"I wonder who's going to lift up my clothes and poke me," Stanley the sex bunny said in excitement, unable to sit still in his plastic chair.
Carl the gym rabbit began flexing his python-sized biceps, breathing in and out forcefully as if getting ready for the Olympics 100kg Clean and Jerk category.
Also looking like he's getting ready for the jerk category, Stanley began looking around lustfully at every male species entering Queenstown CC, where the three of us, of all things, had planned to take our booster shot together.
The three of us had once upon a very long time joked about how someday, instead of dressing up to explore gay bars or dine at the latest trendy and pretentious restaurants, would end up making medical appointments as part of our social gatherings.
There we were, three Uncles advancing into our mid-forties, living out our future.
Meanwhile, Stanley was advancing towards an early-thirties, his eyes zeroing in on a well-groomed man wearing an army singlet.
"Attention all units, attention all units, 3-o'clock, 3-o'clock, over," Stanley said, no doubt trying to sound like a pilot on speaker, but ended up instead sounding like the NTUC Aunty paging for help at Counter 6.
I pretended I didn't hear Stanley and stared at my iPhone with intense focus.
Carl too didn't hear Stanley because, as usual, he was spacing out.
"3-o'clock, 3-o'clcok, over," Stanley said more urgently, no longer using an indoor voice. For effect, Stanley jerked his head and eyes in the direction of the well-groomed young man wearing the army singlet.
Carl got the signal and began fumbling, mapping out with, first his left finger and then his right finger the trajectory of an imaginary clock dial.
Carl didn't know where to look.
I didn't know where to look. It was getting embarrassing because a makcik sitting nearby began studying the three of us with keen interest.
I won't be surprised if makcik were smiling beneath her mask.
"Adam Lee, booth 2!"
Thank God. Saved by the belle -- a petite looking young volunteer with long, straight hair.
Inside booth 2, I met a very chirpy woman who looked about my age.
I know because she said "oh, 1979. We're same age!"
While her hands went about tearing needle packages and fixing vaccine doses smoothly like a well-seasoned factory worker, I learned that she was a nurse who retired in her early 30s after she got married.
"I quit to look after my two kids but when this pandemic happened, I told my kids 'mummy needs to go back and serve the country'," she said.
I could see it from her eyes that nursing and motherhood were both her calling because she really like any matronly nurse, I didn't even see -- or feel -- the booster shot.
"There!" she said again with her chirpy voice.
"Stay safe," she said to me sincerely, her eyes scrunched up from a hidden smile.
Indeed. "Stay safe" has become one of the most commonly heard phrases these days.
Even with vaccinations or booster shots, danger still lurks out there.
"I always know that I no longer have gag reflex but I didn't expect that I also incapable of feeling any sensation when being poked," Stanley said to me back at the common waiting area, unwittingly helping me to prove my point about the lurking dangers out there.
I looked around to see if the makcik was still tracking our activity but instead found Carl flexing his python-sized biceps.
"Did the needle break upon contact?" Stanley asked Carl sarcastically.
Unable to detect the tone in Stanley's voice, Carl flexed harder, happy that his friend appreciates his He-Man muscles.
As mandated by the government, we had to wait for 30 minutes for any side effects to show up before we could leave.
Stanley made full use of the time and widened the scope of his radar eyes, ready to fantasize.
Carl was lost in his own thoughts and began nodding off, looking like he might topple over anytime and cause the young volunteers to panic.
I was soaking in the moment and reality of it.
When I first knew the boys more than 20 years ago, I would never have imagined that we would progress in life together.
Sure, I knew they would be my core group of friends but what I didn't factor in was that we would all one day grow old together.
We're on our way there.
In the last 20 years, we've gone through -- and been with one another -- so many milestones.
University graduation, our first job, Stanley's first car, our respective property buys, and everything else in between -- sharing the joys of new relationships, the tears of loved ones gone, the rare fights over the most petty of issues, and most of all, the love and assurance of people who'd be there for you.
That day, I tell myself that it won't be long that more of our social gatherings in future would involve Dettol-smelling hospital rooms... and, God forbid, that one final day, in a room filled with the cloying scents of flowers and weeping peers at one of our wakes.
As the three of us walked out of Queenstown CC that day, I put my arms around Carl and Stanley, so glad that the three of us are literally walking towards old age together.
"I never thought I'd say this," Stanley said breaking the silence.
"At this age and day in time, I would prioritise getting a booster shot over a Vodka shot or a cum shot."
Adam's stories are based on real life events and inspired by real people
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