Nothing-ness
By Kevin Goh
The stage is dark. After 4 minutes of waiting in the dark, a scream is heard coming from the side of the stage. Sound of nature, fire, snow and thunder moves into the show one by one until it mixes in the end of the sound of thunder. Then, the sound ends abruptly. A light shines onto the centre of the stage from the front, revealing a pair of legs. The legs start to move and slowly a person can be seen on the stage.
Man: The sound of the east. The sound of west. The sound of north. The sound of south. The sound of mother earth. Do you hear it? Do I hear it? It’s a debate. It is not. I have no answer too. I have no vision. I have no flaw. NO FLAW! No fla…? That’s a good one. Humans are born with flaws. The plural one. You have it but I am not sure if I have it. Does that make us the same? Does that make us different? I really wonder.
The man moves out of the light. As man speaks, lights slowly start to be switched on one by one from the centre with a box to the four corners revealing four boxes on the stage. The boxes are green (East), red (West), blue (North) and yellow (South). Man walks to the green box and stands on the green box facing the east.
East: Flawless. That is the word that best describe me now. I am flawless. I am perfect. No mistakes, no problems, nothing stands in my way. Life is complete in away. Working from 10 a.m. while the rest start at 8.30 a.m. Going back by 4 p.m. while the rest work until 5 p.m. I am flawless. With a Benz to drive, a bungalow to stay, a card to swipe, a bill to throw, a cert to buy. 5 Cs, complete! That brings me to a wife to beat, a mistress to cheat and girls to sleep. Flawless. It am really flawless. I see no evil cause I am the devil himself. Am I sane? Am I insane? Am I half-sane? Beats me. I am flawless.
Man walks down from the box. He heads towards the red box. While he was walking….
Man: Flawless was a funny word. Flawless is infinity. But will infinity last? Will infinity ever run out of number? Of luck? Of everything?
Man walks to the red box and hugs the box in a kama-sutra way.
West: Everything might last. Everything could last. Everything would last. Everything is going to last. Infinity is the word. Infinity leads to nothing-ness. But infinity also leads to everything. Whenever a man has something in life, he wants more. I want more. You want more? I don’t know about you but I definitely want more. More bigger Benz to drive, more bungalows to stay, more Platinum cards to swipe, more 1,000 cash bills to throw, more certs to buy. Human satisfaction, according to the Masclow hierarchy, is always true. We want more in life to a stage that we upgrade our live. The way we upgrade? That is not a problem. Depends entirely whether you are sane enough or not. Depends whether you are insane enough. For me, with success, what do you think?
Man kicks the box and smashes the box before he walks off. Man heads towards the blue box. While walking….
Man: Infinity leads to nothing-ness. Infinity leads to number-less. There is no road with infinity in the picture. Infinity will eventually leads to no where.
Man sits behind the blue box.
North: The cold weather in the winter is chilling. Trees are forever white. Bears hibernate through the winter. Birds migrate to a foreign land. Man stays on and die. Flawless. Infinity. Nothing-ness. I have nothing. No more Benz to drive. No more bungalows to stay. No more cards to swipe. No more bills to throw. No more certs to buy. No more 5 Cs to show. That brings me to a wife who beats me, a mistress who cheats me and girls who plays me. Nothing-ness. Everything that I do is futile now. I was a devil once. I was a dictator once. But in reality, I am just Bozo the clown. Mistakes after mistakes. Lies after lies. Eventually, everything will die off. Nothing-ness. Bottomless. Just like the sky with angelic eyes or the core of the earth with fiery eyes. They tell me that I am sane. They tell me that I am insane. What do you think?
Man walks off from the box. He heads towards the yellow box.
By Kevin Goh
The stage is dark. After 4 minutes of waiting in the dark, a scream is heard coming from the side of the stage. Sound of nature, fire, snow and thunder moves into the show one by one until it mixes in the end of the sound of thunder. Then, the sound ends abruptly. A light shines onto the centre of the stage from the front, revealing a pair of legs. The legs start to move and slowly a person can be seen on the stage.
Man: The sound of the east. The sound of west. The sound of north. The sound of south. The sound of mother earth. Do you hear it? Do I hear it? It’s a debate. It is not. I have no answer too. I have no vision. I have no flaw. NO FLAW! No fla…? That’s a good one. Humans are born with flaws. The plural one. You have it but I am not sure if I have it. Does that make us the same? Does that make us different? I really wonder.
The man moves out of the light. As man speaks, lights slowly start to be switched on one by one from the centre with a box to the four corners revealing four boxes on the stage. The boxes are green (East), red (West), blue (North) and yellow (South). Man walks to the green box and stands on the green box facing the east.
East: Flawless. That is the word that best describe me now. I am flawless. I am perfect. No mistakes, no problems, nothing stands in my way. Life is complete in away. Working from 10 a.m. while the rest start at 8.30 a.m. Going back by 4 p.m. while the rest work until 5 p.m. I am flawless. With a Benz to drive, a bungalow to stay, a card to swipe, a bill to throw, a cert to buy. 5 Cs, complete! That brings me to a wife to beat, a mistress to cheat and girls to sleep. Flawless. It am really flawless. I see no evil cause I am the devil himself. Am I sane? Am I insane? Am I half-sane? Beats me. I am flawless.
Man walks down from the box. He heads towards the red box. While he was walking….
Man: Flawless was a funny word. Flawless is infinity. But will infinity last? Will infinity ever run out of number? Of luck? Of everything?
Man walks to the red box and hugs the box in a kama-sutra way.
West: Everything might last. Everything could last. Everything would last. Everything is going to last. Infinity is the word. Infinity leads to nothing-ness. But infinity also leads to everything. Whenever a man has something in life, he wants more. I want more. You want more? I don’t know about you but I definitely want more. More bigger Benz to drive, more bungalows to stay, more Platinum cards to swipe, more 1,000 cash bills to throw, more certs to buy. Human satisfaction, according to the Masclow hierarchy, is always true. We want more in life to a stage that we upgrade our live. The way we upgrade? That is not a problem. Depends entirely whether you are sane enough or not. Depends whether you are insane enough. For me, with success, what do you think?
Man kicks the box and smashes the box before he walks off. Man heads towards the blue box. While walking….
Man: Infinity leads to nothing-ness. Infinity leads to number-less. There is no road with infinity in the picture. Infinity will eventually leads to no where.
Man sits behind the blue box.
North: The cold weather in the winter is chilling. Trees are forever white. Bears hibernate through the winter. Birds migrate to a foreign land. Man stays on and die. Flawless. Infinity. Nothing-ness. I have nothing. No more Benz to drive. No more bungalows to stay. No more cards to swipe. No more bills to throw. No more certs to buy. No more 5 Cs to show. That brings me to a wife who beats me, a mistress who cheats me and girls who plays me. Nothing-ness. Everything that I do is futile now. I was a devil once. I was a dictator once. But in reality, I am just Bozo the clown. Mistakes after mistakes. Lies after lies. Eventually, everything will die off. Nothing-ness. Bottomless. Just like the sky with angelic eyes or the core of the earth with fiery eyes. They tell me that I am sane. They tell me that I am insane. What do you think?
Man walks off from the box. He heads towards the yellow box.
Man: How sane is a sane person?
How insane is an insane person?
How insane is a sane person?
How sane is an insane person?
Man walks to the yellow box. Man lies down on the floor and put the yellow box on top of him.
South: The war of a person is lost when he knows that everything that he has owned is gone. Nothing will stand in his way. No one will stand in his way. No way, will be his way. There is nothing for him to stand upon. No one for him to cry upon. Materials bring us joy. Materials bring us greed. Materials bring us pain. I had been successful. I was successful. I have been successful. I am, not successful anymore. If only I have chosen the path correct. Infinity leads to everything. Infinity leads to nothing. That’s the equation that one will have to choose eventually. I have chosen mine, but can you determine yours?
Man walks back to the centre of the stage. Man does a sun salutation and blossom like a flower in spring.
Man: When we fall, we have to wake up. When we cry, we have to wipe out our tears. Pain brought us more than enough pain to cause us a life time of pain. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot blossom like the flower in spring once more. Giving up hope and we will give up in life.
Man does the sun salutation again and blossom like a flower in the spring.
Man: Hope cannot be achieved without determination but determination will bring us back to reality. Is reality really that important or I can leave in a place without reality? Reality can kill us instantly. Reality hurts more than it should hurt us. Reality brought me pain. Reality brought me nothing-ness. Internal dream bring me more joy than anything else. I have chosen mine, but can you choose yours again?
Man does the sun salutation again and dies like a flower in winter.
Man: Regrets I have a lot but there are times when we just need to break down and cry. Greed took my life away. Greed killed me. Greed brought me eternal sleep. I have finally chosen mine, and it is time….
Lights faded in one at a time starting from the blue box to the yellow box.
3 comments:
lol~ too long liao~ dun wanna read lolx
i do not understand, neither did i read it all. LOL
I find your use of the characters internal monologue as a tool for plot advancement ingenious (and therefore something worth ripping off).
However it does get a bit cryptic in the middle, especially during the "the cold weather in the winter is chilling. Trees are forever white. Bears hibernate through the winter. Birds migrate to a foreign land. Man stays on and die." part.
I don't really get the first three lines. How do they relate to the story? How does this sudden description of nature tie up with the plot to explain the sudden loss of the man's flawlessness (so to speak)?
And even when he does lose everything, he seems to retain the nonchalance displayed from the very beginning. This void of emotions comes across a little disturbing. Unless you actually intended it to be so, insinuating that the man has finally succumbed to insanity. IMHO, putlah a bit more feel, some screaming or garment-rending (box kicking seems too symbolic), makes for a more interesting read don't you think?
but you just gotta love this": "Man walks to the red box and hugs the box in a kama-sutra way." Really? Which position? Lol!
My two cents, so sorry for the unsolicited criticism. Looking forward to more
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