Wake Up Call

It was too cool at 5am this morning. Can't sleep. There was the slightest breeze that perked my nips & gave me goodbumps down my back. It was almost electric! Funnily enough this lead me to think back when I was a young boy, about eleven or twelve. Thats about half my life time ago. Wow.

It was during some school holidays or other that my father woke me up early to go hunting. I felt the same breeze as I woke. I warmed up with an amazing roti canai. I can almost taste that crispy square of fried dough with sugar & curry.

After breakfast we drove about 6 km into the hunting grounds & began to wait. During this time I would explore the surroundings & see what I could find. Sometimes I would find shiny quartz (oh so shinny) & other times I would find some resin (aged tree sap that burns with a funny smell). All sorts of interesting thing can be found if you look close enough & well, don't expect too much.

Come day break the cute fluffy emerald-colored pigoens would begin their flight to find food. This is when my father would aim & fire.

BANG!! BANG!! & the pigoens would come tumbling down. Finding them was often a challenge thanks to Murphy's Law. Have you ever looked for a dead pigoen in a thorny bush? Or how about stuck on a palm tree? Of course there was once or twice I caught them with such accuracy like a baseball outfielder.

Once the sun was really up the flight of the pigeons would cease & we would be on our way home with our feathered friends in tow.

I miss those times. Not because I miss the rush or the awesomeness of the gun, but simply because I miss the simple days. I miss the quietness of the mornings. I miss the companionship of my father.

The list could go on but it cant.

Times are a changing. The hunting grounds has since become a huge factory. The pigoens are temporarily protected. The gun rarely if ever sees daylight. My father throws karaoke parties. My treasures have become meaningless. And I am here living my life like a barbie doll, painted smile and all...

I'm a barbie girl, in the barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees
Come jump in, preety friend, let us do it again,
hit the town, fool around, let's go party

You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"

Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Aqua~ Barbie Girl

Is my life fantastic or am I just happy plastic?