Chapter I.
2003 was the year
The day was hot and humid
Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” was in the air, played by MTV
The little girl was bored of her “Ugly Duckling” storybook
She rummaged through grandma’s 30-year-old drawer
She liked to find different “treasures” there
She found piles of dusty, untouched, old photo albums
Her eyes twinkled as she was opening the pages
Little fingers flipped the first page, eyes twinkling
She saw these familiar yet not-so-familiar faces
The very same faces of people who raised her
Discoloured photographs
With warm and brown hue
Uncoloured photographs
Black, white, and gray
Dated back from the 60s through 90s
An era that little girl didn’t know existed
Curious eyes widened, her mind was blown
Excited, she’d found her new treasure
For the first time ever
She found out that grandma was once a young maiden
Beautiful in white, with dark wavy bob framing her thin face
A stiff smile she had, yet still graceful
For the first time ever
She found out that granddad was once a shy man
A shy, handsome young man
Still looking stern as ever, in a black tux
For the first time ever
She saw people wearing clothes in unfamiliar fashion, unfamiliar haircuts
Mullet, high-waist mum jeans, black and white stripes tucked-in baggy shirts, bright red lipstick, standing in front of their family’s old watch store
Long-haired man and woman, tight colourful shirts, bell-bottom jeans and brown corduroy, aviator sunnies, holding guitars and laughing
Unfamiliar little children in bowl cut posing with dogs,
They are all her aunts and uncles as children and teenagers
She was surprised to find that her family can form such mischievous expressions on their faces
She was surprised that her father was once a child like her
That hot, sunny, and humid day changed her life forever
Chapter II.
2025 is the year
The little girl is no longer a little girl
SZA’s “Another Life” is played in a hipster coffee shop
The home where she found her treasures is no longer home for her
Some people in the photographs are no longer in this world
The kids in the photos grew older, they left town
The kids’ hair turned grey, soft wrinkles slowly decorated their face
The kids built a new life, forming a new family in a new place
The girl also moved to the other side of the globe
Her treasures are kept by someone else, barely touched
They are stored in another dusty drawer, in a dark, cold, isolated place
She thinks of it from time to time
She can’t let go of the images she saw
She can’t let go of the faces, views, expressions, and places she saw from the photos
She takes a lot of photographs now
She doesn’t want her memories to be forgotten
she immortalises them in pictures and writings
Although most pictures are not printed anymore
She has a lot of memories stored in her head and digital clouds
It is filled with new faces, new names, new smiles, and new fashion
She knows that decades from now,
Her new memories will be her nostalgia.
An era that future kids won’t know ever existed
Times have passed, people have changed, the world has changed
But the girl still wants to save what’s left of the old world
Everyone else may forget the old times, but she will always remember
And she won’t stop creating memories, immortalising her loved ones’ smiles
