Sayonara 2012, Bonjour 2013

Little Red Engine felt relieved that 2012 was almost over with no major, fatal breakdown happening to its engine. It took a lot of sheer will to keep on chugging down the road of Life when at many points, it did not know where it was going. Not forgetting the periods of exhaustion. And the potholes.

Many times, Little Red drove through dense fogs where visibility was near zero. Even with its highlights switched on, it could not see beyond 150 metres. And THAT was scary. Little Red was afraid that it might smash into another vehicle or worse, plunge over a cliff and into a ravine!

Little Red also went through many unexpected flash floods. Going through the flood waters slow and steady kept it safe.

As Little Red drove on the road of Life, many other vehicles whizzed pass it.

It was envious of the Ferrari that was as fast as the speed of lightning. But when the flood waters came, Ferrari lightning was stuck and inched itself to higher grounds.

Then there was the Kancil who could squeeze itself into the tiniest of space when carparks were full. But it was light as a feather and when someone punched the bonnet, it would look as though a meteor had dropped on it.

Oh, and there was the glorious Volvo XC90! It was Little Red's dream car as it looked so regal and grand and sleek and EXPENSIVE! Expensive it was as it guzzled petrol like there was no tomorrow.

So many beautiful automobiles to salivate over. To drool over. To lust for. The Cayenne Porsche, the Audi Q7, the Volkswagen Touareg, the BMW X5. Little Red was so busy admiring and comparing others to itself that it did not realise that it was now stationary at the side of the road drooling over every other automobile instead of moving on.

When Little Red was finally jolted out of its wishful-thinking-dream-like-state, the snow came! But Little Red bravely went through the snow and came out alive, stronger AND wiser. 'No more drooling-at-roadsides,' it told itself.

And then, there was the time when Little Red had a breakdown. Little Red was glad that it had gotten out of the cracks of depression without any major damage to its system.

Then Little Red became lost, not knowing where to go. It was stumped for a very long time. It tried to think back to the times when it was lost and when it could not find the Compass of Life. It tried to duplicate its past actions when it was lost for directions.

2013 was on the horizon and Little Red was still clueless of where it should head to. It became agitated. It was irritated. And it was getting desperate. It started meditating on its bonnet. And then it spun around in circles. It tried EVERY trick which it did in the past. And yet, still no lightbulb. No booming voice from the heavens.

As Little Red sat dejected, an Antique car stopped beside it. Antique car looked very old, but yet wise. You can tell that it had seen a lot and been to a lot of places in Life. Antique car looked at Little Red and said, 'Things never happen the same way twice.' And with that Antique car moved on.

Little Red was awestruck! It suddenly realised that it was hanging on to the past. It was trying to relive the past and thus was stuck in the present. Little Red quickly revved up its engine and caught on with Antique car and drove on the road of Life and into the horizon of 2013.

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'  - Robert Frost