Best Friend Forever? NOPE! You will probably forget each other after a couple of years and things get super awkward.

Okay, right. That (look at the blog entry title) is probably not the smartest title I can think of, but heck, it’s the truth.

Hey, Assalamualaikum.

I think everybody have that best friends forever thingy in their school year, where you and your BFFs gone through ups and downs of what people call bittersweet “rebel stage” of life, together. You had your lunch together, copied each other’s homework, slept over in each other’s house, shared things you both equally love, seeking out each other’s company when you’re sad or in deep loneliness and... well, you get my point. Yeah I’m pretty sure you have at least one in your life.

I see you are starting to picture some faces in your mind.  Yeah, they’re the people I’m talking about.

Yea, it’s sweet, making pinky promise, best friend covenant and all but sadly, it didn’t last long as you thought it would be. Suddenly you realised that the term “Best Friend Forever” didn’t quite meet your definition.

That promise you made on your last day of school together? Yeah the one where you exchange “I’ll never forget you”, “We’ll keep in touch”, and “I will see you later” are just bollocks. The only expression that you both exchanged that remained true to this very day is, “Goodbye.”

Sure, you made your best effort trying to keep in touch. You Facebook them, comment on their status update, retweet, favourite, clicked that heart-shaped button on their photos on Instagram, but that’s it.

Some messages you sent were left unreplied, some calls missed.

And sometimes, it’s the other way around. You’re that person who is too busy to reply your messages, in fact you don’t even bother to see their message whenever you see their names appear.

You never met them anymore. And even if you did, after years of not seeing, growing apart from each other, things are not quite the same.

It’s either you, or them that have changed. No longer the same person you knew. No longer the same person you had spent your entire teenage or childhood years together. Something’s different but you can’t quite grasp what it is. Maybe it’s the way they tie their hair, maybe it’s how they dress, how they talk, the way they no longer keep her attention to you, instead to their handheld devices or boyfriends or girlfriends they brought together on the day you decided to go out with them. You no longer shared the intimacy you once had with their company. Maybe that’s what made you think they’re like a stranger to you, and maybe they are indeed, strangers now.

Slowly, you built invisible, force field wall between you and them.

It’s almost like the blurry images of you and them that were kept deep inside your memory storage part of your brain were implanted by an alien, or an evil scientist that tries to alter your personality and life entirely. 

Only photos you have with them could prove that those memories are real.

It’s selfish and childish to expect after years of separated by time, growing apart from each other, that they are the same person as you once knew them.

People change.
And like any other normal homo sapiens, your best friends change.
And even you change.

Change, may lead to goodness and it may also lead to the vice versa.

Maybe you can adept yourself to the change and use it to brought you closer to them, getting to know them better, start the whole friendship thing anew and fresh.

Or maybe the changes will only lead you further away from them, from the people that you once shared the title “Best Friends Forever”.

Well, it’s sad.

And reality, mostly consists of sad and harsh and evil truths.

Maybe that’s what life is all about.
Meeting new people and be apart from your loved ones, turning strangers to friends, and friends to strangers.

Something to read so that you get inspired and stuffs. Trust me.

Hello there!

Assalamualaikum!

Wo hoo look at that! This blog is last updated half a year ago. Ha ha. A new record I guess.

Faint.

So yeah tonight I decide to write something to fill my darn boring time. Plus, the internet is slow, hence the reason I write. Ha Ha.

So what am I going to write tonight? Tonight I’m going to write about all that inspiring and motivational  “don’t give up on life” and “life gets better” sh*ts. Yeah. I’m going to freaking motivate you guys.

Seriously.

So like I just drank this Kopiko instant white coffee (I don’t really remember the exact product name). It’s really good. I swear. It tastes like heaven. I’ve never had a coffee that good before. Well maybe I am exaggerating and maybe it’s because I’ve never been to Starbucks before (Yes, I’m proud of myself for not hopping into that stupid bandwagon). But my point is, that drink made me hyper right now. Haha. Seriously. And probably that drink is the reason that makes me want to write this. It’s quite freaky when I think about it. Like suddenly an instant coffee can change my views on life, personality and stuffs. Ugh scary.

Okay that was totally irrelevant.

So like, have you guys felt like inspired by a certain people in your life? Maybe a musician, a dancer, a politician, a writer, an artist or whatever? Or maybe you have come across certain people who are really good at whatever they’re doing? Like a friend who constantly have good grades, an athlete who practically never have gotten second let alone third place in a 400 m run, a crush of yours who seems to always be amazing however and whoever they are?

I’m pretty sure you have. Well I do too.

The thing about getting “inspired” by them is that it makes you feel like you wanted to be just like them. Just as successful as they are. Just as popular, just as influential, just as likeable. And then you step out of your comfort zone and actually try to.

But then, you failed.

You started to realize that it was all a big huge joke in your face. You started to realize that life isn’t all unicorns and rainbows and chocolates and cakes. You start to accept what you define as your limitations. You, simply said, give up. And continues to look up the people you admire getting more successful, more awesome than they already were, while you, staring them from afar, continue being “you”  you already are and actually try to get comfortable with it.

A bird who have gotten his wings broken.

Guess what?

The people you look up to, they once was a big fat loser (Well, not literally big and fat. It’s just an expression to show how huge it is. So... yeah.). They once was a nobody, an outcast, even.

Because what?

No one, in the whole wide world, is born to be automatically good at something. Like, have you ever seen a baby get born and suddenly able to dance like Michael Jackson, or write like Rowling, or draw like Akira Toriyama? Does a newborn baby even knew how to talk at all?

NO.
Of course not.

The only reason we know how to talk is because our mom or dad or grandpa or annoying older brother have to keep repeating words in our face. We know how to walk because our parents have to constantly hold our hands trying to make us walk on our two feet, and get us back up whenever we fall.

Akira Toriyama once drew stick figures like we do too. JK Rowling once wrote one passage over and over and over and the rubbish can keeps piling with papers just because she couldn’t get the right word to convey her story.

They all learn to write, to draw, to dance, to talk, to whatever just like we all do. But what makes them different from us?

They work FREAKING HARD.

When I say they work hard, they don’t just grab a paper and draw a doodle or two and that’s it. Or dance  a couple of move and voila they’re professional choreographer. Or run a kilometre or two and ta daa they’re one of the best athletes in the world.

NO.

It takes years and years of practice. And a huge load of perseverance, too. Countless people have been trying to drag them down. But they get on with it. They never cared what people think of them. They don’t care how ridiculous their dreams may be. In their mind, all they know is that they can do it. They have faith in their selves. And until they reach that goal they set, they won’t stop. And they didn’t.

And here you are, have only been trying for a couple of months, even weeks maybe when you decided that you can’t do it. Decided that you’re not born for it. Decided that it is one of your “limitations” along with few others.

Who told you so? HUH?

You’re only comforting yourself by telling that it’s one of the things that you aren’t cut out for. The fact is, YOU NEVER TRIED HARD ENOUGH, and you’re too lazy to try harder. You want an instant success just by your miniature effort.

Now I want you to get off your lazy fat ass and work on the things you wanna be good at.

To like or to love doing something doesn’t automatically makes you good at it.

A love for cooking doesn’t make you a professional chef. An interest in a certain field doesn’t make you a star of it.

In the end, it’s your hard work that matters.
In the end, it's not the things that you did that made you regret, it's what you don't.

In fact, it’s actually mind blowing how a human can be good at anything and everything if they only work hard enough for it.

There is no limit to human potential.

At least that’s what I believe.

Now look at what that Kopiko instant coffee did to me.

(Note: To be honest, all this are written direct for myself.)

How To SURVIVE One WHOLE Semester As A KO or PKO

Hey! New semester is starting this 1st January,.. or 2nd in some lucky places (lol)

If you're an IPG student, I'm pretty sure there'll be a new Ketua Opsyen and a new Penolong Ketua Opsyen elected for this new semester. Am I right?

Well, if you happen to be elected or foolishly volunteered for it without knowing the hell you're getting in to (that's me, last semester) this guide is for YOU.

HOW TO SURVIVE ONE WHOLE SEMESTER AS A KO OR PKO

(I did survive...barely sane though)

ASSALAMUALAIKUM! (Tak jawab dosa!)

Firstly, if you get yourself ELECTED, TURN IT DOWN. Give all kinds of excuses you can give; sakit perut, nenek sakit, migrain, berak tak lawas (tak relevan langsung) because the point is, being a KO or PKO is NOT an EASY TASK.

Secondly, if somebody else (even your little sister) get elected, DONT be a HERO AND VOLUNTEER YOURSELF (I'M TALKING TO YOU, KATNISS!)

If you can't help yourself but to be a KO PKO,... Then here's some last tips on keeping you alive at the end of the semester.

FOR KO :

1. Have ALL your teaching lecturers' phone numbers. They're DEAD IMPORTANT. You're gonna have to call them to confirm the class and the venue, to ask for class replacement(if they happen to miss their class previously), ask for EXTENSION DATE FOR ASSIGNMENTS <--- MOST IMPORTANT (lol), inform them if there is any program that makes it impossible for you and your classmates to attend the class, and stuffs.

2. Have ALL of your classmates' phone numbers so that you can inform them about ANYTHING! (class cancelled (yea!) , change of classrooms, assignment due date, official program by maktab, etc. etc.

3. This one's optional but it helps to CUT DOWN your TOPUP COSTS SIGNIFICANTLY (to zero). Buy a new sim card SPECIAL for class and class only. This sim card will be handed down to another KO another semester until you graduate. Since this sim card is for class only, you can CLAIM your TOPUP money at your treasurer. See, no budget at all! HAHAHAHA (evil laugh) But of course, if you dont have a dual sim card phone, you're gonna have to buy another cheap VERY CHEAP phone (and use treasurer's money also! Your treasurer is very RICH, but his richness depends on your classmates' willingness to pay money for class expenditure of course. haha)

4. Have a copy of the timetable anywhere you go, especially staff's room. Your lecturers MOST DEFINITELY want to see that to arrange his/her future class everytime you go there. Saving it in your phone is recommended

5. Have a copy of the classroom usage timetable (its a timetable where you can see which class is used and which is not)  everytime you go to class. This way, if you want to change your class to somewhere air-conditioned, you can refer to the timetable if there is any class using that class. If there isnt, then just go! yeaaay but make sure the class doesnt need special permission to access like the Language Lab, LDP rooms, etc. You can get this timetable through your LMS IPG site. But you need to sign up first and make sure dont lose the password, bcause if you do, nanti kena denda! If you happen to be Akmal or Nisya, here's the link http://www.lms.iptho.edu.my/ but there's something wrong with the site at the moment but i dont know if they change the address or anything.

6. Confirm the class and venues with the lecturers A DAY BEFORE and inform to your classmates right after. You dont want to be waking up with showers of SMS and phone calls from your lecturers and classmates (been there done that for the whole semester and it's frikkin irritating. Makes you have a bad mood for the whole day!!!) It's annoying for your classmates too to have to call you early morning to know which class is where (i think i know how you feel my dear classmates im so sorry.)

7. Have a STICKY NOTE/ or write memo on your phone EVERYTIME a lecturer gives you a certain instruction. It's EXTREMELY helpful when you have a frequent random memory loss or just simply short-term memories (I DO) Check your phone or your sticky note once in a while to keep track of what you need to do.

8. If you're not a multi-tasker, make a MENTAL PREPARATION to. Every time every day until the end of the semester your head will be filled with list of what you need to do. It makes you less focus in class (and even in conversation too in extreme cases.) so be prepare for it.

9. You will not be able to lepak with your friends most of the time. You'll have to go to staff room to do this and that during most of your no-class time (Extremely true during the start and end of semester. Sucks!) Things will get worse if you have a lecturer who ask you to do anything like, for example WRITING A BLOG FOR HER. YES, HER. YOU-KNOW-WHO.

lol. sorry about that.

10. You'll get SWEATY. MOST OF THE TIMES. This is not a minor problem especially if you have a body odour problem .Please for the sake of the people around you, spray whatever deodorant/perfume you have.

11. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT TEXT OR CALL LECTURERS AT NIGHT. Especially yang cerewet and bajet semua betul. Trust me, you dont want to get nagged by her, again, HER. The one starts with F tu. Paham2 lah sape. Lol wat. But if the lecturer is the cool type call him/her anywhen you want but not late at night lah kau ni pun.

12. Make a mental list of which lecturer you dont want to mess up with. With those lecturers, be as nice as you can. Period.

13. Do NOT be shy to ask for EXTENSION FOR ASSIGNMENT. Please, in behalf of every ipg students in Msia, dont be shy for it! EXCEPT to the lecturers you've figured out who in 12. HAHA. You dont want to mess up with them.

14. Make a group in FB for your class. Its the easiest way to deliver any kinds of announcement (Save your topup cost). But make sure you tell the important stuff through SMS. because maybe your classmates dont check their fb frequently,.. so yeah.

FOR PKO

1. DONT, DONT DONT EVER FORGET TO ASK FOR SIGNATURE everytime class ends. It'll be problematic at the end of the semester where you need to make sure the credit hours is enough. If it's your first time and you barely know the lecturer, be as polite as you can. Eventually he/she will like you :)

2. Pass up the attendance book on Friday/Thursday (before weekend holiday) to HEP.

3. Fill the weekly and monthly attendance form and pass it up to HEP. I dont know what happens if you dont (well nothing happen actually. Anati NEVER fill this form) but be a good girl/ boy and fill it anyway.

4. Arrange class replacement with lecturers. Make sure if there is any presentation/written work/assignment needs to be done on certain class, dont 'forward' the class (as in makes the class earlier than it should be). There will be some people in your class who're not ready for it, well mostly, they dont.

5. Keep track of credit hours count. MAKE SURE THEY'RE ENOUGH by the end of sem. If there arent enough, refer number 4.

6. BE NICE and MANJA (lol) to your lecturers to get 'on paper' signature.

7. If you see that KO looks like he is about to commit suicide, help him/her with anything you can help. They're on the verge of death!

To both KO and PKO, please have tolerance and give and take to each other. Dont fight or argue. It'll make matters worse. Dont end your valuable friendship just because of the workloads or stress you're having. Most importantly, just because you're the KO doesnt mean that you can order your PKO like a slave. And PKO, please help your beloved KO anytime he/ she needs you.

If you feel regretful or scared to be a KO PKO next sem, please dont be. I'm just kidding to scare you guys. Of course you're going to survive the semester! It's not so bad but it's not very good too. So-so. Look at all the awesome stuff you can get being a KO PKO:

1. Certificate. Extremely important for posting application.

2. Close to the lecturers. You will know that those garang lecturers are not so garang outside class after all. They might be your friends too! Not to mention, you will get to indulge yourself in the attention they give you everytime you enter the staff room. They will tease you and greet you and smile at you. It's AWESOME to be close to the lecturers. But of course, you need to be friendly and polite to them.

3. And when you're close to the lecturers what do you get ? GOOD GRADES. I dont know if my grades are affected by being a KO, but i know a certain person who did have good grades because he's a KO, it depends on your lecturers' kindness actually.

4. You'll get to know how to handle stress and workload. Extremely helpful once we become real teachers in the school. New primary school teachers get 'bullied' a lot by senior teachers. So, be prepared!

5. Most important part, --> Experience on being a leader.

:)

To be honest, being a KO or PKO is not an easy task. It requires great responsibilities, patience, commitment and all other positive virtues (but most importantly long term memories which I dont have lol)

I want to use this golden opportunity to apologise to all my classmates and my PKO (mostly) for all the mistakes and problems I caused during the whole semester one, both as a KO and as a human being.

Thank you for not bashing me in the face or hack and slash me with a meat cleaver or samurai sword when you realized the class had been cancelled and I dont give a single word about it. It was so careless of me. Will not happen again (of course lah im no longer KO haha)

If you had been a KO or PKO in previous sems, feel free to include any tips I left out in the comments below.

So.. This is all
Bye, assalamualaikum!
Have fun being a KO and PKO! I wish you two good luck and all the best!

Throwback : Semester One

*Look at calendar*

Oh crap. There are only 3 weeks left of holidays.
3 weeks left before....

SEMESTER TWO.

Oh noes. I feel like it's only yesterday I registered in IPTHO.

Well, that was too much an exaggeration.

No, I dont feel like it was yesterday but I really feel like it was not that long time ago.

Semester one was filled many bittersweet memories, so...

Assalamualaikum. Hey there.

I decided to dedicate this post for a throwback to the good and bad times, the ups and downs of Semester One.

Well. Where should we start?

Oh yes. Minggu Orientasi.

Minggu Orientasi was well,... I dont know what to say. When I saw that my batch only consists of few people, my heart jumped to excitement. I mean, less people, less stranger, less stranger, less nervous. Besides, when we are few in number our bond between us will be stronger. Yeah, something like that.
My first impression on the seniors was that they are so friendly and nice. They helped you with the registration stuff. They helped you with your bags too (Abang Zahin Cool).

Nevertheless, I got disheartened when I got the same room with a senior (but I changed room a week after). I mean, who won't? It was embarrassing enough to be in the same room with a stranger, what more, your senior(!)

What I love about Minggu Orientasi is I got to sleep the most (although I got caught once in a while). The super cold air-cond of the hall is the perfect temperature for hibernation. Hahaha. All those ceramah and all is boooooooooooring. And my o's cant emphasize enough.

Jazlie bersemangat hafal lagu. Look how innocent he was

Boooooring

Oh yeah. Throughout the Orientation Week we were required to wear the huge ass nametag and the ridiculous cap. It was compulsory. I can tolerate the nametag (they can see your name 100 metres away) but the cap? And wear it indoor? inside the hall?

The seniors really have a weird taste in having fun. Lol.

The board of Jawatankuasa Perwakilan Pelajar that handled us

First intake batchmates. 64 something in total.

TESL class! (before 2nd,3rd and 4th intake)

The most f-ed up part of the Orientation is the prank.

The stupid prank.

One of our batchmate and my classmate (Anati) went missing. Lol. The seniors said she went to the kumbahan and gone. Her dompet was what left of her. I got scolded over and over for being irresponsible Ketua Opsyen and  I knew something smelled fishy. Why do they scold me? It's more logical to blame it to Penghulu since he's in charge to take care of us during the orientation. I knew they just want to pick on me since I'm the most problematic (complaining about my room and all. lol. yea.) student. I knew it was a prank after what I experienced in my UiTM orientation. But their acting was almost perfect I almost got teary eyes. ALMOST OKAYYY I DIDNT CRYYYYYYYYYYY AT ALLLLLL.

Next please
._.

Move on to the most fun part in semester one.....
THE BIRTHDAY PRANKS.
Lol. Yesh.

Our first (and best) birthday prank was Ahmad's, Nisya's and Mawaddah's.

We all (except the three bday children) brainstormed for the prank. And lastly we came out with a rumor of Ahmad having something going on with Nisya. We made them believe that the rumor was widespread in maktab . We said that senior were the one who started the rumors. We even asked our mentor's help Madam Rin to play along with the prank (to make them believe that even the lecturers knew about it!) And in the same time, Nisya was harassed by someone through text msg because Mawaddah had told Jazlie Nisya's number.

And then lastly for the final act I scold Mawaddah for giving her number and Nisya and Ahmad for causing a rumor that besmirched TESL class. There were cries everywhere (Mawaddah cried like there was no tomorrow) and fights (between me and Yana, Anati and others who backed up the three bday children) And then...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

I wonder how Mawaddah can still smile after all that crying. XD

And then there was Emir and Syahirah's birthday prank.

OMG I LOVE U GUYS SO MUCH I ALMOST KILL YOU GUYS FOR FORGETTING MY BIRTHDAY

Ngeheheheheheeeeeee..... *Emir kau gila lah gila!!

SYAHIRAH. PUT. THE KNIFE. DOWN.

I love Syahirah's reaction. We purposely didnt celebrate her birthday which was 5 days earlier. She thought that we all had forgotten her birthday and abandoned her. She told me that she cried on the night of her birthday which really, really made me feel bad. :/

Emir also didn't expect the prank even after his laptop got stolen (by us) since his birthday was 5 days later. His reaction when he discovered his birthday present (Avenged Sevenfold album) was priceless!

And lastly, Mellisa, Andy and Akmal's birthday celebration!

Group selfie!

The lovebirds. Nak muntah aku. Hahaa

Budak ni sesat sambut bday dia kali ke 2

It was so much fun! Especially the food, of course. Yeah. :)

Perbarisan Kemerdekaan Peringkat Negeri Johor in Bandar Penawar, Kota Tinggi XD
We get to dress up in various traditional clothes and march to Dataran Bandar Penawar.

Program Anak Angkat in Kg. Johor Lama Kota Tinggi.

SO SO SO SO MUCH FUN.
Breathtaking village and scenery
Kind and loving foster parents.
I want to go there agaaaaaain!

Yana's high

And the most exciting part of our Sem 1...

*drumrolls

DRAMA!
Yes, exciting. but in the same time stressful as hell especially when your senior tells you that you're not very good during the rehearsal.

Aside from the fashion show, we have another awesome one. We even win the 3rd place ! YEAY
But sadly we don't have the video. D: D: D:

Oh well I guess that's all for today (DAMN I WROTE SO LONG ALREADY LAH)
So I'll just dump random pictures of our random moments below :D

I dont know why the three girls were sitting there -,-

Rumah terbuka at Anati's. THERE WERE LOTS AND LOTS OF DELICIOUS FOOD.

One of our performance - Fashion Show! Sharvini and Dhivyah ARE SO GORGEOUS!

We were celebrating Hafiz's birthday at our room. Kesian Hafiz kena bedak!

Camwhores.... HAHAHA

Scandal of the yearrrr.

BFFs!

Eating at MK :D

Huzaimah : Funniest girl in our class!!

From front to back; Anati, Syahirah and Nisya XD

En. Saiful ; Our most dedicated and comitted lecturer :D

Modeling on a bridge across a river/longkang

Warung-ing

HANTU!

The frontmost girl thinks she's pretty. (SHE IS!)

Preparing for another drama

Taklimat on fire drill

Festival Mooncake :)

Late night class (Look at our tired faces)

Ujian GCI - Cabaran Isu Semasa

Presentation

Visiting a rural primary school in the Program Anak Angkat

3 Dara Pingitan!

First Eclipse Chapter 2 : The Light of Burning Flame

Chapter Two
..::THE LIGHT OF BURNING FLAME::..

“Are you sure, Rave? He’s just a kid!”
            In the midst of the silence of the town, sobbing cries of a helpless woman should be clearly heard if it was not the occasional thunderous roar of the sky.
            “He’s not a kid anymore, and you know it. You pampered him as if he is a little baby,” said a masculine voice, sounded so serious and determined with whatever he had decided.
            “So it’s me you blaming? You treated him so harshly! What had gotten into you? Don’t you feel sorry for him?” The woman paused as she sobbed. She took a deep breath and continued, “He’s yearning for a fatherly love! And now you’re sending him away for some life-threatening quest?” Her voice was shaking and trembling, taken over by her emotion.
            “I am not sending him away, Rielda. He’s the only one who can do it! This quest is forbid by the King, so I need to assign someone trustworthy for it. He’ll be just fine, Rielda. I have faith in him and you should, too. Besides, you do know what he’s capable of, right?”
            The cries started to calm and slowed down.
            “I know it’s hard to let him go on such quest, but believe me, he can do it! He’s our only hope.”
            A loud thunder growled in the sky.
            “I need to go now. Good night.”

            Reks heard the set of clanking footsteps walking past his room and down the stairs. Then it was the squeaky sound of the door downstairs before a thud. In fact, he heard everything what had his father and mother talked about, as their bedroom and his were only separated by a wooden wall – except he did not know who they were talking about. If the two did not have any other son he did not know of, then obviously it was him. But his father’s words – He’ll be just fine, I have faith in him, and he’s our only hope – made him almost sure it wasn’t him they were talking about. His father wouldn’t say such things about him, would he? Reks let the thought sank into his mind as he went to sleep.

******************************

‘Ding dong ding dong ding dong!’
            The bell rang as it usually did. Only this time, it did not end there. The bell was endlessly ringing, its annoying echoing sound was urging everyone to wake up.
            “Shut up, dumb bell!”
            Reks covered his ears with his pillow though he could still hear the rings loud and clear. It was not long before he noticed something was wrong – the only instance the bell will continuously ringing is when – there is an emergency! He hurriedly woke up and looked at the window. He had to squint his eyes as there was bright light escaped through his window – so bright he never had saw before. He could feel heat boiling his room from his open window. He cocked his head out of the window and sought for the source of the light and the heat. He was terrified by what he had seen with his very own eyes – the whole town was burning bright with flames. Thick black smoke was filling the air, filling the town with a foul smell. The houses collapsed to nothing but smoldering rubbles. Townspeople running and screaming for help, and the knights were helping them to evacuate to the castle. To his horror, near the knights were some dark creatures, trying to attack them. Some of the knights tried to fend the creatures off but were ultimately sent flying to the burning rubbles. The creatures seemed vicious and far too powerful for the knights to fight.  He wanted to help, but he was too far away to make it there in time.

            “Rekkkkss!”
            A woman was screaming hysterically from downstairs, awaking Reks from his traumatic state. He immediately knew it was his mother. He jumped out from his bed and grabbed his sword that was leaning against the door. He swung the door open before he climbed on the banister and flew to the floor below, landing with poise just behind his mother. She was standing still in front of the entrance door, trembling and terrified. Suddenly, a loud thud against the door came from the other side and made her fell to the floor. She dragged herself away from the door.
            “Mum, get behind me!” Reks commanded, as he drew his sword and readied his fighting stance. She got to her legs and dashed to his back. “Sorry mum, looks like I’m not in my shining armor like I promised. I’m on my pajamas instead.” Reks said, let out a chuckle.
            He strengthened his stance and gripped his sword harder as the thuds were getting louder and louder, trying to get into the house.

‘Dushhhh!’
            The door smashed to pieces. Reks and his mom covered their faces from the broken door pieces that were flying towards them. Black smoke from the flames was fuming into the house. From the thickness of the smoke, Reks could see a silhouette of a mysterious creature similar to the one he had saw attacking the knights. As the creature crept closer, Reks could see the creature in much horrifying details.
            The creature was nothing like any monster he had encountered before. In fact, none of the monsters he fought looked as vicious, filled with killing desire before, even the Bullzroar. It was black, from horns to tail, even its eyes were pitch black – except its white iris. Its four legs were equipped with a set of five claws each. It had three jaggedly horns; two on the side of the head and one right in the middle. Its edgy, blood-stained teeth were countless and multi-layered. Its tail was like a fish bone, except thousands times bigger and deadlier and had a sharp pointy arrow at the end. But – the deadliest of them all was the countless spikes all over its body, pointing in all directions, waiting to impale you to death.
            The hideous creature curled its body, making it look like a giant black spiky ball.
‘Zasssss!’
            The creature rolled itself towards their direction. Just before the creature could impale them, Reks and his mother jumped out of its rolling path and thankfully landed on a soft sofa. The creature rolled past them and crashed the kitchen. It shook its head, trying to regain consciousness after the impact. It tilted its whole body facing towards them and curled itself again. It was going for the second roll!
            “Mum, stand still! On my count to three, you jump to its left and I’m to the right.”
            Reks needed to make sure their timing was precise, fearing that their luck won’t be on their side this time. Furthermore, Reks figured that the creature was able to steer its rolling direction. If they evade too soon, the creature can steer towards them and crush them to death.
            “One, two…. THREE!”
            Reks’s mother did as told and Reks sidestepped to the right side of the giant ball killing machine. As it rolled pass him, he swung his sword straight through the creature using all strength he had. The sword sunk deep into its body and the swing left a wide cut to its body. Some of the spikes broke to pieces as the sword slashed through them.
            The creature crashed to the wall and fell to the floor. Its black bodily liquid was oozing from the cut as it struggled and moaned in pain. A few moments later, it remained silent and lifeless.
            To Reks’s amazement, the creature was slowly sinking into the floor, as if its shadow was a pool of water that drowned its body. Soon the creature sunk completely, leaving no trace except puddles of its black blood on the floor.

            Reks and his mother were shocked to see the strange phenomenon. They had never seen anything like that before. Reks knew he was dealing with something else than just mere monster.
            Reks grabbed his mother’s hand and went outside of the house. He knew it was only a matter of time before the fire swallow the house whole and burn them to crisp. The road outside did not make it easy for them to escape from the deadly sea of flames. The road to their left leading to the Central was blocked by smoldering rubbles and wooden planks of the burning houses. Fortunately that was not the only way to get to the Central. There were roads from the East and West Wing of the town that leads to the Central. Reks peeked through a small opening from the rubbles. He could still see from afar that the east’s road to the Central was still accessible while the west’s was filled with numbers of the ferocious dark creatures.
            Both of them had to take a detour to the East Wing of the town and pass the Central before they can head to the castle. They have to get to the castle as it had always been the safest and nearest place for the townspeople to go if there were any case of emergencies.
            Reks and his mother ran through the East Wing of the town using back alleys instead of the main road, fearing that they would come across the creatures. As they were running, Reks heard screaming and crying voices not far from them. A screeching voice and a sound of metal clanking were heard not long after. Reks sought for the source of the noise before he saw a fellow knight swinging his sword to a black creature in front of a group of women and children.
            Just before the creature could claw the knight, Reks appeared in front of him and blocked the attack just in time. Reks slashed the claws and manage to break some to pieces. The creature was in excruciating pain and left vulnerable. The knight and him took the chance and lunged towards the creature. Their swords stabbed deep into its chest. The creature fell to the earth with a crash, sprawled to its death.
            Just like the one in Reks’s house, the creature sank into the ground, slowly disappearing.
            “What is this thing?” The knight had the same expression of when Reks first saw the phenomenon.
            “One thing for sure is that this is not just some monster.” Reks replied, shrugging his shoulder.
            The cries of the women and the children had calmed. Only sobs were audible every once in a while. The women were hugging one another as they wiped their tears and comforted the children. Reks’s mother joined them. They were all terrified and traumatized. A few minutes ago they were sound asleep on their warm and comfy bed. But now, they were on the run for their lives, trying to survive both the burning fire and the bloodthirsty creatures, freezing in the night.
            One of the children approached to them.
            “Thank you, mister,”
            “You’re welcome, boy. Don’t you worry, it’s our job to keep you safe from dangers.” The knight tousled his hand on the boy’s hair. “Reks, can you bring them to the castle? I need to check out the town to see if there are any survivors.”
            “Yes, sir. Please be careful.”
            “Thanks for your help.” The knight smiled and ran into the town opposite of his direction.
            Reks led his mom and the group of survivors further west of the town, heading to the Central. It was not an easy trip as Reks had to fight the creatures that were lingering around the town and in the same time protecting the survivors.
            After a few turn in the corners and got to a wrong direction, they finally arrived at the Central. Reks decided that they should take a short rest after the breathless and endless run. Reks whimpered and panted, trying to catch his breath. By his instinct, he shifted his sight over his left shoulder, to the west entrance. It was dark as it was overshadowed by the shades of the building surrounding it. He could see movement in the darkness, as if something was emerging from the ground. He tried to squint his eyes, hoping that it would help him to see the darkness better from the distance. When Reks had realized what it was, it was already too late – countless of the mysterious creatures had emerged from the ground and it was now approaching to their direction.
            “Quickly, everyone! To the castle!” Reks commanded, signaling his hand towards the pathway leading to the castle. Everyone was terrified to see the approaching creatures as they raced to the castle’s gate. Reks trailed behind his mother. The two Royal Escendria Knights guarding the gate were ready to close the gate as soon as they passed through it. Everyone had but Reks and his mother.
            “Mum, you go first! Don’t worry about me!” Reks said as he was trying to release his hand from his mother’s grasp.
            “But Reks -!” His mother held his hands tighter, not wanting to let him go.
            “Trust me, Mum! Didn’t you say that I should be a hero, protecting this kingdom?”
            “But, Reks…”
            Tears trickled down her cheeks as she slowly loosened her grip on Reks’s hand. She reluctantly turned away, stepping up the stairs one after another and ran passed through the gate. She did not bear to look back to her son and the creatures that were approaching. She continued running while she wiped her flooding tears; tears of fear that she will never see her son ever again.

            “What are you standing there for? We’re closing the gate! Come on up here unless you want to be swatted like a fly by those things!” One of the royal knights yelled.
            Reks turned away from them, facing the creatures that were coming to their direction. He gripped his sword harder as he readied his fighting stance.
            The two knights looked at each other, their eyes wide opened.
            “What do you think you’re doing down there? Trying to get yourself killed?”
            “Even we, the experienced royal knights won’t be too bold to fight those things! Now let’s just get to the castle before they crush us all” The other said as he was going down the stairs.
            Reks clenched his teeth. “There are too many! I’m afraid it’s either we kill them here, or they’ll crash the gate and kill us all – the women, the children, the elderly, the King!” Reks refused to listen and strengthen his stance instead.
            “I think he’s right, Norman. I don’t think the gate manage to stand against them.” The knight’s hand gestured to the creatures that were now flooding the Central. The colourful gardens of flowers looked like a black ocean. The clock tower that once stood out in the middle of the Central could be hardly seen.
            “There’s no way we can do this, Paran!  It’s impossible!”
            Reks glanced angrily to the two knights behind him. “Impossible or not, dead or alive, kill or be killed, to the last drip of my blood, I shall protect this kingdom and its people! You call yourself a knight when you are too scared to hold your sword? Get up and fight!” Reks shouted. His eyes were burning with fire.
            Both of them were taken aback to hear what he had said. His words hit them hard. Although they hated to admit it, everything he said was right. They claimed themselves as royal knights but they don’t even have enough guts to hold their swords. All they had ever done was standing in front of the gate, pretending they were protecting it. That was what they were proud of the whole time. They had been guarding the gate for too long that they forgot how to fight and were scared to.
            “I don’t know about you, Norman but I’m fighting alongside this kid.” Paran unsheathed his sword and get on his position.
            “Too scared to hold your sword? Give me a break, boy.” Norman swung his sword to the air and get to his stance beside Reks.
            Reks’s words of wisdom had finally knocked some sense on their heads. Although three people were barely enough to fight the countless creatures, it was better than him to fight alone.
            The trio paced carefully heading to the approaching creatures – their swords were ready to kill. Soon the creatures were only a few feet away from them. One of the creatures flew out of the crowd and sprawled onto them. Had they not evade it one moment earlier, they would be splattered, crushed from the impact. The creature had a rough landing and struggled to get back up on its feet. The three of them surrounded the creature before launching several swings with their swords. The creature moaned before it remained still on the floor.
            “One down, many more to go!” Paran said as he pulled out his sword that sunk deep in its body.
            “Don’t put your guards down!” Reks commanded.

           

“Hiyaaaarghh!”
            The three of them charged to the sea of black creatures. They slashed and swung their sword sideways, ups and downs, and any other directions possible to the creatures. While doing so, they kept an eye to what was coming to their direction – the claws, the jaws, and the whipping tails. They jumped, crouched and blocked as they saw them coming. It was too crowded that every attack they evaded hit the other creatures. One of the creatures did the rolling attack but it crushed its own friends instead of them. Unfortunately some of the attacks were too fast that they were cut and bleed.
            They were constantly charging forward that they did not realized they were already in the middle of the Central. Before they knew it, the creatures were surrounding them, gnarling their teeth and readying their claws as if they were saying: “You don’t have anywhere to go but our tummy!”
            The helpless knights stood back to back, trying to protect each other. They grasped their swords tighter although deep down in their heart they knew they couldn’t make it. The creatures did not seem to be any less than before but their strength was. Their morale was down, but they forced their body to keep on standing to fight, despite that they were gravely injured. They were trembling and shaking for they knew what would their fate be for the next few minutes.
            “I’m glad I could fight alongside you, Paran.”
            “You too, Norman. Reks, we are really sorry for whatever we had done to you. Thank you. If it wasn’t for you, we would not be able to stand up, fight and die for our kingdom!”
            “No one’s going to die, Paran. We’re going to defeat them all here, get back to the castle, and tell to the people our victory!” Reks said, trying to raise their morale.
            “Bring it on!” Paran and Norman shouted as loud as they can.

            The creatures surrounding them curled themselves up, forming a ring of human-impaling spiky balls.
            “On second thought, don’t bring anything on, please?” Norman, as well as the other two was terrified.
            The three knights were sure now more than ever that they were going to die. There was no way they could escape that! The creatures rolled towards them. The surrounding ring was getting smaller and smaller, trying to crush whatever standing in it. Reks closed his eyes, not wanting to witness the horrifying scene of his last moments of life.

            A bright luminous light suddenly beamed into the air. It was so bright that it escaped through Reks’s closed eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes to see what had happened, but everything was bright and white he could not even see his own hands.
            “What’s going on?” Norman asked, frightened.
            “I don’t know, I can’t see a thing!” Paran said
            “Maybe it’s light from heaven! I think we are all dead!”
            Soon the miraculous light slowly faded. The white colour of the surrounding slowly turned darker and darker as it was before. As their eyes had adjusted to the fading colour of the radiant light, they could see their surrounding sharper and clearer. They could see the clock tower, the flower gardens, the burning houses, the mighty castle – everything except the creatures. The creatures that were flooding the Central a few minutes ago were nowhere in sight. It was either their eyes were playing trick on them or the creatures had just magically disappeared.
            Reks could see a silhouette standing at the west entrance of Central. He was holding a sword on each of his hands. The silhouette became clearer as he was walking closer towards them, out of the shades of the buildings and into the sunlight.
            The two knights behind Reks stood straight and saluted as they recognized who it was.
            “Knight Master Rave!”

******************************

            The castle’s basement although it was as large as the castle, was crowded with people. The townspeople were evacuated there for safety. It was the safest place for the townspeople to go if there were any cases of emergencies – earthquakes, fires, natural disasters, monster attacks but not the most pleasurable place to stay. You can hear children screaming, women crying, men fighting, elderly folks snoring and farting. The foul stench of blood and smoke filling the air was unbearable.
            At the corner of the basement was an enclosed room equipped with small beds. It was a medical room to treat sick and injured people, handled by a team of medical experts known as Medic.
            Reks rested his head on a pillow. The bed he was lying on was not as comfortable as the one he had in his room, troubling him from sleeping. A female Medic was treating his wounds and injuries, applying antiseptics and bandaging them. He only had several cuts and bruises, very lucky compared the other two royal knights who suffered fractured legs and torn muscles.
            Aside the hard bed and the itchy wounds he had, something kept him from resting. His head was puzzled with riddles. What was that light? Where did it come from? Was it from his dad? Was it his dad who made the creatures magically vanished? What are those creatures? What do they want? Why did they attack the town and the castle?
            Reks had a strong belief that the light came from his father – or specifically the sword. His father was holding both of his swords when he saw him. He had always carried the two swords everywhere he goes, but it was the first time he had ever seen his father drawn that sword. The sword with the dark blue metal hilt and a shiny sun-shaped gold attached to where the hilt joined the blade. Reks drew the sword from its sheath before when he was a kid and saw the stunning details of the blade. The blade was white and shiny as if it was made of fine crystal. He could clearly see his own reflection from the blade. The base to the tip of the blade was engraved with ancient text that can only be translated by the Oracles. Its edges were sharp that he almost cut his finger just by touching it. Ultimately, as Reks drew the sword, it was glowing bright blue. Reks believed that the sword hold some kind of magical power that he could never fathom.
            “Are you done resting, Reks?” His father’s sudden appearance shocked him.
            “D-dad? I’m sorry. I was just getting my wounds treated. I didn’t mean to slack off or anything.” Reks got up of the bed quickly.
            “Are you okay?”
            “Um, yes. It’s just minor injuries. Those things barely hurt me. See, I’m fine!” Reks gestured his hands to his body.
            “Great. Here’s your uniform. I got a quest for you. I’ll fill you in the details later. But first you need to tell your mother now. I’ll be waiting right outside of the Castle.” Master Rave walked out of the room.
            As he was excited with his first quest for the past few months, Reks quickly put on the troublesome uniform that his father just brought him. It was probably from the Escendria Knight’s store room since the smell wasn’t too pleasing. As he came out of the medical room, his mother was already waiting, her face soaked with tears.
            “Reks, I thought you’re gone!” Her arms spread and hugged him mercilessly, crying happily seeing her son safe and sound.
            “I’m alright, Mum. Geez, it’s embarrassing.” Reks whispered as he tried to escape from his mom’s deadly clasp, but he failed miserably.
            Suddenly his mom was silent and her embrace loosened. She put her face on his shoulder and cried silently.
            “What’s wrong, Mum?”
            “I’ve only just see you safe, and now he’s sending you on a quest.” She sobbed.
            “You knew?”
            “He told me about it. It’s a dangerous quest, Reks. Please don’t go. Tell your father you don’t want to go.”
            “I can’t, Mum. I don’t want to disappoint him. I’ll be alright, don’t worry. Didn’t you tell me that I’m the strongest man lived on this planet? Nothing can hurt me! Look, I’m fine!” Reks was trying to console his mother, there was no way he would turn down the quest. If he could not impress him, the last thing he wanted to do is disappoint him.
            Reks found his mom’s behaviour rather strange. Usually she would encourage him and ask him to be strong, but now she was crying, hoping that he would not go for the quest. Maybe the quest truly is dangerous, not cut out for him?
            “I’ll be back, I promise.” Reks kissed his mom on her forehead and casted a smile to her. She calmed down but her tears were endlessly flowing from her eyes. Before he went up the stairs to the Castle’s surface, Reks turned to take one last look of his mother. He had a feeling that he would not be able to see her face for a long time.
            “Goodbye.”
           
           

The Royal Town of Escendria engulfed in flame