UPDATE !Actually intro lang yung nilagay ko. Ito talaga yung prologue.
So ayan, eto na, simula na... Enjoy !
PrologueEverything happens for a reason.
Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck.
Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity;
they all occur to test the limits of your soul.
Without these small tests, life would be a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere,
safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.
Finally, pinayagan na ako ng stewardess na itaas yung window cover. I have been asking her over and over if I could. Lagi niyang sinasabing ‘di pwede. Whenever I travel, I like seeing what’s outside, kahit pa clouds lang yan. Gusto ko may nakikita ako maliban sa mga tao sa loob ng eroplano. Para naman may variety diba?
Tapos bigla akong may nakitang kumislap sa malayo. Parang bituing nalaglag mula sa langit.
Shooting star.--
“Babe! Babe! Nakita mo ‘yon? Shooting star!” Natataranta na excited kong sinabi sa kanya habang nakaturo sa langit. We’re at my house’s garden, sa harap ng bahay. Humiga kami sa damuhan, like we always did, at pinanood ang mga bituin. And whenever the sun’s out, we’d still lay here and watch the clouds instead.
“Yeah!” He looked at me and took my hand. “Did you make a wish?” Umiling ako. It was gone before I made a wish.
“Ikaw, did you?”
“Yeah.” He said, with a smile. The smile that I love so much. The smile that made me fall the first time I saw him smile at me, because of me.
“Okay. But don’t tell me!”--
I closed the window. Nawalan ako ng ganang tumingin sa langit.
“Excuse me, miss?” The stewardess asked me.
“Do you want the chicken or the tuna?”“The chicken, please.” I told her. Inabot niya sa akin ‘yung isang tray nung pagkain ko. I removed the cover. It looked like roasted chicken... with tomatoes and lettuce on the side.
--
“Surprise!”
It was already eight in the evening. Nagulat ako nang bigla siyang dumating sa hospital room ko. A few days ago, I got an emergency appendectomy, at halos apat na araw na akong hindi pumapasok sa school and I haven’t seen him in days. When you’re sixteen, a week is already too long to be away from your boyfriend, especially when you’re always with each other in school.
“Akala ko di ka darating!” I told him. A few hours ago, he was telling me he can’t come visit me because he had soccer practice, and being team captain, he can’t afford to miss practice. So I gave up all hope of seeing him tonight.
“I haven’t seen you in days, babe. Of course I’ll come, no matter what!” He said, smiling so sweetly. It’s times like this I fall for him all over again. “Here, may pasalubong ako sa’yo.” He showed me the paper bag he had on his hand and showed me what’s inside. “I got you your favourite! Roasted chicken! Gawa pa ni Mama ‘yan.”
“Eh ano ‘yan?” I asked him, pointing at the tomatoes and lettuce beside the meat. He knows I hate veggies.
“Gulay po ‘yan, Miss Patient. At kailangan mo ‘yang kainin kung gusto mong gumaling agad!”
“Eh kadiri ang gulay... walang lasa.”
“Hindi pwede. Hindi ako aalis hangga’t di mo nakakain lahat ng ‘yan.”
“Then I won’t eat it,” I told him. “Para hindi ka aalis.”
“Eh Anna. Please, kahit ngayon lang... para makalabas ka na dito. At gutom na rin ako.”
Hindi pa raw kasi siya kumakain ng dinner kasi pag-uwi niya,kinuha lang niya ‘yung pagkain. Gusto daw niya sabay kaming kumain.
So we had a compromise. I’d only eat the vegetables if he’d feed them to me. So he did, and I ate every single piece, reluctantly, but still, I did. He fed me as he ate his own dinner. And he smiled, because his mission was completed. For the first time in three years of being together, he was able to make me eat vegetables.--
“Anna, anak, finish your veggies,” Papa told me when he saw my tray was almost empty, except for the vegetables.
“No, thanks, Pa. I’m full.”A few minutes later, the stewardess came back and took our food trays. Then I went to the washroom. But there was still someone in the washroom so I waited outside. Then, at the seat nearest to me, I saw a family. A mom, a dad, and a baby girl who was about one or two years old. The baby was smiling at me, so I smiled back.
“Oh, hello,” I told the baby. She pointed at me, smiling and then she mumbled words I couldn’t understand. She was so cute!
“You got a pretty girl right there,” I told the parents.
“Thank you,” the dad said. The mom smiled at me and whispered something to her daughter.
--
“I want you in my future, Anna,” he told me as he walked me home. He held my hand tightly as he said it, and he was looking straight into my eyes. “We’ll have a big house—”
“Ayoko ng malaking bahay. ‘Yung tama lang, para hindi masyadong maraming lilinisin.”
“Okay, okay, not too big, not too small. No matter how big it is, Anna, I want you there, with our four kids. And I want at least one girl.”
"Ano?”
“Because I don’t have a sister, and I always wanted to have one. Ikaw din naman siguro,” then he bent over and started talking to my stomach. “Gusto ko ng baby girl. Not now, but in the future, okay? So don’t be coming out anytime soon.” Then he put his ear to it. Natawa naman ako. “Okay daw sabi nila.” He said as he stood up straight again.
“Nila?”
“Ng future kids natin. Sino pa ba? Naririnig ko na pinag-uusapan nila kung sino mauuna.”
I laughed. Sometimes he’s just so adorably dorky. “I love you, Niko Aragon.” I told him.
“I love you too, Anna Elizalde.”
Then he kissed me. At the very moment, I felt like the happiest person in the world.
--
After I did my thing in the bathroom, I went back to my seat and rested a while. The captain announced that we’re four hours away from our destination. I decided to sleep for the next few hours, just so I won’t see or hear anything more that might remind me of him. I found it so unfair. I had been doing well... until my parents decided to fly back to the Philippines.
And before I knew it, my mom was waking me up.
“Honey, we’re here.”“Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived to our destination, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila,” the head stewardess said as she spoke.
“For those of you visiting, mabuhay! We hope you enjoy your stay. For those of you returning to the Philippines, welcome home.” Welcome home, Anna.
Poll
