The Ultimate Truth

He decided that he had had enough of the old life he had so he quit his job. The truth is he doesn't have any idea what lies ahead of him after he made this decision. It was just a spark of the moment. Having worked as an office clerk for eleven years, he really felt he needed a break. Confident that his minimal saving would last him for more than a year, he ventured into the world unknown instead of being content with the security that his work offered.

No one could really blame Melvin. He was the type who graduated college on time, started to work on time, and managed to become independent on time. He doesn't have a wife because as he reasoned out, there was no one to meet at the office except old maid Bertha who seemed not to take notice of him too. He did not take his non-existent love life as a curse but a simple problem that would be resolved in its own time. Needless to say, he patterned his old life to a time plan he himself made. There was time for everything and everything has its own time. Using the term he used in one of the books he wrote, it was a boring life.

One Friday, the last day of his stay at work, his officemates gave him gifts and even threw a small party for his early resignation. Frankly, it was for him one of the rarest occasions that happened in his days at the office. A thought came over him that it is true that people never truly value the existence of someone until that someone is gone.

He wanted his departure to be as silent as possible. Talking with his boss one afternoon, he revealed his plan of quitting work and handed out his resignation letter. Melvin's boss was reluctant to let him go. He had earned the trust of the company and stated that; "it would be a great loss for the corporation if you would go. A word of advice though, things would never be the same for you". He knew that. But that is how he wanted it; he wanted things to be different.

His best friend Mark cautioned him of being too hasty on deciding. He warned him that it would be very difficult for someone his age to find another job. When one is over thirty and at the middle of one's life, people find it unwise to go venturing into something new. They say you're too old for a new career and too old to learn something new. By that time, you are expected to stay where you are. After several futile persuasions, Mark, who also happen to be his companion at work, gave in. They agreed to meet at the bar downtown twice a month on a Friday just to exchange pleasantries. For Melvin, the plan was simple. There was no plan! He was to have a good time. A month before he resigned, he promised himself that things would be different. This time, he would take over.

The first few weeks of his newly found life was never dull. He tried things he never did before. Things like sleeping on a morning then waking up early at night to watch television until morning. He had cable installed in his home and had "a marathon of movies moving before his eyes."

He tried painting. He would scribble images not on canvas but on the walls of his apartment. He would try sculpting using clay. He would then build a display stand, trying his hands on carpentry. He would put some of his works there. He made pottery and build objects that has no real use but he just wanted to do it. He dared not call it art but was accused of it in the future.