Victims of Medusa｜PUBLISHED UNDER UKIYOTO

Chapter 43

    'The curse of Medusa put me in my sleep.'

    'It was all dark and void, except for the stars in my own galaxy where I ran through the lines of constellations. I was searching for a way back, yet I still couldn't find one. Until my galaxy met someone else's. It was one dark galaxy with stars very far from mine. It was a sad one, yet these few stars and milky ways make it at least something to live on.'

    'And there, on a center of a certain milky way, I saw her. A lady who was filled with sad snakes and dark painful-looking thorns, yet, she was there trying to offer the sweetest smile she could do. Her eyes looked voided, of emptiness it was, yet they were sparkling with a peculiarity in which I couldn't easily tell even in the little known. She's a princess who's trapped in a darkly curse.'

    'She came closer to me, riding through her galaxy that was already fading in darkness. And in a little while, I could see her face upclose. She was still smiling at me, and little did I know she already held my face, and kissed me.'

    'At that moment, I closed my eyes in my closing of eyes, and when I opened it, saw her already crying, with the thorns and snakes fading away from constricting her. From her darkly aura, colors emerged from her that danced around her like the seasonal rainbows. Making her smile and at the same time cry even more.'

    'I smiled at her... because at that moment, I knew she's finally free.'

   'And like Sleeping Beauty, that kiss brought me out from my sleep too.'

   'But the difference... is that the kisser wasn't there anymore.'

Victims of Medusa
-FLOWERS SHRIVEL TOO-

    'Kahapon ay nagising ako mula sa isang napakagandang panaginip.' Aquil raised his body, and rolled his eyes to the window, umuulan na naman sa labas kaya marami-rami rin ang nalalaglag na bulaklak ng trumpeta mula sa mga sanga nito.

    'I dreamed of a beautiful princess whose eyes are full of void, yet enticingly hold something in the depths.'

     Nagmumukhang hapon ang tanghaling yaon dahil sa patuloy na pagbuhos ng napakalakas na ulan. 

    'She looked sad, yet after her strange kiss, was freed and faded like a dead star in a galaxy.'

     "Ang babaeng 'yon..." Aquil's eyes were following the floating shrivel of golden trumpet on the drain. "Ano kaya ang kaniyang pangalan?"

     Ang mga bulaklak sa labas ay nalalanta na sa mga tumatamang tubig. Malungkot kung tignan ang mga puno ng trumpeta sa labas ng hospital, at ang nagkulay abong langit ay tila nakikisimpatya sa isang kalungkutang hindi niya mawari.

     "Pero bakit gano'n, bakit, tila may kung anong kulang sa akin sa pagkakataong ito, kung kailan naglalaro sa aking paningin ang mga lantang bulaklak ng trumpeta?" Aquil's face was calm, yet with an expression that shows he's feeling devoid of something.

     Naglaro sa kaniyang isip ang mga ala-alang meron siya sa ilalim ng mga punong yaon, mga ala-alang may kinakausap siya, mga ala-ala nila ni Agnes ngunit wala na si Agnes sa mga ala-alang iyon. "Nakakapagpabagabag..."

     "Aquil?" Naglipat kaagad si Aquil ng tingin sa nagbukas na pintuan. 

     "Ate Joy! Manang Esther!" Nakangiti si Aquil, habang ang nurse nama'y kapansin-pansin sa mukha ang pagkagulo. Kaagad siya nilapitan ng mga 'to sa kaniyang kama, ngungit mas lumapit sa kaniya ang dalagang nurse upang suriin siya.