Conversation with an Old Mate

So, have you settled down?

He said it, as nonchalantly as he could, as if afraid a nerve would be touched to send tremors breaking a feeble heart.

The old mate, he caught me by surprise, really. After his marriage, he had moved away from his parents' house, which is in the same area of my parents', and is now the proud father of a one and a half years old baby boy. Such happiness, I saw, lighting up his eyes. The last time I saw them in expectancy was when her partner was heavily pregnant, and we were serving our in-camp training.

Maybe it was in consolation, I don't know, but he claimed to envy my freedom which my bachelorhood bestows. I beg to differ, half in jest, offering that there are always two sides to a coin.

So, have you all but given up?

What? Giving up? Me? No way, man. There is always hope...

But, are you still active in finding a soul mate?

Well, not exactly. Frankly, I was never proactive with matters of the heart; just letting nature takes its course...

But, don't your parents nag? Or have they already given up?

No. I prefer the word "accept"(This cracked me up; my standup's moment).

My long lost mate, he expressed his surprise, and maybe as some kind of encouragement, that his elder sister, at the grand old age of 36, is tying the knot. I don't know what to think of it, such is the distance of marriage from my thoughts.

I bid my welfare as his stop approached, but not before he flashed me a photo of his precious from his handphone. Huge, raisin-like eyes shone under tousled black hair; the sweet kid had his father's dimples.

I shouted "All the best to you, and to your kid too!", as he disappeared down the steps in a hurried stride, hand up in recognition of my blessings, his boy undoubtedly flitting in his mind.