Dearest, it's been a while. I don't even know how long it's been.

I've spent the past month and twenty odd days hiding in a little house in the middle of Taiwan. Will tentatively be here for two more months, and fly back sometime in October, but I somehow find I'm less likely to return with each passing day.

Maybe it's because I've had a view of the sea for too long and have started to take it for granted. Now I have a view of the mountain ranges stretching along the middle of Taiwan. On a clear day, I have the most spectacular view of some of the highest peaks in the whole country, right from the comfort of my living room. I no longer have a view of the shoreline though. I traded the sea for the mountains.

Maybe it's the knowledge that I can trudge downstairs to any convenience store (and they truly are very conveniently scattered around the area - they are never further than a five minute walk down whichever street you're on) and buy any number of strange foods or drinks that we never get to see in Singapore. Things like oolong milk tea, strawberry tea, milkshakes and/or interesting (in an experimental kind of way) vegetable juices.

Maybe it's my fluency in a different language that makes me stand out here. Here, I don't feel lost in the crowd. I still feel like an outsider looking upon most of the action, but at least I feel like I am of interest to others.

Maybe it's the fact that I don't know anyone here. I don't feel left behind. I'm living with two cousins, and the truth is, right now, none of us know where we're headed in life, or what we're doing the next day. But for now, it's all good, it's all okay. As long as the floods don't come through the door, we're fine; we'll see tomorrow.

Maybe being away teaches me to be independent, shows me that I can be away from home, that I really don't need others to stand.

Maybe being away gives me the freedom that I've been searching for since breaking away from the binds of TJ.




But dearest, we all know I'm running away.