Blog Forty Five: Traps
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“Pero, Sir—”
“No buts, Celeste Cheng. I told you that it should be at least fifty-thousand words long!” madramang sabi ni Professor Lime. “You should know how to comply with requirements!”
“Oo nga po, Sir, pero this is creative writing,” protesta ko. “And in creativity, the only rule is that there shouls be no rule—especially technical ones. I mean, I have this calling to write exactly what my calling commands me to write, so how on earth am I supposed to stretch the literary piece into fifty-thousand words when the calling of creativity is up to twenty-thousand words?”
He glared at me. “I hate it when you’re so smart that I’m considering letting you get away with this,” he complained.
I grinned. “So…?”
“Fine! I won’t fail you this time! But you will have to do something for me,” maarteng sabi niya.
“Ano po ‘yun, Sir?”
“Remember the old library?”
I nodded, my eyes widening. “OMG, don’t tell me ipapalinis mo sa’kin ‘yung lumang library na ‘yun, Sir!”
“Idiot. Of course not. Kahit ipagawa ko sa’yo ‘yun, hindi ka matatapos sa loob ng isang araw. Pumunta ka doon at halungkatin mo ‘yung librong Paper Cranes in the Sky,” sabi niya.
“Po? Eh, Sir, sa laki ng lumang library, saan ko naman poi yon hahanapin?” reklamo ko.
“Aba, eh problema mo na ‘yun! Take it as an extra credit dahil supposedly, ibabagsak dapat kita sa activity na ito dahil hindi mo sinunod ‘yung instructions ko. Pasalamat ka na lang at I’m so great and the least you could do is find that book. Gagamitin natin ‘yan for our next project,” maarteng sabi niya while flipping his imaginary long hair.
I sighed. “Yes, Sir,” I said. “Wait, Sir, sino po ang author?”
“Alamin mo!” he called, waving away my question and leaving me inside the classroom.
I wrinkled my nose. Why on earth ba kasi doon niya pa pinapahanap ang libro na iyon sa lumang library? Wala ba ‘yun sa bago or even sa bookstores?
I immediately called Cadmus para itanong sa kanya ang tunkol sa librong Paper Cranes in the Sky.
“Cadmus,” I said noong sinagot niya after the third ring. “You know the book Paper Cranes in the Sky?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Meron ka?”
“Wala. Why?”
“Naman, Cadmus, eh! I need it right now!”
“Sa lumang library ng Belleza, meron.”
“Leche. Kaya nga tinatanong kita dahil ayokong pumunta doon eh!”
“No choice ka kasi doon lang meron niyon.”
“Bakit doon lang? Why hindi nila sinama when they moved most of the books sa bagong library?”
“Eh they want to retain the old library. Kaya most of the books na hindi academic books ay nandoon. Balita ko, they will not demolish the old library. Instead, pagagandahin nila to make it look like a Eutopia raw. And last I heard—pero ‘di ko na-confirm—nasimulan na nila the previous month. So obviously, hindi na ganoon ka-scary ang lumang library ngayon.”
Okay, so naniwala ako kay Cadmus na hindi na ganoon ka-scary ang peg ng lumang library ngayon, pero leche lang dahil hindi dapat ako naniwala! Why? Dahil pagdating ko doon, feeling ko eh hindi ako sa lumang library nagpunta kundi sa haunted house.
