The Living Fictions

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

May mga bagay na kailangan mong bitawan kapag nagiging komplikado na ang lahat. Lalong-lalo na't takot kang magkagulo sa pagitan niyo.

Just like what happened to me and Ryden, I knew that our parents are not in a good terms. Hindi sapat na magmahalan lang kami, reyalidad ito kaya hindi maging madali ang pagproseso ng mga bagay-bagay.

Kung sa mga libro, sapat nang magmahalan ang dalawang tauhan, pero sa reyalidad, hindi. You should look at your sorroundings kung may maapakan ba kayo o wala. That's why, pursuing someone you love is not easy at all.

Being with him might cause a big chaos to our families. Ayaw kong mabalik ang gulong nangyari sa kanila dati.

Ilang buwan na rin ang dumaan bago ko tinapos ang relasyon namin. Minsan ay nasusulyapan ko siya habang naglalakad, minsan naman ay nasusulyapan sa loob ng bookstore but I never got closer to him. It was like we're completely strangers again. Or worst than strangers.

We are now in grade twelve. I don't know if I could still call it unfortunate but we're not classmates anymore. Pero magkatabi lang naman kami ng classroom.

“Wow, ang daming votes pala, Dad!” Masigla kong wika kay Daddy habang ini-scroll ang website kung saan nakatatak ang mga votes ng bawat story.

“Anak, kinakabahan ako. Baka maraming may ayaw.”

I sighed. I don't actually think so. Marami kasi akong nakikita na comments online about how good his book was.

Within one month, Dad was able to finish writing his new book and it was published successfully. Right after he finished writing it, he published the whole book and within just two months, it became the new best-selling book. At ngayon naman, sinali niya sa isang writing contest ang kaniyang libro and it's now on it's second rank and still counting. Paramihan kasi ng mga votes and the deadline will be this midnight. Kaya pati ako'y hindi rin mapakali at kinakabahan rin but I just can't stop checking the votes from time-to-time.

“Dad, don't think negatively, okay. Mananalo tayo, I swear.”

“Eh magaling din yang nangunguna diyan eh. Ilang taon na iyang bestselling author, sigurado akong mas marami na iyang avid readers.”

However, dad might has no idea how popular he was. Even before, Gryphon Brave is already the bestselling author when he published the Unlively Heart. It became a hit and a lot of people loved it. Kahit nung una, I can say that Unlively Heart is one of the timeless book. It was written clearly and nicely. Halos lahat ng readers ni Dad dati ay nabuhayan ng kaluluwa when they knew that Dad is publishing a new book after almost twenty years of not being around. It was truly a huge comeback for him.

“Dad, remember that Gryphon Brave is also a good writer. One of the best.”

Napangiti siya. “I'm so lucky to have you as my daughter, anak. Simula nung sinusulat ko palang itong One Step at a Time, you and your mom are the people who always checks on me. Nagkakaroon ako ng inspirasyon para magsulat at magpatuloy sa bagay na talagang minamahal ko.”

“Dad, I'm just so proud that my dad is a writer. Wala man lang akong alam dati na ikaw pala ang author ng binabasa ko.” Pabirong iling ko.

“Halos nakalimutan ko na rin kasi, 'nak.”

One Step at a Time is the title of his book. He said that this is the spin-off of Unlively Heart. After the resolution among us, he come up with an idea to write something, the same story but this time is my Mom's point of view. They tell quite different narrations though because One Step at a Time stated the story of my Mom how she clear things up from her past and continue living her life freely. Nothing has chained finally. It tells how Mom lived her life with her family—which is us and how she try to make things better. How our family getting better as time goes by.