Coloured Tales #006 - Claudia's Plight

Dave was driving along a busy street with his wife Claudia holding the video camera at the passenger seat. Their daughter Eva was fast asleep on the backseat hugging her favourite dolphin plush doll. It was a laid back Sunday afternoon, when the family of 3 had watched a Children's play at the theater. As they were driving along the road, Claudia couldn't help but noticed a very adorable little girl some distance ahead of them. Just as she was looking, the little girl dropped her food basket, with snacks rolling onto the road. She went forward to pick up her basket which fell on the road. Seeing that the car was on collision course with the little girl, Dave made an emergency turn and the car swerved to the side. As the car negotiated an acute turn, it headed towards the painted metal barrier when it crashed through and fell into the sea.

Claudia and Eva survived the ordeal, but Dave was not as fortunate. She is in pain, an excruciating pain that ran straight down her soul. Who should she blame? The little girl? The food basket that fell off? Or the Barrier for not being able to take the load of a car out of control? She couldn't think, her mind was clouded with agony, she couldn't even remember the face of the adorable little girl. The only thing that managed to creep into her over crowded mind was, what are they going to eat tomorrow? They have rent to pay, they just lost their car, she had to foot medical bills and Dave's funeral. She had nowhere to go.

Coloured Tales #005 - Macaroons, Macaroons! Part 001

"Could I have some of those tasty Macaroons to go with it please?" She said with a craving while pointing to the lonely cup of coffee on her table. The waiter obliged with a wry, wondering if it is even healthy for someone to be devouring this tasty sweet snack consistently over the hour.

You really shouldn't be eating all these... " an authoritative voice spoke from behind. Bethany recognized that voice, she sheepishly turned around with her irresistible child-like charms and said, "Pleeease daddy? You know how I get into depression if you deprive me with it??" Thinking of a past incident, he gave a nod of consent helplessly.

One day as she was walking down the street, she couldn't help but to notice a middle aged woman crying at the side walk. As she walked closer, she realized that the woman was hugging another little girl who was close to her age. The little girl looked unwell and was asleep in her arms. "Is she ok?" Bethany asked with an innocently concerned look. The woman sobbed, "We haven't had anything to eat for days, and my daughter is dying of hunger. And nobody had compassion to spare us some to eat."

Looking into her food basket, what was left after her lunch was her favourite Macaroons. She knew her family was well off, and the supply will definitely come the next day. She handed her remaining Macaroons, "Here, you can have these." With much thanksgiving, she accepted the basket of Macaroons and they started to eat. "What is your name?" asked Bethany. The woman answered with Macaroons in her mouth, "My name is Claudia, this is my daughter Eva."

This simple act of kindness has unwittingly changed the lives of Claudia and her daughter Eva. Bethany continued to bring extra lunch and her favourite Macaroons to the mother and child, Eva was revived and Claudia was able to go back to work soon after that. Bethany and Eva became good friends ever since.

Coloured Tales #004 - The Violinist

A certain wealthy man visits a music shop and found a very beautiful Violin. While being a non-musician himself, he fell in love with the art and workmanship that was put into that instrument. Another man who is poor came into the shop and set his eyes upon the same beautiful Violin."How much for this?" the wealthy man asked the shop owner. "Such a violin would have easily cost an average man's yearly wages." He answered. Hearing this, the man who was poor was sad as he could not afford such an expensive instrument. As the very wealthy man truly valued what he saw, he bought the beautiful violin without hesitation. And the poor man watched as he carried his favourite instrument home.

Very carefully, the wealthy man dragged the bow across the strings. However, it produced an awful tone and just didn't sound right. He engaged Violin instructors who taught him how to play the instrument, but he just couldn't get it right.

One fine day, as he was getting really frustrated not being able to play his prized possession, the doorbell rang. He opened the door and found a very familiar face that greeted him. After a brief introduction, he remembered that he was the poor man who was at the music shop with him the other day. "How can I help you?", asked the wealthy man. Feeling a little embarrassed, the poor man replied, "Remember the very expensive Violin that you bought that day when I was there? I would just like to borrow it, just for 5 minutes in your presence, and then I'll leave." The wealthy man looked at him half heartedly, but as he noticed how much he really wanted to see that beautiful violin, he reluctantly obliged.

The poor man picked up the Violin, closed his eyes as he felt the exquisite wood and workmanship under his fingers. As he stroked the bow across the strings, his fingers swiped along the board like flowing streams. The sound of the instrument reverberated across the room like a gentle breeze that whistled under the golden morning sun. It was the most beautiful Violin piece that had ever heard from this very expensive instrument.

5 minutes later, the poor Violinist kept to his word. Very carefully, he kept the bow and the Violin back to it's hard case. As he handed the Violin back to the wealthy man, he couldn't helped but to notice tears in his eyes. "What's wrong?", asked the Violinist. The wealthy man said, "You can have the Violin, it's all yours now.". "But this would have cost a year's wages of an average person!!", the Violinist exclaimed. Finally, the wealthy man explained, "I realized how selfish I am to restrain the full beauty of this violin, by refusing to let it go. You are truly the one who should be using this instead of me.".

The Violinist became a close friend of this wealthy man, and would often visit him and play the beautiful Violin.

Coloured Tales #003 - The 4 Coloured Walls

There was a certain man who lived in an expensive house made of precious coloured stones, which created 4 precious coloured walls from within. The coloured walls had a magical effect that as light falls on it at different time of the day, different colors and images will shimmer as the lights changes. The man was so fascinated by these 4 coloured walls that he stared at it day and night as the images changed.

One day, his neighbour came and called out to him, "Hey, come out now, there is something that you must see." However, the man replied, "No thanks, I have everything that I need here." Then his good friend came and said the same thing, just to receive the same reply from him. Day after day he stared at his wall, ignoring his friends and neighbour's calls to get him out.

A storm cloud came, and flooded the village. The storm cloud had covered the sun such that there was no longer any light that shone on the coloured walls. Indignant by the situation, the man finally came out of his coloured house and rebuked the storm, "Why have you came to take away my light??" And the storm cloud replied, "Turn around and have a good look at your house." He did exactly that and to his shock, his garden was full of weeds, his flowers were withered, and his farm was totally barren due to his negligence.

The storm cloud continued, "This is indeed a beautiful coloured house that you lived in. But while you were inside, you failed to appreciate the beautiful sun which provided the light source for your coloured walls, you failed to see the nature that grew and the beautiful reflection on the exterior of your coloured house as a result of the sun's light. It was because of your ignorance of your neighbour's call, that your garden was filled with weeds and your farm had gone astray. Hence I have come to bring you out from those 4 walls."

Once the man had understood what the storm cloud said to him, the storm cloud left, and the sun begin to shine again. Then the man turned around and looked at his beautiful house again. And to his amusement, he finally saw what his friends and neighbours saw and he didn't. The reflection of the sun light on the exterior of the coloured house had the same magical effect on the coloured stones. In fact, it turned out to be more beautiful as the reflected coloured light fell on everything that is surrounding it, causing it to glimmer in different time of the day. Then he called all his neighbours and friends and shared his joy after that.

Coloured Tales #002 - Where is the Story?

There was a girl and her teacher who taught her all sorts of art forms. The girl was very intelligent, and understood every craft that was imparted to her. Then the day came when she was put to the test, and she was confident of obtaining full marks from her favourite teacher.

She wrote a poem, using every bombastic vocabulary, beautiful linguistics and perfect rhymes. Thinking that she must have aced the exam, she handed up her assessment. The teacher read it and asked, "where is the story?".

She composed a song, using complicated melodies, intriguing chord progressions and the most difficult fingerings. Thinking that she must have aced the exam, she handed up her assessment. The teacher heard it and asked, "where is the story?".

She drew a painting, using the most complicated brush strokes, vibrant colors and obscure perspectives. Thinking that she must have aced the exam, she handed up her assessment. The teacher saw it and asked, "where is the story?"

Then she got frustrated and said to her teacher, "I wrote you the most inspiring poem, wrote the most impressive song and the most beautiful painting, is this not good enough??" Then the teacher told her a story:

"There was a certain man who spent all his life pursuing wealth and finally became extremely rich, living in big houses and driving big cars. However with all the money that he had, he was not satisfied. He could not understand the most inspiring poem, the most impressive song and the most beautiful painting. He had the biggest house but could not appreciate its Architecture, and the most luxurious car but couldn't understand its beauty. Without knowing what else to do, he continued to pursue wealth aimlessly."

And the girl finally understood that despite of all the wealth that he possessed, the man in the story failed to see the treasure he already had, and had no choice but to continue seeking it. Now she understand the difference between striving and appreciating an artform.

Coloured Tales #001 - 2 Dogs and 1 Master

A dog owner had 2 dogs. A Pomeranian and a Maltese. The Pomeranian has a feisty nature, she snarled and growls at whoever she dislikes, and licked whoever she is fond of. The Maltese on the other hand, will lick anyone in the masters presence, and snarled and growl at others when not in the owner's presence. Despite of this, the owner loved both of her dogs.

Day after day, the Maltese will make fun of the feisty Pomeranian. When the Pomeranian got angry, barks and fights back, the Maltese, in the presence of the master, would appear afraid and pitiful. She would run away and cower behind the master, appearing as the sole victim of the feud. The master had no choice but to restrain her beloved Pomeranian being unaware of the reasons behind her aggression.

The Pomeranian watched as she was caged in a distance, as the Maltese lied beside her master, getting all the affections and tasty treats every dog ever wanted. Then it came a time when the Pomeranian got tired of getting jealous and angry that she said to herself, "Since I have found no favour in my master, I shall leave my master and live on my own, I will be my own master from now on."

So the poor Pomeranian ran away and lived on her own, and the master was sad about her missing Pomeranian. She said to herself, if only I had shown her how much I really loved her, I will still get to stroke her golden hair by my side. Depressed by her missing dog, the master had no mood to take care of her remaining Maltese. The food begun to taste bad, there was no more treats and no more walks by the garden. Then the master planned to give the Maltese away, having no confidence to be able to take care of her pets any longer.

Being threatened by dis-ownership, the Maltese begin to realize what she had done. Her manipulative ways had gotten her many short term gains, but had in turn exchanged for long term consequences. In order to make her master regain her confidence as a pet owner, she left home to look for her ex-room mate, the Pomeranian. When the owner found out that her beloved Maltese was missing too, she cried herself to sleep.

After days and weeks of painstaking search, the Maltese ran to every backyard, every rubbish dump she could find, and finally found the Pomeranian. She apologized and promised never to provoke her dear friend again. One fine day, as the master went back home from work, she found both of her beloved dogs resting on her doorstep, tired and dirty. She carried them in, gave them a nice warm bath, fed them a tasty meal and tugged them to bed with her. And they lived happily every after.