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Myca, Angela, Cherry, Esha, Clare, Cath, Lara, Christian, Gab, George and Bryan:) ako yung pang12. hehe.
Loveyou Labs. xD
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Time Heals
Written by:
poison_aibs
When I was fifteen, my life changed forever.
I know that there are people who wonder about me when I say this.
They look at me strangely, as if trying to fathom what could have happened back then, though I seldom bother to explain.
Because I’ve lived here for most of my life, I don’t feel that I have to explain, unless it’s on my terms, and that would take more time than most people are willing to give me.
My story can’t be summed up into two or three sentences.
It can’t be packaged into something neat and simple that people would immediately understand.
Despite the passage of five years, the people still living here who knew me that year accept my lack of explanation without question.
My story in some ways is their story because it was something that all of us lived through.
I was, however, who was closest to it.
I’m twenty years old, but even now I can remember everything from that year, down to the smallest details.
I relive it often in my mind, bringing it back to life, and I realize that when I do, I always feel a strange combination of sadness and joy.
There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy could be gone as well.
So I take the memories as they come, accepting them all, letting them guide me whenever I can.
It is March 11, 2015, and as I leave my house, I glance around.
The sky is overcast and gray. I zip my jacket just a little. The temperature is cool, though I know it’s only a matter of weeks before the gray sky will give way to the kind of days that make our country one of the most beautiful places in the world.
With a sigh I feel it all coming back to me.
I close my eyes, and the years begin to move in reverse, slowly ticking backward, like the hands of the clock rotating in the wrong direction.
As if through someone else’s eyes I watch myself grow five year younger.
I see my hair changing from brown to black; I feel the wrinkles around my eyes begin to smooth, my arms and legs grow sinewy. Lessons I’ve learned with age grow dimmer, and my innocence returns as that eventful year approaches.
Then, like me, the world begins to change.
Suburban sprawl has been replaced with farmland; downtown streets teem with people. Men wear hats; women wear dresses. At the court-house up the street, the bell tower rings. . .
I open my eyes and pause.
I am standing outside the church, and when I stare at the gable, I know exactly who am I.
My name is Ivy , and I’m fifteen years old.
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My father tried to defuse situations whenever possible. I think that’s why almost all of our neighbors do like him. He loves playing with children. He could kiss the ugliest babies known to mankind and still come up with something nice to say.
“He’s such a gentle child,” he’d say when a baby had a giant head, or,
“I’ll bet she’s the sweetest girl in the world,”if she had a birthmark over her entire face.
One time a lady showed up with a kid in a wheelchair. My father took one look at him and said, “I’ll bet you tend to be the one of the smartest kid on your class.” And he was! Yeah, my father was great at stuff like that. He could fling it with the best of them, that’s for sure. And he wasn’t such a bad guy, not really. In fact, I am so blessed to have a father like him.
July 30, 2010. I thought it would be a good day for me because it was the first time that I felt his caress. But I was wrong. I never thought that it would be the last.
I saw him. I saw him. I want to shout and say “Fight Pa! Fight for us!”
I want to hug him and say “I’m here Pa! Please don’t ever leave me.”
But all I can do is to kiss him and say “Bye Pa… ‘Till next time” :’(
My father died that night without any last words he left to us. Not even one word came out from his mouth. I really don’t know what’sthe best thing to do that time. I can’t move my body; I’m just staring at him; and silently crying. :’(
Suddenly, I realized that I need to be strong; that I need to be cheerful no matter what is happening around me; for my mother, brother and sisters.
For me, everything was in the Lord’s plan. So we need to accept all the things, good or bad, even if it is hard to do so.
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It is now five years later, and I can still remember everything from that day. I maybe older and wiser; I may have lived another life since then, but I know that when my time comes, the happy memories of that year with my father will be the final images that float through my mind.
I’m twenty once more. But this is okay. I smile slightly, looking toward the sky, knowing there is one thing I still haven’t told you.
I now believe, by the way,
That TIME CAN HEAL the pain.
If I could get another chance
Another walk, another dance with him
I’d play a song that would never ever end
How I’d love, love, love
To dance with my father again.
Author’s Note: While I’m writing this short story ay biglang pinatugtog ang Dance with my father again kaya yun.
I’m crying while doing this. I really missed you Pa. Hope to see you soon. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. :-*
- Ivy^.~
