The teenage girl, standing before him, had been sweetly concerned just mere moments ago.

"Eeeeeks!!! No! Don't wipe your nose on your… Noooooo! Why are boys always like that?! Have you never heard of this epic and useful invention called the tissue paper?! I cannot!"

She changed gears, switching from concerned to grossed out, to now commanding.

"You!!!!! Take this tissue. No!!!! don't just take it and hold it!! USE IT! On your nose! YOUR NOSE!"

How can one so young sound like such an auntie?!

The quick, resentful thought flashed through Gill's mind as he looked up, stunned. The back of his hand was already midway upwards and about to wipe off the latest round of dripping, leaking snot.

But that's also an impossibility. Didn't RaRa… ?

"I know! I know! Didn't I leave right?! Now I am back because seeing you like this just makes me feel bad. I didn't mean to leave, you know."

Gill looked and felt like a board had hit the back of his head.

He stared at her, mouth opening and closing, with no words escaping his gaping mouth. Just like those tiny little orange hued goldfish they used to spend hours watching together at the little fish shop within the wet market near RaRa's house.

"But…" stammered Gill.

"Yes, yes! I am dead, not blind or stupid!" Rara tsked impatiently, sounding just like 2nd aunty.

She took another look at Gill and sighed sadly.

"Silly boy, I know what you are thinking. We have been best friends most of our lives.

You know, it's okay to cry. It's always, always okay to cry. It doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl. We are all humans with feelings.

We live, we laugh and we love, therefore we are allowed to feel sad and of course we can cry. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We are never weak when we show our loved ones emotions. Never. Don't listen to them!"

RaRa's expression darkened and she stomped her tiny foot.

"Who is 'Them' anyway and why should 'They' have control over our lives and feelings?!

This 'boys shouldn't cry and show emotions' two-bit nonsense is just so lame and old school. Boys are humans too."

Gill was gaped like those goldfish. He was utterly stunned at RaRa's return and also by that impassioned tirade.

After so many years of being around RaRa, he was long immune to her lightning changes of topic and frequent shifts in mood. RaRa was never afraid to share her thoughts or emotions with him. One of the things he envied endlessly.

RaRa turned pensive.

"I wish I had managed to convince you so before I had to leave. Well one of the things that is."

Her unexpected appearance had rendered his power of speech nonexistent and all forms of sensible thought had been robbed of his IQ of 138 brain. Said brain cells were currently huddled and having an urgent emergency conference on how to deal with this impossible scenario before them. They had all but fled and abandoned Gill to fend for himself in the face of improbability.

"But…"

Gill made one last feeble attempt at making sense of what's in front of him.