Reminiscing...

In the silence of contemplation, what runs through your mind? Right now, at this very moment in space and time?
Memories engraved with friends? Echoes of laughter that reverberated through childhood? Songs that were sung and played in the hours before school?

***

My childhood was spent in the upper floor of the place I call home, where hours stretched long and arduous, a never ending continuity. Those were the afternoons filled with reading Enid Blyton and Francine Pascal, nights spent with siblings in tidying the 3 bedrooms upstairs, though more often than not, I ended up being the observer. Those were the times where my sister, brother and I explored worlds unknown in the relative safety of the master bedroom, where anything and everything was possible, where pirates sailed courageously one day and space was explored the next. We fed our imaginations with tales woven with childish curiousity. Back then, it seemed that time inched forward, seemingly at a snail's pace.

And then, we grew up.

I suppose one could say we outgrew the naivete we possessed as children. We had busier schedules with exams to study for. Computer games overtook the games of make-believe that entertained us. Time started to fly. No longer were we insulated as we were as children. We were expected to be aware of what was happening in the world, to be cognizant of our surroundings. And realism overtook imagination. It stood me in good stead, I suppose, but sometimes, I wish that time would be remiss in its duty and I can return to fully enjoy the times when days were endless and full of possibilities untold.