THE SOUND OF SILENCE (TO BE PUBLISHED UNDER TDP PUBLISHING HOUSE)

Chapter Three: Remnants of the Past

"Kindness flowing through your veins," pang-aasar ni Elise. "Dapat ba akong magpasalamat?" She flashed a sarcastic smile at Ludwig with her lips smirking like a villain.

Sarcasm was wasted on Ludwig. He just replied an innocent "you're welcome," seemingly unaware – or perhaps intentionally ignoring Elise's tease.

"Ang cute mo talaga, Lulubells!" Elise giggled as she pinched the cheek of our best friend.

Ludwig, with an annoyed look, immediately removed Elise's fingers from squeezing his cheek. He said with his childish and irritated tone:

"Stop it, Elle!" He stomped his right foot like a child having a tantrum.

Iyan na naman siya. Para na namang bata ang Lulu namin. Well, he was always like this whenever he was with us – mahilig talaga siyang magsuplado at daig pa ang bata kung umarte. I think that this was just his way of telling us that he was comfortable in our company.

I suddenly woke up from my short nap when I felt that our bus stopped. I looked at the man sitting beside me and now, he was reading comfortably.

"It's way much better, isn't it?" he asked me with a teasing smile. "Now, I can read all the way to hell."

How selfish, right? Well, that's Ludwig van Griswold! I just wondered, kailan kaya mag-ma-mature ang utak nito? Mababago niya rin siguro iyang selfishness niya.

Napatulala na lang ako nang maalala ang panaginip ko. I just focused myself outside and looked at the blankness of the surroundings.

Why am I remembering those things right now? Why do I always pick up some remnants of my past? Every time, whenever I would remember her, those memories of us kept on flashing back. Palagi na lang bumabalik ang alaala niya sa akin.

"It was a bad dream, I presume," Ludwig's voice echoed the emptiness in my soul. He set the book aside, trying to pierce the mask I wore on my face.

Do I consider those memories as a bad dream?

Hell no, it was not. It was a paradise lost – choked by her absence. Those memories were joyful shards, but now laced with the ache of her loss. It haunted me even in sleep.

Hindi ko na lang pinansin ang tanong niya. Instead, pinakiramdaman ko na lamang ang paligid namin. I looked around and saw no one. It seemed kaming dalawa na lang yata ang naririto sa loob.

Our adviser was already outside. He was talking with someone over his phone. Wait, sumama rin pala si Miss Arianne rito! How convenient. The thought of her in this activity made me even more excited. She was my favorite teacher since my junior high school, and now, as our religion teacher, her presence was needed to assist us in our retreat activity.

"Welcome to Oakbridge Port," Ludwig said boringly. "I guess I'd rather stay up here than to go with the hell you have your lives. I'm still wondering, why is it forbidden to be absent from this shitty activity when it seemed to be pointless after all. I won't gain anything from it. It's all waste of time!"

Agad ko namang sinita si Ludwig. Baka kasi mamaya ay may makariinig sa kaniya at parusahan siya sa mga pinagsasabi niya.

"Akala ko ba'y may deal na tayo about rito, Lulu?" pagkompronta ko sa kaniya.

"You must remember, my dear friend, that our deal surrounds around the fact na sasama ako, hindi makikipag-participate sa activity. Pupunta lang ako roon para mag-relax, humiga, at magbasa," pang-aasar pa niya.

I stared at him as I furrowed my eyebrows. Nagamitan pa tuloy niya ako ng pamimilosopo niya.

"That's the same reason why you're always left behind," sermon ko sa kaniya. "Masuwerte ka nga't nasa elite class na tayo, Ludwig. Imagine, Ludwig, elite class! Marami ang may gustong makakuha ng privilege na tinatamasa natin. Remember that it was the reason why we pursued our studies before, hindi ba? Ngayong narito na tayo, bakit hindi mo man lang i-appreciate ang mga bagay na pinapangarap lang natin noon?"