Strings of Memory

Chapter 29

"I idolized my father. And I loved him as much as I loved this bass. It became my dream to be in a band and to perform with him on the same stage." Ngumiti ako, pero alam kong hindi iyon umabot sa mga mata ko.

Napalunok ako. Ramdam ko ang pag-init ng mga mata ko dahil sa susunod kong sasabihin.

"But that didn't come true. Because he died."

Napabuntong hininga ako, pilit na pinipigilan ang panginginig ng boses ko.

"And when he did, it felt like the colors of my world faded. Like time had stopped. It hurt so much." Napayuko ako, mahigpit na hinawakan ang strap ng bass ko. "And so, to avoid that pain, I... decided to abandon the bass."

Tahimik ang buong lugar. Hindi ko alam kung iniisip ba nilang ang babaw ko, or if they understood me.

"I abandoned the one thing that connected us. Because I was a coward. I was scared of getting hurt, so I chose to leave it behind. Because when my father died... my dream of performing died along with him."

Naramdaman ko ang pagdaloy ng luha ko, pero nagpatuloy lang ako sa pagkukwento.

"But fate had other plans for me. I spent the next three years doing nothing. Then, my mom got promoted and told me we needed to relocate. I took that chance to escape—escape from our hometown, from the place where all my memories with my father lived."

Napangiti ako ng mapait. "I thought I had left everything behind. Even this bass. But when we moved here, my mom brought it with us."

Tumingin ako sa bass na hawak ko, at muling hinimas iyon ng marahan.

"Then I met Luna. I learned about her dreams. Then she dragged me along in her quest to find band members. One by one, I got to know all of you, and I learned about your dreams too." Napabuntong hininga ako. "And while that was happening, I couldn't help but be scared. That's why I tried my best to avoid all of you back then. But Luna... she was stubborn."

Napangiti ako nang maalala ang mga pinaggagagawa niya noon.

"She came into my life and dragged me around. And somehow, without me realizing it, she ended up reviving the dream I thought had already died. When I performed with all of you, a new dream started to grow inside me. The stage I once wanted to share with my dad—I now wanted to share with all of you."

I swallowed hard.

"But then... life threw another curveball. Luna died. And I felt my dream shattering into pieces once again."

Napayuko ako, mahigpit na kinuyom ang kamao ko.

"I got scared again. And so, just like I always do whenever I'm scared... I abandoned my dream again. I walked away instead of fixing it. Because I didn't want to get hurt."

Humugot ako ng malalim na hininga bago muling tumingin sa kanila.

"But now, standing here in front of you, I refuse to let that happen again. I refuse to let Luna's dream die. I refuse to let my dream die. I refuse to let our dream die. That's why I'm doing this."

Tinitigan ko sila, and they were just staring at me, absorbing everything I had said.

Silence enveloped all of us. But it wasn't awkward. In fact, it was comfortable.

Then, Rive decided to break it.

"If you want to make your dreams come true, you'll need a good keyboardist. The quality of the keyboard in your record wasn't that good, so let me, the genius pianist of the century, help you with it." Sabi niya, sabay lakad palapit sa akin.

Tumigil siya sa harapan ko, tinitigan ako sa mata, at doon ko nakita ang pagkislap ng mga mata niya—kasabay ng unti-unting pagtulo ng luha.

He groaned when he realized he was crying, which made me laugh. Sinamaan niya ako ng tingin bago biglang hinila at niyakap.