How I Learned To Play The Guitar

It was one dark evening and i was looking at the stars up in the sky.
They were very bright and colorful.
I was sitting in our old hammock at the porch and I can feel the cool breeze in the air.
As i was looking to other stars at a distance, i caught sight of a weird thing that was blinking and it was very close.
"Oh! It's firefly!"
But suddenly, without loosing my focus on the beautiful scene up above, i saw a falling star.
We used to say our wishes when we happen to see a falling star.
I immediately closed my eyes and clasped my hands and wished that I would be given the skills to play a guitar.
I happened to have a big crush on this girl and wanted to impress her ever since.
And when I opened my eyes, i saw the blinking bug transformed into a very beautiful fairy right in front of me.
She said "My dear Ivan, since you are a good boy, I hereby grant your wish..."
and lo and behold, after that moment, I started playing the guitar like a pro...

What a nice story, right? I was often asked how I learned to play the guitar and I think of that magical story every time. I just like to think about it that way. Some would buy it especially kids in our neighborhood. But, most of the time... well, you know...

The real story was...

It was still one of those dark evenings.
Back in our small town, we usually experience power outages in the evening for about one to two hours.
That is why it was indeed dark. It would usually occur two to three times in a week.
Most of the households used pressurized paraffin lamps or what is commonly known as kerosene lamps to provide lighting.
As there are only few sources of light, bugs would usually flock unto it.
There were a lot of fireflies in our area way back then and I was very amazed on why they were blinking.
I really can't remember what date is was. All i know is that I was 6 years old that time.
I was sitting in a small chair in our porch right beside my dad who is lying down in the hammock playing with his guitar.
I was the youngest in the family and I was often called "daddy's boy"
Out of curiosity, I would ask a lot of questions about what he was doing.
And while he was playing some of his pieces, i would strum the strings with my little fingers and make a different rhythm.
Or sometimes, i would turn the tuning keys and the guitar would go out of tune.
I would even break the skinniest string sometimes.
I remembered one time i got hit when the string was broken and it flew very close to my left eye.
Yes, I was a great disturbance to my father but he never made me feel that way.
Instead, he would pick me up and allow me to play with his guitar.

One night, he asked me a question. "Van, do you want learn how to play the guitar?"
Without any delay, I nodded my innocent head and said "YES" with a smile on my face.
I thought it was another play time with my dad.
He immediately placed the guitar on my lap and held my cute little fingers.
We picked the open strings together and played the melody of a local nursery rhyme entitled "Manoy Manoy".
After playing few lines of the song, he clapped and praised me for the beautiful performance.
I really didn't know if it was good or he was just trying to make me feel good. I guess, it was the latter.
But that was the starting point. I became interested with the guitar right after that.
And he always gave me time to play the same melody over and over again until i was able memorize it and do it on my own.
Just a year after, I was able to play my very first piece with real chords.
And the rest was written in history...