Never Too Old

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? This summer, I learned to paint. Microsoft Paint, that is. It started out when my little cousin Grace began doodling on my laptop. I sat beside her and watched concernedly if she might be doing anything destructive. But to my surprise, she knew exactly what to do.

"What's that you're drawing, baby Grace?"

"Si Kuya Glenn 'to."

This is what she drew:

I got curious on what she was drawing, and how she was doing it. As I watched her draw, I was also getting familiar with Microsoft Paint. I watched every stroke of the key and every click of the mouse. So, when she was done, I tried a little drawing myself. Voila, my first masterpiece.

After mastering Microsoft Paint, I needed a bigger challenge. I sifted through my cousins' treasured kiddie magazines and found an artwork that matched my level of virtuosity. Behold, my magnum opus.

Naturally, I bragged to my little cousin what I did, but she was left unimpressed. She immediately saw that I wasn't able to make an exact replica of dear old Spongebob. She pointed out to me that Spongebob's body should have curves instead of straight lines. She noticed the necktie was askew. And his face was too small. Leaving her sight with a wounded ego, I vowed to blow her mind away when I show her my MAGNUM magnum opus. I rummaged through the pages of her magazines again, and when I saw what I thought would impress her, I slaved on it the whole night. I perfected my craft, and this is the result.

Well, we all know what happened next. Did I blow her mind? Of course I did! Did she shower me with praises and concede to my innate virtuosity and genius? Not in this lifetime. Instead, she made me draw something of her own choosing just so I can prove that I was the one who did the drawing. And to make sure of this, she sat beside me and watched me draw. There was no fooling this little missy, you can bet on that.

And so, after wasting a whole afternoon on the laptop while being guarded by little miss terror, i drew this:

Finally, I made her believe. But still, those praises that I was waiting for will have to come another time. Maybe in a year or so.

I'm betting on never.