A day in 2035
Hey to all. The last we left off, we were all 29 years old, each having a bright future ahead of us. Let me now fast forward another 15 years. However, I must first add a disclaimer. The following may contain unfavourable circumstances to some, but please remember that this is just my imagination and may not happen in real life.
After stepping out of my interrogation room for the first time in three days because I was getting to the bottom of a punk who decided he'd take a chance and try to cheat in my casino under my watch. Fat chance. Feeling happy that I would not have to give any lectures at the polytechnic which I was working for on a part time basis, I decided to pay a visit to one of the nightlife hotspots in Clarke Quay. On the way there, I got a call from Jocelyn Quek who informed me that she had just gotten another call from Amanda, who is the current head of A & E Department of a hospital. To cut the long story short, someone had been admitted into the hospital this afternoon. Someone we all knew too well. Jun Ting. Apparently one of his clients was a lousy driver and when he took the car for a test drive, decided to speed and crashed into a tree. Jun Ting was inside the car and the airbags saved him from damage, but haemorragging had taken place and he was unconscious at the moment.
I rushed down to the hospital. Once there, I found Jocelyn and Amanda standing outside his room. We called some of our other ex-NPCC pals to notify them about this freak accident. Soon, I saw Aaron running down the hallway to meet us. Though Aaron now owned a car dealership of his own and Jun Ting was supposedly his main rival, they still kept in contact.
In the next one hour, we were joined by Junde, Samantha, Charles, Wei Siang and Yong Li. They all expressed their shock at this sudden turn of events. We tried contacting the others but the others were uncontactable. Charles told me that Meiqi was in China on a mission trip with her church. I was shocked to realise that people like Hui Ting, Rebecca, Baoyi, Yong Yi and Michelle had long ago emigrated.
At the end of the day, Jun Ting pulled through. But the things I learnt were far more appalling. I realised, that we, the 4th squad of NCHS NPCC, had drifted apart. No matter how much we had promised ourselves that we would always stick together, the brutality of life in the real world drove us apart. We were too busy, with our own lives, to bother with the seeming frugality of friendships. As I thought back to 32 years ago, when our lives intertwined for the first times, I realise the purity of the friendships we had back then. Back then, all we ever worried about was schoolwork and heart matters. Now, all we ever cared about was how to make money, how not to waste money, and how to get all the money in the world...
Okay. I'll be the first to admit that this post is a little downcast and the mood and setting of the scenario is horrible. Horrible. However, there will come a time when such a thing might happen, whether or we intentionally wish for it or not. But that's life for you and me. But for now, who wants to join me in this pledge? "We will stick together. Through bitterness and strife, through good times and bad, through joys and sorrows, come what may, Squad 3 '06 WILL stick together." (Yes I know I used these phrases in my article, but it applies to this now and I'm lazy to think up something new.)
I end this post with another quote I found. This is Dan, signing off for now. I promise that Part 3 will be a more light hearted affair.
“From quiet homes and first beginnings,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There’s nothing worth the price of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends”
~ Joseph Hilaire Belloc (English writer)
