"In Memoriam" by KENT

Hi. Please don't read this. I don't want anybody getting a dose of my guilt. I'm just posting this as a self-reminder.

This post is in honor of my pet dog Kira, who died just a few moments ago.

The puppy who immediately acknowledged me as his father.

The puppy who grew up to be a hyperactive living tornado.

The dog whose brother died long before him.

The dog who kept people away from our house, friend or foe.

The dog who barked loud but ran away in the face of danger.

The dog who just LOVED fireworks.

The dog who made every stressful day at school better by simply welcoming me home.

The dog who thought he was a cat.

The dog we left behind when we had to move to this apartment.

The dog who still welcomed me every time I came for a visit.

The dog who missed and loved me completely.

The dog who thought we would be coming back for him.

The dog who wondered why we didn't visit often, and why we always had to leave.

The dog who barked for us to stay.

The dog who cried every time we closed the gate on him.

The dog who slowly got depressed as he lost hope of ever sharing a home with us.

The dog who slept alone every night inside the house that used to be OUR home, not just his.

The dog whose energy started to deteriorate with every disappointing visit.

The dog who I will remember not for all the happy times we spent together.

The dog I'll remember because I killed him by being happy without him here.

The dog I'll remember because I forgot about him.

The dog who we finally were able to take home with us.

The dog who taught me the concept of "too late."

The dog who lived with us for an entire week, but has been dead long ago.

Kira just wanted to be with us. He just wanted to be with us again. He waited and waited and waited for us. And now that we were reunited, he decided it was time for him to leave.

He made it clear to me that he still loved me. He cuddled me to say that he just didn't have the energy to show it to me now.

Part of me wanted him dead too. And it's not because he was suffering. It's because he kept reminding me of what I didn't do for him. I wanted him to go to a better place. To leave us, because we didn't deserve him.

I did love Kira. I wish I just showed it more. Shit. I do this to people, 'cause I don't want to feel like this when they die. But I overlooked my dog, I guess. I wasn't as expressive to him as I wanted to be.

The last act of love I could do was carry him out of our home. "It's over, buddy. You did it! You made it here! And we had a blast. I know you're tired. Now rest."

"Missing Things!" by DEV

Greetings, alien dudes!

I, the awesomazing Dev, have successfully resigned from my job. And as some of you gossips already know, Ark has too. Now let's get back to business.

I never thought that I would miss a few things from that place. And no, they're not sentimental shit that I got attached to. This list is mostly of useless stuff that I surprisingly miss.

(and I still miss it. Sorta.)

MY LIST OF STUFF THAT I SURPRISINGLY MISS (and why I think I miss them):

1. The Ketchup Machine

--> This little devil was a complicated piece of machine. But for some reason, I totally got how to disassemble AND reassemble it! How awesome is THAT! Of course the only reason you're gonna want to do all that is to clean the insides.

But to think you'd go through all that trouble just for a machine that only does ONE THING??? Unbelievable. (Yeah, all it does is give you ketchup, whaddaya expect?) Still, it's one of the few Earth machines I've managed to "understand." I love this thing.

(it does NOT look like this. it's far more complicated.)

2. The Dust Pan

--> It's not JUST a dust pan. It's one of those thingies that was really easy to open. It made sweeping the floor fun. I wanted one at home, and I still do.

3. Le Winterhalter

--> Which is just a fancy term for "dish washing machine." Yes it cleans DISHES, not CLOTHES. How awezome is that??? These things get me real excited.

It takes what, like 2 minutes to clean 5000 plates! (Just an estimate. I think it can clean, like 50 plates at once.) It has this bad habit if getting broken every day, but it's pretty easy to fix. How can you wash all those plates without the Winterhalter? YOU CAN'T. So put up with its crazy.

4. The Holder Thingy of The Ice Scooping Thingy

--> See we have this ice scooper, for scooping...ice. It's got this little holder. This said holder ABSOLUTELY HATES ME. It falls on the ice every time I try to use it. Makes you wanna scream "Fine! Stay there in the cold, freezing hell where you belong!!! Whatever."

Don't get me wrong, I will miss my cute arguments with this inanimate object.

(ice cream not included.)

5. The Mobile Bin!

--> Okay, I lied. I wasn't so surprised that I miss the mobile bin (it's this giant container for taking trash to other wonderful places like the dump site.) In fact I told one of my coworkers that I'll be missing it, once I leave the job. And you might be wondering why the heck would a devilish angel like me miss a stupid gigantic trash can with wheels? Well it was my friend. Sorta.

It was this guy's friend too.

Taking it to the dump site wasn't so much fun...oh wait, yes it was. 'cause the last thing you're supposed to do at work is to take out the trash. You know what THAT means? Taking the mobile bin means your shift is about to end.

You get to go home after!

AWEZOME!

And you get to strut sexily as you look at your coworkers, knowing that they'll be staying there for a couple more hours before they can take the bin for a ride. "Yep, see yeah guys."

And like what I said one sentence ago, "yep, see yeah guys."

"Glorious Victory" by ARK

I did it! I survived!

Two months of stay in a world completely unfamiliar--and I came out alive!

I will not deny the fact that I was really stressed out during my stay there, and I do not think the pay was worth it. In fact, I wouldn't be so happy to leave if I enjoyed myself.

But I will also not deny that I made a couple of new friends, faced real challenges and learned a LOT of things. These will come in handy some time in the future.

During my stay, I've had my share of everything there was to experience. I was forced to do things I wouldn't have tried otherwise. I was forced to handle difficult tasks on my own. I was forced to seek out other people's help. Force was my teacher.

It pushed me off the tree so I would open my wings and fly.

Because of it, I was reborn. I know how to maneuver in the air now. And it was all because I had no choice but to soar.

The entire thing was an uncomfortable learning experience.

No two days were the same, I could swear to that. Work hours were ever-changing and unpredictable. No time to get used to anything. Stopping in the middle of a race would mean an instant loss. Stopping in the middle of a fight would be the death of you. And in this industry, stopping for a quick breath is no different.

Multi-tasking, quick thinking, on-the-spot memorization, strength, a sturdy sense of judgement, and self-respect--these are just some of the weapons you will be made to wield if you ever enter this battlefield.

I couldn't brag much, because I am in no way comparable to the crew who've been working there for ages. Some crew claimed that even those who were hired at the same time as I was, were already better than me. They said I was being left out.

But I was never left out. I shined on my own. I had traits and skills nobody else had, like say, handling the customers with an unlimited patience. Only I had that. Only I was able to prove my point without sounding arrogant or cocky.

For that they called me intelligent. For that I gained their respect.

And it's not like I was the slowest crew. I had my share of praise for being good at what I was doing.

I wasn't the best. I couldn't prove myself worthy to a lot of them. But to me, I've been doing really well. I was being excellent, beyond my standards.

I've been reaching heights I was too afraid to go to.

It was scary, but flying alone with a heavy burden was something I've never done before. I am proud of myself for having survived all that. I will never forget any of it.

Last night as we closed the store, I couldn't help but glance at everything one last time--for the next time I visit it, I will not be allowed to go inside. As I walked away from the fast food that has been my home for two months, I thought: "The feeling of glorious victory...I survived!"

I left happily.