For the moments that are almost a whole story. May it be about love, growth, and even pain. An almost that is meant to be an almost.
Moments is a collection of short stories from varying genres. A quick read for those who want to experience a brief...
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The screams were enough to take me back.
It was the joyous burst of voices that sparks from the obtained liberty that the country was hoping for after hundreds of years of oppression, hurt, and abuse; after being enslaved in our own land, we almost forgot our own identity.
My figure remains standing, glancing from the nipa hut's open window to see the crowd of people who were all celebrating. My lips were sealed tight, conflicted as I cannot force myself to give a small smile that everyone has been sharing.
The pain of the revolution will forever live in me. All the cuts that turned into scars, and even all of the wounds that did not seem to heal haunts me, pulling my mind into a loop that forces me to remember every last bit; the rifle on the palm of my hands, the sound of bullets ringing in my ears, and the sight of his losing grip on mine as he slowly perishes on the battlefield. Perhaps that was the price that I needed to pay for also taking people's lives to gain this land's independence.
And now I realize that no one actually wins a fight. Because I fought and gave my all just to lose everything in the end. Thus, in this freedom, I still don't feel free.
My fingers traced the locket that hangs around my neck, a gesture I become accustomed to whenever I remember him. This cold piece of metal contained such happy memories and the sole promise that prompted me to join the revolution with him. A precious gift given by him on that one birthday of mine, the last one that we were able to celebrate.
To relive his presence that one day, I closed my eyes taking a deep breath to calm down my sighs.
"Take this as my promise. For now, I may not be able to bring you a ring, but when I come back, I promise that you'll see me grinning as I'm waving our country's flag freely. And then there and then, I will kneel in front of you to ask you to be my wife and finally be my home," he said after successfully placing the locket around my neck gently.
"A locket as a gift. Not so creative, but the words make up for it," I said in return, teasing him. My smile gave away to show that I was only being cheeky.
His dark brown solemn eyes only showed sincerity. I witnessed how it formed into the crescent shape of the moon when he smiled at my remark. Reminding me that he never fails to understand my humor.
"Open it."
I gladly obliged to what he ordered. His excitement was contagious enough as I also got the surge of that same feeling to see what's inside the tiny piece of jewelry.
Of course, it has to be photos of the both of us in sepia tone. The world must be nice enough to be able to capture how dashing he is in such limited colors. His photo reminded me, however, of how envious I am with the small pointy nose that his face was boasting. With all of the rounded facial features that I was born with; rounded face and dark doe eyes, I could never really call myself a beauty.
"Thank you. I am in love with it."
He clasped my hand with his and gave it a squeeze. "Keep it close to you whenever I'm not around, in that way you won't miss me too much."
My smile faltered. "You know that's impossible. Missing someone is something you can't control," I uttered. "Do we really need to wait just to get married?"
"I don't want to marry you while we're experiencing chaos," he answered. "That's not something you deserve."
I let out an exasperated sigh. There are no words to counter that.
He continued, "Let me marry you in peace."
My eyes traveled away from his stare. "We know that this revolution will be different. I might die out of worry as I wait for you." Whining was never my intention, yet what does someone expect in this kind of revolution?
"I'll come back, please hold on to that," he pleaded.
I stopped reminiscing as soon as those words replayed in my mind. At that certain time, my intuition served right. I doubted his words that he'll be able to come back, which prompted me to fight for the revolution alongside him in order for us to have that peace. A ridiculous one word that humans kept on disrupting.
Now that the country won the peace that it was wishing to have for countless years, the people are now celebrating it, while I was left here asking myself how could I?
How could I celebrate it when my own peace left with him...forever.
