A Dragonfly's Dream

Chapter XXV- The Tree of Life

DREAM JOURNAL

The Tree of Life

I regretted I didn't tell him I loved him. If I had, we could've been together and our lives could have changed.

He was buried under a beautiful tree. It was the type of tree where one felt safe and comfortable. The kind of tree that took care of you as it provided shade.

I looked up at it and marveled at its leaves.

............

We were in a closed door meeting the whole day, and they required all phones off. I wasn't able to check my phone since this morning. That was pure torture. My hand was practically twitching, and I kept wondering if I got any messages from anyone. What if some old friend was trying to reconnect with me? What if there had been an emergency? What if people had been trying to contact me all that time and could not get through? I looked at the wall clock. Time seemed to move ever so slowly!

Speaking of mobile phones, I remember how back in high school having your own cell phone was a big thing. We had this classmate named Don. He had this really BIG white cell phone. He was carrying it around campus, obviously showing off. Back then, only CEO's and very successful or high powered businessmen had these really big mobile phones. To the rest of us ordinary human beings, it was totally out of the question. We could only gape at Don who was waving his gigantic phone ever so casually, as if it were nothing! The phone was no doubt given to him by his parents, as there was NO WAY a high school student could ever afford that on his own. I never imagined then, that I too, would one day, have something like that of my own.

My first mobile phone was a black Motorola. It was about an inch thick and perhaps seven inches long. I was already in college when I got it. It cost about Fifteen thousand Pesos, and back then, that was not a small amount. I couldn't believe that my mom had decided to get it! I treasured it dearly.

Then, modernity happened. These wondrous gadgets became commercialized, allowing practically every one in the world to get them. I can't even imagine how life would be possible at all without cellular phones now. And I can't believe that once upon a time, we all lived without them.

Finally, the meeting was over! Excitedly, I turned on my phone. I was overwhelmed with joy when it gave several successive beeps, as several text messages crowded their way in.

Actually, majority of them came from one person ---Rod. In fact, he even had a lot of missed calls. I could feel my heart race as I excitedly opened one message and started to read.

Rod: Sorry for how I acted the last time. Call me.

Hurriedly, I dialed his number. "What's up?" I asked, anxiously. "What's all this about?"

.........

I looked around me. A lot of my high school classmates were there. "And here I thought, I'd never attend a high school reunion." I whispered to Charise, who was sitting beside me.

She gave a little chuckle. "Well, you're the guest of honor, so it's not like you can simply pass."

"Very funny. And no, I'm not the guest of honor. I was merely invited."

Maya silenced us both. "Quiet, Rod is about to start his sermon."

If someone had told me back in high school that all these would happen, I'd have smacked that person right then and there. If someone had told me that James, who I was deeply infatuated with, would one day die, and his ghost would come back to haunt me, I'd have sent this person to the guidance counselor for some serious therapy. And I mean serious therapy. If someone had told me that Rod would one day become a pastor, and dedicate a mass for the salvation of an old friend's soul, I'd have laughed and thought it was ridiculous. And yet --- here we all were.