Love gone Sour

In the previous post the author tried his hand at being an investment analyst. The world of numbers and figures fascinated him, and he made a rally through their most convoluted hair-pin turns. Deviating from his usual destination, the driver veered recklessly in the opposite direction. Passengers who did not fasten their seat belts found themselves caught off guard. But things have only just started to get heated up. In this post, he makes another capricious manoeuvre, this time into the wildly imaginative world of a playwright. The characters in the story are fictional and any resemblance to anybody is purely coincidental.

The Plot

Girl (Iuhhus) meets boy (Lyard). Iuhhus chased Lyard first; he eventually came round to her advances. They got together, and everyone thought they were the sweetest couple. When in each other’s company, they can lose track of time. Once, Lyard and Iuhhus were so engrossed in winning that evasive plush soft toy that they spent over $100 at the star catcher machine. To make her happy, he would spare no expense. Lyard was a budding photographer, and Iuhhus became his object of focus. His photos portrayed her in the most elegant light, capturing the twinkle in her eyes - a reflection of their blossoming love. When his lens zoomed into her, everything else fades into insignificance. Anybody none the wiser would have no doubt this story will end happily ever after.

Alas, that future was not meant to be. Iuhhus strayed in the late stages of their relationship. The grass was greener on the other side of the pasture. Her heart was ensnared by some other guy, whose name was Snotim. Horrors of horrors, Lyard had lost to another guy from an entirely different social stratum – over what he does not know. Lyard was devastated. He did everything in his power to make things work, but the coals of love had smouldered out. No matter how tirelessly he fanned, the dying embers could never crackle back into fiery flames. The artfully created photos that remain are as much a celebration of their love as it is a reminder of what Iuhhus has lost.

In the meantime, the character of our story (Jackson) got wind of this incident. He is engulfed by a whirlpool of dark thoughts, sucked ever deeper into its deepest and most unforgiving recesses.

The Story

Jackson finds himself unable to look at Iuhhus evenly in the eye and sustain meaningful conversations with her. Each time he talks to her, the image of a distraught Lyard floats up to his mind. Jackson is haunted by what Iuhhus did. He is not one to forget easily.  He places great importance on integrity, and what she did imposes itself as a deplorable travesty upon his dearly held ideals, leaving a repugnant and rancid odour. He is a man of duty, stoic in the belief that once one embarks on a project, the person has to see it through to the end. He cannot understand how another person can jump ships in such a frivolous and irresponsible manner.

As such, Jackson finds it immensely trying to partake in the same activities as Iuhhus. He feels that if he doesn’t give her some explicit form of negative feedback, then she may think that she can get away scot-free from what she has done. He feels that if he continues to treat her normally, and act as if he is ignorant of what had transpired, then he is implicitly condoning her actions.

There are people who know about it but do nothing. They do nothing not because they have thought hard about the issue and decided that doing nothing is the best course of action, but because they lack the mental faculties to even think about it. Jackson does not think himself inferior to such people. Yet, he envies them, for they are spared from the dilemmas plaguing him endlessly. They are wrapped up snugly in their cocoons, safe from the ravages of this harsh and unjust world. Life is much easier that way.

On the other hand, there are others who have thought about the issue and decided that the best course of action is indeed to do nothing. For this class of people, Jackson will give due respect. “Hate the sin, but love the sinner”, they chide Jackson. “Let he who has no sin cast the first stone”, they remind Jackson. However, Jackson is not satisfied with their answers. The adages sound all dainty and fluffy, but they are heavy on rhetoric and light on applicability. Indeed, how do you detach the sin from the sinner? The loopholes are exceedingly clear to him – a villainous person can exploit them to no end, without having to atone for his crimes. To Jackson, if one has committed the sin, then he should repent for it. “Hate the sin, but love the sinner” sounds sneakily like other linguistic wordplays, for example “the result is not everything” or “money can’t buy you happiness”. The former is what the high-achievers tell the under-achievers, the latter is what the rich tell the poor, both intended as nothing more than derisory consolation.

After the incident, one can choose to adopt several approaches. He can choose the care-bear option: always supportive, always nurturing, stick with the sinner through his mistakes, and pray for the best. Or he can choose to the act-blur-bear option: you can’t fault me for not knowing or not saying anything! He can also choose to be unyielding-bear: chastise you for your immature decisions or provide negative stimuli. For the sinner, learning can be gleaned from the first and the last approaches. Ultimately, Jackson agrees that you should adopt the approach you think will yield the best results. However, praying for the best is too intangible for his liking. If no one wants to be the bad guy, then he’ll do it. He is not afraid to choose the inconvenient, or the difficult. Granted, neither should the action of extending grace to Iuhhus be considered to be convenient. Grace is never a choice of convenience, in fact, it's always runs counter to human nature, as it is often easier to condemn than it is to forgive. The action of extending grace to Iuhhus bears the mark of intellectual maturity and spiritual enlightenment. 

Jackson thinks that it is the action of nonchalance, of knowing about it but willfully not thinking about it and not doing something, that is convenient and should be avoided lest one rolls down the slippery slope of implicitly supporting Iuhhus' actions when they least intended to.

The Ending

In the aftermath, Iuhhus recovered quickly. Wait.. Jackson does not know what he is talking about. Can she be considered to have recovered if she wasn’t even hurt in the first place? Now, she’s having the heck of a time with her new beau, posting countless of their chummy photos up, with ill regard for the feelings of her ex. She has found many new friends; after all, the enemies of her enemy are her friends. All these, while Lyard remains mired in the muck of gloom and despair.

Today, Jackson excuses himself from the activities in which Iuhhus is involved. Jackson believes that you become the people you hang around, and he doesn’t want to associate himself with Iuhhus , in fear that his vestiges of self-respect will be shredded by someone who has failed to display any modicum of it. He may lose out on the fun, but what he gains in self respect more than makes up for it.

Movies typically end with a happily ever after. But this is not a movie – there will be no fairy tale ending. And this is how this story will end – on a sad note.

Post Script

Do you think that the story should have a happy ending? Did you think that Jackson did the right thing? Do you think that there is true love in this world? Send in your comments to let the author know how he can improve his piece! In the meantime, he'll leave you with this elegant piece of prose..

谁还记得爱情开始变化的时候
我和你的眼中  看见了不同的天空
走的太远 终于走到  分岔路的路口
是不是你和我  要有两个相反的梦

林俊杰 - 记得 (1999)