Rememorable (ND SERIES)

Chapter 1

Nakakapagod.

It's already 4pm, malapit nang magsara ang candy shop, the door swung and Mina walked in together with his son, Kirt.

"Hi, Ash!" I smiled and waved my hand. Mina's a neighbour and also a Filipino. Pinakasalan nya si Nathaniel, 'Mayamang amerikanong malapit nang mamatay.', like how she described him when I first met her here. He loved him naman daw because he's caring but he died of pneumonia on my 5th month here.

"Mom, at least buy me 3 colors of nerds, please?!" I smiled when I overheard Kirt.

"No! Diba I told you diba two lang pwede mo kunin! May chocolate ka na dyan sa left hand mo oh."

Parenting aren't really the same. If my parents are that strict, maybe I wasn't even here in Fargo and living my own life at 20. Maybe they wouldn't let me drop out of college for—uncertainty. Or maybe they just don't care ar all or they just really want me out of their sight.

"Ash, samin ka na mag-dinner. Bumili ako ng lamb kasi sale!" Mina said while paying. I really don't want to kaso ayoko talaga naghuhugas ng pinagkainan.

"Sige Mga anong oras ako pupu—" I wasn't able to continue my sentence dahil sa narining naming bumagsak.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Tanong ko dun sa lalaki habang naglalakad papunta sa kanya. Ni hindi naming napansing may pumasok na palang iba.

"It was an accident, Miss. I was just about to get some." Napapikit nalang ako ng mariin habang tinitignan ang nagkalat na jelly bean.

I pursed my lips. "Even so, Sir. You have to pay for all those." Of course, he has to! Lagot ako kay Mr. Freeman kung hindi.

I looked at him. It's a man in his.. 20s? Mukhang ka0edaran ko lang but he looks mature, pero who knows? Ako nga laging napagkakamalang high school dahil petite.

"Fine." May hinugot sya sa likod nya. "How much would it cost?" I calculated it quickly, mga nasa kalahati pa kasi ang laman ng container at per gram ang bentahan namin.

"$25." He sighed while handing me a 50 dollar bill. I accepted it and went back to the counter.

"Here's your change, Sir." I smiled a little. His right hand is resting on the counter table while looking at me.

"Thanks. Pack my Jelly beans now." My eyes widened for a second but proceeded to picking all the jelly beans on the floor. I couldn't blame him, though. He paid for it at saying naman kung hindi kakainin. Medyo may bonus pa ngang konting bacteria yon galing sa mga sapatos ng customers, di naman nya siguro kikakamatay yon?

The guy went out of the shop and I started cleaning. Umalis na rin sina Mina pagkatapos naming magpulot ng jelly beans at sinabing pumunta ako sa kanila by 7pm.

"Mina, uuwi na ko!" I got my bag and went to the kitchen. After the dinner, nakipaglaro pa ako ng kaunti kay Kirt.

"Magdala ka neto!" She packed 2 belgian waffle into a zipped lock container. Kinuha ko yon at nilagay na sa bag.

"Mag-ingat ka!" Nagyakap kami bago tuluyang umuwi.

Habang naglalakad, napatingin ako sa taas. The moon is shining brightly that I decided to take a photo of it. There's just something about the moon that it struck me. I hugged myself when I felt chills. Kakaumpisa lang Autumn pero ramdam ko na yung paglamig sa gabi. This time of the year last year rin ako pumunta dito sa North Dakota. I told my parents I wanted to go to New York first pero dito nila ako tinapon dahil may bahay si Lola dito na nabili nya nung dalaga pa sya but when she got married, inabando nalang rin naman.

It was only 11 pm at kakatapos ko lang maligo.

I was about to eat the waffle when I heard footsteps from the living room. Panic ran through my system. This isn't something common in Fargo. Mahigpit ang police dito kaya bakit may nakapasok na magnanakaw sa bahay?!

Nararamdaman kong lumalamig ang buong katawan ko. I don't know what to do next. Nararamdaman kong papalapit na ang yabag and that's when I played dead. Buong buhay ko hindi ko alam na mangyayari sakin to. After a few seconds, huminto yung yabag. Nasaan na kaya yung magnanakaw. Nalaman ko naman agad ang sagot nang may naramdaman akong tumakbo papunta sa akin.

"HEY? ARE YOU OKAY??" He said while slightly tapping my cheeks. Ganito ba ka-caring magnanakaw dito sa ND?? 

"HEY??"

I bravely opened my eyes and strangled his neck saka pumaibabaw sa kanya.

"YOU?!" I said when I recognized the thief's face. Hindi ko parin sya binibitawan sa leeg. Who knows what he can do?!

He sighed. "Tangina. I thought you were dead."

"Pinoy ka?!" Sya yung lalaki kanina sa candy shop na nagkalat ng jelly bean. Hindi naman halatang pinoy sya because he looks so.. western.

"Oo. Get off me." Dun ko na-realize na nasa ibabaw nga pala nya ko at sya na ang nakahiga ngayon.

I quickly got up, ni hindi ko alam kung bakit sinunod ko sya but my fear was replaced by relief.

The next thing I knew, I was sharing the waffles I got from Mina to Carter.

"Can't you at least give me this?" Sabi nya habang hawak hawak ang isang snow globe na nakapatong sa foyer table. "Para naman successful yung pag akyat bahay ko dito" He grinned.

I crossed my arms.  "Not that one. You can get the dolphin figurine, though." I have a thing with snow globes that's why I collect them. I couldn't just give them away, especially to a.. thief.

"Fine. I'll get going. Bye." He got his hoodie jacket saka nya sinuot. I chuckled when I saw him get out of the house through the window. Tangina, ang gago nya talaga.