COSMOS

Pink cosmos: true feeling

What is your first memory?

Some say it was a song without a name. Some say it was a taste of sweet-bitter chocolate on their tongue. Some say it was a memory of them crying in the playground.

For me, it was the warmth, the dark, and the pounding of the heart. Am I imagining this? Probably not.

***

The first vivid memory of Brett Yang was a field of cosmoses. Slender necks of the flowers swayed in the cool summer breeze, their colors popping out from the greens. An old bike was thrown beside the road, its wheels turning in the air without destination. Brett was chewing a strawberry bubble gum as he was sitting down in the middle of the patch. Waves of laughter were heard among the tall flowers as he giggled along with his best friend - Eddy Chen. Their violin cases were sprawled on the ground.

"She loves me!" Brett squealed as he picked one of the petals from the pink cosmos.

"She loves you not," Eddy playfully picked another petal from the flower.

As all childhood memories are, Brett doesn't quite remember who he was having a crush on during that time. And as all childhood crushes are, those feelings were merely a kid's play, nothing deep or frighteningly sincere about it. Still, Brett was dead-pan serious about this flower prophet game.

"She loves me!" Brett stubbornly picked another soft pink petal.

"Loves you not," Eddy rolled his eyes as he delicately took another petal away.

Brett stuck out his tongue at Eddy.

"Jess wanted to play lego with me today. She loves me!" Another petal flew away from the flower head.

"The flower says she loves you not!" Yet another petal faltered to the ground.

"She loves ..." Brett's voice faltered as he picked the second to the last petal.

There was only one petal left.

"And she loves you not," Eddy confirmed, throwing the last petal to the air.

Brett groaned loudly, laying down on the moist grassy ground. The sky was bright and the air was enchanted with the flowery scent. Such a good day to stay heartbroken, right? Seeing Brett's disappointment, Eddy slyly took another petal from the cosmos beside him.

"She loves you," Eddy grinned, handing him the petal.

Brett beamed as he held up the petal to the sky, the sunlight blinding him.

"She loves me!" Brett squeaked in a high tone.

This was the first vivid memory of Brett Yang, his first tie to the cosmos.

***

"Brett, look at this!" Eddy ran to Brett, holding what looked like... a spring onion that went terribly wrong?

"What is that?" Brett asked, squinting his eyes to get a better look.

Eddy and Brett have basically grown up together, for the most part. The two always stuck together, planning mischiefs and throwing themselves to adventures. They even studied violin performances together at the same university. They were more than brothers, best friends for life, and an outstanding partner for their successful youtube video: twosetviolin. It would be an understatement to say that they knew almost everything about each other. They needed each other.

"It's a tillandsia! You see how the flower is about to bloom?" Eddy excitedly held out the plant to Brett, urging him to examine it.

Brett knew Eddy was the type of person who consistently needs to brew new ideas and try out the unknowns. Brett was more of an easy-going personality but was still happy to listen and to join Eddy's funky challenges. Still, this new hobby of Eddy's was a bit peculiar to him.