Reminder. Don't ever forget...

One reason that the 'straywolf' persona was created would be based on the word 'stray'. An inner feeling already concludes that the 'wolf' would never know a home, nor family. God helps the wolf, for no one can always be there for the 'wolf'. Too many shackles have not allowed the wolf to have a new start. And the wolf's eyes are always clouded by the environment it has always been in - harsh, cold and devoid of family warmth.

Once the wolf has become a dire wolf. For it realised then that its sole weakness would be its soft-heartedness. It cares. And thus it can be hurt.

The straywolf came back, instead of the dire wolf because of certain influences from the people about it. And it was hurt again, because it discarded its thick, impenetrable fur of a dire wolf. Has it made a wrong decision then to not be entirely the dire wolf?

Do not ever forget. Hurt is everywhere and overcoming it is a most torturous path but the wolf would not give up - either as a stray or as a dire.

Heading towards a new start...

Finally after 4 years of strife, the wolf finally sees a bright future beyond. A road which can lead to paradise. A road which can lead to freedom and happiness. A road to lead out of its vicious cycle.

Yet as it neared the road to paradise, it realises it still cannot sprint. It wants to bound forth, with newfound energy but it still cannot run faster than it can walk. It turns its head, puzzled.

It then realises the reason. The metal shackles on its feet are still there. The shackles which are weighted down by the past issues are still there. No matter how hard it pushes itself to move on, the shackles are still there. And the entity, which put them on, remains, its dark influence pulsating.

How then can it move forth?

Life's only as complicated as we make it to be

Life is never complicated. We are the ones who choose to make it as complicated as we make it to be.

Technology seems to be one factor where it can involve complication. I thought it was supposed to make life more convenient. It allows me to work while I am traveling, it allows me to do research anywhere anytime. It allows me to be portable.

Yet I don't feel happy. For apparent reasons... I am too caught up with work to be in touch with the things around us.

So today, I put down my work and I look up. I thought I could meet someone's gaze and smile at that someone, just to connect. I only saw peoples' heads bowed, their sight riveted to their NDS, phones and PSPs.

I wonder if that makes me feel better.

Drunk...

Never thought much about alcohol, some people would say. It just gets people woozy, puke all around the place without worrying about the people who have to clean up after them.

It just gets people trying their best to walk or drive in straight lines without worrying about the people or cars who have to do their best not to collide.

It just gets people so brave without worrying if their tones or brash actions would hurt the people they love.

It just gets people boasting about their alcohol intake capacity without worrying their overworked liver may, one day, quit on them.

We will just take it in moderation, the people would say. We can control. Tell that to the drug addicts, the gambling addicts, the game addicts, the shopping addicts, the bubble-tea addicts. What is the statistics? Will more than 4 out of 10 control or go on rampage?

Well, it doesn't really matter to me, except that I seem a bit woozy on the couch. Is my fur all crooked? Am I looking good in this picture?

Angels and Demons *novel spoiler*

People’s faith and their spiritual well-being versus the cold immaculate logic. God versus Science.

There would always be people who have the mentality that God and Science cannot co-exist. Will you accept that the proof of God can lie in a test-tube and that it can be proven in the lab instead of through the heart and miracles? Or have you never considered this implication at all while thinking that Science can be used to support God’s existence?

There will be arguments that science and God can co-exist, and there can be a balance. Yet is it really generally true? Or is it just the society’s falsified truth? Look at the destruction of nature around us. Nowadays, it is indeed disappointing to hear from people that nature is just limited to the park, nature reserves and zoos. Only an average of 30%- 40% of the forests in the world still remain (can be referred). We are just simply consoling ourselves.

And one more interesting question brought up would be the definition of God. In the eyes of the linguists, it is still debatable whether God is definitive, or connotative, meaning if God is concrete and real, or being abstract? Out in the world, there would be people who seeks the truth after God in the name of science. Some of them may come to the conclusion that God is something beyond, a higher power, and they may not believe in God as others say through the bible and pastors where God is defined by His Word and that would be the bible.

In personal view, in this present era, I feel that the truth may be more warped than ever, for there is a large number of people walking the path of God in the aspects of the bible which are convenient to them. There is struggle, but many can settle for just compromising to the majority and this is also one issue brought up in the book itself as well.

In the novel, there is the introduction of this concept, according to my interpretation. Science is causing Man to advance too fast for their spiritual development to catch up. That is why when new technological prospects come up, the scientists may be tempted to breach the ethical code in the name of research, or that people are more tempted to try out the destructive side of the technological prospect than the productive side of the technological prospect. One hard and cold evidence would simply be the technology in nuclear. Nuclear was first used as a weapon before it is used as a means of providing energy to the consumers.

The novel itself opens up more grey area between humans' faith and truths, where the truth may actually cast us in despair while the lie, which is not supposed to be condone, will set many free.

Loss

The Entity provokes. Once a while, an arrow flew from ahead, the metal head thudding into the ground just at its front paws. The wolf narrows its eyes. Once in the long past, it would have flinched and yelped. Only recently, it would also have snarled and broken the arrow. However, it now only looks at the entity with narrowed eyes.

Very soon, the Entity will send forth its foes again, but not at the moment, and the wolf feels the urgency to stop and take stock of its surroundings before it is lost once again in the senseless violence.

Being a stray, the wolf knows it walks a different path than the others. Yet it cannot even see the others now. It seems that they are so far off. Or rather in its fight to survive, it has travelled further away from the others. The Entity has succeeded in distracting it from the path it was taking for such a long time.

Vaguely, the dire wolf could remember the Paradise, where the Moon flower resided. It left the Paradise out of shame, an outcast, for it was then robbed of its strength. Some Paradise it was. Yet its heart ached as it remembered the vibrant colours reflected off the Moon flower.
Vaguely, the dire wolf could remember of the companions whom had tried journeying with the wolf. There was a female fox and a bear whom had tried to extend their friendship to it. The wolf left them for it hesitated to take the path they were taking.

There was a simple dove who hanged around for some time before leaving it, because the wolf paid scant attention to it.

There was the hyper beagle whom it did not know how to relate to.

There was the shy rabbit where it felt it could not travel with because of its situation.

And lastly there is the loyal dog whom keeps its bullish head down and braves the obstacles and the tempers of the wolf. The loyal dog. The wolf turns slightly. The dog is still there, some distance away, chasing its own tail. The wolf shakes its head, wondering if the dog is this stupid to follow through the bloody mayhem. No, the dog has only just joined the wolf when the battles were less intense.

Yet it is through this companionship with this loyal dog, it saw that it could no longer travel with an alpha male wolf which has extended its paw of friendship. Truth to be told, the dire wolf admires the alpha male wolf but as nature dictates, the alpha male keeps its own counsel and the dire wolf is not a pack creature at all, leading to the brief skirmish of exchanging snaps from the jaws. It was a brief fight, with some intense injuries. The dire wolf could feel the scars.

Where are the companions of old? The wolf asks itself. The Man’s friend, another dog, is now at a distant land, caught up with its devices. The Gorilla seems to travel further into the forest. Last the wolf heard, the Gorilla is now evolving into a Silverback.

And yes, the stray wolf has also evolved into a dire stray wolf. At what cost? This land is totally barren, leading to nowhere. There is only blood and more blood. The Great Path is lost to it.

It howls in remembrance.

*In our pursuit for certain ideals, we sacrifice some things which we feel worth it to. Are they really not as precious?*

Does it have a choice?

It stops because it cannot see what is beyond ahead. It thought it knew where it was headed, but yet after so long, it now wonders if it really knows.

From that fatal day in 2003 when it was forced to depart from the Paradise, it has been encountering foes and obstacles and its survival instincts had taken over then where it has been running ever since, moving on despite the overwhelming odds. Its survival instincts have been the driving force and the whip for it to continue to move on even when it was at a loss, not knowing what best course it could take.

It stops now for it is no longer afraid. It has become a dire wolf, a wolf of horror and no compassion. It has recognized the entity which has been the sole cause of all the mayhem. Already now, the entity has placed itself at the path ahead, ready to spawn more foes and obstacles.

The wolf can go forth ahead and do battle again. And there will be more battles and more battles ahead as well. It stops, shaking its immense head, trying to see through the haze of blood. What is the meaning in life if it simply just fights on and on? Yet if it does not fight, it will only fall prey to the foes and obstacles spawned by the entity.

The wolf growled.

*We often impose the perception that we make our own choices on others, not understanding sometimes to make their own choices, the cost is too great.*