A Way To My Dream

Chapter 15: A day's planning is done at dawn

"A day's planning is done at dawn."

When the clock's tick at 4am, Liquan went out of their room. Limping, she made her way to gazebo. She endures the cold and wind blowing that hits her skin. She wears her not so usual white thick loose long-sleeved, white sweatpants and golden brown flat wedge sandals and she let her long hair loose to at least protect herself from cold. She spread a rough thick blanket on the cold floor in replacement of a mat- she doesn't have mat.

Unlike to her first time in the gazebo, today, she's more confident that she's not breaking any rule. Aside from her fear of creating  noise that may wake the others, she's not scared of anything even though she's sometimes afraid of the dark. At the least, the gazebo was slightly illuminated by the light bulbs installed in the hallway along the way.

She walks to the side and put her hands on the gazebo's railing, gripping it strongly. She tried to swing her left leg- the one with an injured ankle. She feels a pain in her ankle so much like it's of being pricked by a niddle. She winced in pain. Then, she swings her leg again and again, she tries to endure the pain with a muffled groans and whimpers . Eventually, the pain gradually elevated. She swings harder and harder until the pain becomes more bearable to walk without limping. The swell was still there, too obvious. She changed to the right leg. She smiled. Her ankle did not hurt that much unlike before. It can already support her body as she swings her right leg.

"Thanks, God!" She mumbled. She continue to swinging her legs, changing from right to left. She swings full force and reached her head without bending her body sideways. She almost jump in delight. She left the rails and went to the  blanket on the floor. She was hesitant to do her usual routine of splits. The incidents of yesterday still burns at the back of her mind. She was in dazed for approximately five minutes.

"It's now or never." She step in on the blanket. She walks on the middle and starts lowering herself.

"Ahh..." She sighed in contentment. Overcoming ones own hesitation is great. She closes her eyes and starts her five minutes meditation. A routine that her mother taught her.

"Everyday is a new day of blessings, challenges and opportunities. Before you even do anything, starts your day with meditation. Take a deep breath, inhale and exhale. Absorb everything good, discard those that are not, and add what you learn. Let go of whatever happened yesterday, but never forget to learn from it. Feel the air that goes in and out of your body. Feel the air around your surrounding and how they whisper to your ears. Listen to the music the birds create and how it makes your heart beat with rhythm. Listen to your heart's desire, feel the heat of passion and feel every emotion. But, never ever let yourself get lost in your own thoughts."

Her mother's voice resonated in her mind. Her eyes flickered open. How she misses her family day by day.

"I can do it, Mom." Her whispers blended with the wind. She hopes it reached her mother. She hoped it reach her so she'll know that her daughter is doing just fine.

"I can do this, Mom. I know I can." A single tear of determination and conviction streamed down against the cold skin of her face, it drops on her palm.

She stood up. She's ready to start another set of stretching. She does her routine of bending her body, swats, sit and reach, sit up, and, her most difficult, push ups.

"It's getting warmer. Hooh!" She started with jumps. She happily jumps, grateful that her ankle is now mended. You couldn't really appreciate things until it's gone. On her case, she hadn't really took care of her body's well- being until it got accidentally hurt. Thankfully, it never really left, only got hurt. From now on, she'll take care of her body no matter what.