Rock Princess

Sunday, January 28, 2007

The last post was so screwed up. Was meant to embed a video, but it turned out like this...ah well nvm. I have nothing to blog about so shall post my commonwealth essay 2007 here.

Stella ran her hands over the smooth leather seat of the limousine, and the polished surface of the limousine door. She never thought that she would have the fortune to sit in such an elegant car.
Stella has been chosen by her teacher to take part in this befriending program between her school and Jefferson Institution, which is a school for autistics. Her classmates had teased her about having to befriend an autistic, while others had cautioned her not to get to close to the “freak” or she’ll end up as one herself. Stella, however, was undaunted by all this. People are all the same. They only seemed different because you allow yourself to judge them superficially, her mother had taught her. Stella had always lived by this.

The limousine pulled up outside the grandest mansion Stella had ever seen. The chauffer held opened the door for her, and she was led into the house by a motherly looking housekeeper.
“Come on dear, young master Matthew is waiting for you in his study room.” Stella looked around her in awe. The house was spacious, and expensively furnished, and more elegant than she had expected.
Earlier on, Stella had done her research on autism, as well as her buddy, Matthew. Autism is a mental syndrome that prevents normal communication, but it does not mean that the person is “retarded”, like her classmates had told her. In fact, most autistic teenagers have a much higher IQ compared to an average teenager. Also, Matthew is the son of the director of a well known Swiss bank about her age, and their family is one of the richest in the country.
“I’ll stop here. You just go into that room in front of us dear.” The housekeeper smiled at Stella and walked away. Stella reached nervously for the door and went into the room.

A boy wearing a white coloured long sleeve shirt and jeans was crouching down on the floor, with arranged dominos surrounding him, like some sort of fort. He has long limbs, messy jet black hair, and wide blank eyes. He looked up at Stella with those creepy, emotionless eyes.
“Hi Matthew, I’m Stella, your buddy for this program.” Matthew’s face registered no emotion. Instead, he continued to play around with his dominos. A few moments passed. Matthew stretched out a long finger and gave one of the dominos a nudge.
“ I am Matthew.” He muttered, after he had made sure that all the dominos had fallen. He reached into a trunk by his side and took out a two thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. Stella stood there awkwardly.
“ Do you want to play with me?” He finally asked. Stella nodded, and crouched down beside him. She look at the packaging of the jigsaw. It was the landscape of a beautiful meadow, with the sky taking up more than half of the jigsaw. Stella hesitated.
“Uhh...I think I might give this a pass...I’m really bad at jigsaw...” She said, and sit back to watch Matthew piece together the puzzle. He was frowning in concentration, and his wide blank eyes were focused as he set about his task. Forty-five minutes later, he completed the two thousand piece jigsaw puzzle.

As Stella and Matthew were piecing together another jigsaw puzzle, two uniformed maids came into the room and began laying the dining table tucked away in the corner of the room. Stella watched them put the food onto the table. There were apples, strawberries, cherries, blood red jellies, red fruit punch, red coloured candies, a small bowl of red coloured m&m’s, and even a platter of cocktail sausages drenched heavily in red ketchup. Stella was puzzled. Why are the foods all red in colour?
“Tea is ready sir.” The maids announced, and went out of the room. Matthew jumped excitedly to the table and began attacking the food. First he picked up a sausage and licked all the ketchup off it before gulping the whole thing down in one bite. Then he took some red coloured candies and popped them down together with some red fruit punch. He stopped suddenly, realizing that Stella was still standing in a corner.
“Eat,” he said cheerfully, gesturing to the food. “It’s all red.”

Stella had a few more meetings with Matthew, each session a week apart. They played around with jigsaws or dominos and always ended the session eating red foods. Stella had been introduced to Matthew’s world, and now she wanted to bring him out into her world. She had a talk with Matthew’s father personally herself, to get permission to bring him out. Matthew’s father was more than delighted when Stella suggested this. That boy has no friends since young, and he has been pretty much isolated from the rest because of his condition, he had said to her. He could not be happier that Stella was willing to befriend his son. In fact, he noticed that his son had changed after knowing Stella. Matthew never seemed interested in interacting with any other human being, but now he always anticipates Stella’s arrival with excitement, getting ready his jigsaw puzzles and dominos. There was once when Matthew even asked the maids to bring in more “ very red strawberries because Stella likes them”

Stella strolled out of Begonia mansion with Matthew following behind her, wearing his usual white long sleeved shirt and jeans despite the sunny weather.
“Why are we not using the car?’ He asked, after a few moments of walking. Stella smiled.
“Because we are doing things my way today, and I want to take the bus. I’ve always enjoyed taking buses.” Matthew kept his hands stuffed in his pockets and kept quiet. Stella could sense that he was tense up and afraid. Autistics do not like changes and unfamiliar surroundings, Stella had read in an article. She glanced back at Matthew. He really looked scared and uncomfortable, his wide blank eyes even more alarming than usual. Stella reached out for Matthew’s hand, hoping to give him some comfort, but as soon as her fingers touched the surface of his pale skin, Matthew jumped back as if he was scalded.
“ I’m-I’m sorry. I didn’t realized that-“ Stella stuttered, alarmed by his reaction. Matthew looked down at his sneakers.
“I don’t liked to be touched.” He mumbled apologetically. The pair walked in silence to the bus stop. The bus arrived, and they boarded it. Passengers on board the bus stared at Matthew, from his messy hair to his long, hunched figure. Some were even whispering to one another about him. Stella ignored them all. She had expected this.
“Where are we going?” Matthew asked when they sat down.
“To a theme park.” Stella replied. She took out her iPod from her bag and switched it on. She handed one of the earphones to Matthew.
“Do you listen to rock?” she asked. Matthew shook his head.
“Well then try it. I like to blast my rock music loud, you should try it too.” Stella turned up the volume and started blasting a rock song from her favorite band. She watched as Matthew cringe at the loud volume, but he slowly started to nod his head to the beat.
They soon started singing to the chorus of the song at the top of their voices, oblivious to the reactions of those around them.

Stella and Matthew had a fun time at the theme park. They sat on the Viking ship, spinned round and round on revolving teacups, and had a few goes on the roller coaster. Stella screamed at the top of her voice on the thrill rides, but Matthew was calm and has no reaction whatsoever, even when the rollercoaster took a heart-stopping dip. However, it was evident that Matthew was enjoying himself, for a playful smile was dancing on his lips.
“I’ve just remembered something. Can you wait here for me?” Stella asked, looking at Matthew. She had just spotted candy vendor at the other side of the theme park, and she wanted to surprise him with a red lollipop. Matthew agreed.
After making the purchase, Stella went back to the spot where she left Matthew. He was still standing there obediently, but he was surrounded by a group of teenage boys. They were teasing him, making fun of his odd appearance and behavior. Matthew did not retaliate. Instead, he stood there, waiting for Stella to be back.
“Hey, what are you guys doing? Leave him alone!” Stella shouted, pushing past the boys to Matthew’s side.
“What are you doing with a weirdo like him?” They taunted, and laughed among themselves. Stella was furious.
“He is not a weirdo, he is my friend. He may seem weird and odd, but if you put him under a microscope and take a closer look at him you will find that he is much more pleasant to be with than you bunch of insensitive idiots.” She snarled. The boys were shocked, and they walked away. Stella turned to Matthew.
“Are you alright?” she asked, and handed him the packet of red lollipops she bought. Matthew took out a single lollipop from the packet.
“ This is the first red lollipop I am giving to my first and only friend.” He said, and grinned from ear to ear. Stella could not control herself. She leapt into his arms and hugged him, silent tears escaping from her eyes.
This time, he did not recoil from her touch.

Raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses and SLEEPING WITH BRENDON