ADK V: Dark Kismet (✔️)

Chapter 5: The Never After

A/N: Sa Monday na ang next UD. Maiksi lang. Pinilit kong mag-Ud talaga kahit super busy. Kalahati muna sapagkat wala akong kakayahang magtype ng matagal. Oo nga pala. Baka sunod-sunod na ang UD ko sa “The Lost Chapters of Atlantis”. Mayroon na akong plot hanggang Epilogue. Balak kong tapusin ‘yon before November. Five chapters lang naman ang kulang. Thank you din sa pagbabasa dun. Balak ko kasi ‘yon isabak for Novel Writing Contest or ipasa ang manuscript for publishing. (Tinopak na yata ako. Basta libre. Hahaha. LOL)

--Kyrian18

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Chapter 5: The Never After

‘Sino nga ba ako?’

Halos paulit-ulit ng pumapasok ang katanungan na ‘yan sa utak ni Diara. Pagkatapos nang binago ang kanyang sariling identity, hindi na niya alam kung sino pa nga ba siya. Life wasn’t supposed to be this difficult, pero kahit anong pilit niyang maging simple ay hindi naman niya nagagawa.

Feeling unnoticed, dahan-dahan sana siyang pupuslit sa klase dahil naboboring siya sa turo ng kanilang professor. Hindi naman sa wala siyang kwentang estudyante pero ang topic nila ay patungkol sa fables at fairytales na siyang ikinawalang gana niya.

Every woman wanted to be like a princess, loved by a handsome prince, and lived happily ever after. Well, that world didn’t exist. Isa lamang ‘yon kathang isip para sabihing perpekto ang isang mundo kahit alam naman nila na hindi. There was no such thing as happy ending.  There was no such perfect ever existed. Kahit nga ang mga diyos ay may kanya-kanyang kamalian at mga iba’t ibang klase ng imperfections sa katauhan. They were just too good to hide the truth, to avoid the truth, and to escape the truth. Such fake creatures who didn’t deserve heaven.

“Ikaw, Miss Vena.” Napanguso siyang bigla nang tinawag siya ng kanilang professor bago pa man siya makatayo sa kanyang kinauupuan, “If you have the chance to change the story of a famous fairytale, The Snow White, what will the story might be?”

Nakanguso pa din si Diara habang naleleche sa kanyang professor. Sa kadami-daming pwedeng itanong na fairytale, bakit ‘yan pa?

Parang bumabalik ang kanyang nakaraan habang umiiyak siya sa kalagitnaan ng Forbidden Forest. She was all alone, really scared, and there was no one out there who could even hear her voice.

“Snow White never live a happy ending—“ dire-diretso niyang sabi habang nakatitig lang sa blankong whiteboard, “Kagaya ng sa fairytale, she was the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom. Lips as red as the blood, skin as white as the snow, every single soul envied her beauty, not only her dear stepmother.” Natigilan siya sa kanyang mga kwento habang hindi pinipilit na makahinga sa mga salita na kailanman ay hindi lang magiging isang kathang-isip lang. It was her own story. “Then one silent night, her stepmom couldn’t bear her depression. Kaya nagmakamatay siya nang malamang hindi na siya ang pinakamagandang babae sa balat ng lupa. So her own father went mad and decided to kill her own daughter for the sake of his queen’s life. Later that day, she discovered that she wasn’t her biological daughter.”

Huminto sa pagbibigkas ng salita si Diara. Parang kailan lang ang lahat kahit na dalawang taon na din pala ang nagdaan. She was lost and betrayed. Sariling ama ang nagpapatay sa kanya. At ‘yong twelve dwarfs sa kwento na handang tumulong sa kanya sa oras ng kagipitan, that wasn’t real either.

Dahil sa totoong buhay niya, sila ang labing-dalawang sundalong inatasang dakpin siya at patayin sa Forbidden Forest.

And that huntsman in that story?

He was the one who helped her escape then. By saving her life, he sacrificed his own. And before she ate that damn apple because she was too hungry, she saw the huntsman’s face. Forever, she would always remember.