I went to uni yesterday to get my referee reports. Had a good conversation with my lecturer. I found Pi at uni. We sat down together. Alice joined. We made paper cranes (3). We made a pact to give them to a random person as we go to buy ice cream.
I completely forgot about uni work. So I talked to Alice and Pi some more, we walked around the campus, meeting first years etc
Then Alice had to go home and Pi wanted to leave too cause it was time for a nap (apparently) – earlier Jay suggested that we go to the “hut” tonight cause he’s leaving tomorrow.
I had walked to uni that day so Pi offered me a lift home, but we had to get petrol first. In the car we started talking about life and when we left the petrol station I mentioned that I didn’t want to go home to do my assignment So Pi says: Really?! Wanna go for a drive??! and I say “…yeah???!”
The hut (as I found out) is the orphanage-esque house that they often talk about.
During the drive I watched Pi (on one level during the conversation) and thought: I want to be somebody who makes others feel comfortable to be themselves around me, to open up new sides of themselves, explore theories, minds, find themselves, engage in discussions. And yet I want to create a feeling in them that it is ok to be silent. To be in the background. That I accept them for who they are, and I love them for it.
That’s Pi.
He decided to show me “mordor”- a place that the three of them have been talking about for a while and kept mentioning. Another special place to them.
mordor? the place in LOTR?
yes, like LOTR (Lord of The Rings). it’s not the actual name of the place, they just call it that because it reminded them of it. It’s a small small park high on top of a mountain- very steep, we nearly rolled backwards. But got there (2pm). You can overlook nearly the whole side of the city, the clouds cast dark shadows.
When Pi last went, a storm was coming and he tells me he could see it coming towards him. I imagine it would make an incredible scene.
But when we were there yesterday the weather was warm, nearly cloudless. We flew kites (he keeps a lot of random things in his car) and talked about the metaphors of kite flying. We sat down and looked at the ants, discussing the small signs and omens of life. We talked about universal love. We talked about growth, mindsets, learning and privileges. About interfering in other people’s lives just because you might think they’re life is
“not as good as yours”. To what extend should we interfere with nature (as we watched a butterfly die).
We sat in silence. And I felt how comfortable the atmosphere was. This boy has a talent.
So in my head I analyzed silence.
But I will skip the small details.
Two hours later we looked at the time and gasped. “We should go home”. So we got in the car, Pi gets out a packet of gum, offers me some- I accept and then reminisce about childhood dares of eating a whole pack at once
so we did … mixing different types of gum, eating them all and laughing all the while- a nice break from the intensity of the previous conversation.
We drive down the hill, see ponies, play windmill and white horse ( a driving game.. I’ll explain upon request :p). Pi decides to take the long way home.
We drive towards the motorway and decide to keep driving. Following the huge black cloud in front of us.
80 k’s an hour and the rain punctures the palm of your hand as you reach out the window to feel the strength of the wind pulling at it.
Pi hands me a half-full glass bottle and tells me to hold it out of the window. I do so and the tunes it produces amaze us. We experiment with water, high and low pitch.
We don’t turn around for another 40 minutes, talking about third space/third culture (he is a TCK), about perspectives, about diversity, religion, I ask him about his childhood, his father, his mother’s experiences and difficulties. We talk about parenthood, about sacrifice, about the hidden words, about the Alchemist and pursuit of happiness.
He says we all essentially speak the same language. We mean the same thing but express it differently.
We eventually turn around, He texts Kate, Jay and Tristan about the “hut plan”. Tristan can’t come.
He drops me at the front of my house, tells me we’ll probably leave in an hour or so, so that we can have some light. Tells me to wear long pants, closed in shoes and take a jumper. I walked to the shops to buy olives and milk for my mother. The rain was soft, barely touching my skin. I held an open water bottle in one hand and as I walked it offered me a quiet, secret whistle. Like a very soft reminder,- a call to appreciate these small things. In the shops I ate my favourite juicy dates that remind me of Iran, found milk and olives and made my way home. An impressive rainbow had formed right in front of my house (so it seemed). I walked towards it.
Right before I entered my home Pi called me and asked if we could take my car and if he could drop by soon- to show me the way etc. I was about to leave again to get medicine for my mother when they walked into the driveway (just as I was reversing). As I got out to greet Jay and Pi my mother lets me know that she found her tablets. I invited the two of them upstairs to say bye to mum. They both hugged her and wished her well. She tells them to take care of me and we leave the house, get into my car and drive along. We get to the top of a deserted hill, where Kate is already waiting for us. I’ve been here before but I never stopped to stare off into the distance, the landscape, the clouds, the sky. To lie on the table, listening to music, surrounded by beautiful people. We joked. Jay carried me on his back, they talked, I listened. I felt.
Jay walked away from the table, sat on the grass, right on the edge of the hill, his back to us. After a while we joined him. We sat together in silence. Talked about fathers. Discussed dinner. Decided on CJ’s and eating at lake Jimson’s. Or making pancakes. But first we would go to the hut as the sun is setting, so that we’ll see where we are going. And so we leave with the sun. I didn’t know where to, I simply followed Kate. We parked in front of a fenced entry with signs. An old mine? What did they call it.. I can’t remember. Something with ‘C’. No-one has worked here for 30 years. We help each other climb the high fence. Jump down on the other side and walk along a large dirt road. About a 6 minute walk with large rocks and mountains to one side and bush-land to the other. We get to a smaller fence at the edge of decent. Pi stops us and guides me to the fence. I look down into a sort of valley. At the bottom I see the outline of an old, run-down industrial 2-story house glistening in the bright golden-red light of the setting sun. It looks magical. Mysterious. Inviting. The building has an atmosphere about it that suggests that it is the bearer of many secrets. We turn left, walk through high grass (look out for snakes!). I walk in front of Jay and behind Pi & Kate who light the way with their mobile phone torches. It’s a steep decent and there is a set of spiral stairs hidden in the ground which our feet carefully explore as we walk step by step, ready to help each other out. We’re down the bottom. More rocks, some sort of water catchment. It is getting dark fast. I get out my own light and carefully cross the narrow stone rim that sits on top of the dangerous-looking water catchment. The house is closer now. Following Pi and Kate I sit down on a block of cement and jump down two metres. We come to a wooden bridge. “Be careful when you walk across, there are occasional gaps”. Holding on to the mouldy railing we walk to the doorless entry of the ‘hut’. There is grafiti everywhere, rusty steal, creaking wooden floors that are re-enforced with metal floors in some areas. There’s a metal staircase that we climb up. On the second storey there is a large open “window” with two wooden boards across it to prevent people from falling. We sit down in front of it, letting our feet hang above the ground. The view is breathtaking. Large mountains somewhere in the mist. The night is warm for early winter. Lights stare back at us as we sit in comfortable silence. This is a significant moment. A cherished memory in the making. I think to myself, as I appreciate the beautiful people around me, and the fact that it is these people that fulfill my life at the moment. Not the place I am at. This is “home”. This feeling is home. I felt connected to the world, the universe, all of you. I love you. The world’s future is safe with people like you in it.
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