Magic Lamp

Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.

If I were to find a magic lamp and meet the genie, I would have exhaust his wish-granting power. But of course, there will only be three wishes. I could ask for a car or to be a millionaire or travel the world in three days, but that is not what I needed. Instead of asking something material, I would ask the genie to grant me three chances at turning back time.

I'm always fascinated at the fact that if I have to choose just one skill, it would be the ability to turn back time. Time is a gift, a luxury, a curse, and a traitor all rolled into one. Funny, how our day largely depends on time, not in moments. We measure productivity by the time we spent clicking on our laptops or swinging from one meeting to another. Funny, how we called ourselves lazy if we let hours passed without doing anything.

After deliberately thinking, I only want one wish and that's the ability to turn back time or travel to the past. I'm scared of the future that's why I'm better off with the past. I've always wanted to control time because I felt that my wrong deeds outweigh my right ones, and I want to correct them. I've always felt that I did not use my life well back then and it still haunts me sometimes. Of course, the genie would say three wishes are the maximum but he would grant provided that I only talk to two people from my past and would not change any event from it.

I was about to complain that it is unfair, if I were to have that power, I would have changed every failure to success. But I just shrugged it off, better to have something than nothing at all.

 The first person that came into my mind is my late grandfather. If I were to rewind one day from days I spent with him, it would be Christmas Eve, the day before I lost him. Everyone in the house is busy, I'll look for my grandpa, and I will find him in the veranda, reading the papers as usual. I will hug him like it was the first time, hug him so hard that he'll almost faint, and hug him like there's no tomorrow. Right at this moment, I realized how much I'm missing him. I wish that my grandfather is still here so he can hug me back.

He will laugh and ask me why I hugged him like that, that his bones almost broke. I wish we can recreate his last day and be given a chance to play the remote controlled car I have as present on that Christmas. While playing, I wish to hear from him again that I have a bright future ahead of me, that I'll be the best in my field.

After my time with my grandfather, time will transport me to my high school graduation. The second person is my senior self. I wish to see how happy  I am with my friends, posing for photos with our diplomas on our hands at that moment. I wish to hear him say that it's the best day ever. I wish that I can warn him that days will not be easy, that life will not be easy once he steps out of his toga. I wish I can remind him that whatever it is you decide to do make sure that you'll learn from it even if you fail or if it will cost a lot. I told him to be calm and think first before he acts, that its okay to enjoy life but he must set a goal in his life. As mentioned in one of my favorite games,"everything is permitted" meaning your free to do anything but you must think about the outcome of your actions. .

Having the ability to turn back time is very tempting. But for me, it is life-altering. Time changes people.

Breakfast for Two

As a little kid, everything may seem perfect. Removing the wrapper of a lollipop or a candy was already considered a major challenge. Every year that I blow an additional candle on my cake, I’m starting to doubt if blowing these candles will make my wish come true. As a young boy, you would always, always look up to your father as your inspiration in everything. His manliness, the way he handles situations, the secret pick-up lines and stories about women that he would only divulge to me while he drinks beer and I drink milk, the logical ways he solves things, and the way he takes care of my mother.

As a kid, I also began to set standards for the girl I would like to be romantically involved with in the future. I would make my mother as my reference when I look for girls at school. As I become a teen, it seemed like I put a wall between us, maybe because that’s the way it works for teen boys and their mothers. Little did I know that this wall I built also prevented me in seeing that she is having the worst days of her life. This wall protected my privacy as a young man, but it also isolated me to the pains and the slow drifting apart of the family.

I thought that everything is normal, that it is normal for adults to argue on things. I was right, arguments were normal, but the actions and decisions that come with it are called choices. From my wall, I made a little hole where I can peep everytime they would argue. That’s the time I see my parents differently, that’s the time innocence slowly went to the other world. I knew right there, something was wrong. Like a volcano that’s soon to erupt, I was just waiting for the lava to flow. Then one day, I woke up and nothing was the same. The breakfast table was set for only two; the house was silent except for the unspoken feelings of my mother. I cannot muster my courage to ask her, why it’s just the two of us for breakfast.

But mothers always know how to do it; she said that in order to grow and find what’s best, sometimes falling apart must happen. I felt like crying as memories of my childhood came flashing back, the thought that they will not happen again. But at the same time, a strange feeling of relief dawned upon me. All those pains my mother endured, all those harsh words and physical pain I experienced from him are all gone. My mom said that it is a mutual agreement between them to separate for an indefinite period of time. It will be just the two of us for now.

If there’s one thing I picked up from their separation, it’s the value of knowing what you want and when to end something that is already more harm than good for you. Maybe, we’re one of those modern families but it does not make us less of a family. He may be up there in the North, rearranging his life or maybe building another life but to me he will always be the man who has given me a manual in life no matter what I endured from him. And to my mother, it may be just the two of us for breakfast but it will always be my reason to look forward every morning. 

last card

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

Most people at my age might be celebrating their first paycheck. Some might consider me too old to finish college. But here's what I have to say, I travelled the road less taken and I lost my way, but I gained so much from the journey and now I'm back on track.

I'm Lawrence Fedrick L, Isleta. My friends call me Rence or Eric. 21 yrs of age. from Malabon City. I'm studying at Far Eastern University Institute of Technology taking up Information Technology Web and Mobile Application.

I spend my leisure time watching movies, animes, and series specially if the genre is scifi. Being a Jedi is secretly imprinted on my DNA, kidding, but I am a huge fan of Star Wars.

If given a chance to have my own exhibit someday, surely it will all be about the Gundam kits I've built through the years. Many might think that kits are just toys meant to be played, but no they are not. The precision and dedication with every model I built makes me proud of what else I can do with my hands. 

Women are swoon with my guitar and piano skills, kidding again, but seriously I can play those instruments pretty well. When it comes to love, my friends would always refer to me for love advice, I guess I'm good at it. 

To end this, I would like to share that my failures put the winner in me. It's sad that I have to fail first before realizing the value of things, but I guess that's how life goes for everyone. At one point we all have to fall flat on the ground for us to push ourselves back to the top. I've got my last card and I'm laying it down.