21st July 2007 (part 3 of 3)
And then, the countdown began for Half-Blood Prince. This part of the story started 3 months after the launch of Phoenix. That was when Borders sold the hardcover book at $15 in anticipation of the paperback ones. For the benefit of those ignorant ones, that price was less than 50% of the original one! Upon seeing this, my sis and I were determined to get that huge savings and we agreed that we should just wait and buy the book later. However, as the date got nearer, all logics were thrown out of the window and we finally bowed to the inevitable (of course the fact that you get an extra $5 voucher and a free goodie bag helps).
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It was a Saturday, the 2nd NE show for the National Parade. I was on duty to pick up the primary school kid and so I trusted my sis to pick up the book. But, I went a little too early, so I end up with 20 minutes to spare. It was a very hot and humid day, so I decided to enter Tampines Mall and just window-shopped for while. And then, it happened, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glimpse of a red sign. After that, I lost control of my body, my feet just refused to listen to my brain. No matter how hard I tried, they just moved on their own. Just like magic. I tried to drag them down, I really did (there was a 20% discount on Charles and Keith you know.) Alas, it was not meant to be.
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Once inside, my feet took me (against my wish of course!) to the counter where the books were placed. I stared longingly at them and told myself that a little touch would not matter. I should have known, Lucifer was at work and still I succumbed to the temptation. The lady at the counter saw all of these battles raging inside me and tried to help. She said that the book was on 20% discount and I told her that I had a copy at home. She must have thought that I was insane. It took me 10 mins to read the first chapter and the next 7 hours being tormented.
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On a brighter note, this time round. I was the one trying to figure out the identity of the Half-Blood Prince while my sister was figuring out superposition. I was trying to understand Golpalott’s Third Law while she was trying to understand Hess’s Law. Of course, I was in a dilemma, part of me wanted to read as fast as possible while the other part wanted to enjoy the book very very slowly. In the end, curiosity got the better of me.
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Now, summer 2007, this has been the most interesting year. With the movie and the book coming out within a week of one another. My feeling can only be described as ecstatic! After such a long time, finally the journey will end. We will know the truth once and for all. The only problem is that I don’t know if I will like the truth. I hope I do (not that I have a lot of choices). But I guess, that is the essence, we all yearn for the truth, but the truth finally dawned on us, we wished that he had never learnt of it.
