Night and Day

cute beginning

My name's Jade, and I play instruments, mainly the guitar. People often say that whenever I play my guitar, it sounds marvelous. They always state that every note sounds ethereal, like a daydream coming to reality.

I am an orphan, and I'm living at "Rizal's Bahay Kalinga" orphanage here in the Philippines. Back when I was young, my parents died. Now I'm thirteen and still at the orphanage. Sometimes, whenever they allow us kids out of the building, I go to the street where I can play my guitar. The street has a fountain where I can sit leisurely and play my guitar all afternoon.

3rd Person POV:
One day, while Jade was playing her guitar at her usual spot, sitting on the side of the fountain, an old guy wearing weird and seemingly outdated clothing spawned out of nowhere in front of her. He seemed to have heard the melody made by Jade's instrument and complimented her. "I like the way you play guitar do you want to teach at a magical school?"
Still in shock, Jade thought of the whole happening as a prank. She smirked at the old man and answered, "Yes." Jade thought nothing of it but a harmless reply to play with the old raggedy man's joke.

Out of nowhere, the old, ragged man reached inside his robe and pulled out a peculiar-looking pen while also seemingly spawning a piece of paper from the fountain Jade previously sat on. He gave the items to Jade, beckoning her to take them. An address of a park near the orphanage is written on the paper, and Jade thought it was very odd.

After interacting with the ragged man and seeing the sun depart, Jade decided to call it a day and went back inside the orphanage. While making her bed, Jade was reminded of the paper she was given and what the man had told her.

Jade's POV
"Me? Teaching in a magical school?" I muttered in disbelief while my eyes dropped as I became sleepy. I put the paper on the small table beside my bed and let my sleep take over me.

---

My shoot opened as I was woken by the alarm that blared around inside the dorm. All of us children did our daily routine, fixing our beds and proceeding to the dining room to eat breakfast.

Here at the orphanage, we have schedules and routines throughout the day. We are taught to clean, organize, and study just like normal children were taught by their parents. During breakfast, I was approached by our keeper, Aling Rose. She walked towards me with a smile adorning her face.
"Jade, perform ka mamaya may bisita tayo dito" (Jade, perform later for our visitors). She whispered in my ear.
"Okay po," I respond to her. Aling Rose smiled and left me at the table to continue my meal.

After we finished dining and our duties, we all proceeded to the room where our visitors at the orphanage were. I wasn't the only one performing for our guests. After Clarrese sang a song with her beautiful voice and the visitors complimented her talent, it was my turn to show mine.

I took my guitar and decided on what song I should play. Finally, I landed my pick on "Together Forever" by Rico J. Puno. Thus, I took my chair and the brown guitar the orphanage owned and started to strum the strings. Every chord seems to enchant the guests' ears. Their faces show how they melt to the tune, like a love potion slowly enveloping a person's mind.

This strangely only happens when I am the one playing the song. Even when others play the same tunes I played, they don't have that kind of effect I have. Even when we are playing in groups, I somehow, miraculously, still stand out.

Clapping surrounds the room after I finish my turn. I see my friend, Cheska, amongst the children and guests, smiling at me. I smiled and thanked the guests for the compliments as they kept showering me.

"Ang galing galing mo!" (your verry good at!)
"Sana lahat kayang gawin yung ginagawa mo" (I wish all can do what you just did) and a lot more.

After all that fiasco, it was time for our night routine. The day goes by as if nothing's new. And the day before that, and the day before that. On the fifth day after meeting the old ragged man, I finally decided to visit the address on the paper.

After finishing my morning routine and getting full, I went to the building's gate. There, I see our keeper keeping a watchful eye on the kids designated to clean the outside. I approached her stance and decided to ask permission to go out.

Thankfully, the keeper did not bat an eye on the peculiarity of the letter and let me run off, thinking nothing of it but child's play. It states in the letter, "A wall near a grassy field, a few walks from your orphanage." That was all there was in the letter. And so I began following the instructions.

Cheska was with me a while ago but went home to the orphanage without me after getting a hairpin. I followed the path to my destination, and I noticed several statues.

3rd Person POV
They were tall, but not too tall, almost as tall as an adult male, enough to intimidate a lone young child walking in the park aimlessly, like Jade. The tall statues are carved with historical paragraphs and dates from when the people in the statue originated.

On her path, Jade sees a vendor, an ice cream vendor! It was a delight for her to see, and with the little changes she got from playing her guitar in the streets, she decided to get some.
Now, her walk is a little more lively with the ice cream clutched in her hands.

During her walk, Jade noticed an old big arch in the park. By the time she reached the arc, it was four o'clock in the afternoon. She noticed it was getting a little and decided she'd go to the orphanage in a few minutes once she found the address on the paper.

"A WALL THERE ARE MANY WALLS HERE! ANO DITO?" (A WALL THERE ARE MANY WALLS HERE! WHICH WALL?) Jade murmured to herself, "Baka nababliw na ata ako, saka bakit wall?" (maybe I am going nuts, and why a wall?)

She exclaimed while still looking for it. This park is enormous.
What wall was that old ragged man saying? What does he want Jade to do? Go and try all the walls here in this massive place?

Jade's POV
As I keep walking, this question hangs in my head. I continue my journey for that specific wall. Why a wall? Maybe I was right that old dirty man was playing pranks and making fun of me!
Fifteen more minutes before my curfew, I am slowly losing hope for that wall. I keep touching the walls to find clues or whatever can lead me to the place.

Without noticing, my hand suddenly phased through the brick wall while I was walking. I only saw the anomaly once it started to suck my hand in all at once. I panicked as I tried to pull my arm out. Everything started going through the wall, from my arms to my shoulder, until my entire body began phasing through.

Is this magic? What kind of magic is this!? My whole body began feeling cold as it went through the brick. The brick looks like a liquid as I go through it. I closed my eyes as I descended into a world of cold and darkness.

Trampling over myself, I opened my eyes. I was met with coldness and white. What is this? It looks like a whole different country. Where the hell am I!?