The door closed behind her as Jennifer sighed to herself. Why was it
always Mondays that were the worst days? Class after class, this was the day
that she had little time to herself, where the only thing on her mind was making
sure she could make it in time for the next class. So as she finally stepped
into her room in the 12-story apartment, Jenny felt relaxed. But even as the
Japanese student sat down, she knew that there was still more work left for her
to do. Tokyo University was not known for letting its students off easy.
For the past week, Jenny had been working on an essay, and there was only
a short time before the paper would be due. She still had problems figuring out
what to say though, since writing essays was never really her strong point.
Pouring herself a cup of her favourite drink, a hot rose tea, she sat down at
her desk. She turned on her computer waited as the screen before her allowed her
to access what was written down before today.
Jennifer
looked at her monitor with a frown. Her brows bunched together in a tight knot
while she though what to say next. She knew that the essay had to be finished
very soon, and though she knew what she wanted to say, she had no idea how to
put her thoughts to words. Even after years of studying, it was still her
biggest problem; there were just times that Jenny would not even know where to
start. She’d have this strange mental block where nothing she could think of
would make sense.
But
whenever an idea struck, the words just flowed from within. There was no feeling
in the world like the rush she felt that accompanied the mad typing. The letters
would just race across screen, one appearing right after another. In one of
these moments, no matter how long the essay was supposed to be, Jennifer would
still have the confidence that she could finish it in time. Too bad this was not
one of these moments.
She
got up to look out the window and hopefully develop her ideas. She watched as
kids played in the park below her, and smiled to herself. This was where she was
happiest. Even if the essay was frustrating her, Jen was always most comfortable
in her own apartment. She saw some of the kids playing in a sandbox, all of them
excitedly building small sand houses and roads for their toy cars to drive on.
They all had all sorts of fun together, creating their own world.
Then
Jennifer noticed a young child off in the corner of the sandbox. Alone and by
himself, he quietly built a large, elaborate sand castle. His attention to
detail was apparent to Jenny, even with her own apartment five stories above. He
carefully sculpted each corner of his creation, as if fulfilling some vision
seen only by him. Jennifer nodded to herself in understanding. Here was a child
whose heart was an echo of her own. Others may prefer to work with many people,
laughing and joking along the way, but she, just like the child below, preferred
to work alone.
Let
her friends go out and sing in karaoke bars. Let the world enjoy sports and
movies and shopping. She had her ideas and a cup of rose tea at her side.
Breathing in the scent of the tea she held in her hands, she moved back to her
computer. The ideas were finally coming to her. Seeing the child building his
own unique sandcastle was refreshing for Jennifer. She pushed her glasses up the
bridge of her nose, and her mind flowed with words as her ideas finally broke
through her mental block.