Sinag

Chapter Three

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Esperanza

Hope.

In the midst of the unknown, dark abyss where I have been standing my whole life,

Out of nowhere in my life, I was found.

Despite being locked in the dark,

I suddenly found hope.

Never in my life have I ever planted such an emotion in my heart, yet... it unexpectedly and magically grew.

And now, it is starting to slowly bloom.

"Aren't you going to the padre's office?" I looked at the clock hanging on our wall, then back to Mary, who's lying down on her bed.

"He's busy." she casually said before closing her eyes.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yup. He told me to just go back tomorrow."

"But I just saw him outside, chatting with the nuns." Mary shrugged,

"I don't know. Maybe he's already done? Or is taking a short break?" she shrugged, and I nodded my head, convinced of what she said.

"Yeah, maybe he is."

"Hmm. I'll sleep for a while, Hermana." I nodded, a bit suspicious of her tone of voice.

It was a bit lower than her usual tone. It feels... different.

However, despite having a weird feeling, I still chose to ignore rather than entertain it. I mean, maybe she's just tired after serving during the mass.

"Really, Padre?" I smiled widely, amazed by Padre Enrique's stories about how beautiful the place where he came from is.

Today is sunday, and after the mass, Padre Enrique asked me to come with him in his office, to chat a bit.

"Yeah. And then every dawn, we would sneak out of the church, to watch the sunrise."

"That sounds wrong... and fun, at the same time." I whispered.

He answered with a soft chuckle, "Well, we're wrong for not obeying our superiors that time, but we can't just let the sun fully rise without watching it."

"I have never ever experienced watching the sunrise, Padre. What does it look like? Do you know, that's one of my hermanita's biggest dreams!" Every morning, we aren't allowed to go out, after our morning bell, breakfast, and chores. We don't also have any windows inside our rooms. So we weren't really able to do such a thing.

"The sunrise... It always feels like I'm watching God paint the sky every morning. It is beyond the word mesmerizing, Esperanza. That's how I usually start my day, and I still do it. I mean, watching the sunrise, and not the sneaking part." We both laughed at his last statement.

"Oh, how I wish I could also watch it myself." I absentmindedly whispered, as I looked outside the window, at the blue bright sky.

The sky is already blue when we go out. It's always blue that we see. And a part of me wants to go and watch how different colors are combined as the sun rises and sets.

"You know you can always do that." I immediately looked at the padre's face,

My smile's now gone, "And you also know that I should not do that, Padre. We have rules. And rules are made for us to obey and follow. Not the opposite around."

"Well, I know that." he said, "But one morning won't kill you."

I stared at his eyes, "It can hurt me, Padre. It can even kill me."