Friday, August 24, 2007
During the good old days when i attended primary school, i used to frolic under an enormous raintree. i played childish games of catching and hide-and-seek with my friends there and that easily satisfied our young innocent minds when we needed something to use up the endless surplus of energy in little kids like us.
the raintree was also a cool spot to be in for me then. it's umbrella-shaped crown of leaflets protected everyone from the cruel sizzling heat of the sun. it was easy to see why it became my favourite spot.
it is located next to the basketball court which has been well-used over the years. they frayed remains of the net prove this. it is also beside the badly twisted fence painted in green and white. around it are five pong pong trees laden with venomous green fruits which ripen into round balls of white with clinging pink skin.
under the raintree, there is also a bench which has deteriorated into a near collapsing structure of a few decaying boards. Beneath that is a pile of decomposing leaves which is where the teacher usually brought students to see the inhabitants of the leaf mound for science lessons. i can still remember feeling the blood draining from my face when the teacher used a long pole to expose family of centipedes and millipedes for us to see.
there is also a kite stuck in the complex network branches and boughs of the raintree. Somebody tried to climb up and get it but his hands were blistered by the rough brownbark of the raintree, so it is still there today, i think, probably, tattered and shredded.
If i ever make my way back, i reckon i will feel nostalgic. the raintree was my friend. i remember those gnarled roots which burrow into the earth and cio back up again, those carpets of gree grass and white mushrooms. even if those reamin, however, something has gone-the merriment and laughter of times we shared has gone.
p.s. chia heng hope you recover soon man!! dun overwork urself.
Posted by bryant at 6:47 AM