The Diary

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Connelly speaking. We will be making our descend shortly to the London Heathrow Airport and will be making our landing in about 20 minutes”, Daniel is awakened by the Captain’s commanding voice and he quickly leaves his dreams behind. “Please fasten your seatbelts, make sure your seats are in the upright position. Flight attendants, prepare for landing please and cabin crew, please take your seats for landing.”, Captain Connelly continues to give flight arrival instructions. Daniel looks out of the window, trying to make out what lies below. It’s pitch dark down there except some milky clouds brushing past the wing. Soon it’s like the sky has open up and brightness comes into view below; he could see lights lining the landscape. As the plane continues its descend, the scene below is crowded with dotted vehicles moving to and fro the highways, rows and rows of houses spreading the horizon and at last the airport tower with its bright shining light and fluorescent lights lining the airport tarmac. What strikes him is the colour of the lights which are orange rather than white colour back home. He hopes that Cousin Suan is at the airport to receive him. His cousin has been studying in London for two years. The gentleman sitting next to Daniel started up a conversation. “Are you s student?”, he asked with a smile “Yes, Sir I am”, Daniel replied. “And what are you studying?”, he continued. “Anthropology”, Daniel answered. “Oh, that is interesting. “Not many students from your country choose to study this course”, the German passenger said knowingly. “That’s right. Most Malaysian students prefer to pursue law, engineering, medicine or accountancy. You seem to know our students well, Sir“, Daniel said. “Well, I meet a lot of students from your country on my trips to London”, he explained. “I see, do you travel a lot?”, Daniel enquired curiously. “Yes. I travel few times a year to London”, he answered. “And what do you do Sir”, Daniel enquired further. “I am a watch maker.”, he answered. “My hometown is Switzerland but I live in Australia. I my business is there”, the German confided. “I come to London to have meetings with some watch shops here and to sell my watches to them”, he said. “I supposed business is good for you”, Daniel answered. “Well, it used to be but now we are facing a lot competition. Watch making is going through much changes recently. The Japanese are coming out with digital watches which are much cheaper and these watches are quite fashionable too.”, he explained. ‘Here is my name card. Give me a call if you happen to be in Sydney”, the German watchmaker took out his name card from his wallet. Daniel noticed he is wearing a very exquisite watch on his wrist. It is a hand-crafted watch, a piece of fine art.
“Ladies and gentlemen welcome to Heathrow Airport. The time in London is 10.25pm and the temperature is 4 degree Celsius For your safety and comfort, we ask that you please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Fasten Seat Belt sign is switched off. Please do not leave any personal belongings behind and please be careful when opening the overhead compartments to take out your belongings. On behalf of Malaysian Airline Systems and the entire crew, I would like to thank you for choosing Malaysian Airline Systems on your journey and we looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. We wish you a safe journey. Good night. “
At about this time, Janet has finished her lunch at the university and decided to take the afternoon bus back to her rented house in Petaling Jaya, while her mind is still heavily occupied with the thought of Daniel. She is not in the mood to study or to do anything else at all. Just want to be alone to savior the memory he left behind and ponder her life ahead without Daniel. She is a strong girl. But, the sudden realization of departing from someone whom she has given her love so unconditionally to and in return received love in its glorious abundance, begins to stroke her hidden emotions. She heads straight to her room and fling herself on the bed and weeps uncontrollably. Strong girl cries too. After she came to her senses, and before she is about to doze off, Janet, from the corner of her eye, notices the diary on her study table. It’s the diary that Daniel has given her to keep at the airport. What boy would ever let his girlfriend read his diary, the thought still lingers on her mind. A diary is a true and faithful reflection a person’s inner soul in more ways than one. What does he really think of their relationship? What has he written about her and about him? Has he any hidden dark secrets about to be revealed? Doubting thoughts are building up in her mind. On the one hand, she is unsure if she would want to discover lies beneath but on the other hand, the overpowering curiosity takes the better of her. Gently she lifts herself up to pick up the diary and starts reading it. Daniel started writing his diary when he was in Form 3. As she reads through page after page of Daniel’s diary, she understands even more what a compassionate, loving and wonderful man he truly is. But, even in his early years, Daniel often submerged his emotions deep in his consciousness because his friends misunderstood his views or intentions and he let it all out in his diary. He found solace and refuge in his diary. Towards the later part of the diary, Janet’s was paying great attention to what Daniel was writing. He was writing about Janet; he was perturbed by the question Janet had asked him when they were having their rendezvous on top of the yellow mountain. At the moment in time, she doubted his love for her because of Daniel’s unconventional way of expressing his feelings. She asked Daniel, “Why do you always express your love for with songs? I wonder the words are from your heart or you are merely singing a happy tune?” Daniel could not answer her at that moment. He was caught in utter surprise by the question, his faith in love somewhat shaken and for a fleeting he asked himself the same question. He chose to reply in his diary. Daniel wrote in his diary, “ Janet, my love, you so doubted me today and I honestly could not find the right words to say to you at the moment. I was temporary confused too. If you only know how much I do love you. Sometimes words don’t come easily, sometimes I could not express it all in words and so I find meanings in the songs I sang to you. If this is what has troubled you, then let me make amend. I am going to dedicate my poem to you.
Poem to Janet
Why do I sing you a song?
Because I find you in my song
why do I sing you a song?
Because I find us in the song
Why do I sing you a song?
Because everything in you bursts into bloom in my song
Why do I sing you a song?
Because my emotions for you erupt in my song
Why do I sing you a song?
Because it brings out my senses that only you can
Why do I sing you a song?
Because I like to hear my heart beating for you in my song
Why do I sing you a song?
Because the spoken words don’t come easily, but in a song
I shall walk the path by your side
A path is a lonely road for one
The footprints we left behind is testimony
The steps we now imprint is reality
And the strides to come is destiny
After all is said, sung and done
Eventually, everything must have an end
Even true love has an ending
And when that day comes
Let it be the end of our path too