"Wake up."
A cold voice along with my head banging against the window woke me up from my deep sleep. It took me a moment to process where I am when I looked outside. Tall trees lined up on both sides, green fields and grazing animals, a muddy path now leading towards an old gate, it's definitely where I think I am.
Ah, I thought I was only dreaming.
As soon as we got near the gate, natanaw ko agad si Tita Matilda na binubuksan ito at may malawak na ngiti sa labi. I looked around the area and saw how big it was. The last time I went here was when I was 8, before we moved somewhere farther from our last house. The 3-hour drive became an 8-hour drive which prevented us from coming here more frequently.
Now, looking at the improvements of Tita's small garden amazes me. Back then, she only had a bed of onions and tomatoes but now, she has various types of plants planted everywhere. I also saw a greenhouse nearby and coops of chickens.
This is definitely the type of place every cottagecore lovers would kill to have.
"Labas."
I stopped observing the surroundings and met my father's eyes on the rear-view mirror. He did not utter any word aside from that and only stared at me, waiting for me to get out of his damn car.
Hindi na ako sumagot pa at lumabas nalang. Of course, he's not going to repeat himself. Sumunod lang siya at binuksan ang trunk ng sasakyan bago kausapin si tita Matilda. As they talked to each other, I went to the back of the car to get my things. He's obviously not going to help me with them anyway.
"Cleo! Iha, ang laki mo na," tita Matilda suddenly appeared behind me. I gave her an awkward smile in return. Wala eh, inaantok pa ako at hindi pa handang makipag socialize.
"I'll leave her to you, Matilda. Don't worry, she has money with her so you can ask her to split the bills with you," he said before giving me a side-eye. I was about to roll my eyes when Tita Matilda laughed.
"Ano ka ba. She's my niece, Gaston. Bakit ko naman yun gagawin?"
"She's not here for a vacation so don't be too soft on her," sagot naman niya. "Anyway, I'm running late for my meeting on the town nearby."
"Kailan ka babalik, Gas?" tanong ni tita.
I sighed while kicking the stones on the ground softly. Paulit-ulit niya itong sinabi buong linggo kaya alam ko naman na ang isasagot niya.
"When she pays off all of her debts," he sternly said before getting in his car. He didn't even give us a final glance before leaving and we stood there as we watch his classic Mercedes disappear behind the gates.
Nang makaalis siya, binigyan ako ni tita ng malawak na ngiti at inabot ang maleta ko.
