THREE
1581 Words
Alaska Meriden never felt so nonchalant in her whole life. She already had her plans for the summer break ngunit masisira lang iyon dahil sa pagsulpot ng pinsan niya. Hindi naman sa ayaw niyang alagaan ang lola niya. Sa tingin niya ay hindi siya kinakailangan nito. Hula niya'y pinatawag siya ng lola dahil wala na siguro itong mapagbuntunan ng galit. She was her favorite when it comes to those things. And arguing with the woman who raised her is not something she likes to do.
But she can't help it. Gusto nitong sambahin din niya ang mga diyos na kinikilala. Hindi siya naniniwala sa mga ganoon. She would rather eat the offerings than letting them go to waste for people who don't exist. At patuloy nitong iginigiit na magsisisi siya sa pinagagagawa niya. Na dapat siyang matakot. But how is she supposed to be scared for something she doesn't believe that existed? She doesn’t believe in gods or anything related to that. Isa iyon sa maraming rason kung bakit pinapagalitan siya ng kanyang lola.
She could already imagine the cold look on her grandma's face kapag nakikita siya nito. It's not that she's bitter about it. Perhaps over time, she got used to it somehow. Nasanay na siyang huwag nalang itong bigyan ng pansin. And she mastered it, given how frustrated her grandma goes kapag isinasawalang-bahala niya ang mga tugon nito. But her grandma never once laid a hand on her. And she could remember when she's about to hit her, she stops herself before she could.
If not only for the gods... she remembered her grandma would always say. At times like that, nagpapasalamat siya sa mga diyos na kinikilala nito. Kahit papano'y hindi siya pinagbubuhatan ng kamay ng lola dahil sa paniniwala nito.
Her grandma lacked affection. Both to her and Juno. But Juno's the obedient one at sinusunod nito ang mga sinasabi ng kanilang lola. She doesn't.
"That's all your things?" tanong ni Juno sa kanya dahilan para kumunot ang noo niya.
"No. These aren't all my things. Isang linggo lang ako doon and you expect me to bring my whole apartment?" saad niya. Her cousin raised both his arms in surrender dahil alam nitong hindi siya mananalo sa kahit anong argumento laban sa kanya.
Juno is younger by a few months. Medyo nagkakasundo sila sa lahat ng bagay. She never had any siblings. Juno too. Kaya naman nang magsimula silang tumira sa kanilang lola, itinuring nila ang isa't-isa bilang magkapatid.
Kinuha nito ang hawak niyang box na naglalaman ng cake. Her grandma loved baking and she particularly liked making cakes. She worked in a bakeshop kaya napagdesisyunan niyang dalhan ito ng cake. Alam niyang hindi kailanman nadadala ang lola niya sa mga ganoong bagay but she isn't there to impress her. Gusto lang niyang ibigay iyon. Her grandma can offer the whole cake to the gods for all she cares.
Napatingin siya sa oras nang makapasok siya sa sasakyan. It's almost half past eight. They will be arriving at Grande, her town, after four hours.
"Do you want to grab a coffee before we go?" tanong niya sa pinsan. Umiling ito bago inistart ang sasakyan.
"Ayos lang. I already drank some and I have some left in there." Itinuro nito ang likuran ng sasakyan kung saan nakikita niya ang isang tumbler. She just nodded in approval.
She leaned on her seat and watched the surroundings as the car started to move. It's been years since she last saw the town. Years since she last saw her grandma.
She closed her eyes and let the cold wind touch her face as she opened the window. It will be a long drive and she is sleepy.
The night was quiet and the breeze felt cool on her cheeks. It was easy for her to fall asleep.
And then she found herself in a forest. It was dark. Very dark. She doesn't know where she is. Nagpalinga-linga siya sa paligid. Hoping to find a clue or a hint—or anything that might give her any idea where she is. Ngunit wala siyang makita. All she could see were the tall trees, their branches hissing against the violent wind. Despite it, wala siyang nararamdamang lamig.
Hindi niya alam kung nasaan siya but she is fully aware that she is dreaming. And she felt it again. The feeling of urgency mixed with fear. Nagpalinga-linga siya sa paligid, trying to figure out where she is but she couldn't see any clue. But the feeling was familiar. It was the same feeling she had this morning before Juno woke her up.
"Liars, liars! " she heard someone say. She looked around but she couldn't see anyone. She doesn't know who it was.
"You are all going to suffer." The voice echoed throughout the woods. "This will be your curse. This will be your consequence. You will be cursed forever," the voice continued. And she looked around only to see a woman in a clearing. She was kneeling on the ground. She had a feeling her dress wasn't originally colored like that. At nang lumapit siya rito, napagtanto niyang dugo iyon. Her dress was covered in blood. Even the whole of her arms and the tips of her hair. Hindi niya mapigilang magtanong sa sarili kung anong nangyari o kung dapat ba niya itong tulungan,
Napatingin siya sa paligid. Sigurado siyang hindi mula sa babaeng iyon ang boses na narinig niya kanina. There must be someone else around.
"You're the one who killed your kin. You're the one who did this. You are the one to blame," the voice continued but the girl was covering her face with her palm.
“The time has come,” said the voice and it went silent. Pinakinggan niya ang paligid ngunit wala na siyang narinig. And then she saw the girl moved. She merely removed her hands that was covering her face.
“Break the curse. You must do it.” The girl slowly stood and she figured the girl was just about her age. Or younger than her. “Only you can do it,” she said and before she could even say anything, someone called her name from behind kaya napalingon siya doon. But all she could see was darkness. Nang mapatingin siya sa harapan, wala na ang babae.
She scanned the whole place ngunit wala siyang makita kundi mga puno at ang kadiliman.
“Aly!” someone yelled and she opened her eyes.
Nagpalinga-linga siya sa paligid and she could see the interior of Juno’s car. Her cousin’s face was laced with worry as he was looking at her. Kumunot ang noo niya at napatingin sa labas ng sasakyan. They just left the city and she realized the car wasn’t moving. She herd Juno sighed. More like a sigh of relief.
“Anong nangyari? Why did you stop? Is there something wrong?” tanong niya sa pinsan. Juno just leaned back to his seat at napahilot sa sentido nito habang nakapikit ang mga mata.
“You were gripping my hand tightly. You looked like you were dreaming.” Napatingin ako sa kamay niya at namumula nga iyon dahil sa kanyang kuko.
“Ayos ka lang ba?” tanong ng pinsan niya and she tried to remember her dream ngunit hindi na naman niya ito maaalala. But she could remember the feeling. And that’s it.
Fear. It was fear.
And she never felt that kind of fear before. And yet it felt so...familiar.
She nodded at Juno and sighed. “I’m fine. Pagod lang siguro ako ngayong araw. I tend to do that when I’m stressed out,” kumbinsi niya sa pinsan. And Juno looked concerned.
“Is this whole thing making you stressed out?”
She doesn’t loathe the idea of visiting her grandma that much. Not enough to make her stressed about it. She couldn’t tell him her dream. Like her grandma, Juno is someone who is so superstitious about dreams and stuff. He would interpret her dreams for her when they were still a kid. Akala niya’y kabaliwan lang iyon dahil mga bata pa sila but as time progresses, kahit high school student na ito ay binibigdeal nito ang mga panaginip niya. He would let her tell her dreams in detail and he would find something he could connect to the gods. Like, the scissors she dreamed about symbolizes how she has cut her connection with the gods. But what’s crazier is that their grandma always got his back when it comes to those things. It was infuriating and since then, she stopped telling them about her dreams or she would just tell them she forgot.
But this time, it’s real. She doesn’t remember it at all.
Kahit pa pilitin siya nito, she can’t say anything. Ano naman ang sasabihin niya? That she just remembered she felt scared of her own dream?
“We’ll arrive in an hour. Pwede ka pang matulog ulit,” saad ng pinsan niya but she dismissed the idea. She wouldn’t want to sleep again. Not after that.
So she reached at the back of the car and took Juno’s tumbler filled coffee. It was still hot and before she knew it, she drank half the contents.
Juno did not complain.
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- Writer
