Softly, you whisper

Fifteen

But why though?

She knows that she can rely on me. Tuwing nalulungkot siya, tinatawagan niya ako. She would ask to meet me somewhere and I'll drive her around the city, finding a nice and quiet place to go.

My eyes lifted as I heard her mother's cry. We were already at the last and empty room inside our house. I saw her on the floor, crying. As if she had lost hope, she started kneeling on the floor. I watched as the scene unfold in front of me. My mom consoled her, trying to calm her down.

I was watching with a heavy heart. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang mararamdaman ngayon. Just the thought of Nori missing...I couldn't handle it. I needed to do something. I have to do something.

"How did you know me? Paano niyo nalamang posibleng pumunta rito si Nori?" I asked Nori's mom when I escorted her outside our home.

"I always keep an eye on Norine. I know where she's been everyday. She's working, right? Kilala ko ang mga nakakasalamuha ng anak ko and I tried to make sure that she's safe even when she defies me most of the time."

"If you always keep an eye on her..then where is she now? Hindi ba't dapat alam niyo rin?"

Her mom stared back at me. Her bloodshot eyes welcome me with anger.

"I trust you."

I was taken aback.

"You're my daughter's most trusted person right now. She was with you most of the time and I knew all of that. May tiwala ako sa'yo kaya hinahayaan ko lang ang anak ko. I knew I could trust you because my daughter trusts you."

"I took her home safe last night..." was all I could utter.

Tumango siya sa akin. "Nori may have said a few words about me. I have been cruel and unfair to her but I love Norine so much. I am doing all these things for her because I didn't want her to live a life like I had."

"Nori's not gone. She's gonna come back." I tried to convince her.

My heart felt heavy but it was empty. I only had my thoughts on Nori as each days passed by.

Hindi pa rin siya bumabalik. Her mom already reported it to the police and Nori was now among the missing cases now.

I wasn't my usual self after Prom night. My parents had been worried. My friends, too.

Everyday, I always leave a message on Nori's phone...asking where she was. The police investigated their house, finding clues but Nori left none. There was no sign of intrusion or forced abduction. She was just gone...like dust in the wind.

Everyday, I kept on coming back on the possible places on where she could go. Bumabalik din ako sa bahay nila. Her mom was always home now, maybe waiting for her to come back.

The police couldn't find any clues on Nori's whereabouts. Almost all of her things were inside their home kaya imposibleng mahanap siya sa iba't ibang lugar.

After a year, the police just stopped looking for her. It was a hopeless case.

"You're moving, Tita?" I asked Nori's mom as my gaze fell upon the huge boxes on the floor.

She curtly nodded at me. "I found a nice place by the coast in Mindoro. I want to stay there for good, hijo."

"What about Nori? What if she comes back?"

"She'll find her way home, Zoe. However, this is not her home kaya alam kong hindi niya na ito babalikan. Maybe if she comes back...she'll be running towards you."

She turned her back against me. May kinuha siya sa mesa at agad na bumalik para ibigay iyon sa akin.

"I found this box under her bed when the police were searching around her room. I guess, this belongs to you now."

It was pastel pink box. Hindi naman kalakihan but it was designed cutely and I know, Nori did it with her skilled hands.

"And her cute plants too, Zoe. Pwede mong kunin. She takes care of them so much and I believe she wants you to take care of them too."

My heart felt heavy. Everything feels heavy. Nori left everything to me without saying anything. She was basically telling me that I was married to her without me knowing and she wants me to take care of the things that she had taken care too.

She loved all the cute things with or without strawberries in it. She loves to work hard on the things that she loves to have.

I was crying the whole time I was in my car, unable to move on. It has been a year that Nori went missing. We have no clue. I only have my feelings for her. She has my heart. I have hers.

She was gone but I can still feel her beside me staring at me with her happy heterochromic eyes. I can hear her giggles...

her soft sighs...

her soft whisper.

"Where are you Nori?" I asked the wind. I was desperate for answers.

"I miss you so much...it hurts to move on."

I didn't want to move on. A lot of them said I needed to but I can't and I won't.

I only have my eyes and heart for Nori. My soul, too.

"I love you Norine Ahava...I love you. Please come home..."