every morning i wake up to the sound of heat stinging the windows. people always say they can't hear it but it sounds just like honeycombs crackling in a distant fire; the annoying adherence of my skin to my bed sheets, and the air conditioner so quietly whispering ‘enough… seriously’.
summer in hong kong feels wonderful. everyday the warmth of this air
would wake me up before the sun got too high. i'd eat an icy pole every morning,
the sugar would trickle down my hands and i'd have to lick it before it got
sticky. i don't like it when it runs down to my elbows.
i have this map i've been keeping with me, it doesn't have streets but
it does show all the islands. i have folded it a few too many times so some of
the names are lost in the creases, but nonetheless it is still very helpful for
a traveller. i don't like the giant maps that block paths from other people. the ones you see the adults in the family hold. they always try to match the
street names, but it is silly because they often miss what's just around them.
today i realised: it wasn't summer anymore.
i have been calling my time ‘summer’ for almost two months after the
beginning of autumn. time is amazing don't you think? sometimes they become our
enemies, like when you are young and think the rain will never pass. you listen
to your teacher in class, only to wonder whether the whole world has stopped
moving, or if she is just really, really
boring. other times they help us grow, to become better people, bigger
dreamers, accomplished believers.
maybe i have been lost in time, if not completely. my time is counted by
days. i think people keep track by banding them into weeks or months, but days
are the best of times — so much can happen if you let it. so little can amount
if you leave it. i have been whole-heartedly embracing each new sunrise. i envelop it no matter what light is being presented. i am not waking up to
dreams coming true. in fact i feel like i am handed a blank canvas. every. single. day.
i don't want to receive a blank canvas everyday for the rest of my life,
but i like the fact that right now, i can still take it hold it, and make what
i will. maybe one day i will have enough colours to paint a van gogh. but right
now i appreciate the few paint colours i do have. if i can't fix something the
day before the next day i am given a new chance, and being able to step back
and realise this has been so good for me. time passes differently for everyone.
i hope to get more paints for november though. maybe i can save a few
canvases and make something prettier in the days and sunrises coming.
