The Heart Remembers What The Mind Forgets

Chapter 02

We are welcomed by the busy streets and humid air pagkatapos bumaba ng kotse. Kadarating lang namin sa mansion na ngayo'y aking tutuluyan. It is owned by my son, who lives far away from where I reside. I finally decided to live with his family after years of persuasion from him. I'm an old man already, and as far as I wanted to live alone and not be a burden to anyone, he insisted on taking me in.

Thiago's phone rang, which he quickly answered after a few rings.
"Lo, dad wants to talk to you." He handed the phone over to me, which, by the way, was on speaker.

"Hello, Sir, I'm sorry I can't show my presence to greet and welcome you. I'm at the hospital; Marinella needs me." he heaved a sigh.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to addressed me like that. I'm your father not your superior, Celestino." I reminded him before continuing, "You don't need to, I understand your wife needs you by her side." to assure him.

Narinig ko ang kanyang malakas na buntong hininga.

"Uuwi ako pag naging maayos na ang sitwasyon dito Papa." rinig sa boses niya ang pagod at stress.

"Hindi mo kailangan mag madali at ayos lang naman ako dito. Thiago's here, so you don't have anything to worry about. Now go and focus on taking care of your wife. Also, give my regards to her." wala na siyang nagawa kundi sumang-ayon nalang.

Pagkatapos naming mag-usap ay sinalubong kami ng kanilang kasambahay na si Lordeth.
She's in her middle age; she's been with the family since Celestino was still in high school.
She gave me a bright smile at tinulungan si Thiago na maipasok ang mga gamit sa silid na tutuluyan ko.

Iginiya niya ako patungo sa silid na malapit sa gilid ng hagdanan. May kalawakan ito at may mga lumang furnitures, pati ang desinyo ng kama ay mayroong makalumang estilo pero nasa magandang kundisyon pa naman.

"Parang andami atang gamit sa silid na ito." sabi ko pagkatapos ilibot ang aking paningin sa kabuan ng silid.

"Ay Señor ang iba dito ay galing sa dating mansyon niyo at dinala lamang dito noong paglipat nila Sir Celestino." paliwanag niya.

"I didn't know that some of these things are from the old mansion and were moved here. " I raised my eyebrows as for some of the furniture and things were not familiar to me.

She was about to answer me when her mouth stop halfway. It was like she realises her response were not what she supposed to say. So she just gave me an awkward smile as she turn and said, "Utos po iyon ni Madam." Which made my eyebrows shot up.

"I didn't know Marinella was interested in old stuff." she didn't say anything about what I said at nakangiti paring inayos ang mga gamit bago naglakad patungo sa pintuan ng silid.

"Maiwan ko po muna kayo Señor para makapagpahinga. Alam kong napagod kayo sa byahe, tawagin ko nalang po kayo kapag nakahanda na ang hapunan." and with that she close the door and left.

I walked towards the side of the bed to take a seat when the painting hangs above the headboard caught my attention. It has this vibrant color of yellow, green, and brown that are harmoniously blended. Hindi ako pamilyar sa mga estilo at characteristics ng painting pero ayon sa nakikita ko, this was painted through brush strokes of colors that can give a picture of a huge tree and trimmed san francisco at it's side. You can also see a swing at the right side of the tree.

Ang aliwalas nito tignan and it looked like an image from a fairytale book. It was beautiful, no even more of that. The more time I spend staring at it the more it felt familiar, something that I have been or seen before.

•••

Patapos na kami sa ginagawang konstruksiyon sa bakod ng mga Caballero sa kanilang mansyon. Inabot kami ng halos tatlong buwan sa paggawa rito sapagkat ay mano-mano ang gawa namin.