Decay In Her Bones

CHAPTER 21

Mr. Placides was not correct at all, Bobby thought. He warned them about how the temperature in the place where they were headed to could plummet, only to find out that it was still an understatement. The coldness up there was almost unbearable, and the wind blew the strongest, an intensity that could almost make one fly. Campo Arriba turned out to be a hill: the highest point in the entire land mass of the Caleruega Retreat House. To get there, the students had to climb a steep earth inclination that was almost impossible to do. Some of them acted like kids running up against the challenge of the climb, but others, especially those who were plus-sized, easily got exhausted just within a few steps of trying. The force of the gravitational pull had strengthened after each step; the higher one went, the harder it became to take the next step. A small number of flat stones were put in the soil with half of it outside the surface to serve as stepping stones, but it wasn't a support enough even to give motivation to the struggling students.

The sheet of grass that covered the rows of small hills were brightly lit by the unimpeded sun. It looked hot in the eyes but the temperature had dropped and had eradicated any indication of heat coming from the blazing heavenly body. There were mushroom-shaped cumulus clouds forming in the eastern horizons and they looked reachable from where they stood.

After the relentless joy they felt while crossing the hanging bridge (which made most of them sick) and after surviving the feat imposed by the climb-a-steep-hill obstacle, they were finally rewarded with the most splendid landscape surrounding them. At the very crown of the hill stood an open-spaced chapel with a small stage and an altar at its far end. Slanted pillars stood around the floored space, supporting a triangular white ceiling that looked like a suspended tent. Campo Arriba sported a plain exterior, yet, its bizarre architecture which could easily get one's attention with its simplicity.

Mr. Placides and the other staffs joined forces in convening the incoming procession of students and formed them in organized circles. There were no chairs inside so they sat on the floor and ate on the floor. Nobody argued for the place was very tidy and the touch of holiness offered by the scenic view around them purified their nauseated selves. The fantastic tableau that laid itself around them acted as a stage of beauty that gave that particular eating experience an alien feeling to it. The only problem they had had was the unstoppable howling of winds coming from random directions. They blasted away plastic bags, made breathing a little difficult, and gave them chicken skins as the icy air slowly enveloped them from outside in.

Bobby and the rest of his friends formed a circle near the edge of the floor so that the slant of the hill laid bare directly in front of them. They ate merrily without hindering from bringing up conversations. Their topic went around how they found Caleruega, the food that their eating, and how they planned to spend the rest of the day. Mylene reminded the boys of the schedule indicated in the brochures handed to them during the orientation a week before. It turned out that they had a lot of free time immediately after lunch. Their conversation only went to a little drama when Daniel mentioned that this particular Retreat would be one of their last moments together in college. Only one semester remained before they would finally be facing the real world without each other's company.

Before going around the place like animals released from the cage, the students had to go to their designated rooms first to settle their bags, hang their clothes, and change. Regardless of their course, the batch of retreaters was divided based on gender. While the girls would be staying at a dormitory called Tomasino Hall, the boys were distributed to a number of cottages that looked like motel rooms which dotted the southern hillside. Each room contained four boys at most, but due to their inexact number, Bobby shared a room with Daniel and Randell. When everything was in place, they all went outside and convened at the meeting place one of them had set.