Prologue of a Semester

Melancholia is a madness without fever or frenzy accompanied by fear and sadness. He was moving too fast, as if there there were something to be understood immediately. Daybreak came, and he found in the distant horizon, a ship aptly named the Starlight Manifesto.

There were many people on board the Starlight Manifesto. In fact, they were all prisoners; some were prisoners of their own minds, victims of reasons that first gave them their humanity; others were chained to an iron cage, frenzily writing something - anything - on the floor. It was with such madness, and perhaps anguish, that the Starlight Manifesto surged ahead to a new horizon. Insanity ruled the sail while irrationalism guided the wheel.

Days turned into weeks, and he was getting used to the madness induced rigour in the Starlight Manifesto. Once in a while, another ship came along. It was the Ship of Ambivalence. People were drunk in the ship, and they were pouring wine into the sea. For a while, he thought that they were mad, but he realized that he was perhaps mad in their eyes too. He gazed at the Ship of Ambivalence with intrigue, sometimes with distaste, sometimes with envy, sometimes with joy. Once in a while, the Ship of Ambivalence will fire a light flare up in the sky. The flare was beautiful in the night sky, but it was not to last for long. Maybe it was a call for help, but the Ship of Ambivalence seems too perfect to be in need of any help. In fact the Ship of Ambivalence was everything the Starlight Manifesto was not. It was a luxury liner, with extra cabins to attract other sailors to come on board for a taste of their luxury. It was powered by 8 engines, and the 100 strong crew works day and night, with three shifts in a day.

The Starlight Manifesto, on the other hand, was in a wrecked state, and was sinking 21 cm every night. There were gaping holes everywhere; morale was running low, and food was scarce. He once overheard that if the Starlight Manifesto cannot reach their destination in time, only 3 will be selected to hop onto the Ship of Ambivalence, while the rest will perish with the ship. The irony is that no one really wants to be the selected one, because they have grown attached to the ship that they were chained to. The Starlight Manifesto is their reflection, and if death is impaling their senses, they will not exchange death for the comfortness of the Ship of Ambivalence.

But he was not sure himself. He was not too willing to die yet. But he supposed that if he can motivate the prison crew to steer the Starlight Manifesto, they might just make it in time.

Weeks turned into months, and for the very first time, a seagull landed on their stern. Surely land must be within sight! It should be noted that the Ship of Ambivalence has long sailed off in a different direction. Just then, something strange happened. He spotted a lighthouse 20 miles away from the starboard. He wasn't sure what prompted his actions. But he told the captain that he does not want to continue with the voyage anymore. No one really understood his reasons, for he did not really give any to begin with. Still, they were sympathetic to his desire to leave the ship. Afterall, he had done very well in his service while on board the Starlight Manifesto. They pack some fruits, gave him a small raft and bid him farewell.

This is his story thus far ...