Friday, December 5, 2014

The Fall: Chapter 1. Sloth

I committed suicide.

The people at the mental asylum loathed me. They threw me to this large junkyard. It stinks. They stink. They did not even bother to check whether or not I was properly dead.

I wake up. I stare at the sky. There is a thumb-sized scar on my lower chest. Blood does not flow out. I now understand that a single stab to the chest with a large pen is insufficient to cause death. I must inform Huang Ming about this, but I have to meet up with him first. He is somewhere.

I feel intense pain. Ouch. This sucks. I remain in a lying position. I no longer have any motivation to move. Being hurt, however, is just a mere excuse to be lazy. Huang Ming does not like procrastination. To Huang Ming, the act of delaying a goal is childish.

How can I not stand up and meet Huang Ming due to a mere stab wound? This is ridiculous. I have to move.

I stand up. I walk. But where do I walk to? This junkyard is endless. The smell is foul. Huang Ming will never be able to tolerate this. However, this still can never be used as an excuse to not meet up with Huang Ming. I continue walking.

The weather is very humid. I am sweating like a mad cow. I lie down. Huang Ming will not like this. Huang Ming will go through hell to complete anything that he promised. The very thought of Huang Ming’s dissatisfaction motivates me to stand up and continue walking. I promised Huang Ming to meet him.

The junkyard is filled with very valuable items. I manage to find a white long-sleeved buttoned shirt, a black overcoat, a black necktie, dark grey slacks, and a pair of polished black shoes. All of them are wearable and in near-perfect condition. All of them, however, are mildly stained brown. The owner probably spilled his cup of coffee and got too lazy to wash it. He was probably very rich. I have to tell this to Huang Ming. Huang Ming can change people. Huang Ming will do something about this wretched attitude.

I wear the clothes that I found. I feel great. I continue walking. Huang Ming does not like waiting. The thought of this makes me unconsciously start running.

I look down. There is a white plastic mask just beside my right foot. Such a coincidence! Coincidence does not equate to laziness, therefore, Huang Ming will not be unsatisfied! I wear the mask. The oval mask has two small holes drilled in, allowing me to see. That’s it. Nothing else. No extrusions. It is simply a white mask with two holes. Perfect!

The mask’s shape is very unique; when I wear it, it fits my face tightly and nicely, even though it seems a lot smaller when taken off. This is not an ordinary mask.

I believe that if I were to search for a way out of the junkyard wearing just my undergarments, I would have easily overcome this heat. However, Huang Ming does not like indecency. Huang Ming believes that people should not be lazy to wear proper attire, for it will affect their image. Huang Ming’s image is almighty and awe-inspiring, as he wears clothes even while bathing.

I continue walking, still wearing the business attire. I hear vehicle noises. Loud. Louder. I know that I am near the exit. However, I cannot possibly enter civilization with my foul stench. People will hate me. People might kill me. I will have to find a place to wash up. The thought of this makes me lazier than ever.

I have the nose of a dog, which is a good thing, because I am in disgust of an even fouler stench. I see a child lying down to the left of me. Blankets, a tiny blue mattress, three empty boxes of cereal, three empty bottles of what looks like milk, a large plastic container half-filled with water, and a large box surround him. The child cannot be older than six years old. He is wearing a torn black singlet and blue shorts. He has no shoes on.

I approach him. He sees me. I back off a little due to the horrid smell. Huang Ming will not like this, so I approach him again. I kneel down. I express curiosity through my wonderful facial expression.

“I am thrown here… by my parents.”

I have never been so saddened in my entire life. How can anyone treat their very own flesh and blood like garbage?

“I… want to sleep.”

Again, to Huang Ming, the act of delaying a goal is a childish one. Yet, what is this child’s goal? To laze around long enough to die, or does he really want to continue living, but has no motivation to do so? I believe it’s the latter, as the exit is no more than a hundred meters away.

The child is too afraid to face the world. He fears being called a loser, a sloth.

I remove my mask and give it to him. He wears it.

“You are now reborn.”

“Thank you, sir!”

The child happily runs off. I use the half-filled container to treat myself a hasty bath. Great, the water is clean! My clothes may be wet, but again, Huang Ming bathes with his clothes on.

I am motivated. I run to the exit. There are vehicles moving about. I can easily hitch a ride to Huang Ming’s place, but the thing is, society no longer accepts me. They all hate me; not because of my stench, but due to who I was. It was just one incident that made me like this.

No! Huang Ming will not tolerate procrastination due to past issues! He preaches about looking forward, not backward, but society does not understand; they will still hate me for that one incident. I have to mask my identity. Also, I have to walk to Huang Ming’s place; no one will drive a masked man.

The sky darkens. It rains heavily. Another coincidence! I am all washed up, I hope. Huang Ming must have blessed me with nature’s most delightful shower!

I look directly down. I see another similar white mask. I wear it and head to the right. I stroll down the path.

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