About Mark / A Night to Remember
The story is about Mark and a slightly peculiar night in Mark’s life. Mark a young man in his early twenties, whose wisdom tooth was only now starting to appear. Mark is about as normal as guys in his age would be. However, the main attributes in Marks characters are he has mood swings, hasty and impatient. Mark occasionally does Yoga and try’s to go out as often as he can, as he believes that boredom is the cause of mood swings and of that sorts. Mark like most troubled guys in his age prefers to be alone at home and doesn’t mix around much whilst at home. He has not been to any family gatherings/meetings for years and the family members according to him adapts to changes quite well. Mark was the only one in the family who was not in the family photo; he doesn’t blame the family for that. He was too busy hanging out with his friends at that time.
Recently among the many aunt of mark’s had a miscarriage. Mark didn’t favor the aunt but, being a human with emotions; he couldn’t help but feel sorry, even though he didn’t mention it. Mark, felt a little bothered he was practically the last person in the family who knew about it and if his brother Bark didn’t tell him about it. He’d never know, not that it makes any difference, thought Mark. When Bark told him about it, Marks response was “seriously? Ohh ok” that was Mark’s typical way of responding/reaction when told news like that. It was the exact way he reacted when his Mom told him about his aunt who lived far away was suffering from depression due to work stress. According to Mark, if u aren’t gonna do anything about an occurrence or unable to anything, there’s no need to do anything about it. It was when he was in his teens Mark decided that showing emotions was a sign of weakness and disappointment/ asking for sympathy. Over the years, watching too many ‘yakuza’ movies and sticking to his twisted belief, it became a habit. Mark however did show emotion or express his thoughts, when he was mad and it felt good for a while.
Mark when he was younger he used to think that friends are more important and reliable compared to his own family. Now that he has grown up and matured a bit, as he likes to think, thinks that friends are still important too but the only person one can rely on is their own self. There’s a saying about that, “the older you get, the colder you become” (don’t know whether it’s true or not, it depends on the individual, usually). Mark always wanted to be stronger and more independent so that he wouldn’t have to rely on others. Relying on others too much isn’t a good thing and not relying on anyone at all is just inhuman or more precisely, ignorant. Mark thinks that as a normal human, no matter how troubled or worst off others are a human will still think of themselves and concern over their lack of luck first. It’s all part of being human and being normal. Imagine a world where everyone cares about each other more than they care for their own well being. Mark shook his head as he was not able to imagine a world like that and was thinking to himself that he might get severe headaches if he continues to think about stuffs like that. Mark realizes that the world he lives in today has lost its tranquility, the simple essence of being kind. He hasn’t seen a simple, pure smile which thru it enables one to know that the person is truly calm,
Happy and satisfied. Mark like almost everyone like the idea of being different than others. Mark’s definition of being different, a person who does what they love and their main importance was not money. A person that works his butt of but not mainly for money, he didn’t like the idea of being filthy rich as he knows being rich only meant more problems, more insincere people and more people wanting to rob him of his money. Mark somehow feels really awkward when saying his definition of being different to his friends as they’ll often think that Marks just plain weird. All in all Mark believes that money shouldn’t be top priority even when life revolves around it and that calmness and feeling secure is crucial to him (did I mention that Mark doesn’t have a girlfriend?).
As much as he prefers to be alone, he was used to be alone from others too at times as he doesn’t really trust anyone, except for one person, who would think about mark first rather than her own self. He was her priority except when it comes to T.V sitcoms. She just freezes as if she was in a trance staring at the idiot box. She used to talk a lot and share things with Mark, but all in all she wasn’t really talkative which made Mark adore her more. Mark always wondered why women talk endlessly. He learned that once they stop talking, it’s worst off. Nowadays she just changes the curtain and Mark’s pillow covers and if she talks, she complains about how smelly the room is and that she can’t stand it. She had her birthday recently and Mark being Mark instead of greeting her said “sudah tua arr”. (Yes, Mark lives in Malaysia and his Malay is just fine) However, Mark knew she understands him, and he meant good at least that’s what he thought. He gave her, her present two days after that day, he felt obliged.
A Night to remember
It was a typical Sunday morning for Mark. It was hot, even when Mark just sat down doing nothing. The heat gets into him and by afternoon Mark already felt tired and weak. Later that evening, on Sunday nights Mark plays football with his close friends. It was a routine that they had. During the game Mark was dribbling the ball and was trying to get pass two players in front of him. While he was attempting to do that, he sped up his space and flicked the ball upwards so that he could completely get pass his opponents. Everything seemed going Mark’s way, when he was just about to go through them a friend from the opponent team tried to stop Mark from moving forward hence tried to block Mark from advancing. He somehow while trying to get the ball away from Mark hit Marks leg with his knee and Mark dived forward trying to minimize the injury. It was too late Mark got hit just above his right knee he was relieved that it didn’t get his knees. It would have been dangerous if it did. The impact was quite strong; the bruised part almost in an instant changed color and didn’t take long for it to swell up. It looked like Mark had a long knee. Quite to his surprise the pain didn’t really disabled him from continuing the game. After attracting all the attentions and receiving apologies. He continued playing, knowing that he wont be able to play for a while after this.
Mark came back after having their also routine “drink session” at a place called ‘Simple’. He showered despite knowing that it wasn’t healthy to shower at night, but it seemed like he didn’t have any choice. He switched on his pc and watched the latest episode of anime that was given to him by a friend earlier that night. He also turned on the T.V and watched the F1 race while waiting for the football match on a different channel. It was strange as only six cars took part in the race whilst the other teams were not taking part. It had something to do with the race track and the tire that was believed not suitable for the particular track. Mark had already changed the channel and was now watching the Brazil- Mexico game. He was distracted by the sound coming from the Pc; it was “Ave Maria” Mark liked the song. It sounded like the lady singing was telling a tale more than singing, it sounded sappy and even when he didn’t understand what the lady was singing he was quite sure she was singing about love. Mark, watching the T.V, listening to the commentator and listening to the song at switched of the “winamp window” and resumed watching the game till it reached half time.
During that time, Mark who was in his room decided to leave the room to get some fresh air. He went out, looked at his brother Bark who sat on the couch watching the same thing he did while he was in the room. He heard something in the back of his head said “we are wasting electricity”. He went back to his room and resumed watching the commercials while waiting for the game to start back. As seconds past by, Mark heard a knock on his door, his brother Bark rather excitingly shouted “dog fight!” pointing outside. Both of the brothers like to watch fights. It’s extra entertainment according to them. The termed used was “free show”. Mark and Bark stood between the upstairs hall and the balcony as it was divided by a metal railing. Mark heard dog barks and he saw a few of them. He climbed on the barrier to get a better view. Bark stood back and tried to see pass Mark. Both Mark and Bark then heard a faint sound of cat voice, the one usually heard on cat fights. Mark then said to Bark, “That’s not a dog fight!” and ran down the stairs in the dark without looking at it. Bark followed close behind. As they were looking for the keys to the front door in the dark, Mark heard his neighbor ‘Dark’ getting out of his house too. “He must’ve heard the commotions too”, thought mark. Dark got out sooner than the brothers did. They could see the dogs; one of the dogs had a cat in its mouth and was shaking it furiously from left to right. Dark was already running towards the dogs. The dog’s scattered and one was trying to take the cat with it. Luckily enough Dark’s perseverance paid off and the dog had no choice but to leave the cat and run for its own safety. Mark and Bark just then came to Dark’s aid (just like the police after a crime scene). Mark was scanning the outside of his home looking for a weapon, he found one and thought to himself, if anything happens he could use it to defend himself later. They all looked awed.
Dark had long dreads, is an atheist and a vegan and is believed to be in an underground band. The brothers thought that Dark was just a poser seeking for attention, at first that is. Now they just think that Dark’s just a little twisted, but Dark generally speaking is a good friend and a good neighbor to have. Being a vegan, Dark obviously love animals and was obviously fond with animals. The poor animal lying on the tar consumed street was in a very bad state. It was not a good sight. Mark and Bark stood back because of their inexperience with animals. They were looking at the cat breathing heavily; it looked like it had trouble breathing. Mark thought that was probably because of the exhaustion. Dark was now patting and stroking the animal. Furs were seen on the street. The cat had long Fur and was white and grey, it looked grayish then. Dark was looking for injuries sustained and was slowly examining the cat’s body. They found out that it had a deep wound at the back of its back near the skull, believed to be caused by the dogs that bit it. The tail seemed to be missing. The cat looked dreadful, but they didn’t know what to do.
The streets were lighted by a street light and from a few houses for security reasons. The cat’s panting didn’t seem to decrease. It was still breathing heavily, it was peculiar thought Mark. The cat tried to stand and when it was almost up. The cat’s head was tangling down. It was then they realized that its neck was broken. Dark was still mending the cat while the brothers looking upon helplessly. Dark then brought something to wrap the cat with and brought it in the porch where the light was much better and it was much safer there. Dark then took a damp cloth and cleaned the cat. It was noble of him. Mark, they all knew that the cat wouldn’t last long. He wanted to suggest putting the cat out of its misery, but didn’t do so as it would be insensitive. He kept his mouth shut and walked outside to look around and take a breather. Bark and Dark was discussing something.
Mark was slowly walking back and forth. He looked up towards the sky they weren’t too many stars that night. Remembering the cat panting, struggling to breathe reminded him of the day he saw someone murdered. He still get shivers when he thinks about it, he thought no matter how brave one think he is, after witnessing a brutal murder no one would be the same. He saw in front of his eyes a man beaten by a rather big metal device to his head several times followed by several more times of stabbing. He could hear the sound of metal hitting someone’s head. He could still remember the killers face looking at him. The quiet dark street that night still lingers in his mind till to day. It was then Mark decided that he didn’t want to end up that way and avoided living a dangerous life. He never told anyone but some of his friends about it. Some were terrified and didn’t want to listen till the end. Some just said “don’t interfere”.
Back to the cat, knowing that all they could do was to wait for the cat to pass away. Mark then said that he will be returning to the game. The game had already started. It didn’t appeal that much at that time. Brazil lost to Mexico. When he woke up in the afternoon the other day, he went looking for the cat and didn’t find it lying on the neighbor’s porch. He knew that the cat had died. When Bark woke up, Bark told Mark that the cat died at dawn and the owner was a young lady who lived a few houses away down the street, who looked quite cute, but that’s a different story.
Mark returned to his room, turned on the pc but was planning to read a book. Mark had weirder nights than the one he had last night, but this one will always be on his mind, as it was the night he got injured and as the night that disabled him from playing football for a while. It also did remind him of death and how vulnerable animals/humans (living things) are, but being typical and forgetful, it all seemed far-far away. Mark was once again bored.
