Kwentong Kolehiyo

Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome

I wrote this at 4am, when I woke up dreaming of you. I didn't want the details to end up forgotten and trailing into unfinished sentences. I dreamt of your eyes, though they are also in my memories. The color so black and fathomless, I think they can pierce through the walls I so desperately try to build around myself. I never realized how beautifully fathomless black eyes could be 'til I saw yours. I also dreamt of your tall frame, and remember the feel of walking next to you, like I'm so small and insignificant.

But memories or dreams never do you justice. They're short and they fade. Which is why, everyday, I hope to create new memories I can store away or dream longer through the nights. I hope to see your rare smiles; the one that makes your eyes crinkle. You may think there isn't a difference, but your smirks are nothing compared to the real smiles I've only caught glimpses of. I wish I could also capture the look you get, when you adorably furrow your eyebrows and grimace. Its a look that says something like: 'are you serious' and 'you've got to be kidding me'. Or the way you looked in that suit and pink button- up while you practiced for the presentation in Earth Science. I try to futilely replay how amazing you were during that volleyball game I watched, but even that seems like a too distant memory. And I can't dream about your voice when you sing those random songs loudly (I don't know how you still manage to sound amazing). You also have your moments of sarcastic comebacks and biting remarks. Sometimes, you look so stoic, and it makes me feel like ice crawls across my skin and seeps into my veins. But when you laugh... it's sound wraps around me and captivates me.

Memories, dreams, and even these words don't seem sufficient enough. And yes, you're not perfect. But neither am I. Growing up, I realized: "It doesn't have to be perfect. It can be better instead." And you are so much better.

I will never compare you to a beautiful sunset or a shooting star or any sappy thing like that. Poets and fairytale writers have done that enough. For me, someone as rare as you cannot be compared to any thing so mediocre.

Maybe, one day, when I no longer dream of you and these memories of you are too hard to hold on to, you'll get a chance to read this. And I hope, at least, it will bring one of those rare eye- crinkling smiles to your face to know that somewhere out here, another person appreciated you and was amazed by you. Someone didn't just glance at you, but gazed at you and tried to see all the things that made you a masterpiece.

Dedicated to: Vyxen Vaughn Valenzuela

-The Hopeless Romantic
2014
College of Education