wonderful moment. They beamed at their cameras, looking very happy. Yet, I stood still in the theatre, watching props, chairs, and tables being collected. The theatre looked emptier and emptier. More and more photos were taken. There were fewer and fewer things I could do. Then everything that we built was gone. So were my friends.
Since then I had a recurring dream. In that dream, I was still learning about contemporary music in Cheung Chau with all my buddies. Chatting. Laughing. Going down the hill to grab some local street food. Returning to the campsite and thinking about the final performance. I then heard the swirling sound of water. It continued to get louder until it became unbearable and woke me.
The traffic lights turned green, and I soon found the restaurant. My friends were already sitting and chatting there. I greeted Connor, George and the others. Then, we ordered some dishes and drinks. The drinks arrived sometime later. The liquid on the surface moved and reflected lights from certain angles. In the restaurant, our chatters became indistinguishable. I later finished my tea and refilled my cup.
“ Hey, Petra,” Connor turned to me and started,“ if it wasn’ t you, we’ d never see each other again. Thanks for inviting us!”
“ Of course that’ s not true,” I said, squeezing out a smile.“ But thanks.”
“ Seeing all your faces reminds me of our group performance,” Connor continued, giving a chuckle.“ I still listen to the background music we used in the performance sometimes, and I couldn’ t help but to think about it.”
The performance …
“ I wish we had more time to make it better,” Connor rested his chin on the right hand.
These words hit me like a hard wooden stick against a copper bell. A sudden surge of anger took over me.“ No! The performance was perfect just the way it was!” I stormed.“ The reason I invited you all here is to try to relive the moments when we were preparing for the performance.
The performance is the best, best, best memory I have.”
The indistinct chatter died away. On a table near us, the beer was poured from the container, again making a resounding swirling sound. And then I couldn’ t feel myself, as if fading.
“ This will be,” I swallowed and said,“ the last time I invite you all.”
Connor and George looked at me but remained silent.
“ Well,” George finally said,“ we can certainly gather somewhere when we’ re free.”
“ Yeah.”“ Of course we can.”“ After my exam, I’ ll have plenty of time.”
We began to head home. Waiting for the traffic light one road away from the station, I saw some vehicles drive to the right and some to the left. The scene repeated hundreds of times. The light turned green. Finally, we came to our point of departure and took some group photos as always. I said goodbye to Connor, George, and the others and watched them go for some moments. Meanwhile, the traffic lights turned red and the cars stopped, accumulating on the road. I took a deep breath and entered the station. While descending the stairs, I heard cars revving their engines.
Tyler majors in English at EdUHK. He established his own blog, tylerhhwong. wordpress. com, and writes for the EdUHK Editorial Board. He enjoys writing for the expansion of human knowledge with a cup of chocolate sundae at McDonald’ s.
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