Moonlight and You

04

I woke up without the heaviness in my chest that I'm always carrying when I was in Manila. Things became better than I expected.

We have great neighbors, may mga bata na ding kalaro si Aiyanna. Natatakot lang ako at baka magkanda dapa, maputi ito at kapag nagka peklat ay siguradong litaw na litaw.

I still haven't decided what business I should put in here. Boutique, book store, or furniture I guess.

Kung furniture store then I need some men, kapag damit naman hindi ko alam kung saan ako kukuha ng magandang tela.

Aiyanna was running towards me while holding my phone. "My! si tito Drix po hanap ikaw."

Yumakap ito sa hita ko paglapit sa akin. Kinuha ko dito ang cellphone ko. "Hello Drix?"

"Hi miss pretty, kamusta?" I laughed at him. Parang isang buwan kaming hindi nagkita.

"We're fine. Also I'm planning to build a store here, hindi ko alam if for clothes, or furniture ang ipapagawa ko. What do you think?"

"Hmm, pwede namang both ah?"

Tinignan ko muna kung nasa malapit ba si Aiyanna, nang nakumpira kong nakikipaglaro na muli ito ay saka ako muling nagsalita. "Gago, mukha bang kaya kong dalawa dalawa ang aasikasuhin?"

"S-sabi ko nga hindi diba, galit agad to eh." Nagkanda utal utal na si gago.

"Hindi naman ako galit. Pero ano nga kasi?" Pagkaklaro ko dito, hindi naman kasi ako galit.

"Ikaw ang bahala, pero para sa akin furniture, kasi diba maraming bumibili sa Paete ng mga nililok?"

What he said makes sense, Paete, Laguna is known for its generations of skilled artisans and their woodcarvings, from life-size statues of saints, to miniature sculptures and wall hangings.

"Thank you Drix." I ended the call and looked for Aiyanna. It's already lunch time but she's still playing.

"Yanna! kakain muna tayo, ayain mo din ang mga kalaro mo."

I prepared buttered shrimp, Yanna's favorite dish. Also fried fish, bulanglang with mixed veggies.

While eating, Yanna introduced me to the girl she said was her best friend. Lia, she smiled at me sweetly, she even called me tita ganda.

"Tita ganda, you know po ba when I saw Aiyanna may nakikita po ako sa kanya. She looked like my tito po eh, or baka namalikmata lang po siguro ako?" Saad nito habang pinagbabalat ko ng hipon.

I chuckled. "Baka kamuka lang Lia."

Tumango ito. "Alam mo ba tita ganda?"

I looked at her and shook my head. "What is it Lia?"

"Hindi po talaga kami taga dito sa Kalayaan. My mother just ran away from my father to hide me." Aiyanna and Lia both laughed. Seriously 4 and 5 years old understand that? What the freak.

Around three pm, nang sinundo si Lia ng nanay niya saamin. I can't stop my thoughts as I remember Elara's face, she looked like someone I know.

Nagkayayaan kami na pumunta sa falls. Kasama ko sila Elara, sabay sabay kaming naglalakad patungo sa falls. Maraming falls dito, at may swimming pool pa running water galing ang tubig sa falls.

Malamig ang tubig kahit tanghali, lalo ang tubig sa falls, mas malamig pa sa syota mong papakasalan ka pa daw.

Sa ibaba kami ng falls naligo dahil masyadong mataas ang swimming pool, hindi abot ni Lia at Yanna.

Exact four thirty, nang nag aya ng umuwi si Yanna dahil nilalamig na daw sila ni Lia, my baby found a bestie huh.

Habang naglalakad pauwi ay dumaan kami sa kalapit na tindahan ng pizza. Sabi ni Elara ay masarap daw ang tinitinda na pizza rito.