A Dragonfly's Dream

Prologue

December 29, 2003

I looked at Charise, Maya and Ria who were all busy talking. We had just finished dinner and it was time to freshen up in the powder room. As I looked at them, I made a mental calculation and realized that it had been almost six years since we graduated from Svelle High. Six years. That was enough to bring about plenty of changes. We certainly talked about more mature stuff, like our jobs and other things that people in their early twenties usually talk about. As I observed them though, I realized that the changes were more on the unseen. From the outside, we still looked pretty much the same. Charise's shoulder length hair was still painstakingly faultless. Her hair was just like her, come to think of it. Straight and no nonsense. There was not a single strand out of place! I always thought Charise was the most mature amongst us. Even when we were teenagers, she acted like an adult. Sometimes, I do feel that she grew up too soon.

Maya had eyebrows that were thick and eyes that were sharp. There is superstition that people with thick eyebrows are stubborn and unyielding. In this case, the superstition is true. She had a bit of a rough edge in her personality. But to her friends she was loyal as hell. Just between us though, I had always considered her to be a bit immature. But of course, I'd never tell her that unless I wanted to start a fight. And I knew well enough to avoid those.

Ria used to be really overweight back in Svelle. She got teased A LOT because of that. But then, sometime during our senior year, she somehow lost all those extra pounds much to everyone's shock. Nobody thought she'd be able to do it --- in just two months! That was the year she became an instant high school celebrity. I looked at her well-toned figure reflected on the mirror. You'd never guess that at one point in time, she'd been bullied because of her weight.

Me--- well, I was something else. I had such a soft face that I had to take effort just so people would not take me lightly. I always hated that. At that time, my hair fell into natural waves that seemed to have a life of their own. They stubbornly refused to go in the direction that I wanted. They were unruly and chaotic, and rarely made sense. Much like ----my life.

So, there we were. Four old high school friends. Our reflections in the mirror hadn't changed much. Only our concerns and issues did.

That night was significant. For one thing, Ria had just come back from America for a visit. She had studied in the U.S. for college and we hadn't seen her since. It was the first time in years that we were together. All four of us. It was an event not miss!

But there was yet another reason.

That too, was the night of his funeral. Somewhere, the guy who tormented me in high school in more ways than one, rested in a sealed casket ... his face unrecognizable. He died of a car accident. We found out when one of our former classmates, happened to pass by, and told Charise about the news. That was the subject of their high strung, animated conversation as I looked at them on the mirror.

As for me, I didn't know how to react or how I should feel. At first, I was somewhat indifferent. So what? It's not as if we were close or anything. It's not as if he played some major or important role in my life. Yet...there it was, a hint of sadness, so slight that I barely noticed it was even there.

He had teased me a lot back then ---James. He teased me so badly that one time, he even made me cry. Our teacher banished him to the seat farthest to mine in a feeble attempt to protect me. The humiliation I felt was astounding!

The winds of change did their playful trick sometime when we stopped being children, although not quite adults yet. From the farthest end of the room, I would catch him staring at me... and we would look at each other for a long time. It was the first time a boy had ever stared at me that way. It happened more and more often. Pretty soon, it was all I lived for.

Yet, he never said a word. He had stopped teasing me, true... but he never so much as came near me. I could never admit that I liked him. Our eyes spoke to each other often, but that was it.

Ah, but my friends knew the truth! Patiently, they listened to the countless number of poems and diary entries I wrote about him. I suppose they all found it entertaining! The silliest of them was the one entitled 'I loved you in my dreams'. Can you believe how naïve I was? When high school ended, I threw away my diary and silently said goodbye to him --- forever.

Or so I thought.

Who would have thought that a silly high school poem would be a prelude of things to come?