Pasipol-sipol si Gerald habang nagluto ng kanilang umagahan ni Sarah. Masaya ito dahil kahit papano ay mukhang may patutunguhan ang kanyang plano. ‘This is it’ usad ng isip nito.
“Aba, masaya ata tayo ngayon.” Di nito napansing nasa may likuran na pala niya si Sarah.
“Anjan ka na pala. Ito.” Habang inaayos nito ang pagkain sa pingan ng dalaga.
“Ako na.” Saad nito at agad kinuha ang serving spoon mula kay Gerald. “So,” She startled.
“How did we meet? Pano tayo nagkakilala?” Tanong nito.
Gerald smiled. “We actually met on the bus terminal. Nabangga kita.” He saw Sarah looks at him. “Tapos ayon nagalit ka, sinabihan mo ako ng bastos. And then nung nasa Baguio na tayo, nagkita ulit tayo sa bar. Kasama mo noon si Angge. Tapos may lalaking lumapit sayo, kinukulit ka and then nagpanggap ako na boyfriend mo para lang tigilan ka na niya.”
“Wow. Night and shinning armor.” She said.
“Tapos kinausap mo na ako. Wala ako sa mood nun dahil hiniwalayan ako ng girlfriend ko. Then I excuse myself kasi naiiyak na talaga ako. Ang di ko alam sinundan mo pala ako. Nakita mo akong umiiyak tapos ayun na, dun na nagstart yung friendship natin.”
“Iyakin ka pala.” Natatawa nitong komento.
“Dun lang naman.” Palusot nito.
“Sabi nila, I fall for you?” Nakita nitong tumango si Gerald. “Nasabi ko man lang ba sayo yun na gusto kita?”
“Oo.” Huminga ito ng malalim. “Yun yung araw na naaksidente ka.”
“Nakakahiya.” She sighed.
“No, it was actually an eye opener for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sinundan kita and I saw you at still, you’re blood was everywhere. That moment, I hope it was me that was on your situation.” She saw the pain in his eyes. “That day, I start questioning myself. Tinatanong ko yung sarili ko kung sino ba talaga yung mahal ko. Kung bakit parang mas masakit na makita kang nasa ganung kalagayan kesa nung hiniwalayan ako ni Kim.” She felt his sincerity. “I thought I still love her pero hindi na pala yung love that I have for her 3 years ago. Naging bulag ako. Hindi ko nakita na ikaw pala yung totoong mahal ko. Akala ko nga wala na akong pag-asa kasi hindi mo ako maalala tapos nilalayuan mo pa ako.” He confessed.
“I’m sorry.” All she can say.
“Ang sakit pala na hindi ka pinapansin at pinapahalagahan ng taong mahal mo.” He looked at Sarah while saying those words. “Now, I know how hard it was for you na makita kami ni Kim na magkasama. Ngayon alam ko na kung gano ka nasasaktan tuwing hindi kita napapahalagahan. Kung gano kasakit para sayo na gawin yung mga bagay na ayaw mo kaso ginagawa mo pa rin para sakin.”
“We do a lot of crazy things just for love.”
“Yah, its sucks though.”
“It is.” She agreed. “But sometimes, it is just how life works.”
“If ever you’re in control of everything, would you choose to get your memory back?”He blurted out; curious on what Sarah would answer.
“Honestly, based on what you just said, parang ayoko na. I always try to win my Fathers love nung bago pa kami nagkaayos and ayoko ng pumunta sa ganong sitwasyon ulit. I had enough.” Gerald tried to plaster on a smile but deep down, nasaktan ito sa sinagot ng dalaga dahil para na rin niyang sinabi na ayaw na niya itong maalala pa.
***
"Oh, it's raining." I said this as if nothing happened earlier. Sarah calmly sited at the door, watching the rain pours.
"Yeah." She just said, not minding the guy standing beside her.
"I heard it will last until the next few days." He sits right beside her.
"Nakwento ko ba sayo na nung bata ako, takot ako sa ulan?"
"No, not that I know of."
"Everytime na uulan, gusto ko lang magkulong sa room."
"Bakit naman."
"Nung bata ako, sobrang enjoy ako sa paglalaro ng ulan. Hindi ako mapatigil ni Nanay kaya she called my Father to stop me from playing. Akala ko papagalitan nanaman niya ako. But he called me out and for the first time, he told me a story about it." She looks at Gerald. "He said, he always sees the Gray Man every time it rains."
"Who's that?" He asked, though he already know. It was the same story his mother used to tell him as he kept something from her. He must have heard the legend of the Gray Man a hundred times.
"Don't you know?" Sarah said, lowering her voice like they're sitting around a campfire. "The ghost”.
And Gerald can't resist. "Tell me the story?!"
"It's not a story." She said. "It's true, well, according to my Father. It was the only story he told me so I wanna believe it's true." She takes her time getting settled. "What happened was, once upon a time, there was this man who lived in an Island. This was back when people still rode horses instead of cars.
And he was going to see his girlfriend. He was going to ask her to marry him." Sarah smirks at this. "But his horse wasn't watching where he was going, and he stepped in quicksand, and they both got swallowed up and died."
"That must have broken his girlfriend's heart." He commented.
"It did." Sarah said. "She was crying the whole next day, walking by herself at the beach. And that's when she saw the man. Only he wasn't a normal man. He was all gray."
"Is it her boyfriend?"
Sarah nodded impatiently. "But when she reached out to touch him, her hand went right through and then he just turned into a puff of fog. That night," She said. "The girl dreamed she was in a boat in the middle of the ocean during a terrible store. It scared her so much. She made her whole family leave the island the next morning. They thought she was crazy." Sarah twirls a finger around her ear. "But then a terrible storm came and killed everybody on the island. They all drowned. The crabs and sharks ate their guts."
"Mmmm," Gerald said rubbing his stomach. "Pickled people."
It takes Sarah a moment to stop giggling and get back to her campfire voice. "Now the Gray Man walks up and down the beach whenever there's a storm. He comes to warn everybody who's smart enough to listen."
"To warn everybody?" He asked. "I always figured he was coming back to look for what he'd lost." Upon saying those words, he realized he was like the Gray Man, trying to get back what he'd lost, which is her.
Sarah faced Gerald with a questioning look. "I thought you never heard about it."
Gerald manages a smile. "You know, maybe I did hear it once." But when he looks at Sarah, all he gets is a flat stare.
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