I slowed down my pace as I watched a girl lift a bulky camera, pointing it upwards at a bank of clouds. It was a majestic sight that greeted me when I looked up into the sky: behind the large masses of clouds which seemed concrete with their clear outlines was a bright patch where, no doubt, the sun had retreated. Call it good fortune if you will, I had never encountered such an image for the past few weeks when I've taken this route by foot after my late afternoon classes on Thursdays.
Why walk, rather than take a shuttle bus back to where I parked? Well, since my class ended around six in the afternoon, taking the bus was out of the question because the rush hour traffic congestion would stretch a 10-minute bus ride to a more ridiculous duration. Walking would be a better option. That was what a senior advised me during my orientation, what, two? three? years ago. It was the last class of my entire degree, so I might as well savour this final walk.
The ebb and flow of my emotions was determined by each flashback of memories that alternately trailed behind me, skipped ahead of me and walked beside me with a heavy arm draped over my shoulder lazily, like a long lost friend. People sing songs and mourn for those who got away, but nobody cares enough about those who left behind. Why? Perhaps there's no poetry in it. You can only face the stark reality and pick up the pieces of you that still can be recovered.
For the past 11 months, I've been taking photos of the places surrounding my university, which sadly still doesn't have a permanent and integrated campus. Big franchises and small enterprises around the university all closed one by one, turning the area into one which resembled a ghost town. I thought I should keep some pictures in case I get nostalgic in the years to come.
In your life, you meet people. Some you never think about again. Some, you wonder what happened to them. There are some that you wonder if they ever think about you. And then there are some you wish you never had to think about again. But you do. — C. S. Lewis
