Angevil's Portrait of Portals

Chapter 6. A Distant Memory

A bright ray of sunlight from the window next to my bed woke me up one morning in the beautiful city. It has been 7 years since that tragic incident, but the memory is still haunting me until this day. I am now 16 and ever since I came here to this city, I pursued my passion in painting. I am not a professional painter myself but foreign travellers have gained interest in my artwork so i decided to sell it or exchange it either for food, valuable items or money. I often travel to places together with my beloved horse 'Unicorn' but I mostly stop by the heart of the city since trades of different goods are highly present in that particular area. Painting is my side job aside from helping grandma sell our homegrown vegetables in the market. A few years ago, when the city people helped grandma and I start a brand new life here, the remaining survivors in the village decided to stay in their respected hometown. As of now they are all doing well according to my grandma. I wish I could go visit the village soon. I wonder what it looks like now and how much the children have grown. Isla, my cousin. I hope she is doing great. I wanted to apologize to her after everything that has happened. It was my fault she became an orphan. How are you, Bisig? A thought which left me imagining how he is doing right now. He is 4 years older than me, same as Alon, the teen city boy whom I met back in the village during the tragic fire incident. He was the young male who pulled me away from my dead father. He is a protector and an older brother who I can rely on anytime. Alon is a Tagalog word which translates to 'Ocean wave'.
"Goodmorning, Diwa!" A voice which came from outside just below the 2nd floor of our house. I then got up and peaked outside of the window. The sun's rays were too bright for me to see anything, but I knew whose voice that was.
It was Alon, he was always an early bird. I remember that he wants me to meet up with a foreign traveller today for an Art Exhibit. "I'm up! See you in 15 minutes." I shouted back at him from my window sill. He had a huge smile as always. As he waited outside, the front door opened. Grandma greeted Alon and invited him to come in and wait inside our home. Alon was such a great help with the construction of our house alongside his uncle Destino. I hurriedly took a shower, got dressed and packed my stuff for an exciting journey ahead of us. As I went downstairs, I reminded grandma to take her medication and always eat on time. I kissed her goodbye and promised her that I'll be back soon safe and sound. She hugged me tight and handed me a lunch box. I smiled and said thank you.
"You ready?" Alon asked. With a determined look, I nodded. We then took a carriage and ventured to the National Art Gallery Museum.
As we were getting closer to our destination, we were able to see the museum's timeless beauty. Bisig's eyes glowed in excitement as he trotted the horse while saying, "There it is, Diwa. Wow! This is really your time to shine. Best of luck." My heart was racing until we reached the wide road which led to the entrance of the museum. "Come on, Diwa. Let's look for Ginoong Marso." Alon said while helping me get down the carriage. Our eyes were fixated on the incredible features of the museum. Then suddenly out of nowhere, I spotted someone very familiar in sight. I figured that he must have come out of a tree or walked past it like some sort of a ghost. He then stood beside a tree farther to the right as we stood in the middle of the road. Did I see wrongly? He then waived at a man wearing a black suit who was waiting right at the door of the museum. Maybe it was just my imagination but It seems to me like I have seen him somewhere in my hometown years ago. I just don't remember exactly when.
"What are you waiting for? Come on, let's go inside the museum." Alon said with an excited look on his face. It was as if I got hypnotized by that man wearing a white hooded robe and flat sandals. I soon came back to my senses when Alon shook my shoulders and said, "Hello? Are you okay?" I looked back at him absent mindedly and just nodded in reply. He was holding my painting. He then took my hand and we both ran to the entrance of the museum.
It was my first time entering such a marvelous museum and I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. Every single little detail of artistic carvings and paintings on the walls provided a huge impact on the museum's overall appearance. The paintings were just so unique and at the same time very inspiring to look at. We were only a few steps away from the door after entering the museum but we were already satisfied by the looks of it. We haven't seen much yet. I had to ask Alon, "Do you think the people will like my painting?" I worriedly looked sideways when I noticed that the other exhibitionists had such astounding artworks. "Of course. I think yours is the prettiest of them all." He spoke with a huge smile on his face. I smiled back at him and gave him thanks. The man in a black suit greeted us and gave us brief instructions about the exhibit. It was Ginoong Marso, the lead curator of the exhibition. We only knew his name from a flyer handed out to us in the park. In the old times, Filipinos politely address a man as 'Ginoo' which means 'Gentleman' or 'Sir'. Whilst a woman is usually referred to as 'Ginang' which translates to 'Madam'. He talked to us in English however we couldn't really understand it but we got the idea when he pointed out a vacant spot for the painting over the wall. We were guided by another man, thankfully a Filipino and he translated what Ginoong Marso had told us a while ago. Alon and I hanged my painting on the middle end part of the museum as instructed to us. It was a painting of the hilltop with the man in a hooded white robe standing with his back facing the painting as he stared at the clear blue skies while his right arm rested on the narra tree beside him. We slowly walked backwards and stared at the painting for quite some time until Alon commented, "Beautiful. It's just so beautiful." I was teary eyed because I could not believe this was happening then I replied, "This is it. Finally, I did it. Thank you, Alon." I happily looked at Alon when all of a sudden, a hand reached out to the painting. The man wearing a hooded white robe held it with both hands. Alon and I were shocked so we both backed off. I could only see the man's back infront of me but I could tell from his actions that he was drawn to the painting and he might be intrigued about it. "May I help you, Sir?" I asked. He then let go of the painting and answered without looking back at us. "You have a gift. Use it wisely. In this painting lies a key to unlocking your future." I was even more shocked when Alon asked me, "Hey. Who were you talking to?" I looked at him in disbelief and replied, "That man.. wait, you saw him too, right? That's why we both backed off all of a sudden." I knew he was kidding me so I started to laugh and then waited for him to tell me what we both saw awhile ago. I then realized that he was serious because of his confused reaction. He smirked and pointed out to the painting while saying, "I bet you really like this guy, huh? Whoever this is, you might have been imagining him most of the time even after painting his portrait." He laughed back. Confused, I looked around me and realized that only I had seen that person infront of me until he vanished into thin air or was I imagining him all this time? I looked closely at my painting and realized that not only today and in my dream did he showed himself to me but he also resembled someone I knew back in my childhood. Who could he really be? I need to remember. A calming view of the blue sky over the hilltop in my painting sent flashbacks in my mind. Then I heard grandma's voice in my head say, "Diwa!" Suddenly, I felt sad. I don't want to remember anymore. It's all in the past now. "Diwa. Are you alright? Look, I am sorry about what I just said. Please, don't be sad." Alon had this worried look on his face as he said those words. I smiled and replied, "Don't worry, I am fine. You are right. I guess I really did imagine these images in my head during my childhood. I just don't remember about it that much." Awhile later, Ginoong Marso approached us along with some other aesthetes and patrons to see the artworks one after the other then he asked while looking at my painting, "Dear, Do you happen to know him?" I wasn't able to answer. "I think you forgot to paint him a pair of wings." He added. "Why is that, Ginoong Marso?" I curiously asked after a translator explained to us what Ginoong Marso had told us then he added, "He surely looked like the person I met an hour ago. I had no idea who he was. He looked and sounded different though. I am not even sure if he was an angel or a devil in disguise. He directly came up to me and told me this, 'Sir, You need help. I am here to help you ease the pain in your chest.' Ginoong Marso then turned his gaze at me and he added, "That man in a hooded white robe pointed a finger at my chest just as I was having a serious chest pain and in an instant the pain miraculously faded until it was all gone." I was completely shocked and I couldn't utter a word but then he asked another question, "Do you happen to know his name or his whereabouts?" I tilted my head and replied, "I am sorry, Sir but I have no idea." Ginoong Marso had this genuine smile on his face while asking me another question, "What will you name your portrait of him then?"