The Man in Strings

maybe an update

"I usually sleep around 4."

"Can you sleep when you're finished?"

"Ha? Bakit?"

"So you'd get enough sleep?"

"..."

"Maine?"

"Maine...?"

"Maine...?"

"Hey, yellow caps -"

"Don't finish that, Rj."

--

"Hey."

"Um. Hey."

"Bakit 'di ka pa natutulog? Don't tell me namamahay ka pa rin?"

"I was..."

"Gusto mo ipagtimpla kitang gatas?"

"Gatas?"

"Oo. It helps me fall asleep at times."

"Ako na lang. Baka pagod ka na pagta-type. Matulog ka na."

"Ano ka ba, ayos lang. Nasungitan yata kita kanina."

"It's fine. I deserve it. Wala kasi akong pending work, kaya ang kulit ko ngayong araw."

"Hindi naman. May time ka ba?"

"Ha?"

"Because I have."

"Time for what?"

"Catching up."

--

"Anong tanong mo ulit kanina? Kung naniniwala ako sa forever?"

"Maine, don't mind it. Sobrang walang kwenta nu'ng tanong ko -"

"It's fine. Medyo ang weird kasi ng concept ng forever ng mga tao kaya medyo hindi sya kapani-paniwala."

"What do you mean?"

"Like time. No one created time, 'di ba? Our ancestors just decided we have twenty-four hours a day. Na may twelve months a year, seven days a week. These are all human-made theories, right?"

"Maine, I think you're going overboard. It's been proven by science. Studied. You sounded like you're challenging established facts. Facts, Maine. They're not theories. They're facts. Proven -"

"And who validated them?"

"Well... other people? And the universe itself?"

"Universe?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"What did the universe say?"

"Maine, I think you're not getting the point."

"Exactly."

"Ano?"

"No one gets the point, either."

"What?"

"No one gets the point that we created this universe for ourselves."

"O...kay? Maine, I think you're wrong this time -"

"Bakit ako mali? Because I don't agree with common knowledge?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"You see, Rj... humans created prisons for themselves when they created these... standards. Alam ko naman na counting starts at zero or one. Pero paano kung gusto kong simulan sa two? Mali na ba agad ako? Two three four five six seven eight nine ten one?"

"We needed these facts, Maine."

"For?"

"Order."

"Because?"

"Because if there's no order, there will be chaos. Pandemonium."

"And? Are those things bad?"

"Yeah."

"Bakit?"

"Because... humans are in disarray?"

"Who said that?"

"..."

"Finally. You get the point."

"I think.. so."

"This is why we shouldn't indulge ourself too much in the present reality we're in, Rj. Because everything is just imaginative. Surreal. There is no absolute reality. Mahirap ang mga mahihirap na tao because we, on the upper hand or middle class, said that they are. Mayaman ang mga mayayaman na tao because we, or other people on the lower part of the caste system, said that they are. Alam mo 'yun? We set standards for each other. We set limits. We put ourselves in this box with just four sides. You know killing people is wrong, right?"

"...yeah."

"Because you grew up in the society where killing is wrong. But - if you grew up in a society where killing is an everyday hobby for everyone?"

"That is morbid."

"Nope. That is normal. And killing won't be new and foreign and forbidden anymore, because people around you do it on a daily basis."

"I'm... getting your point."

"Yeah, everything, Rj - every belief we have is just based on societal norms we grew up having."

"Teka."

"Oh?"

"Where's the real Maine and what did you do to her?"

"Loko ka talaga."

"Maine?"

"Yeah?"

"How did we end up talking about societal norms eh tinanong lang kita kung naniniwala ka sa forever and that's because I just saw that on Facebook?"

"The point here, Rj... is I didn't see that on Facebook, so I answered it in the way I can."

--

"Pero naniniwala ka talaga sa forever?"

"Minsan, enclosed din ang utak ko sa societal norms, so yes, naniniwala ako sa forever - why are you smiling?"

"Wala lang."

"Bakit nga?"

"Wala lang nga."

"Parang ewan 'to. Inaantok ka na ba?"

--

"Maine?"

"Oh?"

"You know you're not gonna win in life with those weird thoughts of yours, right?"

"Oo naman. Minsan Jake finds me very, very weird and drops the conversation automatically."

"Just be careful. Not everyone could understand the way your mind works. The world is never ready for the pandemonium you're okay with."

"Hindi ko naman sinabi na okay ako sa kaguluhan, at ayoko ng kaayusan, ano. Sinasabi ko lang na hindi absolute ang reality at itong reality na meron tayo ngayon ay tayo lang din ang gumawa para sa sarili natin."

"Maine?"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to make one for the two of us."

"Reality natin?"

"Yeah."

"Anong uri ng reality?"

"The one that's real. The one that's... absolute."

"..."

"The one that would make you believe."