My grandmother and I bought ice for us to drink since it's summer and the heat is crawling onto our skin. While we were walking to our house, people started running and getting into their homes. Alarmed at what we saw, we also ran into my grandma's sari-sari store, which was attached to our house.
While we were at our store, a boy in a cap with a gun walked past our neighborhood. He looked like he was waiting for someone, he kept looking around and was walking back and forth. My grandmother and I was so confused and scared, so my grandma shouted to the boy, telling him what was he doing with a gun in our neighborhood, the boy looked at us and walked away.
After what happened, the boy came back again, but he was not alone. He brought his people with him. They approached our sari-sari store and talked to my grandma, but while they were coming close, I got up and walked inside our home since I got scared. My mother looked at me and raised her eyebrow. She asked what happened and I told her everything. Her expression changed into a worried face, so she went to our grandmother to see what was happening.
After a while, she came to me and told me what the boys were saying. "They told us you were a bully back then and you were bullying them, is that true?" My mom asked me with a worried expression. I was bewildered since I didn't even know all of them, "Mom, I've never met these guys ever in my life. Why would they say that?" I asked with a worried tone and a confused expression.
The night has come after those dangerous people came to our home. My family and I talked about what happened. After that, I went outside with a gun to protect myself from those people. While I was heading home, I felt something wasn't right and turned to my back. I saw one of those people and his gun was pointing at me. Before he pulled the trigger, I quickly shot him and suddenly a small explosion came out, it turns out the bullet in my gun has explosive in it.
I turned around and I was near to my house, but I saw one of those people again, who was also pointing his gun at me. I confidently raised my gun and pointed it at him. He backed off since he saw that I also had a gun. I was in front of our gate and I was opening it with my left arm while my other arm pointed at him and I pulled the trigger. The bullet didn't hit him, and that's where he took his shot. Right after he shot at me, I opened our gate and got inside. Thankfully, the bullet didn't hit me either.
~
Fast forward from my dream, my surroundings suddenly changed. I was living in a mansion with a big backyard. I was heading towards our backyard to check something, but I saw the boy in a cap again. He had a small chainsaw in his hand and was destroying one of our things. He looked up and saw me and his face turned into an outraged expression. Him getting angry at me was already a bad sign, but him suddenly throwing the chainsaw at me was worse. My eyes widened and I got startled. I quickly dodged the chainsaw, and I glanced at him. He was breathing heavily while looking at me furiously.
"Give me your land." He murmured. I stared at him, dumbfounded, "Why won't you give me your land!" He shouted this time. I kept staring at him, trying to observe his expression, until I finally said, "Okay, okay, I'll give it to you." I told him calmly. "Let's get your land." He stopped breathing heavily after hearing what I said, and his face slowly changed into an exhausted expression. I stepped towards him so we could be closer, but he didn't back off, so I locked my eyes on him.
We stared at each other for a while until I finally broke the silence between us. I engaged in a conversation about what the reason was for why he wanted our land. We started talking until the night came. We talked about how I would convince my grandfather by giving him part of our land, and if my grandfather would approve.
~
I walked to our terrace and sat on the chair, and I looked up at the bright moon. I was thinking about how I would persuade my grandfather. Above me was our balcony, which is where my grandfather was. It took a lot of time to make the decisions on what way to do it, but finally, I've now found a way.
I got up and headed upstairs to our balcony. I saw my grandfather sitting on the rocking chair, eyes closed, feeling the wind come into our balcony. I stopped for a few seconds to rethink my decision, but I scratched all of my worries and got the courage to walk towards him.
~
He rejected my offer. He immediately said no as I was telling him the part about sharing the land with the guy. Feeling sorry at my failed attempt, I sneaked into our backyard while everyone was sleeping. I told the boy in a cap to wait for me there. As I was walking outside our backyard, I found him in one of our cottages near our pool.
I saw him sitting in our cottage, so I sat beside him, putting a small space between us. He glanced at me and looked up and down. I was only in my nightgown and slippers, so that's probably why. He coughed and asked quietly, "How did it go?" I looked at him with a gentle expression and said, "I'm sorry, but he didn't approve." His exhausted expression came back after hearing what I said. He leaned on the bench, closed his eyes, and sighed. I moved a little closer to remove the small space between us and leaned on the bench too while staring at him.
"It's okay, I think we could get it, if we try again." I comforted him with these words. His eyes opened and he gazed at me. "I hope so." He came closer to my face, so close that our noses would touch. "Don't make me have high expectations." He mumbled. We stared at each other intensely. It felt like an eternity.
~
I stared at the sunset while leaning onto our balcony's rail. I kept thinking about the boy. Until now, I didn't even know his name. I'll ask him again when we meet. As I was looking at the scenery, I noticed people in front of our mansion. I glanced down and saw that boy again, his cap covering his face. I saw that he brought the people back with him, but this time without a gun. I was focused on him, only him. He looked up and we met eye to eye. He lifted his hand to his forehead, making his hand look like a gun, as we stared intently at one other.
~
And I woke up.
