Must Keep A Secret

I

"Ate Zemira... wake up!"

I opened my eyes, and I could hear my heavy breathing. The sweat from my forehead is enough to fill an entire bottle.

"Are you okay, ate?" Zion asked, who's sitting beside me.

I nodded.

It was only a dream, but one thing's for sure...

It was that dream again.

The church.

The voice.

The dark room.

The masked man.

Ilang beses ko na siyang nakita sa mga napapanaginipan ko.

What does that mean?

Who's that masked man?

And what the hell is that?!

He just kissed me!

Ano ba naman, Zemira... sa panaginip lang naman.

"Ate, look! A cow!" I came back to my senses when I heard my little brother chuckled. "Wow!"

Manghang-mangha siya sa nakita niya.

Nasa kalagitnaan pa pala kami ng biyahe, and it's raining outside.

What a beautiful scenario.

The wind pushes on the car to no avail. The tires make their monotonous hiss over the rain-washed highway.

All around, through these black tinted windows are fields. What reason is there that we can't stop and walk barefoot in the grass?

Oh, yes. Because it's raining.

Gusto kong mas pagmasdan nang matagal ang magandang tanawin sa labas, habang naliligo sa ulan.

I want to experience that one, badly.

Mom fiddles with the radio to fill our ears with the popular song of Paul Anka, "Put your head on my shoulder".

As the song's playing, I can't help but to reminisce my childhood days here. Old days but good ones.

Naalala ko na noong bata ako ay madalas rin kaming pumunta dito para magbakasyon, pero hindi ko na kabisado pa ang daanan. Marahil ay sobrang tagal na n'on.

Every time I close my eyes while listening to the song, I can feel the gentle rise and fall of the road beneath us.

Lilipat kami ngayon sa bago naming titir'han.

New house.

New surroundings.

New neighborhood.

For me, adjusting to new changes can be difficult.

We went back here in the Philippines last week for a vacation, pero nabigla na lang ako sa sinabi ni Mom na dito na kami titira, permanently.

I know, because of my Dad.

My parents have recently filed for a divorce.

Why?

"You don't need to stay stuck in an unhappy marriage."

We moved to the United States when I was ten years old and stayed for nearly ten years. I'm still fluent in speaking tagalog because Mom constantly speaks to us in Tagalog at home, reminding us not to forget our first language. At saka nag-aaral din ako nito, online.