying her. He felt that the distance between him and Swan got wider. Perhaps he should kill off his feelings as soon as possible instead of sinking deeper.
A few months later, Piggy and Swan were walking back home during a heavy storm. He had an umbrella that is big enough for two people. Piggy thought that this would be a great opportunity to finally place his arm over her shoulder. When they were reaching the end of the school’s sheltered walkway, Swan spotted Prince at the traffic junction who was exposed to the heavy rain.
Swan: Look at him, he is all drenched! Why is he so silly?
Piggy: Don’t worry he’s going to be fine.
Swan: NO! What do you mean that he will be fine? He is going to catch flu!
Piggy: Here, take my umbrella. I have another one inside my bag.
Swan: Thank you! I will return back soon.
And so, Swan ran towards Prince and shared the umbrella with him. In the end, it was prince who got to place his arm over her shoulder. What about Piggy? Actually he told a lie to Swan. Who in the world brings two umbrellas around? He had to brave the heavy rain and ran towards the bus stop. The very next day, he got a high fever. The fever can be easily cured with a few panadols but the heart-breaking pain never subsides.
A few weeks before Swan 21st Birthday, Swan went shopping with Piggy. She dragged him to a clothing store to look at one particular dress. That dress is really beautiful because it has a light sky blue tone and many unique flower petals design.
Swan: Look at this dress. Prince told me that I will look beautiful if I wear it on my birthday.
At this point of time, Piggy understood that he no longer stand any chance in wooing Swan. He had considered the option of confessing and forcing his feelings onto Swan, but it would no doubt destroy their friendship. When he got home, the first thing he did was to lock himself up in his room and started crying. He really loves Swan deeply. She is the first girl that made him cry.
By now, most of you would probably assume that Piggy is the OP of this post. Although most contents in this post originated from Piggy, you are still wrong.
Unfortunately, Piggy didn’t make it to my 21st birthday. I kept waiting for him to appear throughout the entire party. He didn’t pick up his phone either when I called him repeatedly. A few days later, I cried bitterly when I learnt that Piggy lost his life in a riding accident. When I attended his funeral, his sister gave me his diary and a wrapped parcel. She told me, “I’m sure my brother would definitely want to leave these with you.”
Every single page that I flipped through, he never stop addressing me as Swan. I honestly never considered myself a beautiful swan, not even once. In fact, I’m just a simple average girl. Why did he even call himself Piggy? He might not be handsome but he isn’t bad either!
All these while, he had made so many sacrifices for my sake. I didn’t know that I meant so much to him. Unknowingly, tears started streaming down from my eyes. I broke down completely when I opened that parcel that contains the beautiful blue dress I wanted so badly. That stupid pig actually smashed his piggy bank and used up his precious savings to buy me that dress. The sense of lost is so painful to bear. If only I had paid more attention to those small little details, I would have sense his feelings for me. While I was focusing on the unpractical stuffs, genuine happiest just slipped away from me in secrecy. Even until now, I will still dream of him sometimes and wake up in the morning, feeling that an important piece of my life is missing.
I hope the people who read this post won’t repeat my mistakes. Looks, wealth and lust are short-lived happiness. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much attention a person can shower you using his wealth because anybody with surplus can easily accomplish that. If there is a person who is willing to short-change his own happiness to brighten up your day, hold on to his/her hands tightly and never let go!
Source: Nuswhisper