Paintball

You get the paint. And the pain. You pay to get hurt. And then you pay some more to make the pain go away. How stupid. Yet, that’s the stupid thing that people do. The stupid thing WE did. To have a game of paintball.

Everyone of us got back with bruises all over. Some on their backs. Some on their necks. Some on their buttocks. Some on their hands. Some on their legs. Some even on their fingers. You know, like kena dera. Like a bunch of orphans kena dera. Only that we were self dera-ing each other. And we have paint all over. Orange ones that is. Nah. Not colourful rainbow types. Just orange. And they tasted yucky. Real yucky. Trust me.

The guys were having tonnes of fun. It’s always the guys that get all the excitement. I had asked one of them before, “What’s with guys and guns? What’s so fun with guns anyway?” His answer was plain simple. “Because it’s a gun.” Right. I am never going to understand that.

My previous game was full of strategies and codes. We had a leader to direct us. “You to the left.” “You to the right.” “You take the middle bunker.” “You cover from behind.” “You go touch base.” “You take out the person on the other corner.” “You charge straight ahead.” Things were more organized. This time around, it was pure random. No directions, no team spirit and no backups. From the moment the marshal yelled “Start”, we ran in all directions, opened fire at who ever and ducked where ever.

That's what caused all the chaos. One got shot by their own team. One got kicked out within seconds into the game. Some aimed at close range. Some didn’t get to open fire cause they don’t know who to shoot at. Some got shot even after they were proclaimed ‘dead’. Some were fighting with their own team mates cause there was not enough space to duck behind the same bunker. Some aimed at the wrong target. I seriously don’t know how fun this could be as we were all making enemies out of friends. We were targeting friends! C’mon!

The funny part was, we all looked either like a plumber or an inmate. Or one more thing, a penguin. I shall allow your imagination to run free. But it was fun. Truly. The game and the people. Guys….they can be real kiddy.

And just so you know, I got bruised too. Again. One big round blue black by the left knee. Man, it hurts!