Little Big Shot

by Neil Almazan

He woke up one gray day and I wished that he had not wake up at all. Tears fell down from his eyes and a certain pain hovered in his chest squeezing the life out of him. A pain that seemed impossible to pronounce; an ache that he cannot even try to conceal was slowly killing his in depth personality. All he wanted was to fade, to make every bit of emotion go away. Jack, 24 years old, wearing a blue-tattered jeans and approximately 4 feet 9 inches tall was sitting beside the art gallery of Bay of Naples near at Lipa Cathedral. The guy looks like more than in pained. Maybe, he was suffering from depression and trying to hide his emotional suffering from plugging his earphones while listening to melancholy song which makes him sad and cry a lot. Time flies so fast and he was unconscious on how his watch ticks every minute until it reaches six in the afternoon. Luckily,  Jack witnessed to gaze the beautiful scenery he always waited and wanted to. He was fascinated by the aesthetic view of sunset because it always reminds him that endings can be beautiful too. It is a sign of every opportunity to reset and bring the promise of a new dawn. He got his DSLR camera and started capturing some superb shots of sunset. He took many images as he can until he was satisfied by the last shot. Curve within his lips was ever painted as if he was the happiest man on Earth. What a two-faced man, because of pretending everything was fairly good and nothing is wrong. He smiled, laughed, joked around, waked and enjoyed like a normal teenager and it was amazing how people do not see it through his eyes. All he desired was to get lost into an abyss of loneliness. CLING! CLANG! CLING! CLANG! The bell rang loudly and spontaneously giving people a sign that the mass will start. It was the last mass either but Jack remained sitting and try to figure things out. He heard the voice of the archbishop uttering his inspirational catch phrase. He looked at the sky and sighed with relief when he saw that the sun was already below the horizon. He was drained himself even though for him pretending is as natural as breathing. Indeed, he is not a hunkydory, in fact, he was tired by his hackneyed life. Probably, the last mass was finished because people exited to church. Couples, friends, relatives, sisters, and brothers even beggars and people with disabilities were enjoying their companies. Jack stood and realized to go home after a long day of contemplating. Upon standing, a boy grasped his hand making him more annoyed and irritated. He continue walking and did not make any notice or remark about the boy. When he arrived home, Jack found out that his camera was missing. He suspected the boy was the one who stole his stuff and promised to hunt him as soon as possible. Jack cannot afford to lose his camera because for him, it is his chamber and medium to understand silence and art of expressing ingenuity metaphorically. Now, that his camera was lost, he felt incomplete again. He changed his clothes into a regular apparel and headed himself at the kitchen to cook some food.

The next day, a ray of sunlight was emanated from the sky transparently radiate to the window pane and it seemed to be a good omen. He relaxed himself and be ready for a new sort of travel. He got his sketch pad, a box of drawing pencils, paint and a canvas as a replacement of his misplaced camera. He was fully packed up until he reached the cathedral. Different noise of vehicles and crowd was echoed in his ears seemingly defeaned the whole. He watched how pollution ruins the air and surrounding as well as how poverty affects human life. How impecunious beggars and vendors in a sidewalk ventured for penny for their everyday living. And Jack thought it was imperative to be the subject of his painting. So, he started to move his hand firmly regardless on how ablaze the sun was. He already perspired when he finished the painting. It was gloomy and the only thing that stand out was the unified architectural form and structure of cathedral. Jack was even perplexed why did he came up with this kind of theme. He eye beamed again and noticed someone in the painting. It was a boy who is sitting in the wheelchair and seem to be sick. His head was huge. It looked so familiar and thought it was like a dejavu but Jack cannot recall when and where it happened. Jack gazed at the vacate area and saw the boy holding his camera. The boy smiled widely holding the camera back to jack. He cannot even uttered a word because everything happened was surreal. He introduced himself and he knew that the name of the boy was Harry and a hydrocephalic one. He interviewed him and asked how he continued life and earned a living to the fact that Harry is alone. He admire Harry so much. Soon, they became a real friends. It was the first time that jack socialized because he isolated himself because of an accident three years ago. He felt comfort and care knowing he had a confidant. He also helped the boy by giving money and residing to his fortress.

One night, Jack browsed his camera and found out different images related to his paintings. He looked beside his bed and saw Harry sleeping deeply and soundly. But one thing caught his attention- it was a small book and it seemed really crucial to Harry. He flipped each page and a diary of a normal boy squeezed in his mind. Invading Harry’s privacy he was constrained to read it and his heart melted for the second time around.

Dear Diary,

December 2005, 9:00 a.m.

Two months had passed, it was mid-December and I can even remember vividly how ruthless and lunatic our government was. They did not helped my parents. I want justice. I am shouting for my rights. Just because we are poor, it does not mean we will not exercise everything. Law is too harsh.

Harry  

Queries started to shape. All things were blurred about Harry’s parents and he wanted was to clear and he wanted was to clear and help him out. But how?  The next morning, he cannot saw Harry lying on bed. He was shocked and ran fast as he can at the cathedral. He saw Harry inside the church begging for alms. Tears fell down in his cheeks seeing Harry’s condition being ignored and how he is fighting life’s dilemma. He took Harry a picture. Harry saw Jack and he was happy heading to him. And just like that, they were both pretentious. Hiding emotions even they were pre-occupied by problems.

Meanwhile, Harry passed away at exactly 7:14 pm. He was hit by a truck and declared dead upon reaching the hospital. Jack was in grief and silently cried and reminisced their memorable moments. He also compiled some picturesof Harry as his tribute. He even sell his paintings and miraculously, he raised more money for his different portrays. Years had passed, Jack had given a chance to cast his photograph and his paintings as well. He gained followers for his neutral and catchy works. After that, he became famous. And believe it or not, his first accomplishment happened when he captured a photographs compilation of a boy with hydrocephalus who wants justice and fighting against poverty. This work was ground-breaking and won several major prizes in SB Award. It became an Asian nominee for Oscar Best Story Photograph and Screen Play. Afterwards, it became a movie and was entitled “Apocalypse of a Distant Noise”, a true to life story of a failure man and a sick boy who strived for greatness and kindness.

Before the movie was produced, Jack went to Harry’s tomb holding his diary. He announced to him happily about the justice he yelled for years ago. He also helped some charity and people with hydrocephalus. Jack chooses to be the star of the world’s stupid freak show. No more hatred, loneliness, fear and doubt. He gave himself a little pep talk: “it is just another blessed day Jack, live with it. People are entitled to fall apart and even the best fall sometimes”.