︎Alvin and The Chipmunks

11

Elara's POV

The scene won't stop playing in my head, I wanna be happy at the same time kasi wala na yung reason bakit ako nagka gan'to. Laying on my bed exhausted, alala ko pa yung mga sinabi nung lalaking yon sakin.

Na sana mapatawad ko siya sa lahat ng nagawa niya sakin dati. Then yun na, wala na siya. Habang palalim nang palalim ang iniisip ko, the thought of my job suddenly pops up.

Gagawa na lang ako ng excuse para maka leave ulit ako ng isa pang linggo. Andami nang nangyari sakin, hinde ko man lang naisip na ayusin muna yung buhay ko bago ako lumabas ng bahay.

Tumayo ako bigla sa kama ko, naalala ko di pa ko nakakapalit ng damit. May dugo pa din ako, kasi nung namatay yung taong yon, tumalsik yung dugo niya sakin.

Jusko nandidiri ako.

Nagmadali akong pumasok sa banyo at naligo agad para matanggal na din yung bakas ng mga dugo niya sakin. Ramdam ko ang hapdi ng balat ko dahil nasobrahan sa kakukuskos.

Isip isip ko bakit kailangan ako yung nandon nung namatay siya. Sana pinauwi niya muna ako bago siya pumanaw, does he really want me to suffer that much?

Keyara's POV

I was scrolling on my Facebook feed when I ran across Callisto Astrophel's post saying that his dad passed away recently. My jaw dropped for a moment and calls Elara as fast as I can.

Her phone is just ringing and not answering any of my calls. I'm starting to worry cause I know she was there kanina sa bahay nila.

Hindi ko tinigilan hanggang sa sumagot siya sa tawag ko.

"Hm. What?" She asked sounding a bit tired.

"How did it go? I heard your father died"

"I told you he's not my father"

"Never mind, okay ka lang ba? How are you fee-"

"He died while I was there"

I can't say a thing knowing na it's another trauna for her. Namatay si Polaris habang natutulog silang dalawa and after that hinde nakatulog ng mga ilang araw si Elara.

"Hey are you still there, inaantok na 'ko"

"Matulog ka na, good night"

"Hm. Good night" then I hung up.

Elara's POV

As I open my eyes seeing the sunlight hitting half of my face, I felt the emptiness in me.

Pag tingin ko sa tabi ko, doon nakahiga si Polaris. I can't feel her breathing, kahit man lang yung init ng katawan niya wala na din.

"Aris..Mahal gising na ano ka ba"

Silence.

"Hoy, ano ba"

Nothing.

"Aris!"

Tangina.

That's when I realized it. She's gone. I keep on asking myself, bakit gan'to? Bakit kailangan mangyari sa'kin 'to?

Natulog kaming sabay, bakit ako lang yung nagising? Bakit pag gising ko wala ka na? Bakit nagising pa 'ko?

Hinde ko alam ang gagawin, hinde ko matanggap. I was crying mess on the bed hugging her, trying to give her warmth and air kung sakaling marevive ko pa siya.

Pero it's just a waste of time.

Letting out my loudest scream of grief, I held her closer to me. I was crying mess having bloodshotted eyes.

The thought of calling tita didn't enter my mind.

This is just a dream, please be a dream.

Pero pag bukas ko ng mga mata, hinde na panaginip. "God! Please!" Sigaw ko habang walang sawa ang pagtulo ng luha sa mata ko.

"Aris baby wake up please, I need you- I still need you please wake up"

I cup both of her cheeks seeing her pale skin, wala na siyang kulay. That's when all of the curse words starts to leave my mouth, hinde ko matanggap.

Sadness and anger filled my body. I keep on asking na sa lahat ng taong pwedeng kunin bakit si Aris pa at hinde na lang ako?

Bakit ko naisipang gawin yon knowing na it will lead us to-

Bigla akong nagising sa alarm ko and I immediately woke up. Bakit ganon yung panaginip ko? Why did that memory came back again?

As I shrug off the thoughts about my dream last night, nagmadali akong maligo.

Once the cold water hits my skin an adrenaline shot also hits me as all the energy came back. Scrubbing the loofah to my body along with the soap, the bubbles went trickling down my legs to the drainage.

I again turn the water on after finishing cleaning myself to rinse it off. I felt the coldness once again, that coldness made me feel peace and numbness to all the things that just happened to me.

Pag tapos kong maligo, lumabas ako ng banyo para ayusan yung sarili ko. Ramdam ko yung init ng panahon, kasabay nito ang aking mainit na dugong dumadaloy sa aking mga ugat.

Sabay kong naramdanan ang init at lamig nung namatay si Polaris. Malamig dahil wala na siya, hinde ko na ramdam yung presensya niya. Malamig naman dahil sa galit na aking nararamdaman, na bakit kinuha siya agad sakin.

Polaris has lung cancer all along, and I was there the whole time.