ok..
this blog is super dead..
and like what Nian Soon said:...it's hibernating..
Yo, it's me! Faizah! one of your so-called bloggers that's responsible for all entries of this website..
problem is that lately, ever since my post about introducing some story of mine, there hasn't been any single post at all..
honestly, i myself was trying to wait for either Yong Xiang or Filzah to update..
but i guess it can't be help...
WE HAVE PRELIMS, PEOPLE!~~!
yea..prelims were sucky, rite?
and o-lvls are in about 2 months time...talk about pressure..
so forgive us if the blog does not seem to be.....alive..
=)
sigh..you know..i'm supposed to email to Mrs. Sim a softcopy of my EL Prelim compo, but my thumbdrive last minute cannot be read by the computer, so every single one of my stories or videos that I made has a 50% chance of being gone FOREVER!!!...
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!
Lols...yeah i'm freaking out...
but hey, we're all teenagers, ain't??
we sure do suffer all the ups and downs of life in our teen years...
we fall, but there is always the strength to get back up on your feet..
don't be crestfallen by the prelim results, take it as a..stepping stone..
~smiles~
alright I'm going to end this post off with a compo...
yeah, i know what you're thinking...
"Huh?", "Huh?" and "Huh?", right??
well this compo is something that i did in my free time...
and fortunately, i had it uploaded in my blog before my thumbdrive breakdown..
anyway, the compo is of a free topic..so there's no questions to spark the escapade off..
hope you all enjoy reading it...
I got the inspiration [for this particular story] from a book called "The Eyeball Collector"..
its an interesting read...
till the next "hibernating season"!!!



“Bingo!” Mark Damen, the ingenious host, cheered stridently and clapping incessantly as I was able to answer the six-hundred-thousand-dollar riddle that flashed through the screen only moments ago. The crowd roared deafeningly, hurting my sensitive eardrums further and I couldn’t help but to just cover them. It was crazy, but I guess everyone’s fired up since I was able to make it to the seventh round, which only three got through in the previous episodes several weeks ago. They really can’t help it, since it’s “The Riddler Show”, a successful money-making, and money-winning, game that asks a total of ten questions in ten rounds without getting any, incorrect. And after twenty-one episodes, I am one of four who was able to pass onto the seventh round!

Each round, if deemed right, will earn the player a total of one hundred thousand dollars for one riddle and with ten rounds, I’m aspiring to win the one-million-dollar prize money. Only one, out of the previous three, was able to stream his way to the final round, but failed to answer unerringly. But I’m not that man, who participated for the wealth, but I did it because I was desperate.

“There was once a kingdom where it was a crime to tell a lie, the punishment being death,” the formally-dressed host dictated the seventh riddle. “A young man travelled to the kingdom and heard about the crime of lying. ‘That is nonsense,’ he declared to the townspeople. ‘If I were to tell a lie in this kingdom, I will not be put to death!’

“ ‘That’s a lie!’ shouted the crowd, and the young man was arrested by the King’s guards nearby. The very next day, he was brought before the King and a jury of twelve. ‘You have been found guilty,’ the King said. ‘You must say one last thing before you die, but be warned: if your statement is true, then you will be given a strong sleeping draught and you will die painlessly. But if your statement is a lie, then you will be burned alive and die screaming.’

“The young man spoke only one sentence in reply and the King had no choice but to release him,” a smile cracked across his rectangular wrinkled face. “So the question to the riddle is: What did the young man say?”

One thing about riddles is that it requires ingenuity and careful thinking for the solution. At times, the answer can be found lingering in the question or right under one’s nose. Sometimes, even, answers that was not meant to be. But if a lie was told to be a truth, then the truth can no longer sustain its true meaning or effect as it had before. I inhaled deeply before answering what I thought should be right, “The young man said to the King, ‘I will be burned’.”

The elephantine white screen in front of me, which displayed the whole riddle, turned a light shade of green, with a tick just as big, which meant I was right. A pang of relief hit me on the back, as I couldn’t help but smile myself. I was finally another step closer to the one-million dollars, which is another step nearer to the dead end of my worries. My wife and I would finally have peace, with our two children without fear any longer. I was starting to feel confident of the next and would, again, wish for Lady Luck to be by my side.

Eighth and ninth were close calls. Consecutive rounds were simply getting more and more arduous in their degree of difficulty level. Like a stock market, my self-esteem has gone through a rapid sharp drop. It took me longer than usual to answer ‘The Landlord’s Pickle’, the ninth riddle to which I was required to think of a solution to fit ten men in nine rooms when neither would want to share one. My hands shooked vigorously, as if I had Hypoglycemic attack, frightened out of my wits for the million-dollar question. It was definitely not going to be facile.

However, if I do not, I would lack a total of a hundred thousand dollars to him, Jeremiah Ratchet, my saviour and my aggressor.It was difficult leading a married life with everything turning against you. What more me, an orphan with no family or proper education, bombarded with this city’s life, stand? And my lovely wife, she supported me, but every ounce of it was filled with bills, loans and most of all, paper with dollar signs on it. We were on the verge of bankruptcy and forced to stray along the streets if we did not liquidate. Jeremiah, our neighbour, was courteous enough to loan me five hundred thousand dollars.

“The final riddle!” Mark Damen declared to the entranced audience before staring back at me. “Will he be our first winner to walk away with one million dollars?!”

Screams of cheers and jeers engulfed the silence, but as soon as the red-haired host lifted his hand to quiet the audience, he walked to center stage. “This will be one of the most difficult riddles that I have ever made. And I’ve decided that you, my friend, take on the toughest of the tough!” he threatened with a smug on his face, but I was all ears. “The riddle is: E.”

“E?” I asked, slumped with utter confusion, ignoring the many whispers that the audiences were exchanging.

“E, plain and simple,” repeated Host Mark. “Can you solve it?”

A one hundred percent extra, was what that went through my mind when he gave the riddle. It was when Jeremiah wanted me to settle the debt I had with him the day after. I was dumbfounded and not keen at all, refusing to give another five hundred thousand. Nevertheless, he took drastic measures and my wife suffered the worst. A miscarriage and only two fingers left on her left hand were just acts of the devil indeed. And to prevent any more of my wife’s ‘limbs’ to be cut of one’s own volition, I concede defeat, and relented to his request. This next answer will be my last chance.

“Hmm,” I wondered aloud. “A single letter. Maybe it has lost its fellow letters? Perhaps it comes from a word that has shrunk and all that is left is ‘e’…”

“The word is…” I bit my lips and closed my eyes. “Senselessness!”

The host literally staggered back before stammering in the microphone, “We ha…have a…winner!”

The happiness inside of me was so great and unimaginative, that it simply can’t be expressed in words. I wanted to faint, to grip onto something to contain my exultancy. My body grew numb as I couldn’t feel the host’s hand slap on my back, congratulating me for my success. All I could do was grin. I could feel the edges of my mouth stretching further and also the formation of wet salty tears of my blue eyes.

I saw flashes of what seem to look like my future, buoyant with no troubles. My wife would be in the pink of health and my children will receive a much better childhood than I did. Free from Jeremiah’s clutches was probably one of the best. Today I’m going home a lucky free man. No one can tear me away from this erratic moment of triumph. The answer somewhat described me, reminded of myself.

Senselessness. If the word were to be split into three parts – sense / less / ness, and if the part: ‘less’ were to mean fewer or subtract, this derives the word as ‘sense’ subtract the letters of ‘n e s s’. This leaves a single ‘e’.

-----------------------------------------------------------------Signed off By Vampyre Tiadora