Someone in the Crowd

Chapter 6

"In today's session, I will be dividing you according to your voice types," Prof. Madrid introduced her plans after letting us settle on our seats.

I then eyed Laura, now my seatmate, as we both anticipated our professor's new task.

Our second month of survival came, and the recent month furiously passed like a rollercoaster ride of success, mediocrity, and downfall, along with an unending trail of giving-up phrases.

"Ano na naman kayang gagawin natin ngayon? Musical play na naman ba? Ugh! Sana level up naman!" pabulong na reklamo ni Laura habang tamad na nakahalumbaba.

"I hope it's something new for us..." I uttered while waiting for our professor to open her mouth again.

"I hope so, too!" she whispered and then shut her mouth as soon as our professor called our attention.

"Never mind. Let me introduce this first," Prof. Madrid interrupted, bending her own flow of thoughts, as she roamed her eyes around the settled students once more. Napaubo na nga siya—isang senyales na magsisimula na siyang magtalakay ng panibagong paksa.

"There's this attractive prince named Tamino who, unfortunately, got lost in a strange land," she narrated while ticking her teaching stick on her palms, just like her usual mannerism.

Hinayaan ko naman ang likuran kong mapako nang tuluyan sa sandalan ng aking upuan.

"From there, he was attacked by a monstrous snake... a serpent!" While clawing her fingers, she acted like she intended to scare the whole class.

Napamura pa si Laura sa tabi ko dahil sa natamong takot.

"Poor thing, he fainted in the middle of the woods despite his godly demeanor," she jokingly added, filling the room with laughter.

Of course, I also laughed, too. Para naman lumakas-lakas ang kapit ko kay Prof. You know, she is a fan of unfair plays.

"Luckily, he was saved by these three mysterious women who just appeared out of the blue. It turns out they are the servants of the Queen of the Night," she paused while spreading optimism up to the very corner of the room.

Queen of the Night? I heard that already! Nasa dulo lang ito ng dila ko kaya hindi ko ito mailabas-labas!

I then bit my lip and even tapped my foot as I searched for its familiarity in my mind. I am sure that I have a little bit of memory of it.

"As soon as Tamino, the prince, woke up, the queen's servants gave him a portrait of the queen's daughter, Pamina—so enchanting that it made him fall in love," dugtong ni Prof. She even giggled as if she was reading a romance-themed novel.

"Wew. Baka catfish 'yan," Laura whispered, making me chuckle internally.

Ang bitter naman ng katabi ko.

"So enchanting that it made him vow to rescue Pamina from the evil Priest of the Sun, Sarastro. And... with a deal of claiming Pamina if ever he succeeds," she emphasized.

And... Priest of the Sun? This story made me dig into my inner brain more as I tried to remember the story our professor is currently narrating.

I tapped my foot faster than before on the polished cement platform and even made more unnecessary gestures. Hindi ako mapakali lalo na at nasa dulo na ng pinakadulong taste bud ko ang sagot.

"The three women then gave Tamino a magic flute," our professor highlighted.

My initial assumption was fed with more appropriate precision with what our professor just recently said.