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Showing posts from November, 2014

Lost

Some things are irresistible. For me, it was the taste of an ice-cold beer. I drank all the time, was at home as little as possible, smoked weed and slept until noon anytime I felt like it.    One afternoon, I stopped by an old bistro a few blocks from my apartment. It was an old-fashioned Chinatown joint and the tall buildings downtown were in sight. I was roaming the sidewalks, saw the establishment was open, and walked into it with the hope of finding my favorite brand of malt. Nothing but a cold beer and certainly no drugs. I ordered a bottle of whisky, slowly poured the drink over the ice, and vowed not to stop until I was drank. After a few shots, I nervously lit a cigarette and popped two Valiums. I was acting like a man who wanted to die but who had no courage to do it himself. I passed out.    Misery engulfed me as I awoke. Though I kept my eyes closed, they could not stop a fresh flow of tears. Then a velvet-haired fairy raised her voice and sang. I had never heard such a

Welcome to My Life

What if you could live your life all over again? I was thirty-three, clumsy, frustrated with life and terrified of fatherhood. I went years without a steady job, which really ticked my wife off because she was forced to work 12 hours a day so she could give our daughter a better future.    Our apartment was a messy two-bedroom located on the third floor of a very old building in downtown Manila. It was filled with college kids and the landlord was accustomed to haggling over rents. She was fifty-two but looked forty. A skinny woman with short brown hair trapped in a boring, sexless marriage. I'd spent hours in that little burrow wondering if I could steal her away for a weekend.    Not very long ago, I looked at some classy townhouses down south fit for a young professional. I'd dreamed of working in a high-pressure environment filled with great minds. I was sickened and saddened by what I had become, and I was astounded by the speed at which I had fallen.    But I vowed