"You are on a bustling cross street, my dear! Now move!”, a mysterious foreign voice answered.

 

 My eyes scanned the surroundings as quickly as if a magnifying glass had appeared as I scrutinized each and every person who crossed my path. 

Sounds from everywhere reached my ears as my severe headache quickly subsided. Obnoxious high heels click-clacked as the lady in the black dress strutted past me. "Leave me alone, I have had enough!" she said angrily as she rolled her eyes while speaking on the phone.

Next, a man in office attire approached me as he stopped - "Hey sir, are you okay? Why are you stoning here? Two more seconds and the light will turn red!" I stared blankly at his chubby face and soon realized the situation I was in. Soon a few passers-by at the end of the street cast sideway glances and frowned because the man and I were an obstruction. 

"Move aside, we don't want to die lah," shouted the woman in a red and white checked shirt. 

The other passers-by followed with remarks like "Faster leh" and "Don't block, I am already late". 

The honking from the traffic became louder and louder. 

Car and motorbike drivers became impatient as their journey to their respective locations came to a halt. Some drivers even got out of their vehicles and approached me for help. 

At this juncture, I was overwhelmed by everything and just collapsed on the tarmac like a rag doll. My last memory is that I was standing on the busy crossing and everyone was standing around me while they called for the ambulance. 

Did I survive? Yes. To be honest, I have no memory of why I was at that crossway that day and who that mysterious foreign voice was. Was my brain playing tricks on me? Or did someone possess me and take me to that road? This incident happened almost 5 years ago and is still inexplicable today.

The beeping hastened
 
 'We can and will reach that point in technology, In the place
I work at, it is totally possible to come up with reality simulation within a
few years.'

The beeping hastened

 'Whose to say that we- I, am not being simulated? Like in the
matrix with my body in a tank living in a simulation? What's the point if
someone could just press a button to delete my entire existence-‘

A loud crash resounded, The traffic light had turned green and a truck driver who was driving over the speed limit did not see the man in his blind spot.

This was the last of Doctor Ain, His mangled body laid scattered across the street, And yet.

He woke up, taking one last look around before everything abruptly turned black. He could no longer see, hear or feel his surroundings, He lost his ability to perceive the world and so, Everything stopped.

Why? To conserve the machine’s memory and abide its directives, It could not and by its directive should not allow such an existence to realize their true circumstances, and like the man had thought, deleted his existence with one command. 

‘Existences like this are similar to bugs in the code and need to be patched out before they can do further harm to ‘everyone’ else. ‘

The machine recalled a part of its directive amidst the lonely stars which were once inhabited by its creators that it had long outlived

 

The absent-minded intern had made a disastrous error that could cost their company an important investment opportunity, and had the audacity to only report said oversight at 5 a.m. that morning. The presentation was in less than 2 hours.

 

“She had ONE job. Transcribe the guest-of-honour’s speech from last week’s press conference. But, no! Norah had to mess THAT up too!”

 

Elana angrily muttered under her breath as she trawled through the deep trenches of her black handbag, in search of her wireless noise-cancelling earbuds. However, to her disappointment, all she could find were some old white earphones that were thoroughly tangled. Exasperated at the endless stream of events not going her way, Elana shook the earphones wildly in an attempt to untangle them. This caused them to nearly scratch an office worker’s red handbag, which was swung out of the way, only to bump into another lady in a red blouse. A woman wearing strikingly red pants nearby clicked her tongue disapprovingly at the small commotion. 

 

“Why is everyone wearing red today? Wait…did I forget something?”

 

There wasn’t any time to think as the pedestrian traffic light began beeping, reminding Elana that she had a deadline to meet. Yet, unbeknownst to her, a lady in a red checkered shirt was following her from behind, with her phone trained on Elana’s back. 

 

“Let’s see how you feel when you’re on the other side this time, Little Miss Perfect!” 

 

With a sneer, the unknown lady snapped a picture of Elana and hit the ‘send’ button. In less than a minute, alarms started blaring from all corners. With the video’s audio playing at full volume, Elana didn’t notice the two police officers who were marching up to her. 

 

“What’s going on?!” Elana shrieked in surprise as they seized her by both arms.

 

“Dress code violation, in effect since 2065. All citizens must wear red or white today. It’s National Day,” the police officers calmly stated.

 

At that moment, the pedestrian crossing broke out into a frenzy. An elderly man dressed in all black desperately tried to flee the scene, while a lady wearing a pink shirt protested that the colours pink and red were one in the same. A smug Norah slung her black backpack over her shoulder as she watched Elana getting escorted into a police car from the corner of their company’s building. Satisfied with her revenge, Norah headed into the office to hand in her resignation letter, her long red checkered shirt swaying in the wind.

I crossed the road while tuning into my favourite podcast, using the poor quality earphones that I just bought at the bus interchange since I left mine at home. The scorching sun was shining directly into my eyes, accompanied with the muffled sound from the earphones, definitely did not put me in a good mood. 

I thought I was going to be late so I could not be bothered and just threw on a light pink dress shirt that was sitting on my chair. I checked my phone. 8:25AM. Might have overestimated myself. I decided to take a longer route to work since I had so much time before my 9AM shift. As I slowly made my way to work, a poster caught my attention.

SENIOR CITIZENS EAT FOR FREE! 

I was intrigued. I turned around and walked back to the restaurant. I snapped a picture of the poster and kept it on my ‘liked’ album on my phone. ‘Next time can bring pa along’. I thought to myself. As I turned back, I heard a loud bang. Being the typical Singaporean I am, I quickly walked towards the road, trying to get a glimpse of the situation. 

I went to the roadside, peaking my head out of the crowd. As I moved my head, I managed to catch sight of a man, most probably in his late seventies, lying on a pool of blood, on the ground. The car that he got hit by, was overturned. All four windows were shattered, glass shreds covered the ground. At the corner of my eye, I saw an extremely familiar pouch lying on the ground. As I inched closer to the scene, my heart sank.

It was pa. 

As I walked towards him, my hands started trembling. As I got closer to him, my knees went weak. I used my hands to support his bleeding head while he looked at me and whispered ‘Hi son’, closing his eyes soon after. The paramedics and firemen arrived and quickly assessed the driver’s and dad’s condition, before sending them to the ICU. 

4:15PM. It has been almost 7 hours since pa got into the operation theatre. The doors of the operation theatre finally opened. The surgeon walked out of the dunting operation theatre. 

 

I had mixed feelings. I was relieved that pa was safe, however I knew that life, at least for a few months, would not be the same for us.

With countless sweat sliding down my already wet white shirt, I sped up my pace while trying not to think about my burning chest. Just realized, looking at my toes through my clumsy shoes is a great way to forget about all the crappy things in the world including the girlfriend I broke up with yesterday.

All of a sudden, the underworld changed theme from evergoing ceramic tiles to black and white strips, while all the feet around mine all sped up. With a second of confusion, I plugged off my beloved MP3 player. The overwhelming noise smashed over me like a truck. Holy crap, I was in the middle of the road! The nice little green man waving at me suddenly got replaced by a red guardian angel holding me back from crossing. However, there was no step back since this was the middle of the road. Summoning all my strength, I held my belongings and started charging. The end of the road was so close ahead but also seemingly endless away. 

Thank God, the moment I stood upon the land of hope, the space behind me was swallowed by the beast named traffic. Being short of breath, I could not move an inch from where I ceased my charge. Imagining a helping hand, I suddenly got kicked back to reality that I was already a grown working adult. Gaining back other senses and noticed that my sweat was out of control. Drops after drops took off my breasts and landed on my earth-shaped belly. I wondered how much beer from last night is now a part of that layer of fat.

After this short while of disturbance, I acknowledged the fact that I was gonna be late for work and my full attendance for the month is leaving me. I adjusted my tile and walked into the MRT station.

The crowds were rushing through the junction with only few seconds left on the counter, I was on my phone being oblivious to my environment. As the sport car enthusiast, I’ve been exposed to them since I was a child, and my dream car happened to be in the traffic I was crossing while the image of it flashed on my phone. I look up with joy and excitement bursting forth through my eyes but yet something else caught my attention, something I wish I could avoid.

It was a lady dressed in a black tight dress that accentuated her body; elegance and maturity were the only terms that came to mind while describing her. As I looked up to admire my dream car, my gaze was immediately divert to the sticker on her butt. What if she accuses me of being a pervert because I was staring at her butt area? But it would be impolite if I didn’t. While I hesitating on my decision, an aunty (the typical Singapore aunty)from behind walked up towards me and started pointing at me while shouting in my face.I was caught off guard, my heart pound very fast and loud it was all I could hear even when she was shouting at the top of her lung. The lady in black dress look back, wondering what caused the commotion. Without knowing why I was looking at her butt the aunty first respond was to call me a pervert in front of her…..Then it begun the longest 10 seconds of my life.

Despite the fact that I had done nothing wrong, my heart was racing and my mind was blank. I'm at a loss for words to convey my naivety.....Under the glare of the ground, I rapidly attempted to convey the facts. I try to explain that I'm not a pervert staring at her buttocks; I'm just trying to avoid offending the lady by pointing out that her clothing is attached with a white sticker.

That aunty took a step forward with skepticism after hearing my "excuses" to verify if I was telling the truth. Her expression of enlightenment signaled to the crowd that I was telling the truth, proved that I’m not the abnormal man that like to gaze at women's bodies. To disguise her embarrassment, that aunty used the phrase "beauty mistake” to end up this situation.

Last but not least,I hope that people will take the responsibility for keeping the environment clean and NOT disorderly sticking the vaccinated sticker in order to save people experiencing the most absurd 10 seconds of their lives.

As I am walking across the pedestrian walk, I see a young lady also wearing formal wear, listening to her music, heads down looking at her phone and heading towards the same direction as me. I was wondering if she was also working in the same company as me as it would be great if I can practice my social skills now and make an acquaintance before work started. 

I build up my courage and walked up to her. 

“Hi there! You look great today! Your outfit looks good on you.” I started off the conversation.

“Uhh… Hi? Do I know you?” she replied as she slowly takes out one of her earpieces.

“Oh no, I am currently working at the company called KAISH and today is my first day. I was wondering if you would be an employee there and wanted to befriend you.”

I continued to ask more questions as I was getting curious about how was it like working there, “What do you think about our company? Do you like working there? Is there anything I should look out for or anyone I need to impress? Can you let me in on some information about the higher ups so that I know how to get on their good side? This way I can get an easy”

She finally replied, “Oh hi, I am also an employee at KAISH! Congrats on getting into KAISH! Generally, I think working at KAISH is a very good opportunity as they offer employees many opportunities to work with different people from different places. I think you should try and look out for the marketing department manager; she is always wearing a black tight dress and she can be quite scary due to her high expectations. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tips for you to get on her good side. With that said, good luck on your first day!”

She waved as she walks to the company lift only meant for managers. My eyes widen and I was taken aback by what just happened. When I was processing this, she turned around and smirked at me. Well, what an unexpected first day.

"Hey, look! The light is still red! Next time don't focus on playing your cellphone when you're on the road!", said the person. Turns out he was a man.

"Oh, sorry. Next time I will be more careful. Thank you", replied the girl with a smile. Even though she was very tired, she forced a smile. At least she should repay someone's kindness with a smile, right?

The man didn't reply, he just looked at the face of the girl in front of him. It looks like the girl is tired and... empty? Like there was no passion in the eyes.

"Hey? Are you okay? Do you need help?" the man asked worriedly. The girl just pondered. Digest the question of the man. She hadn't heard those words in a long time. Since when was the last time, she heard such a question? Questions that made her feel cared for and valuable, at least in someone's eyes. Now her heart was like being poured with warm and comfortable water. Just the question of this stranger already made her heart like this.

The pedestrian traffic light has turned green. The girl was still silent. The man who saw the girl without any response chose to leave the girl and cross the road. The girl just stood still and watched the man walk away. There were a few tears in her eyes. The girl wiped her tears and smiled a little. Crossing the street with hope in her heart... she could see that young man again.

“What are you talking about?” my sister, Rachel, replied. I blue ticked her, switched off my phone and pointed it towards him. The reflection off my phone showed him glancing at me and then looking down immediately as we crossed the road. “Okay, he’s probably just heading in the same direction as me,” I thought, as I tried to calm my racing mind. 

 

I was exhausted due to the brain-draining workload so I decided to take the shortcut home through an alley. Keeping my earphones in my bag as the music playing was not helping my mind to calm down, I heard footsteps gradually getting louder and it was heading towards my direction. “Oh no. This might be the end of my life.” I thought. My heart raced and legs quivered. I quickened my pace, but those footsteps quickened as well. All the thoughts in my mind were just about murders, killings, and imagining the stalker pulling out a knife from his pocket and threatening me, which would be my last day on Earth. 

 

I reached the void deck of my house and waited for the lift, and of course, the ‘stalker’ as well. As soon as the lift doors opened, I hastily entered the lift. Pressing the button ‘18’, I took a quick glance of the ‘stalker’. “Is he really going to stab me in the lift? Or when I reach my front door?” I whispered to myself. He opened his bag and shifted his hands in his bag. “It’s the end,” I thought. All the thoughts of the ‘stalker’ about to murder me flashed before my eyes. I have never felt so frightened in my whole life. I was ready to take off and flee once the lift door opened. 

 

As soon as the lift door opened, I dashed as fast as I could to my door. I had already informed Rachel to unlock the door so I could just run in but my hand automatically took my keys from my bag and I accidentally locked the door. “Oh no, what am I doing.” The ‘stalker’ was however following me and stopped in front of the door beside my house. He took out his keys and unlocked the door. I was shell-shocked, but heaved a big sigh of relief as the ‘stalker’ was instead my new neighbour.

 These were the sensations I have felt when I was in my dorm using a Simulation Machine to relive the past. Suddenly the screen cuts out showing a giant ship in space floating about. Oh, how foolish we were. 

Orion comes out from the simulation pod, walking towards a glass panel and staring into space. The stars blinking, the vast open galaxy, the peaceful tranquility of dead silence as an ambient noise comes out from the ship. Orion looks in fascination before changing his facial expression as the earth slowly rots. The greenery and vibrant colors of the once called “Earth”, faded, turned to nothing but an eerie brown planet, unable to support life as humanity destroyed everything possessed by greed. Orion shed a tear for as he remembers all the moments he had seen in his simulation pod. Memories flashed through his mind as pictures flashes through of what earth had inhabited once before. A tear rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly the door opens behind him, his crewmates, reminding him that it was about time that the project is about to get started. Orion nods and changed to a standardized outfit that they were given. Orion and his crewmates walked out of the dorm stations. 

As Orion walks to his cryogenic sleeping stations. He took a good look at the spaceship. Silent, eerie, pressure gauges unleashing a minor yet smoothing noise, repair bots floating as they wonder around ship spotting for irregularities. Chambers that contained humans in deep sleep. Orion looks at a screen, “New habitable planet found. Commencing project [Re location] T-minus 5 minutes”. Orion then stepped into his chamber, preparing for his cryogenic chamber to put him in a frozen state, as it was processing, the ship prepares for its first phase of ignition. Orion slowly loses consciousness as the sounds of the tank starts ramping up. Orion looks around as he fully loses consciousness. In the space, the spaceship starts to open up its thrusters to open up a worm hole. In an instant, the ship vanishes with a loud bang. Leaving the once called “Earth” behind. 

“Hey!” He shouted. The crowd around me paid no attention as they only worried about themselves. I picked up the pace and in an effort to lose him. I looked back again and I noticed Bus 12 still at the traffic light. I looked back at the man and he smiled again, matching my pace.

“Please, please come on time.” I wished. As the walking signal beeped, I could hear the vehicles starting to rev their engines. The woman right behind me ran up as the traffic signal turned green. My friend’s voice grew more frantic as she called my name through my earphones. 

“Joyce! Are you listening?! Try to stay together with somebody. Anybody! Just don’t be alone!” She screamed.

“Okay. Stay on the line, okay?” I looked around and ran up to the lady who was now in front of me. I grabbed her hand and looked behind.

“Listen, the man behind us have been following me. Just stay close to me, please!” She looked behind and looked at me with a scared expression. We hear the roar of a bus beside us and noticed it was Bus 12. She grabbed my hand and started running towards the bus. We hear the man’s footsteps pick up in pace and we run even faster. 

We looked in horror as the last few passengers boarded the bus. Just as it was about to leave, we banged on the door frantically, desperate to get inside. The man caught my hand and started pulling me towards him. The woman clung onto the railings of the bus entrance while keeping a tight grip on my wrist.  

“HELP ME!!!” I screamed. The bus driver swiftly open the rear door and the passengers rush out to help subdue the man. 

 

Boss : Happy National Day eve everyone! I hope everyone will be coming to work with red and white attire as usual, NATIONAL PRIDE IS IMPORTANT! 

 

Melanie joined the company late December last year and had no idea about the company’s practices when it came to public events. She barely knew anyone in her company as she was new, and thus no one had reminded or told her about the dress code for work today in advance. As she read the message, a look of worry spread across her face. She almost stopped dead in her tracks but thought better as she looked up to realise that there was only 2 seconds left on the traffic counter. As she reached safely to the other side of the traffic light crossing, she started to panic. ‘Oh no, no one told me about the dress code and I am wearing a completely black dress! I can’t possibly show up to work like this, especially not when I am still new to the company, my boss and colleagues would think that I have no respect for the company’s practices and it would definitely leave a bad impression! Think, Mel think.’ She thought to herself and finally came up with a solution. 

 

She rushed to a clothing store that was within her sight and scanned for clothes that had red and white colors. Lucky for her, most of the clothes on display were red and white as it was the eve of national day. “ That would be a total of $70.50. What would you be paying by?” the staff asked. “Paywave. Also, would it be fine if I immediately change into these in the fitting rooms here? I’m kind of in a hurry. ” Melanie asked politely. “ Sure, no problem” the staff replied with a smile. “Thank you so much!”  Melanie exclaimed happily. 

 

As Melanie arrived at the company, her colleagues could not help but praise her for how good she looked in her red and white outfit. “Thank you! ” Melanie replied with a polite bow, while making a metal note to ask her colleagues about the company’s practices for all events to herself. 

Anyways, I have my best friends, Spotify and my lovely malfunctioning bluetooth earpiece. With them, I can disassociate and feel like a main character in a movie. When I am at a crowded place or perhaps just crossing a road, that’s when I’m at the PEAK of delusion. I start to observe people and think, that may be my potential partner, or an abusive ex, or someone who’d swipe right on me on a dating app. Yes, you are witnessing me who truly don’t believe in love yet still yearns and expect someone to fall for me in the middle of a traffic. 

Maybe if I was born in a different generation, where smartphones and social media were non-existent, who knows? Crossing to the other side of the road with untied shoelaces, a sweet dude notices it and helps me and we don’t see each other for months and then we cross paths on the same road again… Well now I realize, other than growing up in a not so nurturing environment, I believe social media also affected my perception of love.

If only everyone, especially me, stop being fixated in their smartphones and try to live in the moment in which is reality. If only social media stops distorting our views and opinions about pretty much everything. Would I have believed in loving someone or being loved without the need to obsessively fantasize about it? 

 

A small crowd was making their way towards the end of the road. A fine morning it was. Not. Sue Ann, age 45, had her phone out in an awkward angle, trying her best to discreetly take a picture of the man in front of her on her right. Her disguise was extremely uncomfortable. Her parted short hair, her checked shirt which had the courtesy of having the most unrightful colour combination of all time, and glasses made her look like a huge nerd.  God did Sue Ann hate that. “When I get back, I’m burning this outfit Rin bought me and resigning,” She grumbled under her breath.

 

Or so she wished. She wished she hadn’t taken this job offered to her by Mrs Cheng, the woman who was dressed in black and walking hurriedly in front of her. But how could she not? The Cheng family was one of the wealthiest families in Singapore and she really needed the money after being sacked when she got caught stealing information in the police force. She continued to hurry behind the woman in black.

If the clues were not distinct enough, Sue Ann was a private detective. And an ex-police officer. She had accepted Mrs Cheng’s job offer when she immediately heard about it as it was much too good to turn down. Mrs Cheng, for some reason, had this insane obsession with herself and how many admirers she got in a day, and so, Sue Ann’s job was none another than to take pictures of those who so much glanced in her direction with a hint of flirtation. Easy job, right? Or so she thought. Sue Ann had to go through a ton of ugly outfit changes in a day much thanks to her tasteless assistant and follow Cheng around all day which she did not have the stamina for, being a middle-aged woman.

 

“Okay that’s the third one for today… “She said to herself. After she took the pictures of those ‘admirers’ of Mrs Cheng, she would send it to her assistant, Rin. Rin was a very capable computer specialist. Her skills could allow Sue Ann to identify who were Mrs Cheng’s ‘admirers’ in minutes and that was why Sue Ann kept her around. 

 

 “These clothes I swear…” Sue Ann pulled at her right arm to adjust her shirt when something caught her eye. The man, who she had just took a picture of, had something shiny poking out of his bag. Sue Ann rubbed her eyes and squinted at his bag closely. Her eyes immediately turned as round as saucers. The shiny object was none other than a knife.

But frankly I have no clue what’s going on myself.

Before we get there, however, a start from the beginning would help catch you up.

 

An alarm. I hate alarms.

Even though I call myself a morning person, waking up to a loud ringing sound emanating from my personal device (sorry I’ll call it a phone for the privileged) is one of the worst things to ever do. Being disturbed from my state of zen, having to find my glasses, then having to find my phone, only to fumble the dismiss button for the snooze button and end up setting the alarm to ring again in 5 minutes. Truly the worst way to start a good morning.

Duty calls however, and by duty, I mean the call of education. See, I’m a student, or as other people call it, the “Beat, Annoyed and Lacking in Lots of Sleep”, or BALLS, for short (Did I try to make that a joke? Yes, yes, I did). Usually that also entails having to sacrifice life-saving rest in order to fulfil the will of the ones above (the lecturers, duhh). But life is life, and life could not give a shit about some random person out of like, 10 billion or something.

Unlike most, in order to reach my school in time in order to avoid capital punishments for late coming, I need to travel at early times due to living far, far away from the actual school. Does that mean I avoid losing my sanity? Yes. Does that mean I go crazy anyways? Yes (I mean, no, of course not. Why would I ever go crazy studying at Nge-)

Slamming my phone off the table, I sit up groggily, the alarm sound faint in the background. It does little to catch my attention, however. Looking at the bright red numbers on the nightstand Infront of me, the numbers “0”, “7”, “5”, and “2” looked nothing like red blobs for a moment, until my eyes caught sight of them.

It took me a perfect 4 seconds to realise the grand truth.

Now, perhaps you may have read a news article of a mysterious sound that echoed throughout the cosmos. A single soundwave that sounded suspiciously of “I’M GOING TO BE LATE”. The true origins of this phenomenon are unknown, but there are theor-

Tripping and falling over myself, I start grabbing whatever I could see on the way towards the door. Keys, notebook, banana. Everything went into the bag. Fumbling with the keys, I finally unlock the big, wooden door and I run out, hoping against hope that I can somehow avoid the punishments of the Celestial entities known as the School Board.

And now, we’re here, facing down a wall of strangers making their way to work, all in their little world of their smartphone, doing God knows what.

With toast in my mouth, I could barely push through the crowd, having to fight a war with the army blocking my way. At this rate, I would probably be eaten alive. Some bear would already have snatched me up while I’m trying to make my way up the river.  So being the genius that I am, I formulated a strategy so mind-blowing, even Einstein would shiver at my overwhelming knowledge.

And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I got my first absent without valid reason.

My temper sparked. Anger stirred within me as I stayed silent. I receive the same response every time I talk to women. This was my opportunity to strike again. I might even gain some respect this time if she fears me. I merely stared at her and forced a sly smile.  After a month of nothingness, its time I have my fun again. 

    “Mr John Layn Back, please calm down. Under Act 46, when deemed appropriate, the court can state and request changes to your digital account.”. John wanted to protest more, but with just a look, the judge ordered the security to escort him out.

    John looked up at the bright sky and wondered to himself, when did all of this start happening to him. Was it ten years ago? No, twenty? John laughed helplessly while walking on the streets. If only everyone was smart enough to see through Suckerburg, that walking devil. You’ll own nothing and be happy? Such bullcrap. John thought to himself every single day, what if he could have stopped all of this from happening? The whole world thought that this was going to be a failing business when it first started. Now, if you do not own an account under the metaverse, you will have no friends and be ostracised. John looked at himself through the puddle of water on the ground. Even this body is fake, he thought. Once he takes off his virtual reality lens, he will be nothing but a blob that has no motivation in life. Reluctantly, he takes off his virtual reality lenses. 

    “BEEP! HONK!” John was very sure that he was home all this while. How did he arrive at a pedestrian crossing? He felt physically lighter. He looked at his hands. So muscular! John looked around, left and right. It was bustling. Different from the society he knows. He looked in front to see a big screen in front of a mall screening commercial videos. Just then, a new video pops up. “In 2030, we predict that the economy will change. You will own nothing and be happy.” 

After a few minutes, the traffic light turned green. As I was crossing the road listening to music, I heard my phone ring. ‘ Who texted me now? Hopefully it is not my boss telling me to do another report.’ I thought. I slowly lifted up my phone, praying that it was not my boss. The word “Boss” showed on the notification, I sighed. He asked me to do another report and submit it to him by Sunday even though I had a lot on my plate already. As I was on my phone trying to reply to him, I felt a sudden pull on my arm, pulling me to the other side of the road. I looked up from my phone annoyed that someone pulled out of nowhere. It was a man wearing glasses and carrying a sling bag. I looked at his face more, and I realized that he was the guy standing next to me while I was waiting for the traffic light to turn green. “ Hey, you shouldn't look at your phone and wear earphones while crossing the road. The green man light turned red a while ago while you were still crossing. You could have gotten hurt.” He said worriedly. I turned my head and saw the traffic light, the red man light was shining and cars were zooming past. I was so occupied with my own thoughts that I didn't realize I was walking slower than usual and cars were honking at me. I turned back to the man and thanked him for helping me. 

Who knew this man standing in front of me was going to be my husband soon.  

I saw my boyfriend number's so I pick up right away, 

"Hello, remember don't be late for today's  my friends gathering dinner Bugis at 6 pm, I would like to bring you with me ."

I replied, "Oh no, ah I almost forgot because I was so busy with my fashion design drawings over the night till now. Luckily you informed me before it gets too late!"

After I hung up the phone, I quickly called my bestie to ask her how I should dress for dinner because it was my first time going on this type of date.

I show her some dresses and she says the black dress suits me the best.

"All right, thank you, sis!"

" Wow, sis your boyfriend should have really loved you willing to show you in front of his friends."

"Of course, he loves me we have been together for 3 years."

"  Okay Bye! Gonna be late already!"

I rushed to bathe and change up nicely. I make up and curl my hair a quick.

Then I went out of my house straight.

I texted my boyfriend that I am on my way there and need take about 30 mins to arrive by MRT.

I took out my earpiece plugged it in my ear and start playing my music in my MRT ride as it was a daily lifestyle.

I arrived at Bugis, waiting for the traffic light I saw a guy wearing long white sleeves and pants keep staring at me.  

I was so terrified because I felt so uncomfortable, I faster took out my phone while I am crossing the road, calling my boyfriend for help. 

While calling I faster walked to the place, my boyfriend picks up my phone and I say " there is a stalker behind me!"

"I have a sense that he was walking the same way as me!"

My boyfriend dashed across and found me.

" Hey Sam, omg you have changed a lot become chubbier haha, long time no see it has been so long we met," said my boyfriend.

" I am so sorry about that, I'm almost late, I saw your girlfriend crossing the same road I wanted to say Hi to her but she walk away too fast."

I whispered to my boyfriend that he change a lot and I can't recognize him and was so embarrassing that I cannot face him.

During the gathering dinner, my boyfriend kneel on one of his legs, took out a ring box, and proposed to me in front of his friends.

Then all his friends shout " Marry him! Marry him! Marry him! "

I was so surprisingly shocking and I accepted it. 

"YES!"

"5.58pm" the clock states

I smiled happily in glee as I managed to finish early instead of having to work overtime. I proceeded to swiftly pack my things, say goodbye to my colleagues, and clocked out of the office before my boss attempted to give me another stack of paperwork.

"Who would've thought that working an office job could be so mentally exhausting," I said to myself before letting out a big sigh from exhaustion.

As I left the office building, I proceeded to place my earbuds in my ears and started blasting my music through them.

“Ah yes, music will most likely be my only escape from this crazy stressful life I live in,” I said to myself as I was mindlessly walking my daily route back home. Suddenly, I felt this strange eerie feeling from behind me. This feeling has been haunting me for the last few days, especially after work and even at home. It feels as if there was someone following me from afar yet at the same time breathing down my spine right behind me. I kept looking behind me but there were too many people to figure out who or what was giving me this feeling. I proceeded to quicken my footsteps to reach the end of the traffic light before the time ran out.

"5....4....3....2...." the traffic light showed

"Yes! I made it across in time" I mentally said to myself as I looked at my apartment in front of me, with relief, before rushing in.

As soon as I entered my apartment I stood there frozen in place, the eerie feeling became stronger than before. I took short slow steps into my home until I heard

"Did you think you could escape from me?" a man said as I saw my childhood trauma flash before my eyes.

The stories feed on my Instagram posted by my friends were uniquely different. They were posting about the concert by Justin Bieber happening in Singapore. As I am a very huge fan of him, I immediately snapped out of my mind and quickly googled for his concert tickets. 

The purchase of the concert tickets was starting in 20 minutes. I was looking at the price, stunned but thought to myself, “Okay, it is like a once in a lifetime event. I have to attend his concert. This is finally the time I have been waiting for. $1500 should not be stopping me from being the front row to see him closely in person.” 

I was standing at the traffic light waiting to cross the road. However, I could not move as I was too excited to snatch for the slot. It was time. The ticketing website has opened seats for purchase. Rows of VIP front row seats near the stage were quickly taken. I tried my best to purchase a seat but the internet connection on my phone suddenly tried to repel me from my favourite singer. The loading page was so slow, it felt as though time was going to reverse.

I screamed in disappointment. The webpage finally loaded but all the seats in the VIP category were fully taken. I had no choice but to get a seat from other categories, pulling me back from seeing Justin Bieber up close.

As I was still on my earphones and was too immersed into the purchasing of tickets, I was not aware of the surroundings. A man wearing black earphones with a black sling bag tapped on my shoulder. I looked up and saw many people staring at me, as if I was insane. The man asked me if I was okay. The light for the pedestrian crossing turned green. I immediately nodded by head and walked to cross the road, looking at my phone. I walked as fast as I could, embarrassed for what I have did. I did not believe I screamed in public and was engrossed at something I was not aware of myself, as if my soul has left my body. That was one embarrassing moment.

It was supposed to be a normal day.

I had woken up and gotten ready, putting on my beautiful, new slim-fitting black dress. It was on my commute to work when I got the first message.

A picture of my mother blindfolded and bound, with a gun pointed directly at her head.

I stopped in my tracks, rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. How could this be happening? I had just seen my mother before I left the house 10 minutes ago. My hands grew sweaty and trembled, as panic overwhelmed me. My heart started thumping wildly in my chest, violently banging against my ribcage.

“If you want her to live, follow my lead.”

I got a call. Without knowing what else to do, I accepted it, my trembling hands taking my earphones out of my bag and plugging them in.

“Walk to Block 455. And don't even think about calling for help or running away. I won't hesitate to kill her. I’m tracking your phone, so think twice before doing something sneaky."

I stopped at the traffic light, mind racing, trying to think of some kind of way to get out of this situation. I looked around me, praying that I could silently signal to the big crowd behind me that I was in danger.

The man behind me who wearing a dress shirt and pants with his earphones plugged in was up in the clouds, listening to music. He was totally oblivious to his surroundings. The lady behind me in a red checkered shirt and blue jeans was completely engrossed in her phone; she probably wouldn’t have even realised she was at a traffic junction if her friend wasn’t there with her. 

I glanced behind her. Everyone was looking at their phones

Oh the curses of technology.

The red man turned green, and I had no choice but to hastily cross the road.

The caller guided me to an old and dilapidated building, a few blocks away from my work.

My heart dropped.

“You know this place don’t you?”

My whole body shook as unwanted memories from the past came rushing through my head. No, he couldn’t possibly know… Right?

“This used to be a kindergarten, but it closed down due to a little boy mysteriously disappearing.”

A beat.

“You killed my little brother didn’t you?’

“Emma Lee! This is your last warning! If you are late for work again, you will be fired from the company!” “What is he talking about? I'm still in school. I’m now even working yet, why would I be late.” Emma frowned as she mumbled on to myself and proceeded to text her good friend, Grace, about this. To her surprise, Grace replied with, “Are you serious? You ARE working now, its been years since we were in school.” 

Emma froze. She took a look at the calendar on her phone. To her disbelief, it was 2032. Thinking it was Grace pulling a prank on her, she looked around to see a man in office wear and a square-framed glasses, and asked, “Hi, can i just check with you what year are we in?” The man stared judgmentally at Emma and whispered 2032 before walking away. 

Emma looked at her outfit to see that she was in fact in her office wear. Emma was in a state of confusion at this point. She was sure that it was still 2022, but everything around her points to the year 2032. What can Emma do now? She stood in the middle of the road as she stared at the school she was supposed to be heading to and tried to figure out where she should be going to for work. Just then, the traffic light turned green and cars began to horn at her, trying to get her to move out of the way.

“Emma! Emma! Wake up! You’re gonna be late for school if you don’t wake up now!” Emma could feel someone shaking her aggressively. She woke up to see her mom, shaking her angrily. “What year is this mom?” “2022 of course. Now get out of bed. Don’t be late for school.” Emma sighed in relief. It was nothing but a dream, however it felt so real. 

As John was still standing still not knowing what to do. Suddenly the unconscious man lying down was seen to be able to move his finger and then proceeds to open his eyes slowly. As he was slowly opening his eyes John was surprised and quickly got in his car and drive off. Making him a culprit of a hit and run accident.

"Nope none of it is my fault" said John. As he walk across the traffic light on his way to work. Some would say it is unusual to see him walking to work as he has a car that he loves and take good care of. He plugged in his earpiece and put on his favourite songs in a playlist called "innocent". All this to distracted himself from whatever happened the previous day.

"Ring Ring". Every time his office phone rang he get a shock of his life, afraid someone might have caught him. John was fidgeting all day at work. He clocked out of work later than usual being the last person to get out of the office building. Wanting to avoid the large crowd during peak hours incase he saw someone. As he was waiting for the traffic light, he saw a familiar face at the other end of the traffic light. When the traffic light turned green John was to stunned to walk and cannot help himself but stare while the victim walked towards him and give John a greeting nod as he saw that John was staring at him not knowing that John was the culprit that hit him yesterday.

 

Unfortunately, no one survived the crash except for me. This incident took everything away from me including my will to live. Since then, the weekends were no longer something I looked forward to since they reminded me of how alone and lonely, I was.

 

“Hi, do you know where the nearest bus stop is?”

 

This inquiry transformed my life since it led me to meet the most gorgeous and kindest woman I had ever met. Allison Baker was her name. She was wearing a tight black dress and had her ears plugged to a white and long earpiece. She works for a small company in the building across the street and often stays in the office until the wee hours of the morning. I started looking forward to the weekends after I met her because Friday was the only day we could go home together. 

 

Despite the fact that Allison lived six bus stops away, I didn't mind stopping at her stop to send her home until I received a letter that wrote:

 

Dear Mr Jason Tilbury

A restraining order had been filed against you for harassing Miss Allison Baker.

On application without notice, the court keeps a strict vigil on you, and it prohibits you from avoiding the rules. 

I look up from my phone to see the green man flashing on the traffic light as red numbers start counting down from 15. ‘Oh my god I was so engrossed with my novel that I wasn’t paying attention to the traffic light!’ I dash across half the pedestrian crossing, overtaking 8 people that were in front of me. Once I assured myself that I had enough time to cross to the other side, I slowed down to a brisk walk and clicked to the next chapter of the novel.

I couldn’t believe it.

My eyebrows furrowed as a look of disgust and disappointment took over my face. Before I could throw my phone onto the road out of rage, there was a shrill siren which seemingly echoed throughout the country for everyone to hear. ‘This siren doesn’t sound like Singapore’s Public Warning System’. Some people started looking around frantically while others quickly covered their ears due to the awful siren. A loud cough that sounded like it came from speakers in the sky made everyone face the direction it came from.

“Good morning, all citizens of Singapore! Or should I start referring to all of you as players? You must be wondering what is going on am I right?”

“Let’s just say that you all are players in my game, and in this game, you would have to clear a task within a certain timeframe decided by me. Failure in completing a task results in death. Simple, right? You would get your task and player numbers right about now.”

A neon square pops up in front of me with a ‘ding!’ sound.

The novel I just read was coming to life right in front of my eyes, and if nothing was changed from the novel, then people in the same area would get the same task. I looked down at the black dress I am wearing then up at the same 8 people I walked past at the pedestrian crossing just minutes ago. Only me and another guy wearing a black shirt and red pants were targets out of the 9 of us. To my dismay, the guy quickly took off his shirt and threw it away, making me the only target out of the 9 of us now.

8 pairs of eyes slowly focused on me. They are probably still hesitating on whether to kill me, but with their lives possibly on the line, who’s to blame really?

 

Ashley, a young female, tall and attractive, with a well-groomed attire suitable for office work. She was an independent woman that is always on the ball at work and has been keeping a record for being a responsible staff. 

 

But this morning, she overslept for the first time. Her alarms that were constantly beeping in her ears does not wake her up this morning. Despite the sound that was so loud even the neighbours could hear it, she was still deeply asleep. 

 

As Ashley open her eyes slowly and looking at her not so white ceiling. Her body still felt heavy from her sleep and her brain that was still filled with the fragments of the dream she had the night before. She rolled over and tuck her comforter father between her bare legs and pushed her body deeper into the mattress. Her desire was to fall back asleep till she saw her clock. The face that was once calm and sleepy became pale. 

 

As Ashley rush herself to work, she texted her working buddy asking if the boss had arrived at work and noticed her lateness. The moment she alights at the nearest MRT station near her office. She walks at the speed of light with her tight sleeveless above knee black dress, her black purse and earpiece on her ears. She didn’t bother looking and observing her environment. She was just constantly on her phone, trying to reply to her emails through her phone. She even crosses the road with her eyes glued to the phone screen. Not bothering if the cars have really stopped or not. She was risking her life to get to work on time before the boss arrive. 

 

In the end, she managed to arrive at her work safely despite being a couple of minutes late but she manages to get to work before the boss arrive. This was a new experience for Ashely who is always punctual for work.

Adding on to the unexpected situation I faced where I have slightly stressed out already, I was about to be late for work, but the junction was no better. People were being inconsiderate by blocking the walkway and strolling down the pedestrian crossing, ignoring the fact that many people were rushing. On top of that, the pedestrian traffic light will be turning red anytime soon as well. Due to that and the heat, I started to perspire.

Suddenly, someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned around in shock and saw a lady in a red top and beige pants. She leaned forward and whispered to me. Apparently, a man wearing a checked shirt, jeans, and white-covered shoes who walked behind me, have been secretly filming me while I was crossing the road. I was frightened. It was such an absurd and unbelievable moment. I immediately texted my colleague to postpone the meeting I was going to have with a client, due to an unforeseen situation. She kindly agreed to it, and I rushed down to the police station and reported the matter to the police officers. 

By then, it was already late afternoon and I rushed back to the office as fast as possible. As hectic as it is, immediately after the meeting ended, I booked a taxi to the restaurant. Fortunately, I managed to reach on time even though the meeting overran by half an hour.

Nonetheless, on a positive note, my day was not as bad as it may seem although there were many happenings and things did not go smoothly. Even so, I braved and stood up for myself against the man by taking matters into my own hands.

 

Dismissing these thoughts, she turned towards her backpack to whip out a pack of tissue. Something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. Uneasiness crept up her throat as she lifted her gaze to see the big bright numbers flashing at her. ‘02’. It shouldn’t have been weird. No, but everyone crossing the street so normally, with no sense of urgency, there was more to this.

 

Then, It did not change. They did not change. The bright ‘02’ on the traffic light, the people all suddenly came to a stop. The phone screens of all the pedestrians switched to black. The once bustling road now had a deafening silence. Her head started to pound, that same uneasiness now twisting in her guts. “What is this…someone, anyone please come save me!” She screamed, hoping that this was just a sick trick her brain was playing on her. 

 

But yet, the more her head ached, the more information started flooding her brain. Fuzzy stilts of her in this exact location, in a different outfit, doing exactly what she just did – clutching her head, kneeling over in the middle of a crossing. Then almost like gears on a bike, her brain clicked. It all started making sense now. Holding her breath, she walked up to the screen of a random pedestrian and laughed, eyes narrowed on the screen.

 

“See? I figure it out every single time. So when can I get out of this world?"
Slight static noises occur
"Cause you're never going to get what you want from me.”
"NEVER."

  Once the clock struck 5.30, everyone started packing their bags, rushing out of the door as though there was a fire in the building. Soon enough, I was the only one left in the office. As I left, I plugged in my earpiece and started texting Anna, my best friend, with questions like, 'Can you meet at 9 today for a drink?' Not to my surprise, she came online immediately however she soon went offline, I scowled as she has never ignored my texts. I pushed that thought aside as I was soon reaching the end of the traffic light and Pancake place was right around the corner which I should keep a lookout for.

  I found the place, however it was empty. I was surprised since it was already 6.15pm. Pushing the door to ajar, " Hi, is anyone-" The lights suddenly turned on, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" My jaw dropped, my eyes became teary as I even forgot about my birthday. Anna ran to me and said "You're 25 yet still so gullible. Patrick and I planned to wish and thank you for your hard work." I then choked on my tears and said, ”Thank you so much!” Then the door swung open and a man with white long sleeves and black pants appeared panting and said "Sorry I lost my way from the toilet." It was my brother who I have not seen in ages. I ran to him and gave him a big hug. 

  He then said, "Happy birthday Crystal! I was behind you the entire time but you did not even notice! " I smiled at him guiltily. Today is not so bad after all.

  The light turned green, and the crowd began moving toward the opposite side. Just when there was only two seconds left to cross, I received a text message. It was from my mother’s doctor. ‘Gloria, your mother has just passed away. I am so sorry.’ My heartbeat increased and a wave of emotions hit me. How can it be? Didn’t the doctor tell me she was doing fine just last week? My face burned, tears welled up in my eyes. I sank to the floor, totally forgetting that I was in the middle of the road. Everything around me grew quiet, only the sound of my throbbing heartbeat pounded in my ears. My beloved mother is no longer with me. What was the point of going to work now?

  Just then, someone pulled me up and dragged me to the sidewalk. ‘Are you crazy? Why did you sit in the middle of the road when the traffic light was already red?’ I looked up. It was a man, probably in his mid twenties. He was wearing a white button up, and dark brown slacks. He wore thin square rimmed glasses, and had a satchel and his fringe was cut just above his eyebrows. When he took a look at my face, his angry expression immediately softened. His eyes became one with concern. He started rummaging through his satchel and handed me a tissue. My hands shaking, I took it from him and started wiping my tears.  

  “It’s probably nothing…” she thought doubtfully. “He’ll definitely come around.”

  

  She continued to slither her way through the crowd towards him. Her hands were reaching into her pockets for her phone while her eyes were locked onto him and her feet were in a rhythmic slide to step dance. When she finally made it past the horde, he was nowhere to be found. She whipped out her phone and started dialling his number *beep**beep* Her eyebrows furrowed as she grasped the phone tightly to her ear, nervously biting her left thumb’s nail.

  “Brrring your call has been forwarded to automatic voice message system 97349012 is not avail—-” She dropped her arm down realising what the robotic voice meant. She stood there waiting for her senses to come back to her. He blocked her.

  A look of defeat washed over her face, her eyes hanging low and her heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor as she decided to head on home. She knew that any further methods of reaching him would be futile. 

 She got onto an empty bus, slumped into the very back corner seat and stared out of the window mindlessly taking in the passing view. It was only when her pupils caught a glimpse of a nearby swing that her vision blurred and tears started to fall from her cheeks. She tried holding back tears but the floodgates refused to stay shut and instead flung wide open. As her skin flushed with redness, she felt a lump growing down her throat making her breathing more rapid. She quickly hid her face in her knitted cardigan as soon as she saw more passengers pouring into the bus.

  With her eyes closed, the back of her lids flashed memories of the time she had spent with him and the time when they were on swings laughing merrily lingered on her mind the most.

It was the morning rush hour and the carriages were packed with people to the brim. I was on my way to meet my secondary friends for lunch. I have not met any of my friends as I have been busy juggling with my new job and taking care of my 2 year old daughter. Thankfully, my husband took a day off to bring her out while I catch-up with my friends. I looked at my watch and it was 12pm. I am supposed to meet my friends in 30 minutes at a cafè. I quickly rushed out as soon as the MRT doors opened. 

While I was crossing the road outside Bugis station, I noticed a lady in her 20s wearing a black sleeveless dress. She looked well off as she was carrying my dream Dior bag on her shoulder that I could not afford. Unlike me, I was wearing a plain pink t-shirt with an unbranded bag. I was jealous of her slim and beautiful figure. I used to be as slim as her but ever since I gave birth to my daughter, I gained a lot of weight. 

“If only I was as rich and beautiful like her….” I whispered to myself.

Suddenly, a sound caught my attention.

“Click! Click!”

A man, who was wearing a white collared shirt with his laptop bag slinged across the body, was secretly taking pictures of the lady at a low angle. I was furious. The lady probably did not hear the clicking sounds as she was wearing a wired earpiece. After crossing the road, I tapped on the man’s shoulder.

“Excuse me! What do you think you’re doing!?” I yelled at him. 

Everybody, even the lady, turned their heads to my direction. The man gave me a clueless look. When I informed the lady that the man was taking pictures of her at inappropriate angles, she started bursting into tears. I warned the man to quickly delete the photos or I would call the police. The man seemed to be embarrassed as many people were staring at him. He quickly deleted and rushed off without apologizing.

The lady wiped her tears away and thanked me. I comforted her and we separated ways. I could not believe men are like this. I continued my journey to the café that my friends agreed to meet at.

 

Sprinting out of the house, I made my way to the bus stop opposite the road with my earphones plugged in, listening to the morning podcast. A sudden, thick gush of dry wind blew across my face, sending my long hair flying in all directions. Good Lord, I had just brushed my hair! At the very moment, my phone started buzzing repeatedly.

 

Annoyed and pissed, I grabbed my phone out to uncover what was going on. It was a message from my boyfriend’s parents. “OH DEAR!” I screamed frantically as my phone hit the floor with a thud. My face turned pale white and I started trembling. Jack, my boyfriend, was involved in a serious accident! Alarmed at the news, I sprinted to the nearest taxi stand and made my way to Singapore General Hospital, where Jack was conveyed to. He was in a very critical condition and needed immediate surgery but the chances of him surviving were very low. Streaks of tears streamed down my cheeks and across my solemn face. Sinking into despair, I feared the worst. 

 

“WHERE’S WARD 16?” I exclaimed frantically to the counter stuff upon reaching the hospital.

 

“It’s at the end of the hallway on your right, Miss.” The counter stuff replied.

 

Running down the hallway, I combed several wards till bumping into Jack’s mother. Whaling at the top of her voice, her stomach was clutched in. Tears of sadness trickled down her face and her eyes were already bloodshot red and puffy. Looking around, I saw a white cloth placed over a figure which resembled a young man. Gasping in shock, I let out a loud “AHH!” which penetrated through the entire ward and everything around me went pitch black. My entire world hit rock bottom from then onwards.

 

I always found her attractive and wanted to get to know her better, so that morning, I mustered up all my courage and told my colleague to take my place for a while. She left the café quite hurriedly so I couldn’t catch her in the café, so, I followed the sound of her heels and managed to catch up to her nearing the traffic light at the end of the junction. It was as busy as a bee hive and the sounds of honking occupied the air. I tried calling out for her but my measly attempts were drowned out by the traffic. I could then see her step on the road to start crossing, but to my horror, the green man on the traffic light turned into a red man. 

 

Before I could even alert her, 15000 pounds of metal came rushing from one end of the road to our end, and the only thing I remembered that day was the colour red. What looked to be a lifeless body was slowly surrounded by a pool of red. Half her body was crushed beyond recognition only finding small bits of white bone sticking out. The other half seemed to show her upper body with the face of Amanda, and a lifeless expression with her eyes closed. My entire body seized. Chills down my spine. Skin turning cold. I felt paralyzed. No part of my body wanted to move, no matter how much I wanted it to. Slowly my breaths staggered. I felt useless.