Unfinished Tale (✔️)

Epilogo

CUENTO INACABADO | UNFINISHED TALE
Wakas

Pilipinas 2033

"Why do you write?"

I smiled. That single smile of mine makes the whole arena where the book signing event was held went wild. Napangiti pa ako lalo bago nag-planong sumagot dahil marahil ay hindi pa maririnig ang boses ko sa sobrang ingay. The noises don't give an irksome feeling to me, instead, it was comforting, just like how I considered the noises long ago as comforting because living in silence is an invitation to my unwanted thoughts.

Their noises are comforting because they are my readers who have that proud smiles on their faces. Most of them were the ones who discovered my first journey as a writer when I started publishing my novels on a famous online platform. It reached a lot of readers, the reason why years ago, I was discovered. I was in my third year when my works have just instantly became well-known.

My readers became one of the reasons why I pursued my dream to become a published author and a content creator in a publishing company with the use of my Creative Writing degree as well, despite of the discrimination that I faced before because some people say that I won't make money with this degree. Degree programs related to arts here in the Philippines are often disvalued and looked down.

Noong college ako, kapag tinatanong ako noon ng mga pinsan kong nakakadaupang-palad sa University who were mostly from STEM strand before, kung ano ang program na kinuha ko, when I answer them that it's Creative Writing, they would say, 'Iyan lang? Hindi ba sulat-sulat lang 'yan? Ang dali lang pala.', and, 'You won't make money from that degree, Cleotha. Hindi ka mapapakain ng passion lang.'

The word 'lang' is very insulting. Hindi madali ang magsulat. You need to squeeze your creative juices in mind first before coming up with a story or with a plot, and that alone is hard, hindi pa kasali ang mismong paggawa. It's not easy to create a character's sketch. Everything in the field of creative writing is not a piece of cake.

Those insults and discrimination that I received from my cousins made me furious before, but I made it as an inspiration to continue what I'm doing in order to prove them in the future that they're wrong. That arts have a huge role in shaping this fucked up society.

Whenever I remember their insults, inaalala ko lang ang linyang tumatak sa akin mula sa isang movie. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. It was spoken by the iconic character from the movie Dead Poets Society in 1989, John Keating.

Nagbalik ako sa reyalidad mula sa pagkalunod sa pagbabalik-tanaw sa nakaraan nang mahimigang tumahimik na ang mga mambabasa ko sa pag-iingay. Hindi ko sila masiyadong makita dahil sa nakasisilaw na liwanag ng ilaw na nakatutok sa entablado. Today, I am the center of attention and that makes me feel awkward and happy at the same time. Nasa kalagitnaan pa kami ngayon ng live interview, at pagkatapos nito ay ang actual book signing na.

"I write because that's how I breathe, that's how I continue living, and it's the weapon to fight for my life whenever I'm standing on the land of the dying hopes," I responded with a smile on my face. Masigabong palakpakan ang naghari sa buong arena pagkatapos kong sagutin ang tanong. "And it's also the easiest way for me to express my emotions especially the unspoken ones, and I've been doing that since I was just a kid, writing whatever I want to write, writing whatever my emotions are, sadness, happiness, or even madness, because seeing my words embedded on a paper, I feel heard."

Mas lalong nagsipalakpakan ang mga taong dala-dala ang librong isinulat ko matapos marinig ang pahabol kong sagot. Magaan akong huminga dahil nakakagaan talaga sa pakiramdam na maparito sa harapan nilang lahat. It wasn't easy to be here in front of them all. It wasn't that experience like, I graduated from my degree, and boom, my chosen career bloomed that fast.