Late Late Late

Music just stopped playing. I realized that im at a school sitting down at a concert, it didn’t look like my High school, so I assumed its another school. It was small and inside the gym, giving me the idea that it was an elementary school performance. I look around me and I see students in their teenage years holding instruments however and they were getting ready to play. I see my music teach Mr. J setting the band up on the floor while my jazz stage band teacher, Mr. Volpe was on the side talking to his students while the band was getting ready.

I realized that it was the senior band from my school that was playing the music because it sounded intense and really clear and in tune with one another, or at least close enough. I see that I’m not in the band anymore, and I started to get scared. The music started to get more and more intense and I feel that my heart is starting to race along with the music. The band looked nice, with their all black semi formal look, dress pants, and a dress shirt. I looked closely into the faces of the band, yes it was the senior band, but they were the senior band from two years go, that explains why I wasn’t playing or wasn’t in it. The music stopped, everyone applauded and I applauded as well, and I made my way outside so that I can get my semi-formal dress outfit so that I can perform.

I push the brown metal doors and its night time, the yellowish, orange-like light was shining above my head and to the sides along the wall so that people may see the way. I walk past the light and into the sidewalk where I see a bunch of young people rollerblading down one way holding a toy in one hand, a really huge toy. As my eyes started to get fixed into the night, I see one of my best friends going down with him, I could tell it was him cause of his baggy shirt, and his mohawk which later was soon covered by his hat. I tried yelling at him, getting his attention, “Hoy!....Pssstt!!...Hoy!!...HA!” Not one of those calls got his attention, but instead, he went behind a bush and his friends all started to hide and I wondered what they were doing. A young child came next to me and asked, “do you know what they’re doing?” I replied, “It looks like they’re playing with their toy guns, shooting tennis balls,” bonk bonk bonk, I see green balls flying across the air, “Yeup, they’re playing with those guns.” And so I walked into the same direction I was walking.

I enter a door to what I see as a small hostel. The room doors were white and their doorknobs were gold, they didn’t look clean cause the paint was peeling and there were some molds on the corners and sides of the hallway. I found something spikey in my pocket, I reached down, and they were keys, one was silver, it has a rounded handle part where people hold they key to twist, and it was small in length. I had another key that was really long, and a rusted bronze-like colour, with a triangular base with a number written on it… “something, something, eight.”*

I found the door that matched it and I entered in, it turned out to be like a locker, so I looked up and saw mouthpieces, my mouthpeices for my instruments. I saw three trumpet mouthpieces, one in a black case, but really old looking, and two just out in the open but filled with spiderwebs or dust. The final mouthpiece lying on top was the tuba mouthpiece which I borrowed from Mr. J, I saw only the rounded part was there and the long part to insert into the tuba was cut off, I started to worry that he might kill me, but I ignored it and I grabbed one of the cleaner looking mouthpeices.

I exit the door and all of a sudden, I’m outside, I feel that I have a bag on my back, so I took a look inside, it was empty…weird… I realized that I was still not wearing my semi-formal clothing and I looked at my ipod and it said it was 8:30pm, I had fifteen minutes to get back at school with my concert-wear on because of the intermission our school usually does . I call my mother to see if she can pick me up. I dial… there’s a ring… she picks up, “Hello?”

“Hi mom?”

“Yes?”

“Can you pick me up, I need to get my concert gear so that I can perform tonight”

“where did you leave it?”

“I left my concert gear at home, can you bring it instead”

“Okay.”

She hangs up, and I start to wander around. I feel a droplet of water on my nose and I look up, its starting to rain, my mother comes five minutes later and I get inside the car. We start to drive and my mom looked tired, like as if she has been working for ages. She made a right turn instead of a left into the Canadian Pacific Railway, and she says, “I thought you needed to go here?”

“No, mom , I was gonna but I already did it” *

Everything just blanked out and I saw myself infront of McDonalds at my intersection near my house, its nighttime but at least the rain has stopped. I looked at the clock and I see its 10:00 on Monday, I’m like, damm…I need to get to school, I’m already late…where the heck did my mom go? I dialed the phone again…ring ring rin… “Hello?”

“Hi mom! Why did you just leave me here I have school!”

“Oh sorry, I’ll pick you up now then.” Click

I looked at my cell phone this time and it still said 10:00 on Monday. Then I did a double take, it said “Monday 10:01pm” damm… I just missed school…what the hell just happened? I called my mom again and she picks up, I tell her , “Mom, it’s okay, school’s done I’ll just walk home”

But instead of walking towards the direction of home, I walked the opposite way, what the hell am I doing now?

You are never by yourself

There is a North American Value that in which I'm sure everyone in North America has heard:
"I can go it alone. I don't need help. I'll struggle through on my own, and I'll be a better person for it."

North Americans always have this value where they think that later on in their life, they can and will handle things on their own, but let me be the first to say...it is impossible. This is what's called the "Rugged Individualism." No matter where you go or what you do there is some sort of help that comes or came along with it.

This way of approach to life is not that bad, but must be realized that rugged individualism exists. Most people in North America do try to accept this concept of being a totally independant person, but don't realize that they cannot live without contact. People need to learn that INTERDEPENDANCE is made up of the past experiences with people, social relation iwth other people and an annonymous source of other help and support.

Interdependance automatically is within a person since their childhood, decision-making has been made by the help of one's parents teaching them right from wrong. As the years go by, the young child grows older to "make their own decisions," but it is really the growth and development of their sense of judgement guided by adults. The words, influence, and actions of the adult will forever stay in the young until it is passed on to the next generation. Therefore it is not independance when making a decision if someone from the past has helped you to develop the sense of right from wrong, but rather an interdependance between the decision maker and their past.

Interdependance is also made by other social activities of a person with other people; common actions such as solving a huge jigsaw puzzle is developed by routine or experience. People learn from their past in their experiences, and do one action instead of another the next time a similar situation occurs. However, when a person experiences a certain situation, it is almost always that the problem would be so difficult, other people would have needed to get involved and assist to accomplish the setted goal. Now when the present comes and a similar even comes, one would know what to do based on experience, having other people think that they can do it individually themselves, but really was done with the help of other people, causeing the sense of interdependance.

One source of Interdependance that occurs with any person is one that is annonymous to a person's awareness. for example a person going into an airport. There are numerous people there to help you out. One person cannot do security reasons on their on, they need the assistance of a police officer or volunteers that work in the industry. It is their job to help people when they're in need; which is why we can say that no one really recognizes these sources of help that defies the term of individualism, but rather interdependance.

God created humans to be social people. It is part of ourself, made in God's image that we are to be interacting with one another, and need to be part of a social group or community that can really relate other people with our own. It is never possible for one single person to live their life individually. Even God is always there for each and every one of His children to assist them when they need help.

In conclusion, we are always interdependant, not independant. You never do things by yourself, there is always another person that must have helped out, whether it be in the past, or in the present. there must have been some way that lead you to who you are now and how you act. That is why it is important to love, honour, and respect your parents and family because they are the ones who taught you how to make decisions, which now seems a piece of cake in most events in life.

Following the Rules

Okay, so I've been searching up on the internet randomly on how should guys treat girls, or how to pick-up girls etc. etc.

Well, please consider that what I'm about to say is coming from a young teenage male who is in a happy, and very strong relationship with his girlfriend, over a year and a half in dating. So I can give you guys some advice, but it's up to you to follow them or not.

to make things easier for myself, i'm putting the setting as a teenager in highschool, so for those people who can be following this that are at work, try to change some of the words like, when i say hallway, i mean, work hall? i don't know...like lunch time is say...a Tim Horton's for break, I don't know, you have a brain, so imagine it.


So you guys, men, brothers, you all are probably wondering "How the heck can I pick up this lovely, beautiful woman?" you see her all the time, in the halls at school, at class, at lunch, and you have this great sense of feeling for her. She has those lovely eyes, adorable smile, addicting scent, and a loving personality. YOU WANT HER IN YOUR LIFE! so later on that night, you look up on the internet "how to pick up girls," "Pick up lines for dummies," "top 30 things guys should know about girls," and you start to make notes and strategies as to how you're going to approach this female that you know.

You try out all these things from the internet on her and she starts to like you, but then you start to forget those rules and become some other person that she probably doesn't like, or that you start to complain that "there are too many rules for a man to follow to impress a girl! I GIVE UP!" and then you eventually leave her and probably find another date to get you mind of this girl and the same situation will happen...then it becomes a circle. Over time, you start to think once again, "how the hell will i pick up this girl?" you know what, your making it too much of a hassle for yourself.

What I do is this, treat her like you want to be treated. It's as simple as that. People always say, girls are more emotional, girls are fragile than men...well it's correct but that still doesn't mean that they're an alien. It is like men all over the world treat women like aliens and looking up research on "how women act" DUDES! they're all HUMAN! just like us! get that through.

Let me tell you the story of God creating the world in the Catholic Bible in the book on Genesis:

When God created the world, he created the earth, the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars. God also made beings on the earth, the fish in the sea, the animals on the earth, the birds in the sky. But God felt like something was missing and he needed something or someone to take care of the world because God is almost always very busy. So God made man and called him Adam. Adam flocked amongst the world alone and God realized that Adam seemed lonely, so God put Adam into a deep sleep and while asleep, he took the ribs from Adams chest and used it to make another human...a woman...and named her Eve.

I will end that story right there. If you look at that story, think about it guys, symbolically, God made women from us, the men...how? he simply took a part of our rib and made a woman. what does that mean? It means this...what is the job of the ribs in any person's body? To protect the heart. If you haven't figured it out yet, it means that women are the protectors of men's heart. Treat your woman nicely and she will truely protect your heart.

You don't believe me? Let me set you an example.

Let's say this... you walk down the hall with your girl and you know that all the nice things she says to you are nice, you are nice to her too! you tell her that she's beautiful and etc. But as soon as you hurt her, she can hurt you even more to the point where she may say "It's over" and that's when your heart breaks right?

Well, there you go, it may not be the best example but that's how it works. The women protect the hearts of men.

God is in every person. He made everyone according to his image and liking, therefore in our faith we call each others brothers and sisters in Christ, and because we know that God made woman out of man, and that they too are human, a woman is just like a man, but with different physical features.

Treat your girl like how you want to be treated. As my girlfriend does to me all the time, and says, "put youself in my position, tell me how would you feel?" what she's always emphasizing is that it can work the same both ways because we are both human, we don't act that much different from each other. If you want to have a miserable live, (God forbid) torture your girl; if you want to have a loving life and full of joy and compassion, love your girl, treat her like your queen, put yourself in terms with her and always know that a woman is just like a man, they cry, they smile, they hate, and they fight. Screw the rules and simply just treat her like how you would treat youself when you love yourself

Scary Dream

Okay, so last night I had the most weirdest dream. Also at the same time, i usually have these types of dreams. but this one was scary. Let me tell it in a story mode.


On a nice evening, I was chilling at my girlfriend's house and i usually stay there late say like...10:00pm or so. this time my parents were at a party and they couldn't pick me up. normally i would get a ride. but this time it was different. So i decided to bus home.

However during the time i spent in my girlfriend's house, we actually patched up something that was going wrong between us two, but in the end we were fine but it still was the feeling of me feeling bad cause i know it was my fault to begin with. so bussing home i was just reflecting on what i just did. Usually the drivers here in Toronto are extremely nice during the night. the streets went by slowly in my head. Kennedy, Midland, Brimley, Sandhurst Circle, then finally McCowan.

Normally i'm impatient with the McCowan bus so I always walk from McCowan and Finch all the way home. And i'm always by myself and no one else is along the sidewalk, so I always tend to sing a song, whether it be a love song, or a depressing song, or a reflective song. When I cross the street to go to the other side of McCowan to be on my side of the neighborhood i hear a really fast car passing by and all of a sudden i hear the words "FUCK YOU ASSHOLE, GET A LIFE!" then as soon as i turned around, i see many men in a dark coloured van, the side doors open, the windows open and a sunroof open; and through every opening of the car, there were men sticking their bodies out and then...they all pulled out their guns, I saw it and started to run. But by the time i turned around, i found myself on the ground and the car driving away.

I struggle to pull out my cellphone from my pocket and deep breathing at the same time. and as soon as i pull out my cellphone, i dial...9-1-1. *RING RING* "9-1-1 emergency, what's your name and your location?" I respond while deep breathing every third word. "I'm Sheen and I've been shot, please send me ambulances, I'm located at the South East corner of McCowan and South Side Sandhurst Circle." the lady on the other line goes, "alright we'll send out ambulances as fast as possible, just hang on." *CLICK BEEP BEEP BEEP* i put my phone above my head on the ground and a start to breathe harder, and on my second breath, i cough. and i all i feel was my warm blood along my face, i lift my head from the cemented ground and try to wipe my face. As I do start to wipe my face, i cough more and more, and for each cough, more and more blood started to come out. I started to feel weak and out of energy, I lay my head back down onto the cemented ground, slowly and cautiously, and as I do, my eyes started to close and I felt a small fading of my sense of touch and as that happens, I hear the sounds of sirens coming closer and closer, but it sounds so slow to me and gradually starts to fade into nothing.

I wake up to hearing two people talking, I find that there is a small light coming from above me and my eyes start to wander and look around. I find myself inside the ambulance and the two people notice me looking around and wanted to know my last name. I whispered, "Pardinas" and they responded, "well Mr.Pardinas, how old are you?" i mouthed the words "seventeen" and they spoke it back to me, "Seventeen years of age, you're pretty young. Would you like us to call your parents to tell you where you're going?" I quickly responded, "no, please don't I can handle this on my own."

My cellphone starts to ring, i first look at the time, it's 11:30pm...it's my parents, "Hello Sheen, where are you?" i spoke in the most normal voice as possible and lied, "I'm in a van with 4 other people, we're just going to the hospital in a bit, i'll call you when i'm nearly home" my dad asks, "who's with you?" I lied some more, "people you don't know, they're from my school," then i start to make up names, "John, James, Mary and Angel," my dad responds, "okay, call me okay?" i reply, "yeah, i will." then i hang up the phone. Not even a couple of seconds went by and then my cellphone rings again, i pick it up, "Hello?" the perons on the other line goes, "Hi!" it's my girlfriend, i pretend to be happy and talk to her, "Hey babe, how are you?" she replies, "I'm good, nothing really, you?" I also lie to her, "yaeh i'm in the car with my dad, we're just going to the hospital for a while for someone who got shot and is just there for a while, listen...i'll call you later cause you know, no cellphones allowed," she happily said, "Okay! Bye!" then she hangs up.

minutes pass by and I find myself on my stomach and i feel pain for a quick second and then goes away. i ask "what just happend?" the person replied, "don't worry, we just injected you so that your body can be numb, we need to take out the bullets from your back." Slowly, i hear the bullets hitting the metal plate *CLING* one...*CLING* two... *CLING* three...

The total number of bullets on my back were about nine. then i see that i'm in the hospital and my T.V. was on...i'm on the news.

"Local teenage boy, 17 shot several times on the back from a drive-by incident, police are looking for suspects as to who may have caused this. According to medics in the ambulance with this young man, they state that he lied to his parents and girlfriend that he isn't hurt and that he's safe. Medics say that they do not want to reveal his name."

then i woke up.



The End