my days without claire

today marks the second day i am without her. claire.

the sky is dark, the clouds hang above. everything is grim, as if marking her absence. i can't remember exactly when she entered into my life. one year ago? two years ago? she certainly made her mark, her beautiful smile, her limber body, her cheerfulness. i miss her already.

it just wouldn't be the same without her. nobody's touch will feel the same. i don't look forward to going there anymore. the place is emptier without her presence. i miss claire.

my body is already in tuned with her demands. i know the way she likes it and the way she wants it. my heart palpitate when i walked up those flights of stairs to greet her. will i ever feel the same about someone else?

:-p

it took two years to become accustomed to her stretches, bends, twists and *rolls eyes* other incredible body manipulations. with each new moves she introduced, my jaw dropped, leaving a big open hole in the space called my mouth, followed swiftly by rolling of the eyes and an increduluous 'huh?'. but what do you know? each time she guided us skillfully into our yoga poses, with me teethering on the brink of tumbling no doubt. the minute she said, or is on the verge of saying, 'o...k.', i collapse noisily like a heap on the mat. the trick is ....of course, not to look at the other yoga students to save yourself from embarrasment.

she was a joy to learn from. compared with the extremely thin man from india, who worked us like the devil, going through the exact same routine each time. we were like rows of robots that lunged into preset routine moves. not forgetting his very-difficult-to-comprehend indian accent. we were left looking and staring at each other as one hurriedly tried to decipher his exact instruction and others follow like the blind leading the blind. then there was the very annoying lady with the nasal twang who punctuates each sentence with 'hans ter' (not a foreign language but the nasal equivalent of 'hang there'). she wasn't annoying, only her habit. and the malay man who also worked us like the devil, with no space for catching our breath between moves. also the very first lady who taught me, who expected us to maintain our poses whilst she went around adjusting every student's position. yoga students will know that it is not the moves that will kill you, but the length of time in maintaining each post. *rolls eyes* if you want to disable some people, or cause serious bodily injury, go for a cup of tea before coming back and telling them to come out of the position. it will maim you for life.

anyway, sweet claire is gone. in her place, a list of other instructors. *reading time-table* i see the name of the labour-camp torturor. i sooner lie down and break into convulsions first, for that will be my outcome if i go to his classes. hhmmmm...another man from india. *reading profile* he was a yoga instructor for software executives in bangalore, specialising in curing back pain due to long working hours in the office. that's worth exploring. i may have to take out a refresher course in indian english first. nicola. *reading profile* i thought nicola was a female! he practices cum studies yoga for 5-6 hours every day!!!! *flabbergasted* darren. a designer turned yoga instructor who need to de-stress. *reading on* ooooo. and a celebrity instructor! winning second place in nescafe kickstart season 3?? what the heck is that? what has that to do with me? yoga model....bla bla bla....interviews...magazines and newspaper....bla bla bla....is having a famous intructor a good thing or bad? who to pick? who to pick? eenie meenie miny moe.

bahhhhhhhhh! i miss claire.