Cast of Characters: Pete Thongjeur, Ning Siriprongpreeda, Asda Panichkul, Jib Keetapat Untimanon, Tae Sattawat Sethakorn, and Rita Sririta Jensen


Setting :

Bangkok, Koh Trai ( Island )

INTRO :

Have I finally found love?
is this the man?
that I've been dreaming of?
could this man,
be mines forever?
or could I be wrong?
and we shouldn't be together,
because I never had love all along,

All I know is the way I feel,
when I'm next to him,
I know the feeling is real,
but what is it to him?
am I just another girl?
or does he feel the way I do?
the same feeling that's real,
someone tell me if he loves me too.

CHAPTER 1 :

Ning Kullasatree applied a red glossy lip-gloss atop her Vaseline. She smiled smugly and set the lip-gloss back into the basket where other varieties of glossy things remained. With her fingers, she fluffed her curly hair that reached below her armpit. The curls had better stay she thought; after all, she had had a bad night's sleep because of those rollers. Ning straightened up and walked the long distance to her walk-in closet. As she was debating on whether to wear a dress or a short, the radio played her favorite song. She moved her lips along the beat of the music.
She finally made up her mind; she's going to wear a dress. She's going to flash her satiny, golden skin while she sails on the boat. By doing this, her father will know never to invite her to a so-called family sailing again. Damn it, she's so sick of 'family this family that'. Her parents acted as if they're sailing together for the first time, come on now, this will be like the fifth time this year. She grabbed the red silky dress that was trimmed to fit her curves, and pulled it over her head.
Ha, she had always gotten her rotten reputation from this; wearing ultimately sexy clothes, and being a bitch. She acted like a bitch and dressed like one so her parents would turn about and show her some damn love. Hell, was that too much to ask? Even as a child, she would go to her parents for comfort and warmth, but did they give her comfort? Did they give her warmth? No, all they gave her was everything she never wanted. But they supposedly think she wanted them, heck, what did they know about her? They simply want to dress her up in cute outfits so they could drag her along to fancy dinners to show off. Lookie here everyone, isn't my daughter adorable? Their intentions never changed.
Throughout her twenty-five years of life, all that she has ever gotten from her parents was everything but love, caring, and understanding. Heck, never did they came and asked her nicely, never had they hugged her, and never had they show the slightest inclination that they loved her. Her father in particular, would always throw a fit every time she steps out of the house with revealing clothes. His battering provoked her to continue to wear them often enough to "spick on his bean-curd."
They want her to dress like she was going to play golf huh? They want her to be like her younger brother huh? Be a nerd, act like a damn goodie-too-shoo? Speaking of her brother, she envied him. He at least got some love from their parents. But that ungrateful bastard wasn't even aware of it. All he does everyday is stick his nose in his artists' books and paint until night fall. But like he said, it all depends on his "mood." She had enough of him too!
Did they really think they could hide the fact from the public? Did they really think their family was the idol-family, the family everybody envies? Then they haven't read the society page yet. This was the last time she's going to put up with her parents. One last sailing trip for their pompous souls and the news reporters', she will run away and never come back.
Angrily, Ning grabbed her black purse and rushed out of the door.
"Ning!" called her mother from the open van door. "Come on, everybody's been waiting for you!"
Then her father's voice broke out of the other side of the car, "Ning! How many times did I tell you never to dress like that?" He was hissing beneath his teeth.
Ning chuckled, "Dad, how many times have you said that? Aren't you sick of it yet? I sure am."
"You un-" stuttered her father.
"Now, now, Por be quiet and let Ning inside the car! It's way past noon; we have to come back in time for dinner with Mrs. Kedmanee. Are you forgetting that already?" Mrs. Siriprongpreeda whined.
"Sattawat, put that book down! We're going sailing, and you don't have to bring that book of yours on the boat. You're going to throw up all over your good clothes again," said Mrs. Siriprongreeda.
"If that's what you call good clothes," sneered Ning.
"And what do you call yours P'Ning? Little shreds of clothes sewn together?"
"Shut your mouth Tae! Don't think I'm afraid to smack you in front of mom and dad. I sure did plenty of it!" warned Ning.
"Stop it you too, you're all grown up now, why are you still acting like babies?" scolded Mr. Siriprongpreeda.
"Whatever dad," ignored Ning.
"Drive the car Pood!" ordered Mrs. Siriprongpreeda, angrily.

They arrived at the Port in less than thirty minute, this was considered as the quickest time they've gotten there, you'd say the same if you know the traffic in Bangkok.
The chauffeur unloaded their basket-load of food and a small luggage into their personal sailing boat, THE BLAZER.
"Ok now Ning, Tae, let's go sailing!" said Mrs. Siriprongpreeda excitingly. She grasped her hands together in anticipation.
Ning rolled her eyes and climbed the steps that led into the boat's premises. Her mother stepped in after her as her father wheeled the stern, and her brother released the rope that tied the boat to the small pole. He hopped in the boat after it backed out from the paved Port.
THE BLAZER sailed smoothly along the calm sea, and into a world where the broad span of sea and the cliffy mountains appeared to be endless. Ning couldn't help but smile at the beautiful scenery. This was the last time she would be able to be with her family. Contrary to the way she have been acting to them, and the way she felt towards them, today, Ning grinned at the happiness that grew like an amber after the fire flickers. She was appreciating this short happiness even though she knew that her parents sailed for other reasons than being with their kids and for reasons far from hers. They did it for the simple fact that they were supposedly the "perfect" family, thus a family that spends quality time together. Bull.
THE BLAZER ripped through the sea at forty-five miles per hour, going further, speeding further than they've ever gone before. A ruckus shook THE BLAZER, causing it to jolt then unbolt.
"Por! What's going on?" screamed Mrs. Siriprongpreeda.
Fear rose from her belly up to her throat, and all that came out of her lips before they hit the splitting water was a tiny screeched.
The boat toppled over with a slush, as they fought to kick the warm water that was pushing them back in like a whirlpool. Even though they knew how to swim, and in fact were fantastic swimmers, their heavy clothing was very much pulling them down, drowning them.
Ning felt a hard grip on both of her armpits. Then she was hoisted from the water and was pushed against the side of the boat. Her father was the one trying so hard to get everyone to cling on the boat. Ning held on for dear life. But no matter how hard she tried to keep her face above the water, her grip on the side of the boat was minimal, and her face kept sinking back into the water. She needs to waddle her foot, but apparently, her high heels was way too heavy. Yet because her dress was a lightweight, she was able to rise on her hands and kick her shoes off.
A ticking sound caught her attention. Ning pressed her ears against the dashboard, and listened carefully.
Her eyes were wide open as she realized what the ticking was.
"There's a bomb in the boat!" she hollered at the other three who surrounded the boat.
"Oh my god!" screamed Mrs. Siriprongpreeda.
"Swim away from the boat as fast as you can!" shouted Mr. Siriprongpreeda.
Apparently, nobody noticed how Tae's head was popping in and out of the water. He waved his hands frantically in the air, calling for help. But every utter was draining his energy, and his lungs.
Ning stared horrifically at Tae. She swam with all of the strength and pulled him out of the water.
"Hurry kids! Get out of there!" As Mr. Siriprongpreeda said this, he swam to assist Ning. It was almost too late though, because the bomb on the boat doesn't seem to want to wait. Mr. Siriprongpreeda pushed his kids forward as the bomb erupted, blasting every particle into the air and down to the sea. The boat was aflame, burning their backs as they strove for the remnants of the boat. As Ning was floating, a huge article of the boat smashed fiercely against her left knee. She howled in pain as the tears trickled from her eyes. She tasted the salt water, and accidentally gulped down a few swallows.
Ning fought the urge to drift down to the bottom of the sea. She slapped her hands against the water as she fumes for the thick board that floated away from her. She fumbled and tried to jump onto the board, but her legs hurt way too much. She winced at the pain, as she tried once more. This time though, the board contemplated and bends for her. She quickly pulled herself onto it and laid her whole body evenly on the board. A thrashing pain exploded from her knees, as if burning. She peered down, but there were no flame on her knees, but surely, there was thick blood oozing out- it was replacing the flames all right.
The next thing she remembered was that she was unconsciously floating to nowhere.

Ning woke up with a throbbing headache, an aching knee, and a sore stomach. She allowed to fall into self-pity for half a second, and then realized how quiet the world was. She rose up on her elbow and glanced around the sea. There were tiny remnants floating about, but other than that, there were no living souls but she and the birds that flew in the sky.
"Dad?" Ning called behind her. There was no response.
"Mom? Tae?" cried Ning. She choked from the dryness of her throat, and tried to spit but ended up coughing instead.
Her face was burning from the flame, and now it's burning from the scolding sun. Ning held her hand up to block the rays of the sun, and began her fierce search for her family. But no matter how hard she tried to come across to; there were no indignation of life anywhere.
Ning stood up abruptly as a comprehension hit her. There was a bomb set before hand on their boat, THE BLAZER. When the bomb exploded, her father had been the closest to it, so was her mother. Damn herself to hell, she had escaped the fire because her father had pushed her and Tae. But where had Tae go? He was beside her until- she was hit by the flying articles.
Ning refused to believe any of this. No, not her perfect family, it can't be. They were indeed perfect in many ways, except for the fact that they didn't understand each other. But deep down, she loved her family very much. If she hadn't loved her family this much, she wouldn't have cared about the way they felt and how they didn't appreciate her. Ning's shoulders shook as the tears ran free. It soaked her salty cheeks and thickened her eyelids; it was so hard to open. With too much to handle, Ning shut her eyes as she raised her face to the sky. Her clothes were soaked wet, and probably will never dry. She mourned, she wept so hard she fell unconsciously back onto the board.
The board drifted across the ocean, and not for long, it headed towards an isolated island.


..........TO BE CONTINUED ....