The Yellow Brick Road

A Story by Jofer Serapio

The Yellow Brick Road[†]

Some people choose being good out of contentment. Others prefer evil because of ambition. I am not like any of those people. I am one of a kind and I choose to stay neutral.

Don’t get me wrong. Helping an old lady cross the street is a noble thing for me to do each chance I get but handing out free money to bums on the street? That’s a big no-no, soldier. Let me see, I’m supposed to give you money just because you sit on your a*s on alleyways each day? Then how’ll you learn to move on your own? See? I do everything rationally. I’m not being cheap since I spend a lot more on other people than myself. It’s just a matter of understanding a single situation. Pragmatism: something not any one can choose to understand.

Looking up at the bright night sky on my way home the other day, I couldn’t help but think about the possibilities out there. There are so many ideas in this brain of mine that ought to be shared to the world. And yet it also dawned on me that not one of them will ever be learned. A Third World country bound by the ideals of superiority in terms of names and connotations was the only hindrance to my growth. And so I thought I was doomed forever, my art dirt to the unwary many.

It took me about several seconds to understand something more worthy of being understood. I wasn’t the one doomed. I understand my present predicament, I understand what I want, and I understand what I must do for proliferation. The ones doomed are those who do not understand what they are and what their purposes are. Those souls that are lead astray by materialistic wants and greed are those that will be doomed forever.

Just because you know someone doesn’t mean you have the right to harass him or her. Whatever happened to equality? Each day, more and more people seem to be critical of those that stay at home. They deem those that travel somewhere else, far from where they are, more intelligent and noble than them. Newsflash T@Z-maniacs, that’s being stupid. Birds fly around the world, spreading avian flu and AIDS, but they’re not as smart as we humans, ne? So why do you think those other people are smarter than you and by what standards? We are all unique. You are you. So how can you judge anything without any ethical standards?

In the States, people are happier when they stay at home, live their lives closer to home, and die at home. I know, I know, we are not in the States. We are in a Third World country which means we are less than the States. But are we really? By what moral standards? Because of physical attributes? That makes me LOL right there. The average U.S. citizen is contended with just delivering pizzas as a job as long as it’s stable. Here in the Philippines, we go abroad. Technically, they are greater than us but we are the ones with the most ambitions. The grass is greener eh?

Before all this was formed, before “modern society” was, men were hailed as heroes in terms of the arts and sciences. They were deemed champions because they knew who they were and what they wanted. They did everything to reach their dreams, bled as much as died once or twice for their arts. They were immortalized for it, not by their peers but by the future denizens of this green Earth. Plato, Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, Elvis Presley, and a whole lot more. When they were but trying to survive with their identities they were unnamed soldiers fighting for acceptance. Nobody knew about them or cared for them. But when they finally reached the top they deserved, everyone paid homage to these great men and women.

It’s not about how famous you are, how many people you know, where you came from, or how many medals you got in school. It’s about passion, determination, and going long for that extra mile. It’s not about any material or earthly testimonial. It’s about how you overcome the obstacles. It’s about fighting for a dream. It’s about knowing when to quit and when to stop believing in a lie. A brave warrior knows the difference between dying for honor and dying for piece of praise. Pride is a meal ticket, dreams are your future. Besides, medals are a pound a piece in the underground markets.