The Devil within Me

Another rewritten exam piece.

At the very moment I stared at the computer, I felt my fingers twitched. Then I turned away and reached out for a book beside it. A tiny pang of joy shot through me as I know that I had succeeded, that I had conquered the worst enemy anyone can face – myself.
Everything started at the start of the year, when my antique computer was replaced by a new one, which my parents bought for me because of my good results the year before. I began to realise what the computer can actually do. I was able to play the games I couldn’t because my previous computer wasn’t powerful enough, but now, no one could name a game my computer couldn’t support. It wasn’t long before I became addicted to computer games. It wasn’t that obvious at the beginning because I only spent one to two hours a day in front of the computer, but gradually, it grew to be six or seven hours as the urge to play grew continuously. I was soon taking over my friends in both the number of hours spent playing per day and the amount of homework that was left undone. However, there were only a limited number of hours a normal person have in a day, so I began to sleep lesser and lesser. Bed time was ten, but, because of my computer addiction, it became later than three. My parents knew nothing about all these because I would pretend to fall asleep first, and then lock the door and before returning to my virtual world.
Despite the fact that I just barely passed the first exam that year, I did not put more effort in studying. The exam which determined whether one could advance to secondary two had passed, and I failed four out of six subjects, and getting a mere pass for the remaining two. When my parents questioned why my results were so bad, I lied and told them that I was feeling unwell during the examination period, and they believed me. I felt bad for lying to them, and there was only one way to redeem myself – to get good results for the retest, that took place two month later. That was when I told myself I had to get rid of the devil that was riding me.
Sometimes I wished that they knew the truth because they would make it a lot easier for me to kick my bad habit. My first attempt to do so was a failure. I tried to force myself to study, but, being under the same roof as the computer, I ended up playing computer games. Then some of my friends suggested that I try not to stay at home. I thought it was a good idea so I tried it, and it worked. After school I would go to the library to study, or play some sports with my friends. The effect wasn’t immediate, I still play the computer every day, but I began to spend less time playing and more time studying and sleeping. There was a period of time I gave up and returned to playing more than seven hours of computer games per day, but with so many friends caring about me and reminding me what was more important, I did it.
I used to wonder why people fought so hard for freedom, but have I dreamt that I would be one of them. I have fought hard with the devil riding me. Now I can stand in front of the computer and tell myself that, no, I’m not going to play the computer. I can study in front of the computer without getting distracted, so I proudly claim that I have won the battle with that devil and that I am free.
As I looked at the look I held in my hand, I realised that it used to be one of my favourite books. I flipped through it, and then slammed it closed. A short while later, my brother saw my dragging a huge box of books into the storeroom and locking it. “What... ... what are you doing?” he quizzed. “Oh, nothing much,” I replied, “just treasuring the freedom I fought so hard for.” My brother gave me a bewildered look, but I ignored it and returned to my room.

I'm feeling pretty screwed up recently. I didn't practice my cello much, and have been pissing my teacher off recently. Then last lesson she told me that she's gonna kick me out of her lesson and tell my conductor to find me another teacher if i don't practice. I don't dislike her, she's much better than my piano teacher, but she's just... blur? The week before last she told me that i'm gonna have lesson at sun, 12, and when i went there she told me that she never receive my message confirming that i'm going so she's not in. I sent the message, and i have proof.
Then there's so much going on in CCA, they bombarded my email account with so many emails. I didn't go for CCA for a long time because i was overseas. so i really don't know what's going on. Then there's a lot of stuff to do, and i'm confused.
A couple more reasons, but on the whole i'm feeling pissed.

Left to Die

The day had come to an end and nighttime was arriving. As the last ray of the sun disappears, the streets became quiet. There were many clouds this night, and the moon hung low, barely shining. There were no stars for the clouds were too thick and the streets were too bright. Once in a while a car would speed past, but other than that, the street was peaceful.
After waiting for a long time, a young dog, who had been studying his surroundings for a long time, emerged from behind a pile of rubbish. He trotted down one of the streets, then nosed the next rubbish dump he saw. Nothing, not even a scrap. There were scents of other tramps. They had been here, taking food from his territory. As the days grew warmer and more humid, food went stale easily and became scare. He growled, but could not do anything about it. They were gone now, and he didn’t have the time to track them down. Even if he did, he would not be able to chase them off. He was too weak.
A few months ago, he had been bought by his owner, who took good care of him. He was one pampered puppy for a while, but as time passes, his owner grew tired of taking care of him, and he was neglected. Now, left on the streets to left to fight for his own survival. He wondered what his name was. He knew he had been wondering about that for a long time. Every day since his owner abandoned him he would wonder. Who am I? He kept asking himself, but the answer never came.
Tired and hungry, Dog traveled through the neighborhood, poking each and every rubbish dump with his snout. He found this piece of meat in one of the dumps, but it smelt so bad even the ravens and crows left it there. There were a few morsels of food left in a can, and he stuck his paw into the can, trying to wrench the food out. In the process, he cut his paw against the sharp edge of the can. Yowling in pain, he pulled his paw out and the can went flying across the floor.
When he finished patrolling his territory, he limped into an unknown territory, and found this house which smelt of wonderful things. Steak, lamb, chicken, everything and anything he could ever imagined. Alas, he came late and the garbage was gone. With his paw stinging and stomach growling, he made himself as comfortable as he could in a box near the house and waited for morning to come.
When morning came, the house remained quiet But Dog knew better than to give up now. He continued to wait. Afternoon soon followed and the heat became near unbearable People began entering the house, and the aroma was stronger than ever. There were so many different smells it made his stomach growl louder than ever and he head spun. By now many other dogs have gathered.
When the first rubbish was thrown there was chaos. Hungry dogs dashed forward, snatching whatever they could. Small, weak and injured, Dog had no chance to get past those hungry and wild brutes to get the food. Then a truck stopped just outside the house. A human came out and opened the back of the truck. It was full of frozen meat. Frozen meat was hard, Dog knew, but if you left it in the sun it would become tender and delicious. Non of the other dogs attempted to snatch the meat from the humans. No one dared for it was a serious crime. Dog, too, knew that, but his stomach growled so loud he could not hear himself think.
He waited for his chance, then dashed forward. That was when time seemed to slow down. Dog ran fast, faster than he ever did, and ever would, in his life. The human holding the meat widened his eyes and tried to dodge the attack from Dog. The human dropped the meat he was holding and rolled aside. Dog must have looked ferocious when he ripped the packaging of the meat apart and took one for himself. He heard the humans yelling at him as he took off with the meat. He ran again, he ran towards the road and meant to dash across when he saw a car coming. He glanced behind him and saw the furious faces of the humans he had stolen from. Heart pumping fast, Dog dashed across the road.

He felt something hit him. For a moment he felt pain shooting through his body.

He felt totally at peace. His hunger was gone now, he felt nothing from his paw. He could think straight. He asked himself. He recalled the various delicious things he was fed, he recollected the times when his stomach was never empty, his mouth never dry, his coat was always groomed, he remembered the time when he was loved. Although they were all gone now, he knew he would never forget them. Then it came to him, like magic, his name.
He let go of the meat he had been holding in his jaws.

A young lady laid on her bed, wondering what her dog was doing now. She saw his longing eyes that day, the eyes which told her that her dog did not want to remain trapped in the house. So she let him out. She thought he would come back. She thought dogs knew how to go home by themselves. But her dog never returned. He must have hated this place, she thought, and wondered what she did wrong. Then she heard a car screech.

Interference with Evolution?

I've been thinking about this. We have been interfering with the evolution of many animals, but also our own.
A long time ago i read this book talking about what is evolution (i believe it talked a lot more, but this is all i remembered). They used lizards as examples. Lizard species X have two different colours. Bright orange and green. Bright orange allows predators to easily spot the lizards (disregarding other issues such as bright orange meaning the presence of poison etc), while green makes it harder. So it would mean that more green lizards would survive to reproduce, so as time passes the lizards with better camouflaging skills would survive and be able to reproduce, so species X, originally consisting lizards with 2 colours, would evolve into green lizards.
The reason why i linked this with the human evolution is that as our medical skills improve, more and more people with weaker immunity survives and reproduces, so it affects the evolution of humans. Originally, humans are suppose to evolve and have better immunity, but because our medical skills have improved, but because of our improved medical skills, human might not grow to have stronger immunity. And consider this also. In war, the soldiers who die are usually those healthy ones, for weaker ones are unable to battle. So stronger people actually have higher chances of dying.

So stronger people die, and weaker people survive. What will humans evolve into?

This is just my personal thoughts. I am not saying that we should not improve our medical skills.