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Small Talk:
Sorry, I’ve been leaving this place stagnating for a while. You know how it gets when you’re a Uni student. When it gets to crunchtime, you barely get any time to sleep or do much else. Not to mention some other obligations. Today was a major relief, considering I slept for about 11 hours - probably a retribution for the 3-hour naps I’ve been getting the past couple of days.

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I lifted my chin up. My head felt as though a 15kg counter-balancing weight was suspended in the cavity where my brain was supposed to be. It’s a strange feeling, actually. If my head were to tilt in one direction, it felt as though there’s an inner momentum pushing it further. I tried shaking it off, but that only made it worse. Instead of a linear motion, now I’m suffering from perpetual multidirectional angular inertia - if such a phenomena even exists.

I got up, washed my hands and looked down at the deep well of transluscent yellow green, making ripples as some unknown kinetic forces travel through it from within its ceramic chamber. It emanates a most unfamiliar odor. More ripples appeared out of nowhere. I began to wonder if my own urine was mocking me. I leaned forward, the suspended weight in my skull drawing my shoulders closer, surrendering to the apathetic might of gravity.

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“Okay, I’m going to need two strong men down here,” called a voice from below.

Without hesitating, a young man rolled up his sleeves and took off his sandals. He gave the man below a light nod and knelt before descending six feet into the amber and rust-coloured earth. The was a small crowd gathered around, mostly family and close friends.

He stood between a large burly man, who called just now, and another, much slimmer young man clad in weathered jeans and a thin plain white t-shirt. On level ground, most of the men were seated with their legs folded, others chose to stand. Some women were quietly reading prayers, or citing Quranic verses in between muffled sobs and restrained tears. The undertaker, the large man, called out. Some of the men above took the body and placed it just at the edge of the grave.

“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’ll bring this body down, lay him in that cavity and prop him up good. Reach your hand out and hold it from the other side. We lift it on my count,” said the undertaker, briefing his helpers. The young man who stood in the middle reached out and held his father by the waist. At that moment, he thought back of the times he has spent together with the old man. His thoughts flew back to his pre-teen years.

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Her wavy blond locks fluttered in the cold autumn winds. She pulled her coat closer and quickened her pace as she made her way to the meeting place. The sounds of heels and soles clicking and tapping the street made for a harmonious melody coupled with the unintelligible mix of voices, sirens and purrs of engines from the plethora of passing vehicles.

Her client made a rather unusual request that day.

“Now that we both know how we look like, I want you to greet me with a big hug and a peck on the cheek - like we’re lovers long separated.”

It’s not as though she has never dealt with client requests and fetishes, but an act like that was the first time. Thinking that she should toss the awkwardness aside and play along with it, she pushed the cafe doors open and scanned the area for a moderately plump man in his late 20’s.

“Ellen! Over here!” came a voice from a corner, and she spotted a man with a 38″ waistline. He was dressed neatly, and looked like any other decent, well-to-do average guy. It didn’t quite match the image of a sexually frustrated chump that her client claimed himself to be. Remembering her role, she broke into a wide smile and happily exclaimed and she skipped to the window-side corner of the cafe. “Ron!”

True to his request, she gave him a peck on the cheek and gave his broad chest a brief hug. Just moments before she was about to let go, a pair of warm hands enveloped her and Ron’s head planted itself firmly into her left shoulder, drawing her own chest deeper into his embrace. He grazed his nose on her cheek and took a deep breath, devouring the scent of her flowing hair before quietly breathing a whisper into her left ear,

“Lovely. Is that Lavender?”

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“You have…five…new voice messages…”

A strong beep followed the hollow digital voice of her answering machine.

“…Jane? Hey, it’s Vlad, I’m gonna be in town this week. Let’s catch up over some coffee whenever you’re free. Did you change your cell number? Mine’s still the same. Call me back…BEEP…”

She put down her briefcase gently on the dining table and let out a long sigh.

“…Hey, honey. Your dad and I are taking a break for a while, and we’re thinking of stopping by you kids’ place over the weekend. He said he wants you to be our tour guide around New Heliopolis. I’ll call again soon!….BEEP…”

She ignored the rest of the messages and went into the bathroom for a shower. She had been up working all night and she hadn’t washed up properly for over 12 hours.

“…Hey Jane, it’s Michelle. Looks like he was trying to get my attention, after all! I win this one, and you owe me lunch. Oh, and I heard from Oz that you stayed up all night in the office just for the Fortunas’ asswipe’s account. Ek-ehem, as your boss, I hereby command you to sleep in and skip work tomorrow! Mmmuahs! Seeya, sweetie!..BEEP…”

She burst out laughing in the shower as she heard the message. Showering with the bathroom doors open has become a habit of hers for the past few days. Clad in her bathrobe with a towel neatly wrapped around her scalp, she walked out of the shower and made her way towards the kitchen. She could see that it was still bright outside.

“…You forgot to charge your phone again, didn’t you, Jane? I knew you caught on Mom’s habit with phones, haha! Anyway, I’m staying over at Kei’s place. We’re gonna work on his silly android all night, so I’m having dinner with him. I’ll be back by, I dunno, around lunch tomorrow maybe? Don’t miss me!…BEEP…”

She walked out of the kitchen with a can of beer in one hand and a novel in the other. For that moment she was glad to have brought all of her unread books from Earth. Martian bookstores haven’t been very kind with their book pricing. She slid open the balcony glass doors and sat herself in a hammock. Taking a comfortable posture, she opened the can of beer with a light frizzle and white bubbles frothed gently at the mouth.

“…Hi, honey. I’m sorry I can’t go watch the meteor shower with you tomorrow night. There’s been a robbery at a drugstore and I’ve been assigned to it. Let’s tour the Aegean Crater next week, I know a place with great noodles and you can see the Aegean Canyons from the restaurant, too- What!? Do you mind? I’m on the phone! Yeah, okay, okay..Honey, I’m sorry, I’m really, REALLY sorry. Call me back, please? I love you…BEEP“

Hell if I care, she thought, I’m too tired for that sex-under-the-falling-stars crap, anyway. She emptied the beercan in three big gulps, opened a random page in the book, and placed it over her face. Her head towel came off and within seconds, she dozed off into a blissful slumber under the blue sun and a blood-red Martian sky.

“…you have…zero…new voice messages.”

The little boy ran along the beach, happily skipping away with a stick in one hand and an empty pail in the other. Cheerfully he was jumping around, yelping at the cold that tickled everytime the gentle waves washed away at his feet.

Suddenly he saw an old man sitting atop a huge boulder. His thick gray beard almost appeared to muffle him, and his bald head glistened in the light of the evening sun. His skinny frame easily showed through his thin white t-shirt and pale beige khaki’s folded right up to the knees.

The boy quietly approached him, careful not to disrupt the old man’s concentration. The boulder was huge, from where the boy was standing, he had to look up pretty high to where the old man was peacefully seated, legs crossed, fingers interleaved.

‘I wonder if he’s sleeping’ thought the boy.

Just a few inches below the old man’s crossed legs were letters carved into the boulder, facing the sea. It read ‘GOD’. ‘This must be his name’ thought the boy again. He looked up to old man again, this time, attempting to study his face. He squinted his eyes a little bit to capture even the slightest detail.

“Yes, my boy?” said the old man.

Surprised that the quiet figure suddenly spoke, the boy got startled and fell on his butt-cheeks, where the waves instantly greeted them with its cool wetness. ‘Oh, so he wasn’t sleeping after all.’ thought the boy.

“I like watching the sunset like this. The sun isn’t so harsh at this time of the day, and everything just looks that much more beautiful.” said the old man.

The boy, still sitting, turned around to face the sea. Indeed, the sky was red and orange and yellow, and further up it was also purple and blue and violet. The sea sparkled as if gold dust was sprinkled all over it. Captivated by the sight, the boy nodded in agreement. He turned back to the old man and asked “Are you, um,..”

He paused for a brief moment and looked at the carved letters on the boulder.

“What is it, boy?” asked the old man.

“Are you God?”

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