Silakbo

Kabanata 3

Philippines, 2023
Month of August

Imogen.

"Shit, ouch."

I groaned from the piercing pain I felt in my nape. My eyes were blurry when I opened them as if they were shut for hours. My entire body felt nothing but achy too. Ano ba'ng nangyari sa akin?

I scrubbed my eyes for a second before I finally sat up from lying down on a solid surface. Hindi yata maganda position ng higa ko dahil nangangalay pa 'yung kanang kamay ko.

Nang makipag-cooperate na sa akin 'yung paningin ko, nagulat ako nang ma-realize ko na nakatulog ako sa sahig. Natatandaan kong dito ako dumiretso ng higa pagkauwi dahil suot ko pa rin 'yung outside clothes ko.

But I didn't remember deciding to sleep here. Kahit gaano pa ako tamarin, kapag inaantok ako, at least maghihilamos ako at magpapalit ng damit bago humiga sa kama — sa kama at never sa sahig.

God, this was so confusing.

I shooed away the confusion that was eating up my system and prioritized looking for my phone instead. When I found it by my feet, agad ko 'yong binuksan at doon tumambad sa akin 'yung messages ni Jace.

Pero ang mas nakaagaw ng atensyon ko ay 'yung oras. Ala una na ng hating-gabi.

Wow. Wow!

I was about to stand up, irritated at myself, when my glances landed at that envelope on the floor. I stared at it for a couple of seconds before the memories hit me like the speed of light.

Yes, I found a strange mail.

I broke its seal and read the letter it bore. A devastating letter which made my heart feel so heavy. So heavy to the point that I needed to lay down and close my eyes.

Shoot.

"Janine Pluma Vergel..." I mumbled as I typed her name on Google, asking her in my mind why do I have her letter as if she was living inside me.

But I noticed, ang ganda ng pangalan niya — like they came straight out of poetry.

It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search

I sighed in disbelief. Iisa lang 'yung nakita kong related sa kanya doon and it was an unofficial website with Silakbo as its page name. Wala siyang picture doon sa biography at name, school, course, little information about her life, and birthdate lang 'yung mayroon.

Janine Pluma was the editor-in-chief of their school's publication. She was also the president of Mass Communication Student Council and a member of Lualhati Party — a feminist movement created by the female students of Metro Manila. Other than above-mentioned, wala nang ibang nakalagay pa.

Taimtim lang akong nakatitig sa short biography niya nang may mapansin ako sa ibaba.

March 19, 1939: The day she was born.

My birthdate was March 19, 2002.

What the fuck.

We share the same birthdate!

God, I can feel the goosebumps crawling from my arms up to my nape; there were shivers coming down my spine too. Palaisipan pa rin kung bakit nasa akin 'yung letter niya. Paano pa kaya 'yung fact na nagsh-share kami ng parehong birthdate?!

Reading more about her, I saw that her life ended in 1959, making her only 20 noong namatay siya. Ano kayang ikinamatay niya? At sino siya at ano'ng kinalaman ko sa kanya? But I hope she's resting in peace at hindi siya nanghihinayang kung nasaan man siya ngayon. I'm sure she did great during her time.