Where the Woods Call

Purpose

I immediately lost my appetite and went back to my room as soon as I finished eating. There was no way they'd back down on the deal unless...

I grabbed my laptop and looked up how to file a petition. Surely if there's the involvement of enough locals, it's possible to stop their operations. It was to my advantage that the townsfolk were the type of people who keep to themselves, unlike the city people who mostly see gold in every opportunity. I printed out the form and spent the next few days gathering signatures from the neighborhood before presenting it to the Barangay in hopes that they'd be able to help further knowing that there are enough citizens backing up the movement. In April of 2004, gone were the days when I'd doubted myself. For the first time in my life, I felt certain. I had a purpose I believed in.

Hope was fading as the day of the operation drew near. I went to the Barangay to follow up only to find out that they have already notified the developer to cease their operations. I rode my bike home. A smile stamped on my face. It was a beautiful day. On one side of the road, you see the overview of the small town below and distant mountains. On the other, a concrete slope where little people were occasionally scurrying to and fro. As I turned to the corner, a black car was speeding my direction. It didn't give me enough time to get away but I did. Before I knew it, I went off the road, off the trails to the bottom of a jagged cliff. Bare land and some plants at the bottom.

I lay in the bushes and felt something wet, dripping across my forehead. A boy stood before me. Just as before, only this time, he didn't reach out his hand. He wrapped me in his arms. His warmth and the beat of his heart comforting. Roots enveloped us and like hands, pulling us into the depths of the earth. It is my last day as a fragile human being. This time, my memories came in flashes. Perhaps I haven't given life much thought until today.