My Little Place of Solitude

 

This is the corner of my place in which I find solitude. This is the space where I paint. But often, this is where I do my reading and studying. My place is too small for a bookshelf, so I just pile up my books on the floor. I have all kinds of books—TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, English Grammar Books, novels of well-known authors such as John Grisham, Diana Palmer, and Sydney Sheldon to name a few. I have social science books, bible-based publications, different versions of the Bible, the classics,  and a lot more.

Growing up, I did not talk much because I felt that there was nothing much to talk about. I rarely went out of our fenced-in yard.  I did not play with other kids. The only kid I played with was my older brother who eventually got bored  and  went on to play with other boys his age because I could not climb trees, I could not walk with bamboo stilts, I could not hit a dragonfly’s head with a slingshot, I could not run as fast as he could, I could not hurl the stones far enough to reach the galvanized iron roof of the barangay hall, my punches were not strong enough to wreck a young banana plant. We were kids; we did not know why there was a stark difference in our  agility and physical strength.

And so books became my friends.

They were, they are, and they will always be my friends.