SABOTAGING MY WALKOUT QUEEN

MEETING HER 12

STUNNING MOONLIGHT

Athena's P.O.V.

"There you are!" I felt happy and relieved when I saw the gold flag. It was still hanging there, the same way how we left it this morning - as if never been touched. I carefully stepped on the large root, hugged the tree and slowly took the flag from the tree's branch.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Ang hina naman ng mga Junior students na 'yon! Hindi nila ito nakita? Masyado ba silang maliit para hindi man lang mapansin itong gold flag? Eh nakasabit lang naman ito sa isang sanga.

Slowly going back to the ground with scattered leaves, I found myself sweating profusely. At first, I wasn't able to realize that organizing the Annual Camp could be all this tiring. As I checked myself, some beautiful and white amor secos¹ were already attached to my shoes and pants, so I had to fix myself first before I decided to go back to the camp.

When I reached the corner of my self-made trail, nalito na ako kung kakanan ba ako o kakaliwa. I lost track of pebbles na inilalagay ko sa bawat daang nililikuan ko. In the end, I decided to take the way on the left and just continued to walk.

I glanced at my wristwatch and found that it had already been an hour and yet, I couldn't find my way out. I always ended being on the same spot. I realized that I always came back to this old tree where I got the gold flag for umpteenth time already. I took a different route and yet, the same thing happened to me. I started getting nervous and deep inside, panic began to eat me. I was eager to do something but I knew that I couldn't do anything.

Oh my God, am I lost?

I tried another route pero mukhang napunta naman ako sa mas masukal pang parte ng gubat. I wasn't get easily scared but I must admit, takot ako sa ahas! Sino bang hindi? I became even more nervous when darkness started to spread across the whole place. I stopped myself from imagining things because it would only do me no good, and only God knew how I would be able to survive in this kind of situation.

Wala akong dalang flashlight kaya umasa na lang ako sa ilaw na nagmumula sa cell phone ko. Nakakainis pa na wala man lang signal dito. I tried myself to reach everywhere. I even jumped and climbed from some small tree branches hoping to have even just one bar of signal but to no avail.

Wait! Sabi ni Ate Paula... kapag naliligaw ka raw ay kailangan mo lang baliktarin ang damit mo and you will soon find your way back.

I wandered my eyes to check the surroundings. I guessed, there was no harm in trying. There was no one here other than me so nobody would see me taking off my clothes. Then, I started reversing my blouse and pants...

I was already done reversing my clothes and continued on my mission to get back but still, I didn't see any signs that I was close to the camp. And with the turn of events, napalitan na ng takot 'yong kaba na nararamdaman ko lang kanina, nang magsimula pang umulan.

I wasn't expecting that the rain would be this heavy. Basang-basa na ako pero wala pa rin akong nasisilungan. Nanginginig akong napayakap sa aking sarili. Nangangatog na rin 'yong mga tuhod ko sa tindi ng lamig. I was clearly trembling in fear. Some people would already get a traumatic experience just by staying here. Pero iniisip ko na lang na mas nakakatakot pa nga ang lahat nang naranasan ko kay Daddy.

"Tulong!" Hindi ko na napigilan ang sarili kong sumigaw nang mamatay na ang cell phone ko. It was waterproofed but its battery already went dead. I knew it was impossible, but I was still hoping that someone could actually hear me.