In Continuum.

There was a guy from my camp, Calvin, who had an appointment with his skin doctor and received these pills that actually closes his pores up. This also means that his body would heat up to extreme temperatures if he is forced to do any activities that involved sweating. Thus, he was excused from a bunch of work while the rest of us continued to toil in the sun. Of course, you couldn't actually show that you were enjoying yourself out there in the shade, you had to play the part well as a sick and pathetic guy who wanted to join in the activities - but can't. The period of time is probably the only time in your whole life when you are going to look at your 39 degrees reading on the thermometer and jump for joy at the very same time. It is a strange way to think of it that way, but that's how it is. Any valid reason to skip an exercise, that is the main goal of every soldier out there. I know it is not comforting to know that your country is guarded by people such as myself, but that's the cold hard truth for you with no sugar coating whatsoever. Beat it.

I never had Bronchitis in my whole life, in fact this is the first time a doctor has put the word "You" and "Bronchitis" in the very same line. I did have that other coughing problem in the past though, what army boys would recognize as the "Tekong Cough". You see, those who have spent a significant amount of time on that dreadful island would know that that island is not suitable for humans to inhabit in any way. It is way too hot in the day and way too cold at night, and it is always so close to home and yet, so far away at the very same time. With all the supernatural stories aside, Tekong really should be considered the only third world state in Singapore, simply because of how primitive and rundown everything is on that island. The only water supply on the island is from a hidden reservoir somewhere, and the public utility center up there decided that it would be wise to add an insane amount of chlorine to the waters to kill the bacteria. I'm not a science person, but at least I know the effects of chlorine on the inner linings of our throat - it wears it out and makes you cough. So that's how Tekong Cough actually started with the lot of us, and I carried the cough all the way to my new camp on the main island.

It was a fairly enjoyable experience on my very first day there, when I was actually ask to sit out of a jogging exercise after being observed as being ill. In truth, I didn't tell the superiors that in fact, I was just suffering from a major case of Tekong Cough. I was losing sleep at night because of the cough, not to mention the pain in my throat whenever I spoke to anyone. It was worse due to the fact that in the army, everybody has to speak about fifty decibels louder than usual for some reason. Anyway, I was suffering but I never complained. Like I said, sitting out of a practice is always a good thing, you won't get a better feeling in camp for sure. There was this other time when I came back from India and found a bloat of blood in the tissue when I sneezed, and that was yet another chance of mine to tell the medical officer that I was unfit for training. I breathed in too much sand in India, which also caused the inner linings of my windpipe to be worn out, thus the blood. That is not to mention the smile on my face amidst the contorted expression of pain when I literally slipped at the top of the Jacob's Ladder and rolled down the wooden steps to the ground below. The pain was excruciating, but at least I knew that I had a reason to skip any subsequent practices. I was sitting at the back of the jeep as they drove me to the medical center, with a smile on my face. 

So you see, Bronchitis isn't really that bad a thing, especially when you can twist it to sound like a problem with unnaturally big breasts. It is all a matter of time, and if this happened two years ago, I would have been glad. Right now during the holidays though, it isn't such a welcoming thing at all. We have friends meeting outside to have lunches and dinners without you, or the holiday trip I am supposed to embark on this Friday back home. Everything has bee planned, but there is also that chance of me sitting out of it. My friends comfort me by saying that it is my health that is the most important, and that we can always meet up on some other occasion to pig out at someone else's home. But this is the holidays, and this does not come by very often. It's just a little depressing to be sitting at home at six in the morning, puking over the toilet bowl while everybody else is comfortably asleep in their warm beds. But hey, I cannot complain much now, because I am in good hands. My mother is finally back, and she is the super woman in my life.

Mothers have a thing, this superpower within them. I think it is in every woman out there, and this superpower is triggered by pregnancy. There is this comforting effect to know that she is around, and I guess that must have contributed a lot to the fact that I am feeling a whole lot better these days. The first thing my mother did when she came home was to make food for me, coupled with that was a feet massage - which she claimed to be beneficial to my windpipe problem - and not to mention the ridiculous amount of vitamin C pills that I swallowed. Either way, I am just glad that she is home right now, taking care of me. No matter how old you are, you always hope to be taken care of by somebody else, and no other person in the world is more suitable than your own mother. It's nice to hear her footsteps in the corridor these days, or the sound of her frying something in the kitchen for the two of us. It is also nice to see her figure in my doorway in the middle of the night check up on my temperature, and the soothing rubs on the back as I gagged over the trash bin. It is comforting to be around my mother, and that is probably her superpower. I love my mom, I really do. 

To all the friends who showed even an ounce of concern, you guys made a lot of difference as well. Yes, even you Deuel, who actually offered me honey at your place the other day, thank you for that. I don't usually get offered a lot of things at your place but, that was definitely something I appreciate. And to those unnamed friends out there, like you and you, and you, thank you so very much for caring. Oh, April, I love you, and your breathing technique too. If there is one person I'd call to save my life, it'd be you. It'd be you. Thank you.