so yeaa, last night i had like an amazingly productive (in some sense) lesson...it was one of those more relaxed and enjoyable lessons where my tutor and i pretty much spent the whole lesson chatting =D but of course it was relevant and in many ways inspirational too. it all began with the retelling of my short story editing the previous week...i (as always) was stuck for the most random word which appear to be easy to describe but not that easy to find that one word that fits in...anyways, I was trumped and so we decided to shove a random word which didnt exactly work and apparently at 1030, when she was 'dosing off' and the tv was still on, she heard the actor (some guy i dont know) and yeaa she apparently sprung up out of bed and called me which shocked her husband too...
but anyway, that wasnt the point of yesterday's lesson...what I actually did was present her with a stack of texts for human condition and yes we spent half the lesson kinda discussing the texts though our conversation strayed as always...eventually the choice was made and we moved onto the text of choice...spending the rest of the lesson on her iPad being rather unproductive...until she came across some random article on the Death aspect of Human Condition from a medical point of view...that was when i got some flashback from Swot Shop (yes that hole) and remembered a perfect story (though kinda simplistic but powerful)...which i cbb to describe so i will end it off and leave you to read it for yourselves =)
"The Window" (Author unknown)
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.
Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.
The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.
It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
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