"I want you to stay away from Ami."

"Huh?" Bryan stopped what he was doing -- securing the tent's guy ropes to the stakes -- and looked at his companion. "What's that, Buddy?"

Tama looked very serious. "Stay away from Ami."

Bryan nearly laughed, then thought better of it. "But why?"

All right, I have thought long and hard and can hereby confidently state my refusal to get drawn into the meaningless competition with June 04. It was not by any means an easy decision and in the end it was the innocent lives that would have been lost had I concluded otherwise that clinched it.

And so, rest assured, dear readers, that I would spare you the agony of having to check here often to see whether this silly blogger has come up with another of his ridiculous entries.

Then again, since I've started a new entry after all...

Siapa yang tak suka berteman dengan Fulan? Sahabatku yang satu ini sungguh berkualitas, kalau boleh meminjam istilah teman-teman perempuanku. Tiga puluh tahun umurnya, Fulan sudah menjadi seorang associate di sebuah firma hukum terkemuka dan jika gosip bisa dipercaya, sebentar lagi ia akan dipromosikan menjadi senior associate. Tentunya dengan kedudukan seperti ini, Fulan tidaklah berkekurangan dalam hal finansial.

Meskipun profesinya menuntut Fulan untuk sering kali bekerja lembur, ia selalu meluangkan waktu untuk berolah raga dan berlatih bersama grup musik amatirnya. Olah raga dan musik memang tidak dapat dipisahkan dari kehidupan temanku ini. Dan berdasarkan yang kudengar dari beberapa orang maupun pengamatanku sendiri, Fulan tidaklah memalukan dalam kedua bidang ini. Selain menguasai beberapa cabang olah raga, ia juga dapat memainkan beberapa alat musik. Bahkan sekali aku pernah mendengarnya menyanyi. Sama sekali tidak jelek.

I know what you're thinking: whoa, whatever happened to this guy? June's still young -- and our beloved Geminians are only starting to get older by one -- and three entries already? He's on fire!

I'm no longer bored, thanks to this and that. But when you're done with everything you've been tasked with, you'd tend to feel a bit... well, not exactly bored, lest I'll contradict myself -- rather, I dunno, restless? Uneasy? It's like, there you are, in front of your puter, nothing to do, and your mind just goes blank. What to do? C'mon, that's a puter before you, do something, surf somewhere -- anything, anywhere!

So I dug out old pals' archives. Guess what I found.

From the moment Ray's eyes found the girl's, he instinctively knew that she was the one. She had to be in her early-to-mid twenties, with an optimistic air that matched. Dark hair, cream skin, slender waist, and a pair of perfect legs. Without wasting more time, Ray signalled to the waiter, with some healthy tip had him bring a drink ("Whatever she's having") to her table, collected the due appreciative smile, and before long joined the girl.

"Hi, I'm Ray."

"I'm Cavis. Never saw you here before and I'm a regular."

"I'm not from around," Ray flashed his best smile, "here on a business trip."

"I see."

Abis bersih-bersih di HS, nemu ginian. Berhubung dibuang sayang, daur ulang aja deh di sini.

"...maka kita harus tahu rumus mana yang sebaiknya digunakan. Lintasan benda ini berbentuk kurva dengan persamaan..." Pak Jaya memindahkan spidol ke tangan kirinya, lalu melanjutkan menulis di papan tulis.

Komar menguap dan mengalihkan perhatiannya ke sekeliling. Di sebelah kirinya Dirman nampak tekun dengan buku teks di hadapannya. Pensil di tangannya bergerak lincah, menggambar kurva -- yang berwujud salah satu karakter Dragon Ball. Komar terkekeh pelan.

A hand tapped on my shoulder and a voice positively said, "Dodol Surodol dot blogspot dot com!"

Okay, I had been called many different names, some funny, most not, a number with traceable origins, a few completely out of the thin air. But to be called a Uniform Resource Locator? That had to be a first.

Annoyed, I looked up from the copy of The Da Vinci Code and into the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. The cutest eyebrows I'd ever stared at. The most handsome nose I'd ever beheld. The...

"You are Dodol Surodol dot blogspot dot com, right?" The voice was less positive now.

"Err..." Quick, something clever! Something from a movie, maybe. "Depends... Who's asking?" Phew.

I never liked cats. To me they were selfish creatures who cared only for themselves. They came to you when they wanted food or rubbing. They did not welcome you when you returned home. Unless it was feeding or rubbing time. Simply egocentric.

Despite my hate relationship with cats, however, there was one thing I did know about these creatures. That somehow they had this mechanism to leave trails for other cats to follow, information for others to pick up. How else would you explain the sudden stream of cats at your door after you fed one of them?

"Malam, neng."

"Malam. Tumben sendirian? Diko nggak ikut?"

"Aku suruh pulang duluan. Capai sekali dia sepertinya."

"Nah kamu sendiri nggak lelah? Kalian kan selalu bareng. Kerja bareng. Makan bareng. Ke gym bareng. Jangan-jangan mandi juga bareng?"

"Cuma kalau terpaksa. Iya deh, aku ngaku. Aku bilang aku mau mampir ke sini. Dia langsung tahu diri dan milih pulang."

[Previously -- a long time ago...]

I reached Allan Chia's office at five minutes to two. There was nothing special about the building -- or the company itself, for that matter. It was one of those small firms barely surviving the economic crisis and not yet having recovered fully. From what Chia had told me, I knew there were twenty-three people currently employed. Of those, eight were contractors and only five had been with the company for more than two years, Chia included. Just one of those companies, indeed.

"Too bad, what happened to your brother. He was a good guy."

Out of the blue, it came out of my boss' mouth that afternoon. We had just finished a discussion on work matters, I sitting in my cubicle, he standing and leaning on my desk. I could not help but look at him and say, "Come again?"

He repeated and added, "I knew him, you know."

Yes, of course I did. He and my brother had graduated from the same university. Not really best friends, from what I had heard, but close enough for occasional stay-overnights at each other's places during those days. It had been a pure coincidence that I had joined his father's private enterprise. I had recognized him from my brother's funeral service. We had since become more than just colleagues, but seldom talked about my brother. Hence, my need to double check.