Point of View: The Story (chapter 1)
Disclaimer:
"This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental."
*Notice:
The characters in this story speak in multiple languages, depending on the situation. But because I only write it in one language, I would like to give some signs to tell you what language they are speaking.
If a person speaks in Khmer, the font is normal e.g. “Hello!”
If a person speaks in English, the font is oblique e.g. "Hello!”
If a person speaks in Japanese, the font is bold e.g. "Hello!"
Part 1: The Departure
It is just a normal day for every body else, but it is a wonderful day for my friend…
The sun has not risen yet. The road is really quiet, with only few cars and motorbikes. Really quiet… but I like this better. In Cambodia, or more correctly, in Phnom Penh, there are so many cars and motorbikes. In the morning, high school and college students, and many more people with other status in the society start to leave their home for school or work. That is why, around 6-7 am, the traffic jam starts to occur; the road is full of cars, especially motorbikes because the drivers really like squeezing into any place even if there is just a little space. It is just a normally annoying thing happening every day in Phnom Penh. Now that I think about it, I do not have any right to blame anyone for that because I am one of the drivers who (sometimes) squeeze all over the places, too.
I want to leave this place… leave the place fulled of annoying things like this…
I am driving a motorbike to the airport. In front of me, there are my friends who are also driving to the same destination as I am. They drive very fast, faster than I do (and sometimes even scarier than I do), which is why I am always left behind (this time too). Sometimes they mock me (as a joke… maybe) “You’re driving so slow. You wanna be a good citizen or something?” I am so sorry. I just have not wanted to die yet! Also, I have stupidly violated the traffic law one time and got fined right after that! So yeah… I am traumatized.
Anyway, enough of the stuff in the past.
After driving for about 10-20 minutes on the quiet road, we have reached our destination which is the Phnom Penh International Airport. We park our motorbikes and walk to an area in front of the building where a traveler goes to check-in. It is a place where we are going to meet our friend for the last time before his departure.
There is a man at the age of 18-19, standing with his family and friends in the area. With excitement, I wave at him:
“Ka Heng !”
My friend, Heng (but I call him “Ka Heng” because it is easier to call), turns his face to look at us. He is smiling without any sign of tiredness even though he had to woke up before sunrise. Of course, who would not be happy when getting the scholarship to study overseas?
Will that day come to me?
I believe that it will! I believe that one day I will stand here again with a different status!
Ka Heng waves back at us:
"Hello!"
“Ka Heng's going far away! I’m gonna die from missing you!”
“Not in a million year you will be like that!” He replies.
“Don’t you dear to forget us! Do you hear me?” Ravy, one of my friends who came with me threatens him (in a sweet way?).
“I know! I know! I won’t do that!”
“Ah Heng! You go alone, but have you planned to come back with another one?” Nimol, another friend of mine, is teasing him. She calls his name with the word "Ah", which is considered as an impolite way to address a person, but since they are friends, it is (maybe) okay.
“Not just with another one, but two is also highly possible! Haha!” I join the teasing.
“It would be great if it turned out to be like that!” Ka Heng replies with dead face.
Everyone laughs at his funny dead face. His dead face is so satisfying, which is why we like teasing him.
“There are other people going with you, aren’t there?”
I ask him while looking at a group of young men standing not that far from us. They do not look like his relatives at all, which triggered my question.
“Yeah! Because the university that I’m going doesn’t limit the scholarship to only 1 person, so there’re many people who passed the exam.”
“I see.”
“And there’s also a person who you have a crush on, too”
There you go, teasing me back huh!
I take a glance at the man whom Ka Heng is teasing me with. He is talking with his friends and does not notice that we are talking about him at all.
He and I came from different high school but we met, or rather, I met him when we were taking a scholarship examination together to study abroad during our high school year. I do not think he knows my existence. However, that time I was so amazed by his intelligence and leadership that I brought that to tell Ka Heng. Since then, Ka Heng has always been teasing me whenever he has the chance. Sigh… Typical Ka Heng…
“I didn’t have a crush on him! I just admire him because he’s smart!”
“Is that so?” He says with smirk face.
“Yes!”
I meant it. I did not have a crush on him, or more correctly, I have never had a crush on anyone. And I do not care about that... maybe...
I gaze at another corner and see Nimol talking to another friend of ours, Sak. He has white skin and curvy short hair; he is also wearing a rectangle black glasses. He looks like an intellectual guy. I go to stand next to them and listen to what they are talking about. As always, they are talking about scholarship and exchange program overseas, but this time it is not in the field that I am studying, so I cannot understand.
When they finish talking, I ask him as I saw he is standing next to a suitcase:
“Sak! You’re also going with them?”
“No, I just happen to have an exchange program in Malaysia today and our check-in is around the same time.”
“I see. I thought you’re gonna tag along again, haha!”
Sak smiles. He is just like Ka Heng, not getting angry over a joke or tease. It is really easy to talk with him.
And about that “tag along again” thing, it is traced back to our high school time. Ka Heng, Ravy, and me was in grade 12 group A. On the other hand, Nimol was in group D and Sak was in group E. At the end of our high school, we, the group A, celebrated a party together, drew various messy pictures on each other’s white uniform (because we were not going to use it again), and took many pictures together. And then, Sak and Nimol ran away from their classes and came to ours, joining our activities. Because of that, I made a joke that they are just tagging along, but of course, I never think of them like that. They are always my friends.
Without them, I would never become Sela who is ambitious like this… never…
Both Sak and Nimol, because of helping me, they have failed themselves... not once, but twice (or maybe more)! Nevertheless, they still continue to help me and to advice me concerning the scholarship matter. Why?
I still cannot comprehend their way of thought till this day.
After finishing their talk, Sak, Nimol, and I go to continue our chat with Ka Heng. It is just a small talk, but the important thing is that we can enjoy our time together before saying goodbye.
However, I notice something:
"Where's Nimol?"
"I don't know. She vanished all of sudden!" Ka Heng says.
We look left and right, trying to look for Nimol. Then, we see her walking toward us from far away. Instead of waiting for her, I run toward her:
"What happened? Why did you disappear out of the blue like this?"
"Nothing." Nimol replies with straight face.
She walks pass me without any other words. Quietly, I turn back to walk beside her. I take a glance at her face with curiosity.
Did she cry?
A question which I can only keep in my mind, but unable to ask her out loud. Nimol is a strong woman, and she definitely does not want to destroy this image of hers in front of anyone. I do not want to destroy the thing which she is trying to protect, too. Even if I asked her, she would not tell the truth.
Even now, her face is normal as always. Her eyes are not red at all, and her voice is also not trembling. I begin to doubt if she really cried or not.
I cannot ask her. This question will forever be buried in my heart.
Even if she cries, it is not strange at all. I do not really know well, but I think Nimol and Ka Heng are closed (more than they are to me). Now that Ka Heng has to go far away and they will not be able to meet each other for a long time, of course sadness will appear in their heart.
If Nimol did cry because of Ka Heng’s departure…
Ka Heng is truly amazing! He can make someone cry for him!
Their friendship is truly amazing!
What about me?
If I go far away, will there be anyone cry for me?
If there is, I cannot comprehend how much I will be happy.
But now that I think about it, I have never cried for anyone. Last month, there was also one of my friend going to study abroad, but I did not cried at all. Going back to the end of our high school life, almost all of my friends cries because they would be apart from each other. Even our teachers cried. But I did not. I did not cried not because I tried to hold back my tear, trying to show that I was a strong girl. But it is because I did not have any feeling of sadness. I myself also do not know why I did not feel anything.
However, I never think that it is weird to not feel sad like that.
What about now?
Normal as ever! The fact that my friend goes abroad is incredible! It makes me want to try my best even more!
But… we will not see each other for a while… 1 year… 2 years… or even 3 years…
Thinking about this…
I feel tightness in my chest… a little bit…
After chatting and taking pictures with Ka Heng, now it is time for his (and Sak’s) departure.
“Bye!”
“Bye bye!”
We wave at each other for the last time. Then we also say goodbye to his family before going back to the parking lot.
“Sigh! One by one, they’re going away!”
“Next will be you, Sela.” Nimol says.
I take a glance at her and turn my eyes back to the road. My eyes are drowned into the hazy but exciting future.
“If so, it would be great! But I don’t know if I can do like them.”
“But you have already taken a scholarship exam to go to Japan, right?” Ravy looks at me.
“Yeah! It was last week.”
“You will pass for sure!”
“No! No! Don’t say like that! The other contestants may did better than me! Not to mention that exam was just so difficult for me!”
Thinking about the exam that I took last week makes me anxious again. I am really not sure if I can make it or not.
I believe that I will pass an exam to go to Japan. I still do this time, but not because I did it well on the exam. My confidence is a just shield created to fight against the struggling, to protect me from hopelessness, and to keep me try my best even if there is failure awaiting for me at the end of the road.
This is why I cannot say out loud that I am confident that I will pass the exam.
When arriving at the parking lot, Nimol asks me:
“Ravy and I are going to have breakfast together. Do you wanna go with us?”
“Errr… I’m gonna pass. I’m going to CJCC to have some coffee.”
“CJCC again?”
“Ahh… Hehe…”
“Okay.”
Our destination are different, but because the route is the same, we end up driving alongside with each other. However, this time I do not need to worry if I will bother them to wait for me, so I can just driving slowly, thinking of various thing along the way to CJCC.
The sky is so clear this morning. The cloud is almost non-existent, which make the golden light shine freely throughout the highway. It is already 8 a.m. but there is no traffic jam at all. I am so relieved!
I am going to have breakfast and coffee in CJCC! Just thinking of it making me so happy. Not to mention that the university’s final exam period has already ended and the scholarship exam has also been completed, so I do have to study anything today! I can just read manga for the whole morning! Hah… this is heaven…!
To be honest, I am kind of glad that Ka Heng left during this period. If he had left before I took the scholarship exam, I would have seen him off half-heartedly because of the anxiety for the incoming exam.
Finally, Ka Heng did it! He finally has the chance to study abroad, to travel, and to experience other country’s culture! His life will be absolutely amazing!
Will I be able to experience that kind of life, too?
I must hope! If I hope, if I believe in myself, I will surely get what I have been yearned for. I have been working hard for the priceless word “scholarship” for months! I also did my best on the exam! So I will pass! If I do not, I will study even harder to pass the exam next year!
I am so into my train of thought that my hand roll the accelerator more, making the motorbike to go at wind speed. Good thing that there is not that many vehicles now!
Driving fast occasionally is actually not a bad idea at all. Hehe!
(To be continued)
