where will destiny take us?

"Shit."

I felt something squishy under my right shoe. May naapakan ako. Napatigil ako sa paglalakad, expecting for the worst.

"Val?" Narda stopped on her steps when she noticed I stopped. Dahil doon ay napatigil na rin sila Carl, Mary at Ethan.

"Why'd you stop? Male-late na tayo sa PE," Ethan reminded me.

"May naapakan ako." I looked down on my right foot, afraid to move it. "Something squishy."

Mary looked up to my face, mouth open. "Don't tell me it's..."

"Dog shit," Narda finished her words.

"The school is clean, Narda," Carl told her. "If that's really dog shit then you're really lucky, Val."

I glared at him for making me feel even worse. Slowly, I lifted my right foot to look at what I stepped on. A sigh escaped my lips when I saw it's not dog shit.

"Is that a frog?" Ethan squinted his eyes.

"Looks like it." Tinaas ko nang kaunti ang paa ko para makita ko pa lalo.

"It is." Mary shook her head, physically cringing on the sight. "Ew..."

I stared at the frog. It's small. And it's still moving a bit but after a moment, it stopped.

I killed it. It's dead.

Look how easy it is to die. If I'm also a frog like this, I don't know what I'll do. This frog is helpless against me. And I killed it without even intending to. I killed it without effort.

This is how easy life can end.

That must be painful for the frog. But that was just one burst and it's dead. What an ideal death. No more lingering pain.

I shook off the carcass of that small animal after having observed it. We continued on our way to the tennis court for our PE. We were a bit late but it's just PE. No one really cares.

But since late nga kami, courtside muna kami at pinanonood yung classmates namin na maglaro.

"This is boring," reklamo ni Carl habang nanonood. "Parang badminton laro. They can't even go past the serve."

"They're just beginners, Carl," I reminded him.

"Why don't you play?"

"Late nga tayo kaya 'di pa tayo pinapalaro."

"Pinatay mo kasi yung palaka," Ethan joined the conversation making me wanna smack him.

"Napatay, Ethan," I corrected him. "I wasn't intending to kill it."