The Time Traveler - part 1

"Thus it came to a ponder, said the master of science, that if time itself came to an end, what will happen to the rest of the world, universe, matter. Will we as a mass, stopped moving? for we know that time is the fourth dimension and each of the four dimensions interact with each other, giving them reality. So what will happen when time itself stops? Will we stopped..." the professor stayed perfectly still in the running man position. "... or we will just 'poof!' disappear into thin air?" gesturing a detonation using his thin long fingers.

Salem balanced his pencil at the tip of his upper lip, holding it still as his eyes darted around the lecture hall looking for anything interesting to watch. His head rested perfectly at the palm of both of his hands and placed his elbows on top of the table, creating a two legged support of some sort.

Both of his friends, Jim and Cart had fallen asleep only thirty minutes into their Time 101 class. They all know the professor, Doctor Klef Almish is one of the top scientists in Time research but he just doesn't cut out as a teacher. He was like priests giving sermons, with his monotone voice and elaborate explanation that more often that naught, swerved away from the main topic.

Salem and his bunch weren't suppose to register for the class had it not been for their poor result during their final years. They were lucky enough to got off with only warning from their supervisors, but with their lack of credit hour needed to graduate, they had to take one more class, and Time 101 is the only class left for them.

"So class, what if I tell you that, time itself is like an entity which, " he pulled out a white rope from the pocket of his lab coat, " like a long rope here as an example, can be bend, shorten, lengthen and..." the professor threw the rope away "... destroyed?". Most of the students turned their heads, murmured passes through the whole hall like mice.

Seeing he had caught the interest of his students, the professor walked towards his table and pulled from his back a model of a machine. Some of the students began to extend their necks for a clear view, those who sits at the back, stood up.

"This, class," the professor pulled a small table from the side of his desks and placed it at the center of the stage he was standing on. "is a model of the time transformer." He placed the plastic model on top of the table for his students to see.

A student sitting nearest to the stage shoots his hand up. The professor gestured him to speak. "What is a time transformer, professor? What does it do?" the student asked. The professor gave him a huge smile and walk towards the black board behind him with a white chalk in hand. He wrote two words in capital letters.

TIME TRAVEL.

Oh Well...

Disabilities have been part of Sean's life ever since he could remember. He had seen, watched and even experienced all kinds of disabilities yet when it comes to his own, he was always in denial. Although he didn't mean it, but Sean knew that some of his friends thinks of him as a cold hearted person, but who wouldn't, he let an old woman crossed the street when the traffic lights were green causing the old woman to, well, die after being hit by a huge lorry.

But Sean didn't think of it that way. He always thought that, "hey, it's their life let them live it like they want it. And if they die from it, it's their fault, not mine". His friends had tried so many things just to explain to him how important being alive is but Sean only turned a deaf ear towards them. He even giggled when one of his friends slapped him in the face for being a jerk.

But Sean didn't care.

And then one day, a tragedy struck. Sean was walking down the street on the pedestrian walk when suddenly, out of nowhere, a lorry became out of control and swerved heavily towards the pedestrian walk. Sean was surprised when he looked and saw the horror in the face of the people several yards in front of him. He looked back and saw the large container swiveled towards him at high speed.

He was horrified and the world turned black.

Sean opened his eyes groggily. He felt light headed and had a hard time focusing his blurry vision. He turned his head to the sides, trying to make out where he is. He could see a woman in white to his left, keeping his eyes open with her one hand and pointing and moving a flashlight down his face with the other.

She switched the flashlight off and looked across her."His eyes are dilating, he's going into coma!"

Sean turned to his right and saw another woman, younger, he thought but could not make it out, putting some sort of a gas mask onto his face. He then felt a slight pressure on his chest as the woman stood up and pressed her hands onto his naked chest.

"Is this an ambulance?" Sean wondered.

"Am I going to die?"

"I think I'm going to die..."

"Couldn't think of anything else..."

"I wonder what the other's might have been thinking about when they hear about this..."

"Oh Well... "

"... I am deaf, I couldn't possible hear them even if I wanted to..."

Sean closed his eyes and breath his last breath.

TT

The clear color of yellow splashes all over the green hills in front of the mental institution, brightening, and breathing life into the somewhat somber institution. People looking at the institution would probably not believe the place being a mental institution with all the bright colors splashing the walls creating paintings and murals.

In the inside compound of the mental institution which houses the only garden inside the institution, a cleaner in his thirties, walks around with clipboard in his hand as he checks and inspects everty nook and crany of the compound. This is his life, his routine, his job, but not his hobby.

"Hey Zack, wanna go for a quick breakfast?" a voice came from behind the man.

Zack's was taken by a surprise by the voice. He turns around and met the man behind the voice.

"Hey Kam, sure, but I need to go back to my room first. Need to change and have a bath first" Zack replied ad gave Kam a tired smile. Kam smiled back and nod. "I'll go first then. Meet you up at the cafe". Zack just nod and continued his job inspecting the compound.

"God this is tiring..." thought Zack to himself as he slammed the door to his locker and lock it.

Zack walked his way back to his room on the tenth floor of the apartment situated across the main building of the mental institution which is situated next to the garden compound he inspected earlier. Being the cleaner, it is his job to wake up early every morning and inspect the compound and the surrounding building before he starts his work.

Zack stepped into the elevetor and pressed the button 10. The elevetor door closed silently and opened up with a "ting" upon reaching the tenth floor. Zack stepped out and walked slowly towards his room which is situated directly a few doors away from the elevator. Zack rub his head to relinquish the tiredness. As he reached the door to his room, Zack was surprised to see a woman, bloodied all over her body, sitting with her knees on her chest, in front of his door.

Zack rushed towards the woman and looked around. "No one... and not even a bloodstain..." he wondered inside his heart. He felt a little weird but seeing the bloody woman in front of him, Zack pushed the thought aside and checked the woman for pulse. He put his index and middle finger together and placed them at the woman's neck.

"She's alive..."

Zack held the woman on her shoulders and shook her gently to wake her up. The woman moaned but her eyes weren't moving. Zack panicked for awhile.

"Okay... calm down, she's still alive... I need to stop the bleeding" Zack thought to himself.

He unlocks the door and in one quick motion, grab the woman onto his arm and closed the door behind him.

"Shit, the hell should I do now?" he asked, his heart still racing with adrenaline.

Zack carried the woman to his bed and placed her there. He got up and scrambled to the kitchen to look for medications or first aid kits that he had stored there. He always have two first aid kits inside his house. It was his mom's teaching "just to be on the safe side" she always said.

Zack opened the kitchen cabinet and took hold of the first aid kit. He opened it and took out a bandage, a bottle of iodine and a pair of scissor. He also took out a bundle of gauss from the first aid kit before rushing back to his room.

He ran into his room huffing. He hold onto his knees and pushed his head up to see the woman, only to drop his jaw.

The woman is gone...

To be continued...

HT

The clock on his bed shows twelve midnight and Azri was alone in his room, studying. He has a history test tomorrow so he is making his last spurt of studying before he went to bed. With his textbook standing in front of him, spreading itself, Azri notes down every important points that he had learned from his history class. He made himself a last minute flash note, to help him refresh his memory after he wakes up.

As he busily jots down all the important points into his flash note, he heard a low hum coming from the back of his house, where his room is facing. Living in the second floor of a double storey house with his family of seven, Azri wondered what had caused the hum. He stopped writing and closes his book. He opened the window to the dark night sky outside and peaked into the gentle blue illuminated backyard of his house, but he couldn't see a thing. He closed the window, stood up and walked towards the door that connects his room to the second floor living room.

He peeked outside-it's dark and not a single soul alive. From his door, he could see the big staircase at the center of the second floor living room. His parents are sleeping in the master bedroom, situated next to his, while his other siblings are sleeping in three rooms, one for his two brothers, and the other two for his four sisters. His brothers shared the room left of his, while his sisters are in the two room opposite his room. Being the oldest, he was given his own room, in which he filled with his favourite novels, video games and his computer.

Azri pushes the door slowly, not wanting to wake anyone up and walked outside into the living room. The gentle blue light of the moon shining from the sky and into the living room from the staircase window illuminated the living room and the staircase with an eerie pale blue light. Being a little weak in his knees, Azri began imagining all sorts of things. He felt a bit scared, but wanting to know what causes the hum, which he can still clearly hear despite being a little far from the backyard made him determined, a bit.

Azri slowly walked down the staircase, lucky for him, it was made of marble, so he could calmly walk without making any noise. He took slow steps down the staircase and  into the main living room area. The place is dark, with only a dim pale blue light from the staircase illuminating part of the main living room  and he could only barely make his bearing around. He moved slowly, hitting the sofa and the side table as he moves. 

Azri made his way to the kitchen,  where he could see a strange green light, pulsating from beyond the kitchen's window, in the backyard of his house. And from it came out a figure, a man, or so he thinks. Azri gulped and walked towards the door at the end of the kitchen, picking up a wooden broom for his weapon as he comes near the door. He slowly turned unlocked the door and turned the door knob, but went he stepped out into his backyard, he could only manage to gasp.

In front of him, with his back facing Azri, is a tall man, will long hair and a weird clothing of red t-shirt, green jacket, a standard cut blue jeans or so he thought it is, and black leather boots. The man was standing, facing away from his house. Azri began to sweat hard, he nearly slumped to the ground from his weak knees, but he quickly took a deep breath and harden his legs. With the wooden broom still in his shaking hands, Azri moves forward, towards the strange man in front of him.

"Who are you!" said Azri, pointing the head of the wooden broom towards the man's head.

The man's shoulder moved, a bit shocked to hear another's voice coming from behind him. He turned around and faced Azri, who is drenched in sweat and struggling to keep his shaking hands from slipping the wooden broom he is holding. The man gave Azri a smile and bowed at him.

"Who are you!" said Azri again, still pointing the head of the wooden broom towards the man's face, which he now can clearly see. In front of him is a handsome man, probably in his thirty, with a well trimmed goatee, lean cheeks and sunken eyes, smiling at him as he bowed to him.

"Do not worry young one, I am only here for a brief time" said the man in his low toned voice. The man's voice reminded Azri of Darth Maul from Star Wars episode one. 

Azri, still struggling to keep hold of his wooden broom, realized that the green light that he saw from the kitchen had disappeared and only the gentle ray of the dim blue light from the moon illuminates the backyard. His heart races harder, he wanted to shout for help, but somehow, he could not, no, his voice does not want to do so.

The man sits down, much to Azri's shock. He crosses his legs and shuts his eye, taking a calm and slow breath as he relax himself, as if he is meditating. Azri moved back a little and points the head of his wooden broom down, still towards the man's face.

Suddenly, a small beeping sound came from the man. He opened his eyes and rolls up his sleeves, revealing a small watch, pulsating with gold light each time it lets out a beep. The man stood up and turned his back towards Azri, who was shocked to see the sudden movement coming from the man. 

From the man's back, Azri could see a dim gold light pulsating slowly. He looked hard at it and noticed that the light is actually an object, a long object, like a sword but with winding blade and a small hilt, with half of the hilt twisted at ninety degrees. He could not make out what the object was but as the gold light becomes brighter, it gradually comes to him. It is a kriss.

The man turned his head towards Azri and smiled. "Well, nice to meet you, young one" said the man, and his body began to disappears into the thin air. 

"Wait!" said Azri, but the man is already half transparent. The man took out a pendant-like object from the pocket of his jacket and strecthed his half transparent hand towards Azri who, instinctively reaches out for it. Azri grabs hold of the pendant and at the same time, a flash of gold light filled the area, blinding Azri. Azri's world suddenly turned dark.

"Azri! Wake up or you'll be late for school!" shouts Azri's mom from downstair. Azri woke up to a startle. He looked around and realized that he is in his room again. His hair was all messed up and his notes scattered on his study table. He had fallen asleep half way through his study, he thought. He looked at the clock on his bed, it was half past seven. 

"Oh man, I'm gonna be late!" said Azri as he stood up and rushes to the bathroom. He took a quick bath and hurriedly pack his school bag with his notes and stationaries, leaving his history textbook with its open pages down on the study table. He opened the window to his room, facing the backyard of his house and looked down. What a weird dream, he thought to himself and rushes out of his room.

Unrealized by Azri, underneath his history book, a small pendant-like object began to slowly pulsatate a dim green light, shining the two initials carved on it... H.T.

Congkak

(This has nothing to do with the malay movie of the same name)


Congkak, the game that has been passed down to the Malays throughout the generations and was said to be sacred. Legend has it that inside one congkak board possessed by the rulers of the late Malacca dynasty lies the greatest art of all martial arts and the one who attains it, is considered the king in the world of martial art.

Legend also has it that there is one particular congkak board with a very weird design that was handed down by the royal family to the family of the great warrior Hang Tuah, but its whereabouts were lost with the disappearance of Hang Tuah from the face of the earth. Some say that that very congkak board was actually passed down to a boy under the tutelage of Hang Tuah himself, but that story was never approved and the boy's existence were never known.



Several thousand years later...

Deep in the hearts of Malacca city, a young man in his twenties was walking around aimlessly amidst the busy streets. Saddled behind him is an old looking congkak board with weird design, unseen on modern boards. The young man has a sharp eye and his stride is long and proud. He wears a hooded jacket, a blue, standard cut jeans and sneakers. To the naked eyes, the boy looks like any ordinary young man of his age, except for the lone congkak board that he has on his back.

He wanders around the streets, looking at everyone that he could get his eyes on. Some, who noticed him, didn't stare back at him, afraid of his sharp eyes, while others just ignores him. The young man continued walking when suddenly, he was pushed to the ground from behind by two ugly looking thugs. A bald guy wearing a weirdly designed shade and a scarred face guy hiding a small knife in his hand. Without giving him the chance to get up, the thugs drag him into a lonely backstreet.

"Give us all you got and we'll spare you" said the bald thug.

"No" said the young man.

"Then die, and regret it in hell!" shout the scarred face thug and lunges himself towards the young man with his knife, now fully shown, in front of him, trying to stab the young man.

The young man, without a single word, turned to his side and as he turns hits the face of the scarred face guy with his congkak board. The hit threw the scarred face guy backwards into the wall of the adjacent building, creating a crack.

The bald guy, seeing his friend beaten, lunges himself towards the young man with his fist, but before he could even hit the young man, he found himself pushed backwards towards the dumpster and was knocked out.

The young man quickly sweeps away any dirt he had gotten off his shirt and looked at the two, now unconscious man. He walked towards the scarred face guy and searched his pockets for his wallet. He took out a black leather wallet and took from it all the money he could find, leaving behind an empty wallet. He then moved to the bald guy and did the same to him. As he finished looting the thugs, the young man walked out into the streets, back into the crowd but as he was a bout to step out, he sensed something. The young man turned around and looked up at one of the building's rooftop.

On it is a man dressed in leather jacket wearing a dark sunglass, looking down onto him. The young man puts his hood back, turned away, and disappeared into the crowd.

The man on the rooftop looks at the young man below as he disappears into the crowd. "So you have finally come out, King." he said and disappear as a flock of crows flies away.

No need to know

M.E was a shy boy, who lived near a large shopping mall, the largest in the region. He likes to surf the internet everyday, and rarely goes out with his friends. To him, his friend on the internet is more fun than the one outside.

M.E is also quite secretive. He likes to show that he doesn't like to watch a particular show, but in reality, he watches it and follows it closely than anyone could have imagined. He'd go around saying "I don't watch that kind of show" to everyone yet when someone asked him where to get a certain series, usually regarding idols, he'd answer it lightning fast. After that he'd edit his message and remove it before others could know about it.

One day, M.E met his friend, internet friend and on the internet, whom he had befriended for quite some time. They talked about everything from idols to games when suddenly, another one of his friend jumped into their conversation, this time, a girl. She asked whether anyone knew where to get a certain drama starred by certain idols from a certain group. His friend said he didn't know but M.E quickly and swiftly, pointed towards several websites to the girl. The three of them talked for awhile about the drama, and M.E's friend who could not contain his amazement anymore, asked M.E where did he knew all of that.

M.E, without realizing it, answered his friend's question much to his friend's amazement. His friend laughed hard upon hearing M.E's secret. The girl thanked M.E for the information and M.E immediately and swiftly deletes every message that was shown on the chat window. His friend asked him why did he did that in which M.E replied-

"There is no need for anyone else to know" he said, pointing at the other chatters who were asleep at the time.

His friend just laugh away as he watch M.E deletes every message from the chat window...

God! This is boring!

Greg is a university student at one of the famous universities in the US. He can be considered normal among his peers, not standing out too much from the crowd. He lives alone, he likes it, lack of friends is not a bother to him.

Greg's university life is a normal one. He goes to class everyday at noon and back before six in the evening. The circle have been going on for four years, but on the fifth, something happened. He entered his final year.
The research lab.

Greg likes doing research but he never expected it to be something like what he is seeing right now. Greg and 8 other new students that were added to the research lab was told to participate in the final year research presentation held by their seniors as an outside group. Greg was happy at first, but as the date of the presentation comes closer, he began to have second thoughts.

Then, on the day of the presentation, his worst fear, became a reality.

He and the other 8 have been scheduled to sit for all fourteen presentations, which, according to his calculation, would take the whole day to finish. Greg became frustrated. He did not mind one or two presentation, but all fourteen is out of his league. But since he already signed up, he had no choice but to watch the presentations.

The presentation began at ten in the morning and lasted for one and a half hour before their first break for the day. Greg, sitting at the corner of the room, had only one thought in his mind.

"God! This is BORING!!" he screamed in his head.

And then he fell asleep...