All that Matters: An Adaptation of “All the Time”

All the Time, an episode from the TV series entitled “Twilight Zone,” showed to us how the protagonist ended up having, as people would normally phrase it, all the time in the world. The episode showed to us the reader’s love for reading yet, was deprived of it. To some extent, I think that reading was some kind of luxury during that time. One day, some kind of earthquake happened where he was the only person to survive. Everyone disappeared and all the buildings were turned into ruins and debris. He was about to give up his own life when he accidentally saw all the books he can freely access from the demolished public library. He was so gleeful but, was taken from such an opportunity as his glasses got shattered into pieces, just right after making plans of spending all of his days and all of his time reading books.

If I were to make an adaptation of the story, I would like to make something that shows how technology has affected the society. For my own version of All the Time, I would give my story the title “All that Matters.” As I’ve seen in today’s generation, technological advances such as gadgets are things people greatly depend on. Computers, smartphones, tablets, are just few of these gadgets. In line with this, the story would be about a 12-year old kid.

Being given the luxury of having all the gadgets a kid would wish for—computer, laptop, tablet, television, game consoles—playing outdoors was something he hasn’t experienced growing up. He spends his days in front of the computer playing games or fiddling through his tablet which is why playing outdoors with actual kids from the neighbourhood hasn’t crossed his mind. Whenever his parents would remind him of the hazards of spending too much time in front of the computer and having such a sedentary lifestyle, he would take their reminder negatively, wishing for them to just be gone. One day, he woke up realizing that his wish came true: he was left alone in the world, alone with all his gadgets. He had already planned what he will be doing all day, for the rest of the year, for the rest of his life. He got excited that he started playing right away—all day, all night—until he felt too tired with playing. He got all sick and tired, making him realize that what his parents told him was true. He realized that having all the gadgets in the world made him lose sight of things that actually matters. He realized that he was too caught up in the virtual world that he wasn’t able to experience actually living.

Erika Joyce de Luna

2010 – 06190