Pagod na pagod ako no'n.
The kind of exhaustion na kahit nakahiga ka na, pakiramdam mo tumatakbo pa rin utak mo.
Training that morning was horrible. Hindi maganda ang chemistry ng team. Sunod-sunod ang meetings sa University pagkatapos. Then idagdag mo pa iyong endless messages sa phone ko na puro problema na kailangang ayusin.
By midnight, gising pa rin ako.
Nasa condo lang ako, nakaupo sa sahig habang nakasandal sa couch. TV playing quietly in the background habang hawak ko ang phone ko, mindlessly scrolling just to distract myself.
Then may nag-send sa GC namin, nakamention ang isa kong teammate.
"Pre, bagay kayo nito. Pareho kayong baliw sa volleyball."
Kasunod no'n, isang clip. Napailing pa ako bago ko pinindot. Pero pag-play ko, doon ako natahimik.
It was a collegiate volleyball game. Loud crowd. Bright lights. Commentators screaming after every rally. Pure chaos.
Then the camera followed one player.
A setter.
Siya iyong tipo ng player na hindi mapakali. Laging tumatakbo. Laging sumisigaw. Laging may energy kahit mukhang pagod na lahat sa paligid niya. She chased the first ball near the advertising boards, saving it one-handed before sprinting back to position. Then another touch. Clean set. Perfect timing.
Point.
The crowd exploded habang tumatawa siyang nakikipag-high five sa teammates niya na parang pickup game lang ang nilalaro nila.
Doon ako napatitig. Hindi dahil magaling siya. Marami namang magagaling. Pero iba siya.
Habang lahat mukhang nilalamon ng pressure, siya parang buhay na buhay lalo. Parang ang gaan ng mundo kapag nasa court siya. And God. That smile after every point. Parang walang pagod. Walang takot. Walang iniisip.
Samantalang ako? Even during good games, my brain never stopped working. Adjustments. Rotations. Mistakes. Next play. Next set. Next problem. Laging may kailangang i-control.
Kaya siguro hindi ko namalayang inulit-ulit ko iyong clip niya. Then another one. Then another. Hanggang sa hindi ko na napansing kabisado ko na pala ang pangalan niya.
Ezra Elliot Zabel.
I followed all her socials without even thinking twice except her IG. At first, hindi ko naman inisip na magiging big deal siya. Akala ko isa lang siyang athlete na interesting panoorin. Pero habang tumatagal, hinahanap-hanap ko na ang presence niya nang hindi ko namamalayan.
And slowly, she became my favorite part of exhausting days.
BINABASA MO ANG
That Volleyball Player
Fiction GénéraleEzra Elliot Zabel is known as The Phenom of volleyball in the country. Unfortunately, instead of playing as a professional player, she chose to study law. Axeia Zadie Tejano, one of the famous volleyball players that Ezra has an eye for. Not only be...
