#20 Science of Stupidity

     In an evening, a group of friends is playing soccer at the field within their neighbourhood.

       A guy wearing the No.10 shirt, Jacky, dribbles the ball as he kicks it along the field. The enemy players close in on the ball carrier and try to steal the ball away from him.

     Jacky squeezes past the wall of players and sprints down the field towards the goalkeeper, and, he kicks the ball high to the top left corner. 

     The goalkeeper goes full stretch to catch the ball but it ends up in the net eventually. There it is, GOAL!!!

   
     Soon later, the game ends. The scoreboard reads 3-2, Jacky’s team wins. Jacky heads to the bicycle rack to take his bike and ride it along the street for home.

     As he reaches his home, a sudden rush of awakening pops up in Jacky’s mind. He forgot to tidy up his room as instructed by his mother before leaving home in the morning.

     Knowing how long-winded and the endlessly nagging will erupt from experience, he got an idea. Jacky fumbles for the house key in his pocket, then he silently unlocks the door before entering the living room as inconspicuous as he could.

     There is no one right at there except for the teddy bear resting in front of the running TV. In haste, Jacky tiptoes and walk up the staircase hoping that no one would realize he has come home.

     ‘‘JACKY!!!’’ An effeminate voice comes behind him all of a sudden.

     ‘‘Oh, not this time!’’ Jacky bemoans in distress.

     He turns his back only to see his sister frowns as she see Jacky steps into the house with his bedraggled and muddy feet.

     ‘‘I have just mop the floor, if you ever do that again you will be in trouble’’

     ‘‘Yes, Ma’am.’’

     Jacky enters his room and finds it at sixes and sevens as if it has not been cleaned for years. What a mess!

     He looks through the whole room for the wristwatch he is about to don for tomorrow’s important presentation. He finds in his drawer, it is not there. He finds on his desk, it is not there either. He continues to search for his favourite watch in his wardrobe, to no avail.

     In frustration, Jacky kicks the wardrobe and a piece of greeting card drops out from it. He picks up the card and find the contents that remind him of the day he is supposed to meet up with his first love, Cheryl, who went abroad for studying in the UK three years ago.

     And today is the exact day Cheryl will be touching down, to make their first date in three years more meaningful, they have agreed to meet up at their famous ‘‘old place’’. What a rousing awakening for him in a day, yet again.

     Jacky looks up at the wall clock in his room, there is still an hour left for him to prepare before the most important date in his life, at seven.

     Without much ado, he washes himself up and put on a vintage denim sweater above a pair of bell-bottom, that type reminiscent of the 80s rock ‘n’ roll.

     ‘Sis, don’t prepare my dinner tonight. And I’ll be late for home as well.’’ Jacky calls in haste and slams the door. By seven, he reaches the well-known local classic restaurant serving authentic French cuisine that he used to have memorable times with Cheryl together during their high-school days.

      As usual, Jacky picks the place at the far-end edge of the veranda as he waits in astonishment. Every second in the tickling clock feel like spending time in the sauna, the feeling of agitation and restlessness grows rapidly in time.

     Plenty of thoughts swirl in his mind, from the doubt whether Cheryl will turn up to the apprehension of any possible mistakes in conversations, constitute to his anxiety after their three-year hiatus.

     The moment of craze finally come. Cheryl, in a deep blue velvet dress turns up in front of Jacky. Nothing much he could do except for his fluttering lips and trembling legs.

     ‘‘Hi, long time no see. How are you doing?’’ Jacky greets while extending his hand. Cheryl takes it.

      ‘‘Yes, I’m pretty fine’’. Cheryl replies in heavy English slang with grin.

     In the conversations, they find they still have a lot in common and nothing has changed even though they have not met for years. The chatters ensue as if there is no tomorrow.

     The story does not tell us of how an old relationship rekindles, of course. The main point is, however, tells us of how simple we can become actually. Sometimes, all we need is to learn from the way how Jacky and Cheryl view the world beyond them: treat everything in front of us with clarity. Simplicity in life is not gained through plain talk but is governed by the actions that eliminate cryptic. Eliminate complexity and be simple, not become the labour of it.

By: Vincent Ti