The Path To Perfection

Chapter 19: The Summary

"...A-and that's pretty much most of what I remember. Hey, it's your turn."

" There are a few lapses in my memory but I think it's possible." An old man with neck-length white hair said as he was assisted onto a large sofa in a wide meeting room. The meeting room had old men and women sitting around together on large couches and wooden chairs.

This was an elderly home and apart from the oldies, a few nurses and carers were walking around while also eavesdropping on what the old ones were talking about. The elderly people were passing time by talking about what they remembered from their old days.

"Let's see. I'll start from the very first thing I remember... wait, quick question. Does any of you have any memory of when you were born?" The old man asked.

"No"

"No"

"No, do you?"

"Of course not, I'm just asking. The first thing I know I could remember was a pitch-black empty area with just my father and mother looking at me. Yeah, after that..." The old man slowly tried to recall his memories from when he was little.

"I wasn't a problem child but I also wasn't free of problems, if you know what I mean. My parents were weird sometimes. My mother was usually just quiet but harsh and she nagged a lot. She easily got angry over the little things, just like my late wife.

My father was the opposite. He was very calm-minded and level-headed. You would hardly see him get angry despite looking so intimidating. I'm sure that even in his last moments alive, he would still beat me in an arm wrestle.

My teenage years were quite interesting, I was infatuated with some girls then, you know? hormones and stuff. I met a boy named Ivan who was in the same class as I was, he's dead now. He had this heavy crush on a girl from another class, her name was Selou. She too is dead..."

Some of the carers who were moving around could not help but move closer to listen to the narration.

" Oh, there was a time when I thought I was having mental issues cause I was overly impulsive and I had a lot of blank spaces in my memory. My father instructed me on a meditation session that mysteriously helped me to control the weird behavior. I stopped meditation a long time ago and over the years, people have told me that I have a very strange personality. Some say that I have no personality.

My cousin, Ris, said something about that but I can't remember what exactly he said. My cousin was the one who got me out of trouble one time when I insulted my teacher in front of the whole class.

By the time it was my final year in secondary education, I had made three close and wonderful friends. Two are the people I mentioned before and the last one's name was Murry. I caught him doing drugs a few years before then... I promised not to tell on him if he helped me get the person who helped him with his math homework. That was how we became friends."

The old people and the carer chuckled as they tried to imagine the scene of two little boys negotiating on such a matter.

" He's dead now too. I regret not reporting him that day, at least he wouldn't have died the way he did."

The chuckling in the hall suddenly died down. One carer, in particular, had a constipated look on his face.

"Ah, I remember those university days like it was yesterday. None of you might believe it but do you know Ukaria Southpaige, the wife of that celebrity, the one that died last year?"

Most of the old people nodded their heads as Ukaria was a famous person in their time while the young carers on the other hand only got to know of her after she died.

"Guess what, she was my girlfriend at the university..."

"Seriously?"

"Are you for real?"

"No way"

Everyone was shocked. Obviously something happened which caused them to end the relationship so the only question in their minds was, what would have happened if they never broke away? sigh.

"No surprise there.." The old man continued. " Some of you have had your own encounters with famous people coincidentally. That's nothing, the current head of the Redlet conglomerate, Jimmy Redlet. I was a coursemate with his father, Dallas Redlet. He's the one who helped me get my first job. That's why it's good to establish connections with people irrespective of their background. Speaking of background, the Murry I told you about was from the same hometown as I was, yet he became a council member..."

"You don't really expect us to believe that do you?" Said another old man who wore large glasses.

" I don't, but I have no reason to lie to you. Ah yes, where was I? I met my late wife in one temple when I was just promoted in my place of work. I wasn't a religious person and I don't have anything against the temple of Ozia. I don't know why but the thought of worshipping Ozia just put me off.

The only reason I met my wife in the temple was that a temple priest who I owed a favor invited me to the temple for a program. That was where I met Eva. We had a daughter after one year of marriage, the one who usually visits me with my son. I have a total of three children. My last daughter and child can't visit me too often because of the nature of her work.

My friend Murry wanted to help me out when he finally got into the council but I was wise enough to refuse. If I had accepted the position he wanted to give me, there was a chance that his enemies would recognize me as an important person to him, thereby putting me and my family in danger. Murry was a good friend and that was just a probability but I could not take such a risk.

Before I resigned from my work, there was a rumor that Dallas had come back with an illegitimate son. I was on my way out of the company so I didn't really care at that time.

Although I was a department supervisor in the company, I never liked working under somebody and I did not want that for my son. So I did what I felt was right, I assisted him with half of my pension money to start up a business of his own.

Anyways, it's not all plans that are successful. He used the money to start a business alright, not just the type I expected him to. My son used the money to buy a lot of gaming appliances and opened a large gaming center. He did not just love games, he wanted others to feel what he felt for the games. Even after so many years, his love for games never died down... You guys can follow me there one day, the virtual reality experience is superb....."

...

The old man doing the narration was naturally Al'ravee who was now ninety-five years old.

The carers listened as the old people told stories about the ' good old days one after the other. This was an opportunity that was hard to come by, they could learn from their experience to understand which mistakes to avoid and what type of risks to take.

....

Old man Al'ravee lay on a bed with a brown wool blanket over him.

Just like every other night, he spent here.

There was no one in the room with him.

It was bedtime in the elderly home.

Al'ravee was weak.

He wanted to rest.

He wanted to sleep.

Within a second, his entire life flashed his eyes.

He was tired of the schemes, the hidden battles, the pain of losing someone, the suffering involved in self-development, and the anticipation for the future.

He wanted to forget everything.

Just like every other night, but this night...

He thought and slept off.

Hopefully to never wake up.

....

The next day, it was announced that old man Al'ravee Divera slept and did not wake up. He had died a peaceful death.

His friends and family were sad but also convinced that he was resting.

His funeral wasn't a grand one but it wasn't small either. The burial was taken place in the city's official graveyard where a lot of people who even Al'ravee himself never knew came to attend.

After the speech by the priest, only a few people stayed behind to watch the coffin get covered with dirt. Out of one of the people standing there, was a blonde-haired man in a swallowtail coat. The people around him could not help but link him to one of those very dedicated butlers of the rich. If Al'ravee was 'alive' he would have recognized this person as Ris, his cousin. But wasn't Ris supposed to be dead?

And so Ris stood like that for a year.

Ordinary people could no longer see him with their physical eyes.

Two years, three years, four years, five years.

Five good years passed with Ris just staring at Al'ravee's grave before he finally opened his mouth to speak. " A hundred years have passed A'lravee, it's time."