The Rebirth

By: Camilo De Guzman

Tyler was the happiest, and luckiest guy in the world. He was 15, He had everything that he had wanted. His parents were happily married with each other, he had the best big brother and sister. They always played games together and he could always talk to the two of them with his problems. He always felt comfortable with them and could consult them with all his secrets. His family was very religious, they always went to mass every sunday, and Tyler himself was very prayerful. They were one of the closest families in the world. He was very close to all of his friends, he was the most popular person in school, every girl loved him and every guy wanted to be him. He got high grades, was a straight A student and was the Top 1 student in his batch. He played games, went out, and was the coolest and happiest kid ever.

However, one day, everything changed. Tyler had gotten so stressed out from his baseball practice that he had forgotten to study for the final exam of the semester. He was scared since he might not be able to maintain being the top 1 in his batch. During the test, he cheated and looked at the answers of his seatmate. He got caught by his teacher and they called his parents. His parents were furious and brought him home. They yelled at him and were very angry with him. After almost an hour, he was sent to his room, but his parents kept on arguing, it was so loud his brother and sister could hear it across the house. Tyler got mad and cursed against God, blaming him for making him cheat and making his parents fight. His dad got mad and left the house, screaming to Tyler's mom, "Have fun with the three, I'm leaving this stupid family and my stupid wife!" He got into the car and left.

Tyler cried the whole night, he could hear his mom crying all night too. The next days were the worst, he couldn't concentrate on any of his lessons or his tests because of his family problems. Plus he got suspended and given a zero on his test for cheating. The next weeks he became moody and mean to all his friends. Whenever people came up to him, he would insult or curse at them. His bestfriends stopped hanging out with him and everyone avoided him. He was angry at everything in the world. After a few months he got kicked out of school. He barely attended classes since he kept skipping school and didn't answer his tests. He just stayed at home, not doing anything, his mom barely noticed because she was always working, but eventually it wasnt enough. His mom couldnt provide the rent so they were kicked out of their home. They moved into a very small apartment with one room, his siblings were also forced to quit schooling due to money. After they had stopped school, his brother and sister tried to tutor him but just threw tantrums and cursed and got mad at them. They just left Tyler to himself and ignored him after this.

Months after they got evicted, he started to smoke, he found some guys on the streets and he tried to do it to. They also introduced him to alcohol, and weed. He began doing it everyday, sneaking out of the apartment to join them and drink.

Eventually Tyler got sick, he had lung cancer due to all the smoking, he was found unconscious in the apartment by his mother and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors said he was close to dying, there was very little chance of hope in him.

Tyler couldnt feel anything, he couldnt see anything, he began seeing a white light and then he saw a man. His father, whom apparently he had died in a car crash.
He walked up to him and took his hand, "What happened?" His father asked.

"Im dying, i drank, and smoked and lived a crappy life after you left us!" He said getting mad. "You left us all alone, you left me all alone. I was left with nothing." He yelled.

"Tyler," his father said comforting him, "Im sorry that i had left you and the family. But i did not cause all the things that had happened to you. I did not make you cheat, i did not make you drop out of school."

 "I know, you didnt, God did, he hates me." Tyler sobbed.

"God does not hate you, he loves you." His father said.

"Well then why did he take everything from me?! I was perfect, i had everything, then he took it all." He screamed.

"No one did anything to you, no one forced you to do this. You did this to yourself, you chose this path."

"So you're blaming me?! Im miserable and dying and you're getting mad at me for what i did? Sounds familiar." Tyler glared at his father.

"Im not blaming you, and you are not dying, God is great and he is giving you a second chance to live."

"What? I dont want to live, life sucks."

"Well then you must change it, make it better, you get a second chance. Make it count." He smiled and hugged his son.

At that moment, Tyler woke up from his sleep, he was connected to a lot of machines, and his mom and his brother and sister were around him crying. He got up and his mother looked at him.

"Im sorry, mom." He said and hugged her.