Translucent of thin clouds floated in a steady speed to the north, moving toward to an unknown sky. The heat from high above baked rows of intersected black and red foldable chairs. Mild wind blow caressed the fresh cut green grass. Long list of monotones speech echoed from ear to ear, like a lullaby in a long lecture. To me, everything sounded unreal, just like a dream. My left hand unconsciously reached into a pocket on my uniform blazer; a sudden chill sensation peaked through my fingertips, yet it felt so calming and awaking.
Steadily, the motion of repeatedly caressing this cold metal surface prevented me from dozing off into my own wonder world. I pulled this unfamiliar object out of my worn out blazer into the eye of the light, and the metallic black surface reflected the light immediately into my eyesight, telling me to remember. “Remember what?” something whispered in my head. A thick icon of a rusted gold sun imprinted on top of the circular shape of the object, a sun full of gears, and symbols of bright light and motion. My finger lingered to the side of the object, there was a button. Just a click on the top of the button, the sun side of the cover popped open, revealing the secret parts of the object. In the middle of the circle, a white second hand were speedily running and pointing at twelve Roman numerals in a circular motion. I pulled it further up, and a long chain came out of my pocket, attached to the object. “It is a pocket watch for you.” The voice whispered once again. It looked so new to me, yet so old and unfamiliar. A gift? A toy? Or a reminder of time? None of them were true, but they could be true.
On the way to my graduation ceremony, my brother pulled out a tiny object, and threw it to me with a slight arc angle. “I almost forgot; this is for you, a gift for your graduation.” I looked at it curiously, “What is this?” I flipped it to the back, and there were some moving delicate gears in there, visible through a transparent glass. “It is a pocket watch; people used to use them as time reminder instead of those stupid I-phone that turned people into technology zombie.” I looked at him, frowning my eyebrows. “It can serve as a reminder that you should spend more time looking at the world around you rather than just stuck your brain into a non-existed fake world. You are going to college in New York! Go explore, and enjoy your life while you can. This opportunity of different experience and freedom is limited, so don’t waste your chance.” After my brother’s erudite speech, I glared at the pocket watch again, then my mind sucked into the deep metallic black like it is a black hole.
The future is unknown and wild; we, as freshly graduated students, are thrown into a borderless ocean, straight from a warm and protective environment. We are to find places, where we can survive and belonged, in this vast ocean – it is hard, and it is scary. The future seemed perplexed, and I do not know. Who am I? Where do I belong to? Where can I find my happiness? How am I going to get somewhere? Why not go somewhere that is unfamiliar, or try new adventure? I do not know. Maybe I am frightened? But what am I frightened of? There are those invincible walls prevent me from going somewhere, telling me to not leave my comfort zone unless someone open the wall for me to go. I often worry too much about what is next while I am ignoring the precious moment I am in now; I guess this is what my brother was telling me: “Don’t be afraid.”
What about now? All I have is this tiny pocket watch that can constantly remind me to explore while I can, and enjoy the present moment. What about the future? I do not know.