Tumakbo siya ngunit sa harap niya ay dalawang magkaibang daan. Pinili niya ang isa at naligaw siya sa isang hardin na puno ng rosas.
Nagpatuloy lang siya sa paglalakad at inaliw ang sarili sa makulay na mundong dulot nito. Ngunit nang malapit na siya sa dulo ay biglang nahulog ang mga tinik mula sa rosas. Napuno ng tinik ang dinadaanan niya kaya napalingon siya sa kabilang daan. Inisip niyang bumalik na lamang sa kabila pero patuloy na lang siyang naglakad.
Natinikan hanggang tumulo ang dugo mula sa paa. Walang tigil. Walang katapusan ngunit walang inda niya pa ring linakad kahit anong sakit nito.
Tumulo ang mga luha niya. Pagpatak nito sa mga paang may sugat ay sakit ang nanaig. Ngunit nang lumaon unti unting naghilom ang mga sugat. Natakpan ulit ng balat na gaya ng dati. At ang sugat ay naging marka na lang .
"Lia" isang boses ang naiwan mula sa kawalan.
Lumingon si Lia ngunit ang imahe ng lalaki ay naging usok na lang.
"Yan, magandang ideya yan para sa isang bagong story ! sigaw ni Sir Jules ang aming head writer.
Sir Jules is older than me. He is tall. The way he looks at us is so intimidating. He wears big spectacles. It makes him look like a terror grade school teacher.
" Rio better construct a draft of it and a story map" dagdag niya.
Bilang baguhang novelist, kailangan kong makabuo ng mga konseptong bago sa pandinig ng mga mambabasa ko. I worked also as a freelance writer for some genres but I'm really fond of writing romance stories.
"What would be the perfect ending of this new concept?" I asked.
Naglakad si Courtney sa gitna namin. "Something magical and out of this world, basta!" aniya.
Courtney is also a writer. She also has her ideas to share. She's pretty hot. Her curly hair matches her bubbly personality. We argue about a lot of things but still, our concept boils down into one motif, love.
"Anong basta? We must give our readers what they want" sagot ni SJ (Sir Jules).
"Not all the time, Sir. At times we must satisfy ourselves as creative writers. Let's stop feeding them with fairytale like endings if it ain't exist anyway. " I said .
"Kaya nga romance writer ka diba. It's about giving them the bed of roses. People getting tired with the realities of life seek a solace through the stories you write." he muttered.
"Life is not all about bed of roses. You need to love the thorn first before you get yourself with the sweet petals"
"Stop being the thorn to my roses Rio. Just do your job right!" pinagdiinan niyang sabi.
"I'm not the thorn to your roses Sir. I believe in conceptualizing a story writers should have democratic atmosphere."
"But remember I'm still the headwriter. Who are you anyway?
" I'm not anyone higher and more respectable than you think Sir."
"Really? It seemed that you find ways to become a better version of me"
" With due respect I don't bother to become the better version of you. I never dreamt to be other else's second version" I responded.
"Huwag kang mag magaling masyado Rio wala ka pa sa kalingkingan ko" he said.
" Hindi ko balak lumagpas sa kalingkingan mo. I'm not in a competition with anyone here. Sir."
"Then do what I command" he ended leaving me.
