Size Seven Shoes

* Read Part 1 here .  Su Chen was never one to cry. Even in her younger days, where other children would bawl their lungs out if they had their toys taken away from them or if they were denied from savouring a favourite tasty treat, she would just stare blankly back at the adults that tended to her. It was as if nothing would faze her. In fact, her face rarely betrayed her emotion. Most times, it carried a cool, calm look which cleverly masked the turmoil of feelings that she wrestled with beneath the surface. If anyone were to have asked her why this was, she would have blamed her parents for it. She learned very early in her life that wearing her heart on her sleeve would not be acceptable to her parents. Especially if the emotions concerned were of the negative sort. Crying or throwing a tantrum when her parents denied her a request would only land her in worser punishment. So she wisened up and devised other ways to get what she wanted. One of her main tactics was t...

I felt a need to write fiction lately, so I decided to grab a picture prompt and give it a try. I have to dash off for a late dinner with my family now, so I suppose I'll come back later to finish this. Meanwhile, try reading through this and drop me a comment if this piques your interest to know what happens next: Source: 365 Pictures Prompts   (24 July 2011) She stared silently as the blackbird flew past her window against the backdrop of the shady trees. The air was calm and cool all around her, but inside her, thoughts were stirring. She recalled suddenly that blackbirds were birds of ill omen. For some strange reason, she couldn't remember where she had gotten that notion, but the moment the thought came to her, it made her squirm slightly in her seat. She stood and began pacing around the room. What had been merely peaceful a moment ago evoked a sense of uneasiness. The confines of her bedroom now felt somewhat stifling. Stealing a glance at her watch, she note...

Today is 9 July 2011 and the local time is 4.48pm. It is quiet over here as I type my post into my laptop while seated on my bed with the windows open. There is only the occasional sound of birds chirping from the nearby trees outside and the sporadic roar of cars as they make their way in and out of this peaceful neighbourhood. But it is by no means serene in other parts of the Klang Valley. Downtown in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital city of Malaysia, things are abuzz as huge crowds have gathered in various spots around the city. Their aim: to march towards the famed Stadium Merdeka in protest of the lack of free and fair elections in Malaysia. The catalyst? Bersih 2.0 , a self-proclaimed civil society movement which was re-launched this year and has been at the forefront of championing this cause. (Bersih, in our national language, Malay, means "clean".) National media has been peppered with reports of all kinds concerning Bersih for the past few weeks. News initi...