Overgrown kids roll down a hill

Four overgrown kids from Walsh St headed out to Flagstaff Gardens yesterday night and jogged in 15C-ish (no, it wasn’t that cold.. either I got the temp wrong or I’m already used to the weather). It was my first time jogging in what seems like years; I thought I’d tire out easily. But as I jogged, I took in the play of shadows around the gardens; the radiating street lamps; the passing vehicles and trams; walking passers-by deep in thought or conversation; and fellow joggers—these took my mind off on my own physical action of jogging. I circled the perimeter of the gardens, which Ivan told me was about 1km long.

I didn’t feel as tired as I had anticipated; in fact, I was way ahead of the others, as I didn’t know what to do with all this bouncing energy inside me—it felt at once strangely familiar, this sensation of inhaling deeply for air, the rush of the blood circling throughout my internals.. it all brought back the times during PE when I used to run, when I used to represent my Blue House in long-distance runs, or participating in the annual SJ10K run during high school.

I ran about a complete round and a quarter, before I decided to rest by walking, which was when Ivan overtook me. I went to the drinking fountain (commonly found in the gardens of Melbourne, I don’t remember ever seeing these things in Malaysia) to replenish some liquids, then met up with Ivan at a spot in the gardens we have pre-determined: the peak of Flagstaff Gardens where you could see twinkling Dockland lights in the horizon.

Desmond subsequently arrived, and as we waited for Ethan, we laid down on the slightly wet fields and stared at the sky, hands beneath my head. Silence fell before us as we watched these faint sparkles from outer space, and I felt at once at peace.

Contrary to what I had previously thought, jogging didn’t exactly exhaust me—if anything, it made me even more alert.

Ethan soon arrived, and we then did some rudimentary exercises: stretches, push-ups, etc, and then fooled around a bit, when Ivan, on the pretext of judo, did literally throw me onto the ground wtf.

At the top of an incline, these four overgrown kids decided to hurl themselves down the slope and roll downhill—and they did just that (save for Ethan). It’s a bit of some inane fun, and in this inanity did I find solace and a twirl of disbelieving laughs. It took 21 years for me to throw away all cares and inhibitions and throw myself down the hill.. and it felt strangely liberating.

I sorta regret not joining them for this weekly hour-long jog the previous times, in fact, I only declined as it was way too cold the previous months; it was only a tad bit warm yesterday night. Still, there are probably a few more weeks left before I have to start jogging alone.

And today, Melbourne is sheathed in blazing sunlight and 27C of warmth. Spring is finally here, even if it’s a tad bit late.