LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

The 65 year old Mr.Lee,who was as fit as one can be at his age, more often than not found himself idle. He firmly believed in the notion that 'an idle mind is a devil's workshop', and inevitably he was upset with the lack of tasks at hand, evidently retirement didn't suit him well. It was just a few months back that he decided to hang his boots as an accountant in a small company, but for him it was an eternity.

He trudged to the living room, with less enthusiasm than he usually portrayed. When the portrait next to him caught the old man's attention, he smiled. The picture depicted the glory days  of his youth, he was 16 when the picture was taken. 

Mr.Lee vividly recalled that day, he went to the amusement park with his mom and dad. It was probably the last time that they had gone out together for recreation, he could have sworn it was the most fun he  ever had, laughing, enjoying and having a gala time with his parents. 

Mr.Lee's eyes got teary, as he really did miss his mom's constant nagging about doing the homework and dad's long speeches about righteousness, all of it was annoying at the time but when they left him all alone in this cruel world it was nothing short of heart breaking. He brushed off a tear as he moved towards his bedroom.

When he noticed a card hanging out of the drawer, he pulled it out and as soon as he read the card, he burst out into laughter. The card was a love letter to his beloved wife when they were young, it was during valentine's day that he gathered the courage to convey his feeling for her. He remembered that day his legs were shaking vehemently when the would be Mrs. Lee came in front of her, she chuckled when she witnessed him tremble like a malfunctioning scooter, and when he finally presented the card to her, she blushed and flustered, her face was almost as red as a tomato.

His heart skipped a beat when the moment of truth was finally about to arrive, and when her reply to him was a 'yes' accompanied by a hug, he was overwhelmed with joy. It was quite unfortunate that she passed away during child birth, giving birth to their only son, who went on to become a very successful lawyer. Mr.Lee sighed, as he sat down on the bed.

He also remembered the day of his retirement, after finishing off his work he was about to leave the office, but a staff member told him to stay back and wait, he said he had to show him something. A few minutes later, he brought back a cake, and  from what it seemed the entire office crew with him. Mr.Lee was surprised as all of them sang a farewell song for him, to complete 35 years of service, they fed him the cake and shook his hands, congratulating him. That day Mr.Lee simply couldn't stop the flow of tears gushing down from his eyes, it had been a long time since he felt such happiness.

Mr.Lee got up from the bed and went to the veranda, he looked at the sky and grinned. He decided that he had endured enough idleness and took a pen and a notebook, and started writing the story of life.