counted

huli. Forgotten Summer

when you're gone
and i'm alone remembering
old summer,
blue sunrise and peach sunsets,
oh, it burns me
I said I'd do everything
but not forgetting your name

Forgotten Summer, Nuelin Sinyus

It took a person for love to dream, and it took passion and a chance to capitulate for a dream to have a name.

Four years ago was a prime year of DioMZ. We had a world tour. We had also sold millions of our album. It was forever be a history that may some forget easily, but not for me, not for us who went through so much. After two years of pool of sweats, breakdowns, being burnout and harshly disregarded, our third year album, YSummer, was a hit.

yellow yesternight
pink ashes of 3 pm
running around, swimming deep
your nowhere presence can't beat the heat

Even in some places, our song Forgotten Summer was still playing after a few years. It always made me warm despite a day of heavy paper works.

"Katulad pa rin ng dati?" I nodded at aling Lita when she asked.

I had been buying bouquets of strawflower from her. For almost four years.

"Salamat. Ingat ka sa biyahe," she said, giving me an amiable smile, her wrinkles crumbled.

Two years ago, DioZM disbanded. It was a voluntary decision. Vin opened his sweet shop, Yanlu was still acting in Hollywood, Hulios was already happily married, and Raphael had continued to study in college.

Since my degree was in Business, I took a branch of my mother's food chains. I had been living in Philippines for almost three years. I didn't go anywhere after our last concert.

I parked my car beside a Nara tree. It was past two in afternoon. After a few minutes, children in uniform started to come out. I pushed my hair back as I went out and stood not far away from my car, at the place where I could be easily spotted.

A curly-haired little girl in pink checkered jumper dress waved to her classmate before running towards me. She was like a big ball jumping on her way.

"Hey, Didi! Are we going to Mimi today?" she asked as I carried her.

I kissed her flustered cheeks. Those were like siopao that Yanlu used to make on his vacation.

I smiled at her and nodded. "Yep, are you excited?" I asked as I put her in the seat on the backseat, and put around her seat belt.

She flashed me her toothy grin, and as if her eyes twinkling as she nodded energetically. I loosed a laugh to her answer on the way to the driver seat.

"How's your day, by the way, little love?" I looked through the mirror as I asked her.

I drove the car after a red one passed by. Her Mimi's place was nearby so we moved a bit slower.

I saw her flexed her arm full of stars, with a bigger smile. She was already in her last year of kindergarten, and still looked as piglet.

"I did great! Miss Ae tought us addition and I got an A+! I feel smarter than Mimi!" she said and laughed loudly.

"So haughty, ah."

"No. I'm really smart, way more than Henrick!" I saw her crinkled her nose as she mentioned Hulios' son.

I chuckled. This piglet was a real bully. She continued to tell how she aced her activities and how she was smarter than Henrick.

I parked my car beside a black SUV. I undid my seatbelt and Rudit's, the piglet. I got the bouquet before closing the door.