Toothbrush, elusive suitemate, two hares

I came back to the dorm around the evening from a medium-haul bus ride. The lights were off. My room was just the way I left it. My roommate's side was miraculously clean. I unpacked my stuff and realized I was the only one here. I went to the bathroom, but something felt off. I realized my toothbrush was missing. Where could it have gone? Fortunately I had packed another one, but how could my toothbrush suddenly vanish like that? Did someone take it? Everything else was just the way it had been. I messaged my roommate as he was the last one to leave the suite, but got no reply.

Half-perplexed, I went to the dining hall to eat with my friend. As I sat down, I felt a sensational hunger. I got everything the dining hall could offer, but couldn't finish any plate because of its bland, uninspiring taste. Even the drink was not great. The fizz was lacking. Overall the dining hall was empty. With halfhearted movements and expressions, employees served the students in sheer ennui. It seemed like this was the last place they wanted to be. Nothing was worth noting as everything was the same.

Outside the wind produced a lonely howling breeze. Buildings here and there were still under construction. For now they remained as nothing but pillars and rails, but in a few years this site would have a movie theater, extra study rooms, a gym, and more. Now it was however just a skeleton of a building.

The sky was already dark, and nighttime had come. An ominous bitter breeze hit me, leaves swirling in the air. Winter was coming.

When I came back, my other suitemate had come back. But minutes later, he left the room without notice. Just where could he have gone? My best guess would be the library, as he was a studious person. We usually didn't communicate unless it was something urgent. Most of the time he would be on his desk studying away. He didn't attend much parties as he was the stay-home type, yet his presence was not at all a bother to me and I'm sure he thought the same for me. He's a nice one who you could always depend on. With him gone, it was back to only me in the suite. The rest of the suitemates were coming the next day, so I had a night to relax.

With Christmas songs serenading me, I tried to get some work done. Slowly, I began to realize my college life was coming to a close. After I breezed through these finals, I only had one more semester left. In retrospect, I haven't done anything remarkable.

"You went to parties," my friend said.

"That isn't the most important thing," I said. "Parties are parties. They happen everywhere."

He mumbled something to himself. "I dunno, you met people. Met new friends."

"Friends like you," I said, kicking a pebble. "Yeah, that's one thing I appreciate. But everything seems to go by so quick. I can't believe it."

He didn't say anything.


Who knew where I was going post-graduation. Though it was something I needed to slowly plan out, in due time.

"Altoid?" he said, flipping the lid of the tin case.

"Don't mind if I do."

When I came back to my room, my suitemate still wasn't there. I watched a couple Japanese comedies, ate a banana, read, and scribbled down some thoughts on my notebook, but I couldn't write anything. Half giving up, I threw my pen on the desk, put my hands around my head and kicked back, staring at the bare wall in front of me. Nothing. But at one point, I thought of a proverb that my mother had told me earlier,

He who runs after two hares will catch neither. 

Have a focus point and focus on that one thing. Only on those rare occasions will the two hares collide with each other. I closed my eyes and dreamed. Thought of a rabbit hopping in a plain field somewhere in the open. It didn't know where it was, but it kept hopping. It was alone. Did it know where it was going?

Just when I was about to continue imagining the lone rabbit, the suite door opened and my suitemate came back.