Want of having dreams

Stepping through the front door, he puts his computer bag down and sits at the dining table. He flicks the light switch on. There's four seats at the table.

The man sits at one staring into an empty space. He closes his eyes and meditates.

In his mind, he pictures a house. It's painted sky blue, inside are shelves of books he aspires to read. There's a garage, for his two cars. A Land Rover and a Toyota sits inside.

the man smiles to himself, remembering the time he rented a sports car to race on a track. The amount of care, maintenance, and daily washing was much worse than being able to drive one. Especially now that the mechanics, car enthusiasts and drift car racers he spent time with were behind him.

He opens his eyes and his pupils start to adjust to the light in the room. Looking forward is a picture frame, a collage of family photos. To his left is a refrigerator. Recently a new piece of art sits on the front, a crayon drawing by his daughter.

After taking pause and having a moment to himself. He walks into the kitchen and starts to prepare something for his family to eat.

The tableware, cups, mugs and plates have logos and art of the company he works at. Some are souvenirs, but for the most part they're quite functional.

He gets busy cooking tonight's meal.

Some time later, the sound of a car engine could be heard outside. He can yells and shrieks of his daughter. His moment of quiet and peace, now replaced with the joys of his child and wife.

In the back of his mind a conversation with his colleague sticks with him. A thought that he didn't think too much about, but suddenly popped up.

"I like wanting things I can't have", his philosophical friends mused.

"I like being greedy, it's like having dreams. Even if I never achieve them, I like wanting something. Often times I don't know what I want, but it's nice to feel so certain sometimes", the man's coworker said to him.

At the time he was busy getting a cup of coffee before returning to work. However, he didn't mind to spend time talking to others.

The person listening was called Nieve, and Nieve then sipped a mouthful of coffee from his mug. Nieve's friend who was speaking was an engineer called Colin.

Nieve thought for a moment before asking, "What about the opposite? Having something that you'd never want."

Nieve stirred his coffee a little more. After tasting the brew, it was more bitter than usual. He went to grab another cup of creamer and pour it in.

At this point, Colin continued but he nodded his head to show that he heard what Nieve had said.

"Hmmm.... interesting", he responded.

Colin added, "I wonder when I'll stop. I wonder if I've compromised on my dreams as they've gotten... more realistic. smaller even."

Taking his cup of coffee, Nieve let Colin continue to think. He was a bit busy at chasing numbers for the company. So Nieve returned back to his desk to continue work.

By this time in his memory, the front door to his house had opened and the two people he was looking forward to had arrived.

"Daddy!", his daughter yelled in excitement as she came home. His wife walked behind her with a smile.

"How are you doing little one", Nieve said to his daughter.

Nieve gave his wife a hug and whispered to her, "How was your day?"

While Colin was busy with his own thoughts and chasing a bigger number in his bank account, Nieve was busy making his family happy. Most of the day was tiring and lonely, busy at work with stress from his boss. His project was behind and over budget.

However, the few hours he was still conscious at night and in the morning. Those hours belonged to him. Although there were some days Nieve stayed late, he tried his best to be home by 5 to accompany his wife, Phoebe and his daughter Mirvena.

Mirvena was busy dragging in her backpack and lunch box. Usually she'd first head to her room to relax. Today, the smell of food brought her back down. Phoebe talked with him for a few moments, helping him set up the table.

The sound of the refrigerator door opened as Mirvena went to reach for a carton of milk and poured it into her cup. That cup was a souvenir she when she accompanied her mom to talk your son/daughter to work day (they called it daughter's day, because the boys were too shy to go).

To be honest, Nieve didn't really have any grand dreams. Not any of the ones he had like when he first graduated from college. Nieve had a lot less back then, but even back then he was happy. Being able to have dreams to chase was fun, now he was busy working on personal achievements.

"Exercise more, go running", Nieve made a mental checklist in his mind. The dinner conversation was lively as he got to appeciate the time he spent with people he cared about.

The special thing about a family, was they were the people he'd see the most in his life. He had a job, his coworkers, but people come and go.

Sure the people he saw, he'd get to see often. However like with most things, he never truly knew how many times he'd continue to see them in the future.

Nieve had a calmness to him, the inner flames of ambition and youth buried deep inside him. One in a while, he'd get a spark in his eye and there'd be a glimpse of the person he was before.

"Hey Mirvena", Phoebe said.

"Yeah?", Mirvena asked while adjusting her chair and sitting properly.

Phoebe looked at her with a smile. Mirvena acted like she was oblivious to what her mom was trying to tell her.

Nieve interrupted, "I love you"

It was abrupt, out of context, and with seemingly no recipient in mind.

Mirvena rolled her eyes, Phoebe looked upset with him.

"Nieve, honey. Can you please choose a better time to interrupt. I know you're not good with timing, but...", Phoebe said with exasperation.

"I love you too", Phoebe responded to her husband.

seeing he made a mistake, Nieve tried to continue the conversation.

"Mirvena", he smiled a little distracted.

Mirvena noticing the shift in conversation took the first step. "I know Dad, I'll sit properly at the dinner table"

Nieve was at a loss at what to say since his daughter had already admitted her mistake. Nieve coughed, "Yeah... uh... you'll do better next time?"

Phoebe watched as her husband struggled talking to their daughter.

Finishing all the food in her bowl, Mirvena held up one finger to show that she was busy. She swallowed her food before responding.

"yeah, I'll do better Dad", Mirvena listened to her dad.

Nieve gave her a smile, "Thanks Mirvena."

His daughter stood and and placed her plates in the kitchen sink.

"I've got homework and a test to study for!", she told her parents. Her footsteps hurried upstairs as she went off into her room.

Now it was just Nieve and Phoebe.

"I'll do the dishes tonight", Nieve offered.

Phoebe gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I appreciate it."

Then Phoebe left the table to attend her art class she enrolled in at night. During the day she was busy crunching numbers for a business firm and at night she pursued her passion. Quite a few times, she included Nieve in her passions as well.

"Haah", Nieve sighed. an empty table of plates and dishes. He felt proud that they ate everything. He wasn't nearly as respectful to his chef parents when he was a kid, so he was happy to see that his family was better than him.