PHASE 0: AUDITIONS

Applicant #40: The Lost Pepe

APPLICANT #40: THE LOST PEPE

I COULDN'T remember when this exactly happened, but it was a long time ago-when living was still fresh and simple-in the middle of a thick, virgin forest where a boy named Pepe lived.

Pepe, as every other kid could be, was playful and energetic. All he wanted to do all day was play, play, and... play! There were no other people living in the forest except for him and his mother.

One day, Pepe's mother had to go and find food for the incoming rainy season. She said to him:

"Don't go anywhere far in the midst of the forest while I'm away, my dear. If you play, just play inside the house. The heart of the forest is dangerous."

Pepe's mother set out immediately after giving him several reminders.

A day had passed and Pepe grew tired of playing alone inside the house. He missed playing with the elf living at the heart of the forest that his mother never knew.

After thinking repeatedly, either to go or not to go, he then decided to sneak into the forest and play with his pal while his mother was away.

As Pepe was going through the woods, his elf friend welcomed him eagerly while jumping silly up and down, pointing something behind a tree. "Look, Pepe! Look!" the elf shouted.

Curiosity overcame him. He stepped to look closer for he thought that he might find someone to play with on it when the tree the elf pointed immediately shook. A big, black hole accumulated with swirling illusions that swept Pepe in!

He screamed loudly but his voice shrank until nothing could be heard and everything blacked out.

"WHERE am I?" Pepe asked when he finally woke. A strange noisy object with three wheels appeared in front of his eyes-a tricycle, as the people called it. He jumped aside quickly.

The man maneuvering the strange thing yelped him curses. He ran as fast as he could away from those peculiar things.

Pepe fidgeted. Where was he?

He wandered around the place while coughing time by time. All he smelt was dirty, black air-opposite of the fresh air on their home- coming from the strange two-wheel, three-wheel, four-wheel moving things! He, too, looked stunned at the tall, rectangle structures where people came inside and out.

His feet stopped at a place where many little kids like him sat. His eyes twinkled like he had seen a pot of gold.

The place was bizarre for him because of the equipments inside it with the labels SLIDE, SEESAW, SWING, and many more, but it was called playground as the sign on the entrance said. It looked like a nice place to play.

He exhaled happily while observing the place. The best part he observed: the kids like him! They could play, play, and play all day!

He went inside the playground, skipping joyfully.

Pepe halted at the front of the kids. "Hello!" he greeted, smiling cheekily.

The kids just stared at him curtly and looked away immediately back to the square and rectangle things on their hand, tapping just like they were playing.

Pepe's smile fell. Didn't they want to play with him? He wanted to see what the other children were holding-with moving animals, fruits, and people inside-so he went to their back and asked:

"What is that thing?"

"An iPad, can't you see?"

An iPad? He moved to the other kid and asked again:

"What is that thing?"

"A cellphone, can't you see?"

A cellphone? He moved to the other kid and asked again:

"What is that thing?"

"A tablet, can't you see?"

A tablet?

Pepe scratched the back of his head. "What are those things?"

"They are gadgets," out of nowhere, somebody spoke. "Kids use that nowadays to play."

The boy who spoke looked like his elf friend but Pepe shove the thought away that it might be his friend when he realized that the boy was way taller than the elf.

"They play using that?" Pepe queried, unbelieving.

The boy just nodded.

"Do they know Tumbang Preso?" he asked.

The boy shook his head.

"How about Harang Taga?"

"No," the boy answered.

"Pitik Bulag, that, they play?" Pepe asked hopefully for the third time but the boy just shook his head again.

His heart swelled. How came that these small kiddos like him didn't know those games? He and his friend elf used to play those.

Pepe looked to the other children again while beside the boy. They were happy by their mobile phones and tablets alone using their hands and fingers.

"How come did that happen? What happened to them?" he asked, sadly. "You- what's your name? Do you know the games I've said?"

"I'm the modern Pepe," answered the boy nonchalantly. "No, I don't know the games you said, either. I taught them to play computer games."

Pepe turned his back away and ran. He couldn't believe it-the modern Pepe?

He was Pepe and he knew how to play those traditional games. And this modern Pepe-he was just like the other kids. He didn't know any of those games!

How, now, was the Tumbang Preso, the Harang Taga, the Pitik Bulag, and so much more fun traditional games? Were they truly replaced by the modern Pepe?

As he ran, he didn't know where he was going. He looked behind only to see the modern Pepe looking at him intently and everything turned black.

Now, I couldn't remember when this exactly happened, but it was still resuming until today-when all children had their own mobile phones, tablet and computer-in the middle of a heated, wicked world where all Pepe were lost... and hopefully could be found again someday.