Name: Leigh-Ann Bong
School: SMK St. Columba
Email : cellarnet@hotmail.com
Contact No : 016-8913615
Isaac ran up the football field to the goalpost, roaring. His teammate, Jack, was bleeding and groaning in pain. He clutched his calf, heedless of the dirt beneath his sweaty palms. Dark red blood dripped down to his bruised ankle, staining his brand new Nike socks.
"Is he going to be okay?" breathed my mother, tip-toeing on her high heels to get a better look at her son's injured friend. I merely shrugged, hiding my growing concern. Jack was a close friend of mine too, despite our many differences.
"That was a damn foul," growled my little sister, Alicia. My mother did not even hear my sister use ‘the’d’ word'.
After several long heart-wrenching minutes, Jack limped up to the bench as his substitute streaked past him. We breathed a collective sigh of relief. The game continued, the black-and-white ball occasionally zooming past the players' heads. After an hour or so, both teams' scores were even: 2-2. Hard-core determination could be seen on every player's face - especially Isaac’s, who looked positively murderous. Then it happened. Isaac 'snatched' the ball from right under his opponent's nose. Isaac kicked the ball to Kyle, who dodged past two St. Josephians to catch it. He sprinted to his opponents' goalkeeper who was waiting nervously between his goal posts. Kyle feinted to the right; three of his opponents fell for it, but one of them blocked Kyle's left. Great! Now he's trapped, I thought.
"Isaac! It's up to you!" yelled Kyle as he passed the ball to my brother. The spectators went silent. It was now between Isaac and the goalkeeper. My mother did not dare to watch. Isaac roared again, instilling fear into the goalkeeper's heart. Next second, the ball went soaring past the goalkeeper's outstretched hands and into the net.
"Mom! MOM! IT'S ALRIGHT-YOU CAN LOOK!" I screamed happily over the deafening cheers of the crowd. Jack grinned and said, and it was like, whoa, slow motion or something. The ball just went past Ed’s humongous hairy glove of a hand- I mean, hands, and I smirked as Isaac blabbed on and on about how he scored the winning goal. Alicia chatted away with him. Even though she was only eleven years old (and seven inches shorter than I was), Alicia was practically addicted to football.
"Come on, we've reached school, get out” said my mother. I scrambled out of our Proton Wira, bade my mother a brisk but affectionate goodbye, and rushed into my school. I smiled as I breathed in the fresh air of St.Mary's compound. No more Swamp feet around. I turned to see my mother drive Isaac further up to his school, St. Thomas. My mother was quite protective of her “babies.” She had offered Isaac a ride to school. Isaac- glad to be away from the putrid smell of sweat, body odour and the old 'bus-seat-smell'- had accepted. Of course! That and the fact that he was a mama's boy, I sniffed slyly and said. "Anna! Anna! Over here!"
I smiled as I ran to my friends gathered in the school canteen. Aliza (my best friend of seven years) greeted me enthusiastically. Marcy grinned as Sarah asked, "So, how did it go? How did it go?"
"St. Thomas won, 3-2. But the St. Joseph dudes were cool about it," I replied, amused by Sarah's anxiety. "Oh, and Isaac scored the last goal.” Sarah smiled contentedly. Her father was the coach of St. Thomas' football team.
Marcy asked casually, "How long was the match, anyway?" I rolled my eyes. "9.00 'till 11.00 a.m. Hours and hours."
"You really hate football, don't you?"
"I cannot- CANNOT- believe how much homework we've got," groaned Aliza.
"Really ? Our class has only got two pages of Maths!" squealed Cindy sarcastically.
"It's true, Cin. Two pages of Geography, two pages of English- which, by the way, I don't mind- three pages of History, and seven- SEVEN- pages of Science," I grumbled.
"At least you only have to give up the TV. I've got tuition!" Aliza exclaimed hysterically.
"Well." I struggled for words. "You could. I don’t know- um. Hey, why don't you
come to school early tomorrow? Maybe I- we- can help you out," I suggested.
"Piano class, 9.00 to 12.00 p.m."
"You're kidding." Cindy looked horror-struck.
"What about from 12 o'clock? You do know that we start at 2 p.m. on
Fridays," I suggested again, this time more tentatively.
"But we have ISCF, remember?" Cindy reminded us.
We spent the next few minutes planning all sorts of ridiculous schemes on how to help Aliza finish her homework. There was one paradox that Sarah had come up with, but just when things started looking hopeful, her dad's car arrived to take her home.
"Now what?"
My classmates and I had realized a long time ago that being in the top class was nowhere near easy. Mountains of homework kept us from watching our favorite television programmes and getting a good night's sleep. I myself was slowly turning into an insomniac. One of my cousins who was around my age already had a mild case of bibliophobia- fear of books. I chuckled at that
thought.
Some of my other friends were luckier. They were in the second-rate class, a blessing to most. Marcy, Sarah and Cindy-
"ANNA!"
My sister's call brought me back to my senses. She and Isaac were already in the car, my mother waving impatiently at me.
"See you guys tomorrow."
"You too."
"If you don't see me tomorrow, try checking my house, where I'd be buried alive by homework," grunted Aliza. I actually shivered at the thought.
I skipped to my aquamarine Proton Wira and hurriedly flung myself in. Lucky Alicia. She was only in Primary 5. I wondered how poor Isaac coped with this.
(By the way, Isaac was in Form 3. Bet he was pretty nervous about his upcoming public exam.)
"What's today's date?"
"27th May."
"Thanks."
Our English teacher, Madam Lee, strolled around the classroom to check on her students' work.
English! I loved English periods. English is my best subject, other than Mathematics. Ella Cheng sat next to me, scribbling the date onto her page. I usually helped her out during English lessons. She was previously from a Chinese school, hence her adequate English. In return, she helped me with Bahasa Malaysia. Surprisingly, her command of the Malay language was pretty good.
Half an hour passed by. The bell finally rang, signaling our 'going- home- time.' Cindy came up with that phrase. Aliza and I walked out of the classroom, chatting away.
"Man, am I glad the weekend's here."
"Me too," I agreed.
We had reached the school gates. My mother had come early. Isaac was already in the car. Alicia was still stuck in a traffic jam of students in St. Mary's Primary school. Isaac's teacher usually let his class out early on Fridays.
"Good news, Anna. Dad's been promoted to R.E.!" my mom said excitedly.
"Huh?"
"You know, R.E.. Resident Engineer."
"I know what R.E. stands for. Wow, Dad must be real happy," I laughed.
"Well, I- I don't know how to put this. Uh. We're going to have to move to Miri. His new contract states that the new construction site's going to be there." My mother bit her lip.
Isaac's jaw dropped open. I froze. Move? To Miri? But- Kuching was my hometown my whole life!
Just then, Alicia came in, panting and said, "What's up?"
This can't be happening. It was the last day of the semester. My last day of school.” I can't believe you're moving," whispered Aliza.I was silent. My car had arrived. Alicia was waving her last goodbye to her friends. Isaac was still in St. Thomas.
"I have to go now." Tears welled up beneath my closed eyelids. Hot, burning tears.
"I'll never forget you guys."
"Write to us, okay?"
"I know."
We all hugged each other, then bade our final farewells. I scurried into my car, a tear sliding down my cheek.
"Mom, Dad, thank you sooooo much for this!" I beamed happily. I had finally got an e-mail address. Of course, I spent the next hour e-mailing my friends from my new house in Miri.
The next day, I checked my mail. My mailbox was loaded with tonnes of messages from my friends back in Kuching. One particular e-mail moved me to tears. It was from Aliza.
"Hey Anna! I'm so glad you've FINALLY got an e-mail add. I can't say much now 'cuz my sis wants 2 use the comp.
Anyway, I got this poem from my dad's old yearbook. It made me cry a lot. Well, here goes:
It takes a lifetime to learn how to live,
How to share and how to give,
How to face tragedy that comes your way,
How to find courage to face each new day,
How to smile when your heart is sore,
How to go on when you can take no more,
How to love when your pain is so great,
How to forgive when your urge is to hate,
How to laugh when you want to cry,
How to be brave when you say goodbye."
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