晴

This story is for all of you with a little bit too much pasta on your pasta bracelets.

I was on the bus from school today and I was nearly home. As I reached out to press the alighting bell, which rang with an angry buzz, something on a man's wrist caught my eye.

It resembled a string of different brightly-coloured pasta tubes looped around his wrist. Residing between a bracelet of brown spherical beads and a couple of leather cords, it really looked quite out-of-place. Especially since the owner of this wrist was someone you'd call "uncle", his bare feet resting on the floor of the bus and his worn-out sandals kicked aside.

Of course, at that moment, the bus pulled to a stop and I got off pretty hastily. It was late, and I wanted to be home as quickly as I could.

Some thoughts, albeit pretty judgemental, were running through my mind. Firstly, he's a man! Why is he wearing bracelets? Secondly, if that was a pasta bracelet, why would he wear it out? Thirdly, is that really a pasta bracelet?

So for the rest of my story to work out, I assumed that it was indeed a pasta bracelet. And I calmed the gender stereotypical part of me down and accepted that, yes, men can and do wear accessories. And my final thought was: this man must be a father.

I guessed that his pasta bracelet must have been made by one of his children or grandchildren and given to him as a gift. Even though he probably knew that others might judge him for that colourful band of pasta, he wore it for the happiness of the person who made it for him.

As I walked home fron the bus stop, another thought popped up in my mind. Whoever made him the bracelet really knew him.

Sure, making a pasta bracelet may be easy. Just paint some pasta in different colours, slip them on some cotton twine and tie a knot.

But if there are too few pieces of pasta, it would look ugly, with gaps here and there. And if there are too many, the bracelet would be too loose for the wrist, and might just slip off.

We all have metaphorical pasta bracelets on our wrists. Some red pasta tubes for academics, a couple of green ones for soccer practice, blue ones for practicing your violin, purple ones for your social life.

Each pasta piece represents a commitment. If you undercommit, you might not be doing yourself justice. Yet if you overcommit, you might lose control of everything, all at once.

Each individual has a different-sized wrist, with varying abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Yet, our society favours huge wrists with many different coloured pasta pieces, bracelets almost to the point of bursting, perfectly painted pasta bracelets. But that won't make you happy.

I hope that you know yourself, and carefully study your own wrist, before building your pasta bracelet. Sometimes, some colours simply don't look right on you, and you might need to find another colour that fits better. But because these are all committments, it might not be easy to change the pasta on your bracelet without cutting the string. And don't forget to slip on a couple of unpainted pieces of pasta, to allow yourself space to relax.

This story is for all of you with a little bit too much pasta on your pasta bracelets. I hope you realise it before the bracelet falls off your wrist, and change it to suit yourself. Have fun, and all the best.

words.

can I confide in you?

it's a little past midnight. the question is twirling swirling whirling in my head.

the LED on my phone is shining orange. a dull orange.

so, may I know? can I confide in you?

emotions to thoughts, thoughts to words, words that invoke emotions, half-written words bring half-felt emotions.

I want to just say all I feel. how I'm tired of all """, that they all have """ so I'm not as

dis joint.

princess to rags.

stop """g me """! I hate being """, I want to cry out,

it's going swimmingly.

Words Cannot Be Said, it's not even to You???

can I confide in you?

the answer is no,

I'm too tired of being tired
too scared to be scared
too angry to be angry

this is going Swimmingly.

lightenUP the mood yeah?

oh god I sound emo af, rest assured am not, just in post-anime mood (looking back from a few months later - reminder: that anime was akatsuki no yona)

pretty depressed and praying for season 2