Fate In Ink

chapter 20

"Teresa!"

Solana called out to the wavy-haired girl walking towards us with a big pack of cloth slung over her shoulder. Her face lit up at the sight of us - or at least Solana and Matias - and she quickened her pace.

"Why in the world are you carrying such a large package?" Mother laughed and removed the cloth bag from Teresa.

"Mother insisted that I bring lots of food," Teresa said, stretching her arms a bit. "I also made some sinukmani. I hope you like them."

Matias stood beside me with a large smile on his face and took the pack from Mother. He sniffed the pack and wiggled his eyebrows at me. "Teresa makes the most delicious of these. I absolutely love them."

Teresa flushed pink - something which Matias was completely oblivious to. Matias carried the pack away and loaded them onto the caritela. I glanced at the girl and I noticed Solana smiling at her.

From what I can remember, she wasn't exactly fond of me due to my closeness to Matias, but that was a big misunderstanding. It was quite a time before Solana truly warmed up to me, but maybe with a bit of patience, I could get her to feel comfortable with me, too.

I scooted closer to Teresa. "Hey," I said, my voice slightly shaky.

She turned to me, and the bright smile she wore reduced to a thin, forced variation. "Yes?" she asked.

"Would you like to sit next to Matias later?" I asked, my voice a bit softer than my usual. I glanced at Matias who was busy doting on his baby sister. He didn't seem to have heard me.

Her face lit up a bit. "Is that fine?" she asked.

I nodded and her smile reached from ear to ear. We sat together on the caritela while Father and Matias stood near the carabao. The twins, on the other hand, were sitting on top of the animal.

"Let's go!" Salome squealed and the wheels started turning.

****

The sunlight bursting through the spaces between leaves were reminiscent of when my parents would take me and my older sisters to the countryside during the summer. Of course, that was inside an air-conditioned car with my sister's music blaring from the speaker then, but the familiar, comfortable feeling was similar.

Solana hummed a sweet tune - a soothing voice in harmony with the soft whistle of the wind. I sighed. My chest constricted, moisture slightly staining the corners of my eyes. I was missing my family again.

"Catalina," Matias said from outside the caritela. "That was quite a sigh. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I sighed again.

"I don't think you are," he shook his head, "won't you tell me what plagues you?"

I pulled my knees close to my chest and hugged them. "It's nothing, really."

Matias fell silent, and I was glad for that. Even if I tried telling him, he'd probably play it off as a dream I had or that I was coming down with a fever. Or even worse - knowing the older generations' penchant for superstitions - he might think a little spirit had possessed me.

I took out the book I tucked in my pocket and flipped to the page where I last left it. Doña Valentina had given me the Odyssey. Funnily enough, we'd only finished discussing the Odyssey in English class back in my time. Though the story from the poem was still fresh, I didn't mind reading through it again. It reminded me of home.

"You read?" Teresa curiously peeked over at the book.

"Ah, yes. Doña Valentina lent this to me," I said.