He was my first love. He is the person who has the ability to make fantasies into realities. And just by looking at him, my fantasies about meeting a prince that would sweep me off my feet seem to come to life. Everything seems to be so real and within reach. But of course, dreams are for sleeping. They ended the moment you open your eyes, and my dreams are not an exception. They fade away the moment I opened my eyes as the sunlight goes though the blinds of my window. The beautiful moment of me and him walking hand in hand in a beautiful garden was gone. All that was left is me sitting in my bed with tears in my eyes and longing in my heart.
As the day goes by, I remained a stranger to him and him, a person I will always love. But despite everything, I’m still thankful because I get a chance to see him smile and hear his laughter. But little did I know that my dreams will come into reality.
One afternoon, as I was walking my way to my favourite spot which is a rooftop garden on the tallest building in school to witness the spectacular view of the sunset reflecting the nearby sea before I go home, a little girl approached me. She was about five years old. She was holding a big orange rose. She gave me the rose and smiled innocently. I smiled back at her and asked where it came from. The little girl just smiled and run the way little girls do.
Although confused, I continue to pace my way to the rooftop. It’s still a little early before sunset but I liked to stay at the rooftop to watch the sea touched the horizon or smell the flowers in the garden. And though I like to be around people, I sometimes prefer to be alone. I enjoy the moment of peaceful and calmness of being alone with my thoughts.
As I was a few blocks away from the rooftop garden, my best friend Nicolo approached me with a basket in his hands.
“It’s a bit heavy. Take it with you.” He smiled and walked away before I could say a word, leaving me totally confused. But then again, I discard any thoughts about Nicolo’s behaviour. Knowing him, he must have done something wrong against me that I didn’t notice and wants to make it up with me by giving me something.
As I entered the first floor where the rooftop garden is, I saw something that caught my attention. It is written in an orange paper and was glued on the wall at the top of the stairs. I took a moment and read what was written in the paper:
The moment I saw you laughing with all your hearts, I realized that I want to know you more. You’re the only person I know that could laugh and see the goodness of things even in the darkest days.
How sweet, I thought. And again, I continue to climb the stairs and eager to sit on a rocker overlooking the horizon. Another reason why I love to stay at the rooftop is that, whenever I’m up here, it seems I am looking into another world. I sometimes wish that if people could just, for one moment, took time to stop and see the world from a different perspective, they would see how beautiful it is, and whenever I’m up here, it seems like the time stood still for me to be able to enjoy something so magical and it takes a closer look to see that there is a whole new world out there that lies beyond the reality, something that exist only in dreams, something simple yet very extraordinary when you look at it with your heart.
I was lost in my thoughts when I reached the last stair of the second floor when suddenly, I stepped into something. When I looked into the floor, I saw some colourful chalks scattered around. And then, there’s writing on the floor that says “look up.” Though not for me, I looked up anyway and was so surprised with what I saw. It’s a picture of me on the rocker chair watching the sunset. One of the sunsets I will never forget. It is still fresh in my memory how the blazing orange and pink strakes colouring the horizon. I marked that sunset as one of the most special because it’s the same day my first love smiled at me for the first time.
