1. They say, a picture tells a thousand words. But this picture invokes a thousand questions inside my head. Can we, in any way possible, be able to predict the future?
2. During my nostalgic primary school, I was blessed with an array of great friends. They were my former pillar of strength, guiding me through the swathe of uncertainties, cruising together through the folly of youth, braving together through the endless joy of being young and playful kids.
3. We had zero problem back then. All day long, we just think about playing. Everyday was about playing here and there. School happened to be our big and ready playground. Boys and girls mixed naturally...although girls tend to appear a bit mature in personality and bigger physically. I remember I once regarded Halimah as " a dinasour " due to her apparent physical dominance.
4. One thing I remember very clearly, the constant teasing of me having a 'feeling' for Khadijah. I don't know how it all started...but it began to gain momentum once Azimie entered the fray.
5. It was a well kept secret that I had a crush on Busra. Busra was a special girl...with a special aura of attracting people. She was a magnet of attention among boys. She was there with me from standard 2. She and me moved up the ladder until we found our way in 6 Berlian, the best class in the school.
6. I liked her very much back then. I used to carve her name on the ground outside my house. But to tell her my real feeling is like committing a suicide. No way I'll reveal my feeling to her...imagine the embarrasment if she rejected me. So I conceal my true feeling. Soon with the passing of time, this feeling evaporated.
7. Out of nowhere, rumours abound that I liked Khadijah. From every corner of the class, everybody keep teasing me and her. Even Busra herself hopped on the bandwagon. I was left feeling clueless and confused.
8. Azimie, my close friend, was the main perpetrator of the gossip. He teased me to no end...I even didn't dare speaking or looking at Khadijah for fear of being in the unnecessary spotlight of attention. Zahid even created a special acronym for us, "SK" which stood for 'Suhaimi and Khadijah'. It was very silly.
9. Khadijah was a good girl. But I have no feeling for her whatsoever. Even she was quite disturbed by the gossip, perpetrated and spread by Azimie and the gang. But she kept her calm and talked to me as nothing happened.
10. The gossip cooled down a bit when we were assigned a new desk in the classroom. I was partnered with Ayu. Together with Ayu, we devised a secret way of communicating. For example, 'tff zpv' means 'see you'...just replaced the word with the earlier alphabet (S comes before T, E before F, and so on...)
11. Busra, Azimie and Khadijah continued their studies in Sek Men Jitra, while I was being shipped off into exile in Malacca. So we were being separated for the first time. I lost contact with them for five long years.
12. 6 years on, Azimie finally revealed to me he is dating Khadijah! He claimed to have the 'feeling' since the early period of secondary school, and managed to keep the feeling intact throughout the entire 5 years. He didn't have guts to express his feeling...so he suppressed his love for her all this while.
13. Late last year, they tied the knot. Now Khadijah is officially the wife of Azimie. The one who was responsible to initiate a mass gossip between me and Khadijah nearly 12 years ago, is now married to...guess what...Khadijah herself...the main subject of his own gossip.
14. If somebody used a time machine and flew back 12 years in time to tell me in advance that Azimie is going to marry Khadijah in the end, no way could I have believe that. But after all, we can't predict the future...aren't we? Hope their marriage stays right to the end...
