Packing and Pack Rats

It’s just a few more days more to my departure, as my kid sister reminds me every morning now. She’s begun a kind of countdown, and she doesn’t seem too happy that it’s in single digits. I suppose this is the place to mention that I walk her home nearly every day (when I remember to do it) and it’s become a kind of habit. A rather easy one to break, by the way.

I spent the morning packing up my bags; all my worldly goods can fit into two bags quite easily, and I’m not even bringing half of what I have. Granted, half of what I have is most certainly junk; looking through my wardrobe just now unearthed a whole set of things that I’ve never seen for a long time.

I’ve begun my wash-and-wear lifestyle in earnest: one set of clothes on me, one in the washer/on the hanger/in the cupboard to wear. Everything else has been folded (kind of neatly but not very—another habit my mother has been trying for years to make me break) into my suitcase. I’ve had to root out quite a bit of stuff, incidentally. I’m not sure that T-shirts so old that they have frills round the collar are quite accepted in KL.

I’m a pack rat by nature. Everybody who’s seen the inside of my pencil case should know by now, especially if they remember it. (I haven’t gone through that yet, but I soon shall have to.) It used to contain extracted teeth (I loved to gross people out by telling them the truth about the tooth’s origin only after they’d got it firmly in their hand), mirrors, screwdrivers (don’t ask me how that got in there in the first place), string, chalk, and lots and lots of other things that usually don’t even make it near the average student’s book bag.

So here goes: the List Of Old And Obsolete Things In My Wardrobe.

1. A Burger King calendar for the year 2002, still new.

2. 25 gel pens, completely empty.

3. 8 marbles from my marble collection 4 years ago.

4. A huge red glow-in-the-dark rubber ball.

5. A brilliant green fish-thing that grows if placed in water.

6. Exercise books, used, dating from Standard Five.

7. Report cards dating from Form One.

8. An abacus from Standard Three.

9. Various strings of various lengths, colors, thicknesses, and ages.

10. Plastic bags.

11. Receipts so old that their ink has all come off.

12. A bottle of rose food flavoring, used once for April Fools’ Day.

13. A bottle of chocolate food coloring, planned for April Fools’ Day but not actually used.

14. Various bookmarks, still new.

15. A hundred or so stickers, various ages, still in their original plastic wrapping.

16. A slab of Blue-Tack, nearly unused.

17. Many official communications reporting various events occurring at my ex-school; earliest legible date February 2000.

18. Many pieces of paper, savagely deformed.

19. Many foolscaps and parts thereof bearing the handwriting of someone not me.

20. Several exercise books not mine and not used.

21. Broken bits of a VCD (Disc Two) in a broken VCD case labeled The Prince of Egypt.

22. An old, old diary, containing largely illegible and highly libelous script dating from Form One and ending at the beginning of Form Two; legible writings mostly allude to unbearable classmates, evil classmates, hated classmates, and revenge plots.

23. A DIY Book of Murders. (Just kidding. Are you still awake?)

24. Preserved and frozen small animals in various stages of decay, including two lizards, a cicada, and a grasshopper.

25. Bent and broken paintbrushes in three sizes.

All I can say is: How did this stuff ever get into my hands in the first place? Especially items 19, 20, and 21? And yes, I admit that I’m rather gross and can be quite cruel. That’s the kind of evil person I am.

Hopefully, I’ve changed a little, for the better, I think. Only God knows, only time will tell, and only my room-mate to be (room-mate, are you reading this right now? I promise not to torture you too much) will experience living with me.

Whoever he is, he can sleep easy, at least. I don’t snore, sleepwalk, or sleep talk.