Monday, October 11, 2010

My internet is going through a slow motion phase… everything is just S~L~O~W~~!!! And it's been raining for the past… say, week? So it has been a while since I last saw the warming sun and hopefully it will return to Queensland in the next couple of days since QLD is supposedly "The Sunshine State". Going to the bus stop this morning was probably one of my most challenging morning walk trip, yes it was raining but on top of that it was windy as well… which means I have to look out for water puddles plus trying to avoid getting my umbrella getting open. And as usual the school bus is late again while I stand in the cold, windy rain desperately for a shelter. Anyways, the reason I'm here today is to post another fiction… it has been a while so let's do a super long one~ and let's see who's got the patience to finish reading it all

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Alan likes a girl who works in a convenient store down the road. Everyday he'd walk down to the store to buy a packet of cigarettes. They began to know each other. Every time the girl gets bored with her work or feel tired, Alan would appear. He'd chat with her and cheer her up.

The girl had noticed Alan's feeling, but she has already got a boy friend that she's been dating for a while. Looking at Alan being so caring towards her, she really has no idea on how to reject him. One day, a claw vending machine was placed outside the store; the girl really likes the doll in the machine. Alan saw that, he managed to win one and gave it to her; on that same day he confessed his feelings for her, hoping she'll accept him. She has no idea what else to do other than cruelly break his heart by telling him the truth that she already has a boy friend she loves. Alan only nodded his head after hearing that, but his feelings for her have already gone beyond his prediction, he asked her again if he really had no chance at all. The kind hearted girl couldn't bear to watch the easy going and cheerful Alan to become depressed, she pointed at the claw vending machine filled with stuffed toys and said "unless you can win 100 toys, and you can only get one each day"

The girl wants to use time for the feelings to fade out. She knew that he'd need more than 3 months to reach 100 stuff toys from only allowed to win one toy per day. Besides, Alan's not really going to have the patience to continue for 100 days, right? She plans to stay in distance with Alan for the next 3 months, hoping for them to return to being just shop keeper and customer. Alan still comes every day, but the girl's attitude had turned cold. He tried talking to her about some interesting topics, but she began to ignore him. She knew that's the only to prevent Alan from falling deeper.

Alan somehow sensed what the girl is trying to do, but he still comes to the machine each day to try winning a toy. Sometimes when he'd lucky, he'd get one after 1 or 2 go. When he's not, he could spend all his money on him still unable to grab one and he'd borrow money from his friends until he get a toy out of that machine. No matter how much money or time he spend each day on the machine, he'd always win one toy… only he can't share the joy of winning this toy with the girl. Every time she sees Alan's excited look after winning a toy, she wanted so badly to bolt out of the store and just tell him "I lied! Even if you get 100 toys, it's still impossible for us!" But at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to destroy that joyful smile on his face.

So the day goes on, Alan's toys are cumulating. While the girl is starting to feel lonely at work after keeping in distance with Alan. On a certain day, the girl's boyfriend needed to go overseas for work and couldn't spend her 18^th birthday with her. She had a huge fight with him over that case. Alan still came to the store like usual; the difference is… he walked into the store. He asked her girl if he can make an exception today and get 2 toys from the machine. The girl is already in a bad mood after fighting with her boyfriend, she refused angrily. Alan walked back to the machine, won a toy and went silently. Before he left, he looked at the girl standing inside behind the counter inside the store again.

After that day, Alan never showed up again. At the beginning, the girl felt a bit strange but she was still relieved as if she had lay down a huge stone sitting on top of her heart. However, slowly she began to feel unadjusted. Because the familiar figure that'd stand in front of the machine every day just to win a stuffed toy for her, just disappeared like air. She realised that her lost of the sight of him feels worse than the burden he gave her. She started to remember all the bits and pieces of the past, how he'd cheer her up, even when he stood silently in front of the machine… somehow she'd always feel safe when he was around. So every day when she's at work she will always look out for the familiar figure to appear in front of her again. But in the end he still never came, leaving a claw vending machine that no one uses anymore.

A day after work, the girl ran into a boy who Alan always used to come to the store with. She asked him anxiously about where Alan has been, but only getting a miserable expression in return. His friend brought her to Alan's house. When the door of Alan's room opened, the image that hit the girl's eyes were: a mountain of stuffed toys from the vending machine and… on the bed, Alan lied unmoving. Alan's mum told the girl, Alan had problems with his spines and needed an operation in order to keep his life, but the operation had 50% chance of failing which can cause the patient to be completely paralysed. The day before his operation, which was also the day when the girl had a fight with her boyfriend, Alan came to ask for be able to win 2 toys was because he already collected 98 toys. But unfortunately he received the girl's cruel refusal, the next day the operation failed and he's left in vegetation state.

Alan's mum then handed the girl a letter, which Alan wrote before the operation:

The truth is, I already knew that even if I won 100 toys from the machine you still won't accept my feelings. I didn't do that to create problems for you. I want to prove that I'm using the times that I might have left to use my whole heart to love a person. When you're reading this letter, it means I can no longer get toys from the vending machine for you. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough; I was unable to give you 100 toys.

The girl looked up at the pile of 99 toys, 99 true loves that she was unable to accept. Tears already welled up in her eyes and drifted down her cheeks. The girl came over the next day, she placed the 100^th toy in his hands, and even in vegetation state, Alan's tears rolled out of his eyes as well…

YuMi