CAN I?

UNEDITED SAMPLE LITERARY ARTICLE
By Bernadette Bunao Orgen
IV - Michael Faraday


I used to play with my friends all throughout the day without being hindered by anybody else. I used to be encouraged by my parents to eat and sleep well. I used to consider learning my ABC's and discovering my 123's as my hardest tasks. I used to easily paint smiles on people's faces through performing some cute acts. I used to cry my hurt feelings out without annoying my parents and siblings much. I used neither to keep a secret nor to tell any falsehood. I used to be afraid to be scolded by the elders. I used to wholeheartedly forgive the persons who have made wrong and to be sincerely forgiven by those whom I have done wrong to. I used to be free to fly high and touch the brilliant clouds in the sky.

If only I have the power to replay everything, then I would. But, it seems to be too impossible. Time that has passed will never come back. Not anymore.

I want to escape from this complicated world. But, I want to live. Maybe, it is better for me to say that I want to skip the complexities of this world. Every time I open my eyes and face a new day, I know that problems, a countless problems, will serve as the thorns along the long way. A huge package of tasks will again be delivered. A lot of failures will again fall onto my head just like a stone. Does growing require all these unbearably difficult things to happen?

Can I just be a child again, a child who is unafraid to face the next day and its challenges, a child who is brave enough to carry his tasks no matter how heavy they might be, a child who can make people happy through his simple acts, a child who has the courage to tell the truth and express how he feels, a child who can wholeheartedly forgive and be sincerely forgiven, a child who is just afraid to do wrong, a child who keeps on exploring his world - a child whom I used to be - so that I could not anymore experience the complications of the earth? Can I?

Of course, no. I cannot. And, I do not have any choice but to take a step forward. What I can do is to be like a child as I continue walking along the thorny way of problems, receiving millions of huge packages of tasks, and accepting the falling stones of failures. Indeed, growing may take me to a multitude of downfalls, manholes, or quagmires, and I can never avoid them. But through having the good and admirable qualities of a child, it will precisely be a lot more easier than it is supposed to be.