Travail Waves

Chapter 1 Childhood Part 1: Fragments of Memories that was Worth Remembering

A little girl squeals all by herself on a cold night in the month of July.

Little Rielle was all snuggled up in the living room, with blankets and pillows scattered everywhere. She stares at the TV, where a child actor plays his part in the series that the child is watching.

"Mommy, I don't want to sleep yet," said the child on the screen.

"Makinig ka sa Mommy mo." calm and soft, the adult started humming a lullaby.

The little girl that was watching was in so much comfort, even without the warmth of a mother on a cold night. She hugged her teddy and lay down comfortably with the lights off, and only the light from the TV was the only source of light inside her space.

She couldn't help but smile and feel flutters while watching the whole episode, clearly having a crush on the child actor.

With his pale white skin, noticeable thick yet attractive eyebrows, and mesmerizingly cute eyes, Rielle would roll over and around the blankets and would sometimes cover her tinted cheeks with her pillow.

"Sana'y di magmaliw ang dati kong araw,"

Shivers rush throughout the little girl's body as the motherly figure on the screen whispers notes of lullabies.

"Nang munti pang bata sa piling ni nanay."

The little girl forgot about her crush all of a sudden. 

Hearing the lyrics of the lullaby didn't make her sleepy, but it made her heart feel like it was being emptied.

Have all mothers really been like that? Or is it only living on screens for shows?

"Nais kong maulit ang awit ni inang mahal."

A faint smile was only visible as the child tried to recall the things that her mother once did when she was a baby, even she couldn't recall, she hoping that it would be at least the same as what was shown on the screen.

But only the unfamiliarity was the feeling that she has felt.

"Awit ng pag-ibig, habang ako'y nasa duyan."

Is it because I'm growing? That must be it. 

I guess that's why I can't recall a thing.

Little Rielle cheered herself up because she knew it's silly to cry about such little things, but one of her tears betrayed her.

Swallowed by confusion, jealousy conquered when the figure on the screen was a mother singing a lullaby to her son. She shook her head and wiped the tracks of a drop of tears on her cheeks.

The child made her bed with blankets and pillows on the floor as she tucked herself in. She let the TV run on throughout the night as she heard the interview with the child actor after the very episode ended.

"What's your name, my dear child?" the host asked.

The little kid answered with a smile on his face while looking at the camera. "Dillon Sebastian..."

The child finally fell asleep all by herself.

She was nine on a Friday night in July.