Pursuing from the Shore

Prologue

PROLOGUE

The clock ticks softly in the background, its rhythm unnoticed. I don't bother keeping track of time, not because I can't, but because I enjoy losing myself in it. I prefer silence, being the quiet observer, listening rather than speaking.

As a kid, I struggled with memory. Unlike my twin brother, who picked up words effortlessly, I stuttered, my sentences tangled and unclear. Even at four years old, I found speaking difficult, as if my words were slipping from my mouth in broken pieces.

But someone once helped me overcome that. Because of them, I started writing. My father used to read me stories before bed—tales of adventure, fantasy, and places so vivid that I wished, just once, to step inside them. But life doesn't always go the way we want. Time moves forward, fate remains untouchable, and not everything is within our control.

People change. Their reasons may be valid, their choices understandable, but that doesn't erase the consequences. I learned this when someone I deeply admired became someone I could no longer recognize. It shifted my perspective. Still, the scars and the lessons they left behind stay with me.

Whenever I want to shut out the world, I write. I create stories of perfect lives, of places I long to exist in. But life isn't perfect, and reality never fails to remind me of that. Even so, I write, not for anyone else, but for myself. Because in my stories, I am never alone. The characters I create, the worlds I build, they stay with me. And through them, I find a connection that lasts.

"Good evening... Masaya akong makausap na kayo for the first time."

I shifted around and stared at my computer set and then strove not to speak in awkward ways through my tiny microphone. Madilim ang kwarto ko at tanging mga pulang LED lights na lang ang nagsisilbing liwanag dito, kasama na ang PC na kaharap ko.

My eyes were completely glued to the screen as I read through the comments. It was my first time doing this, so I felt like I really needed to give it my full attention.

"I finally reached thirty thousand followers on Hey-Pen. Salamat po sa walang sawang pagsuporta sa pinakaiisa kong nobela."

I giggled as I carefully watched the swiftling comments from the monitor.

Hey-Pen is a writing platform for many aspiring writers in the world. And just what I said earlier, mayro'n akong nag-iisang nobela na kasalukuyang tumatatak sa mga mambabasa.

And somehow, that little achievement sparked something in me, a drive to write even more novels. My readers and followers have been nothing but supportive, and I genuinely love how kind they are. Their words, even the smallest comments, mean the world to me.

Writing stories, poems, novels, this isn't just a hobby. It's a part of me. Every piece I write holds something deeper. They are not just products of imagination; they are fragments of my soul I have decided to share.

Because in those moments of writing, it's not just about crafting a story I want to read. It's about feeling seen. Through the words I pour onto the page, I realize I'm not alone—and maybe, just maybe, someone reading them feels a little less alone too.

And I enjoy being lost to it.

It was one of my ways to express myself and my vast thoughts. I have tried writing different genres as well, paborito ko rin ang dark fantasy, but my current novel that was the only I published in Hey-Pen was entitled Utopia and Hell, a science-fiction novel.