The Path of Time

Greg had an out-of-state business meeting for a few days at the end of the week. Greg is the country coordinator for his company's marketing division, so traveling around the country is very much 60% of his work time. Since this year, Greg hadn't had much time with his wife, Sue and she wanted a break from the kids for a few days, she followed Greg on this business trip.  They left the kids with their usual babysitter. A very reliable one they have been hiring for a couple of years now to look after his son and daughter. The trip was supposed to be from the Thursday to Sunday that week. The meeting did not go so well and Greg had to prepare some paperwork to report on the unfortunate outcomes of the meeting so Greg decided to leave for home a day earlier.  Plane touched down on the local airport, Greg and Sue checked out their luggages and drive for home. Nearing their neighbourhood, they suddenly saw a lot of smoke coming from a few blocks away. Greg makes a turn for that dire...

Caroline graduated with a degree in medical and secured an above average paying job in one of the most renown hospital in the city. She eventually scored a high profile heart operation on one of the country's richest entrepreneurs. Caroline was never lacking in medical cases and she was always busy.  At 28 years of age, Caroline married to an every-girl's-dream-guy, Mason - handsome, toned body, well mannered, respected his woman type-of-guy architect. Friends and family had only one thing to say to those two love birds - match made in heaven!  4 years down the road, Caroline and Mason had their first son, Tom. Becoming a parent was anything but easy, especially for first time parents like Caroline and Mason. Everyday was a rush for either one of them to get off work to fetch Tom from Mason's parent's because Caroline's parents were from out of state and Mason's played an active role in a charitable organisation and could not take care of Tom anytime after 6 o...

The Piggy Bank, from the eyes of a boy named James............. I remembered when I was a kid, dad and mom always had a piggy bank by the bed in the old wooden cottage we used to live in. Any lose change and coins would go in to that piggy bank. It wasn't any normal piggy bank, it was made from wood, something my grandfather taught my dad when my dad was a kid. Dad was a rubber tapper, and mom worked as a tea lady for a nearby law firm not far from where we lived. Back in the early 60s, wages were earned by the hour. Mom didn't really get much because she worked a fixed 8 hours a day. Dad earned a bit more since he used to worked till late at night to get a little extra. Every night before I cuddled up with them to bed, we would count how much coins we had for the day and put the coins into the piggy bank. Every time we drop those coins in, I could hear the coins hitting each other. Dad would always say, "Your mommy and I will make sure you get a good education and won...

Robby had only one dream, one vision when he grew up as a boy. He wanted to be a high flying successful businessman. He never thought about anything else since he went to school right up to getting his MBA. He did not want anything to get in the way of his concentration - no relationships, no entertainment, cut back on movies, no time even for casual reading. Robby's daily schedule for seven days a week was to get up 6am in the morning do pre-read up on whatever lectures that was going to come up for the day. After lectures, he goes straight home freshen up and do post-read up on his lectures. Achieved his dream he did! Robby is now a well known person in the business of trading of seafood. Robby actually shifted away from home to a different state to keep his focus. To Robby, nothing mattered more than the future. Managing his business was always a top priority and he hardly spent time with his wife and daughter. While in his office on a Monday morning, Robby's hand phone ring...

Bill is a middle-aged man, earning a substantial salary, working as a CEO of multinational corporation. He's unmarried, lives in a mansion with wonderfully designed swimming pool, sauna, imported Italian tiles, French chandeliers, $55,000 music sound system and custom designed interior decorations with canvas paintings he purchases off high street auctions hung creatively around his mansion. Bill's substantial salary is really substantial! But the thing about Bill is this - he hardly has friends because he is always fearing for his life someone might be out there to cheat him. At work, he doesn't give instructions to his subordinates but he fires orders at them and expect things done yesterday. Among the very few friends he has, all of them know that getting him to buy them lunch, even if it is a cheap lunch is like searching for the holy grail. Most obvious about Bill was that, he never failed to find fault in anyone, in anything they did. From his sectretary being late to...

Mike was born a handsome child but unfortunately, without a pair of outer ears. When he was given birth to, his parents were worried whether he would have any hearing problems. Thankfully, as Mike grew up as a boy, it was clear that he would have no problems with hearing. His child hood was anything but normal. Frequently dubbed a "freak", he would come running home after kindergarten and primary school with tears in his eyes. Without having to ask him, his mother would already know what had happened. Mike, with tears in his eyes would let it all out to his mother, "They called me a freak boy!" or "Why do I have go through such things, mom?" Mike's mom would always hug him close to her and gently say, "You are not a freak Mike. You don't look any different to me. In fact, you are more handsome than other kids out there." Sometimes at night, Mike's mom would take a peek through his room door in the middle of the night while he is fast ...

Back during the Vietnam war, there was a very successful fighter jet pilot with amazing success rates. We are talking about 65 out of 65 successful missions. Like all good things, it had to come to an end and on the 66th mission his plane was shot down by enemy anti aircraft guns. Thankfully, he managed to hit the eject button in time and parachuted out of the burning jet. Unfortunately he landed in enemy zone and spent the subsequent 8 years as a prisoner of war (not a very nice thing despite the free board and lodging). Guts, patience and a whole lot of prayer helped him survive the ordeal. He now lectures on the lessons learned from the horrible experience.  One fine afternoon, while having lunch with his wife in a normal down town restaurant, a man about the same age as him walked up to his table and said, "You're Jeff right? You flew the F-4 Phantom nicknamed the Thundering Hawk! You were shot down!". Startled, Jeff asked, "how on earth did you know that?" ...

Back during my primary school days, I didn't get much for pocket money for a day. I think it was a dollar day. But, of course money back then had a higher purchasing power. A dollar a day even during those times were some times hard to get buy and I had to settle for lesser food items because other more luxurious food like canteen chicken rice would cost a dollar fifty. Some days, I'd not spend the money so I can snowball the money for the next day to get a bigger meal during recess. There was one day, while waiting for my mom to pick me up from school I saw this guy sitting by the roadside. He didn't look like he had any bad intentions, neither did he look like he was really mangy. Although I never really noticed but many of my schoolmates see him around often and he'd be sitting at the same spot by the roadside everytime he's around my school. On that day when I saw him by himself, sitting by the roadside, I decided to just approach him and ask him why he'd si...