Wiggle. Wiggle.
Wiggle. Wiggle.
Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.
With a spaced-out expression, I blankly stared at the dirt beneath my feet. I’d squatted down low to the ground as something had caught my eye for no real reason.
Before I found myself in this position outside, I was inside. Where exactly was I in specific though? Well, the university museum. I’d been on the couch minding my own business, as usual, writing, when I suddenly got stuck and couldn’t think of what came next in the story I was writing. At that moment, I looked up from my phone, out the window, when I noticed something moving from the corner of my eye outside.
I got off the couch, moved closer, and discovered it was a worm poking its little head out of the ground. After watching it through the window for a while, I decided to get a breath of fresh air.
I exited from the side of the building and walked around the outskirts to get to the back, and for some inexplicable reason, I started observing this stupid little worm wiggling about with one end sticking out of the ground.
When I thought back to my childhood, I’d watched ants like this before as a kid to idle the time away, but I’d never observed a worm up close before. I could tolerate an ant climbing on me, but as for touching a worm, if I didn’t have to, I’d naturally avoid it. I wasn’t particularly grossed out by them and I wasn’t squeamish or anything, but I wasn’t weird enough to go and pluck them out of the ground for no reason.
I pulled out my phone and checked the time. Without realizing it, I’d zoned out for two hours watching the worm. Up until now, I’d been asking myself a question. Why the hell is this worm not leaving? How much free time does it have?
It was only now that I looked at it from another perspective. What if I was the worm looking up at this giant human? Would I be having the exact same question? What is this big monster doing just staring at me all day? Do monsters have nothing better to do with their time?
“Pfft hahaha!” I couldn’t help but laugh to myself over my personification of the worm. We’d been in a staring contest for such a long time, but I never even questioned what I might think if I was the worm. Maybe it was curious about the monster too.
Well, that was unlikely. There’s no way a worm would have that level of intelligence.
When I looked away from my phone back to the worm… it was gone.
“Now you leave?”
What the hell? Did I seriously just lose a staring contest with a worm? Did it see me laugh and leave after thinking, ‘You were a worthy adversary, but it seems you weren’t my match. Farewell, Big Monster.’
“Hahaha!” I looked up at the tree and the river behind it while laughing to myself over the absurd notion of the personified worm in my head.
I definitely must have looked creepy. There was no doubt of that in my mind. It was a good thing there was nobo… I paused my train of thought as my eyes darted about from left to right.
Phew. There really wasn’t anyone. You can never be too careful when you’re about to raise such a flag with your thoughts.
I stood up and turned to leave but abruptly stopped in place. I slowly turned my head to the side and looked at the window.
It was hard to see inside because of the light from outside reflecting off the window. I moved a bit closer and cursed myself inwardly.
Angela was seated on the couch staring at me with a small smile on her face. She raised her hand and waved at me.
I mouthed out the first question that popped into my head, ‘How long have you been there?’
She raised her index finger and mouthed out, ‘One hour. I saw something good though~’
I covered my face with my left hand and scrunched up my eyes. The agony. The pain. What’s with this? Someone seriously watched me stare at a worm in the ground for an hour then laugh creepily to myself without saying a thing.
When I removed my hand from in front of my face Angela held her phone up, turned it toward me, then swiped through a few pictures she’d taken of me from behind.
‘Delete them.’
‘No way~ they’re precious embarrassing photos of my neglectful boyfriend that are hard to come by .’ She put down her phone and made a heart shape with her hands.
‘Don’t you dare move. I’m coming in there to delete them right now.’
‘If you can’t catch me there’s nothing you can do~’
She blew me a kiss before she stood up, turned, and walked away with her hips swaying from side to side.
It was frustrating, but she had the advantage here and could make a leisurely escape. There were three ways out of the building, no, make that four if I included the underground tunnel, and I had to confirm which way she exited before I could try to cut her off.
Front, left, or right?
Which would it be?
Before she exited she turned back to me and stuck her tongue out to tease me.
She then headed straight out the front door.
It was calculated, she chose the worst option for me. The one that would give her the biggest head start as I had to walk all the way around the building.
Somehow, I found myself in a very strange position. One where I was chasing after Angela. Me, chasing after a celebrity… just how low had I fallen? She’d been the one chasing after me all this time.
With our roles suddenly reversed out of nowhere, I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. Do I seriously chase or forget about those embarrassing pictures and let her keep them?
Was it that big a deal?
While I internally struggled, she’d fled and gained distance on me.
As I didn’t have much time to consider, I decided to not think about it. I ran around the building to the other side but she was already out of sight. She could have ducked inside any of the other buildings. She could then go into the underground tunnels.
I glanced down at my phone and wondered whether she’d be taunting me through her social media via coded messages. She’d done so before. She’d promote some seemingly random songs from other artists on social media. The titles of them were typically jabs at me.
Some lucky small no-name artists have inadvertently blown up because of this. Those small artists ended up super grateful and indebted to Angela. What they don’t realize is that they should be thankful to me for being the intended target of her one-sided jabs. If they knew the truth behind it, I wonder how they would feel. Well, sometimes it was best to remain ignorant of the truth.
I checked her account and as expected, she’d tweeted out a song from a small artist. The song was called ‘You’ll never catch me.’
There was another song right after called, ‘I’m at the center of the universe.’ Was she taunting me or trying to throw me off her trail? She could be suggesting she went to the university center.
Dejected, I crossed the street and entered the chemistry lab building then entered the underground tunnels through it and headed to the university center building. After a five to ten-minute walk I arrived at my destination. There were a lot fewer people around than usual since the winter term was over.
I stood near the center of the building and scanned through the scattered groups seated by the tables surrounded by all the stores which sold food. This was the first thing that came to mind for where she would hide in this building, but for all I knew, she could be hiding inside one of the stores.
On this underground level, there was a bookstore where you could purchase your textbooks and other supplies, a Starbucks, Subway, Tim Hortons, a digital print and design center, and various other small shops that sold food. You could also get your bus pass at the service center on this level.
The ground-level floor above had a few large auditoriums where final exams took place. It was just one of many buildings on campus which could be used for final exams. The fourth floor had a bunch of student services-related offices. For example, the Registrar’s office where you could get your student card in your first year or you lost it. The financial aid and awards office for stuff like scholarships, bursaries, and loans was also on that floor.
As for the other floors, I couldn’t remember anything significant about them. There were too many and it’s not like I went through every one or even paid attention to them for that matter.
But would she really go and hide up on the higher floors though? That’s just unfair. I’d come here without any real plan. But it was unlikely she’d choose a floor where she couldn’t see me struggling to find her. After all, where would the fun be in that?
I looked down at my phone and saw a new song posted. The song this time was called, ‘Cold.’
What the hell? Bitch, is this suddenly a game of hot and cold now?
Wiggle. Wiggle.
Wiggle. Wiggle.
Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.
With a spaced-out expression, I blankly stared at the dirt beneath my feet. I’d squatted down low to the ground as something had caught my eye for no real reason.
Before I found myself in this position outside, I was inside. Where exactly was I in specific though? Well, the university museum. I’d been on the couch minding my own business, as usual, writing, when I suddenly got stuck and couldn’t think of what came next in the story I was writing. At that moment, I looked up from my phone, out the window, when I noticed something moving from the corner of my eye outside.
I got off the couch, moved closer, and discovered it was a worm poking its little head out of the ground. After watching it through the window for a while, I decided to get a breath of fresh air.
I exited from the side of the building and walked around the outskirts to get to the back, and for some inexplicable reason, I started observing this stupid little worm wiggling about with one end sticking out of the ground.
When I thought back to my childhood, I’d watched ants like this before as a kid to idle the time away, but I’d never observed a worm up close before. I could tolerate an ant climbing on me, but as for touching a worm, if I didn’t have to, I’d naturally avoid it. I wasn’t particularly grossed out by them and I wasn’t squeamish or anything, but I wasn’t weird enough to go and pluck them out of the ground for no reason.
I pulled out my phone and checked the time. Without realizing it, I’d zoned out for two hours watching the worm. Up until now, I’d been asking myself a question. Why the hell is this worm not leaving? How much free time does it have?
It was only now that I looked at it from another perspective. What if I was the worm looking up at this giant human? Would I be having the exact same question? What is this big monster doing just staring at me all day? Do monsters have nothing better to do with their time?
“Pfft hahaha!” I couldn’t help but laugh to myself over my personification of the worm. We’d been in a staring contest for such a long time, but I never even questioned what I might think if I was the worm. Maybe it was curious about the monster too.
Well, that was unlikely. There’s no way a worm would have that level of intelligence.
When I looked away from my phone back to the worm… it was gone.
“Now you leave?”
What the hell? Did I seriously just lose a staring contest with a worm? Did it see me laugh and leave after thinking, ‘You were a worthy adversary, but it seems you weren’t my match. Farewell, Big Monster.’
“Hahaha!” I looked up at the tree and the river behind it while laughing to myself over the absurd notion of the personified worm in my head.
I definitely must have looked creepy. There was no doubt of that in my mind. It was a good thing there was nobo… I paused my train of thought as my eyes darted about from left to right.
Phew. There really wasn’t anyone. You can never be too careful when you’re about to raise such a flag with your thoughts.
I stood up and turned to leave but abruptly stopped in place. I slowly turned my head to the side and looked at the window.
It was hard to see inside because of the light from outside reflecting off the window. I moved a bit closer and cursed myself inwardly.
Angela was seated on the couch staring at me with a small smile on her face. She raised her hand and waved at me.
I mouthed out the first question that popped into my head, ‘How long have you been there?’
She raised her index finger and mouthed out, ‘One hour. I saw something good though~’
I covered my face with my left hand and scrunched up my eyes. The agony. The pain. What’s with this? Someone seriously watched me stare at a worm in the ground for an hour then laugh creepily to myself without saying a thing.
When I removed my hand from in front of my face Angela held her phone up, turned it toward me, then swiped through a few pictures she’d taken of me from behind.
‘Delete them.’
‘No way~ they’re precious embarrassing photos of my neglectful boyfriend that are hard to come by .’ She put down her phone and made a heart shape with her hands.
‘Don’t you dare move. I’m coming in there to delete them right now.’
‘If you can’t catch me there’s nothing you can do~’
She blew me a kiss before she stood up, turned, and walked away with her hips swaying from side to side.
It was frustrating, but she had the advantage here and could make a leisurely escape. There were three ways out of the building, no, make that four if I included the underground tunnel, and I had to confirm which way she exited before I could try to cut her off.
Front, left, or right?
Which would it be?
Before she exited she turned back to me and stuck her tongue out to tease me.
She then headed straight out the front door.
It was calculated, she chose the worst option for me. The one that would give her the biggest head start as I had to walk all the way around the building.
Somehow, I found myself in a very strange position. One where I was chasing after Angela. Me, chasing after a celebrity… just how low had I fallen? She’d been the one chasing after me all this time.
With our roles suddenly reversed out of nowhere, I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. Do I seriously chase or forget about those embarrassing pictures and let her keep them?
Was it that big a deal?
While I internally struggled, she’d fled and gained distance on me.
As I didn’t have much time to consider, I decided to not think about it. I ran around the building to the other side but she was already out of sight. She could have ducked inside any of the other buildings. She could then go into the underground tunnels.
I glanced down at my phone and wondered whether she’d be taunting me through her social media via coded messages. She’d done so before. She’d promote some seemingly random songs from other artists on social media. The titles of them were typically jabs at me.
Some lucky small no-name artists have inadvertently blown up because of this. Those small artists ended up super grateful and indebted to Angela. What they don’t realize is that they should be thankful to me for being the intended target of her one-sided jabs. If they knew the truth behind it, I wonder how they would feel. Well, sometimes it was best to remain ignorant of the truth.
I checked her account and as expected, she’d tweeted out a song from a small artist. The song was called ‘You’ll never catch me.’
There was another song right after called, ‘I’m at the center of the universe.’ Was she taunting me or trying to throw me off her trail? She could be suggesting she went to the university center.
Dejected, I crossed the street and entered the chemistry lab building then entered the underground tunnels through it and headed to the university center building. After a five to ten-minute walk I arrived at my destination. There were a lot fewer people around than usual since the winter term was over.
I stood near the center of the building and scanned through the scattered groups seated by the tables surrounded by all the stores which sold food. This was the first thing that came to mind for where she would hide in this building, but for all I knew, she could be hiding inside one of the stores.
On this underground level, there was a bookstore where you could purchase your textbooks and other supplies, a Starbucks, Subway, Tim Hortons, a digital print and design center, and various other small shops that sold food. You could also get your bus pass at the service center on this level.
The ground-level floor above had a few large auditoriums where final exams took place. It was just one of many buildings on campus which could be used for final exams. The fourth floor had a bunch of student services-related offices. For example, the Registrar’s office where you could get your student card in your first year or you lost it. The financial aid and awards office for stuff like scholarships, bursaries, and loans was also on that floor.
As for the other floors, I couldn’t remember anything significant about them. There were too many and it’s not like I went through every one or even paid attention to them for that matter.
But would she really go and hide up on the higher floors though? That’s just unfair. I’d come here without any real plan. But it was unlikely she’d choose a floor where she couldn’t see me struggling to find her. After all, where would the fun be in that?
I looked down at my phone and saw a new song posted. The song this time was called, ‘Cold.’
What the hell? Bitch, is this suddenly a game of hot and cold now?
