Rebound

8th REBOUND

8th REBOUND

Jeron Teng's Point of View

I am standing right now in a very familiar place. I looked left and right to examine the place and figure out where I am.

I easily recognized the vintage inspired Veranda, and the basketball court at the back of our house where I used to play when I was still young. I noticed two silhouettes on the other side of the basketball court.

I moved closer to see a better and clearer view of them, and I found out that the silhouettes turned out to be kids. A boy, who's shooting some hoops from beyond the alley arc and the little girl who's shouting and cheering for her friend.

I watched the boy play and saw a familiar kind of play. I can see right through his eyes, his enduring love for his sport. His eagerness to shoot some hoops, the way he dribbles the ball. He really is a basketball fanatic.

"Go Jeron! Go Jeron Teng! You can do it! Wohooo!" The girl cheered for the boy which made me take one step backward.

I looked closer to the boy as the little girl who's now beside me continued her cheering. A few minutes later, I was able to recognize myself during my childhood. I realized that the boy playing basketball was really me.

A few minutes later, after looking at my old-self way back years ago. I shifted my attention to the little girl beside me, she's cheering and shrieking vociferously which made her look very adorable. I immediately jumped into conclusions and thought that, if the boy shooting some hoops was me, then the girl would probably be Baldo.

Alyssa, for your information was really cute when we were still young. How could I forget this scene? Maybe this incident happened before they went to the States. I just smiled from ear to ear while watching the two of them, or should I say, the two of us.

They continued playing and cheering until all of a sudden, I saw my younger self lying on the ground clutching his chest and catching his breath.

I easily figured out that I'm currently having a difficult time breathing. The little girl, which I think is Baldo ran to the helpless little Jeron Teng lying on the ground. She started crying and shouting for help. I tried to approach the two to lend them a hand but I just realized that I can't move a muscle.

I started worrying for the both of them until I caught a glimpse of a group of people running towards them for help.

Everything went black afterwards, and a split second after, and I found myself standing beside the hospital bed where my younger self was lying. He's awake now, pacing hastily around the room. I looked down at him and heaved a deep sigh. I lifted my head a bit when I heard the door open, and to my delight, it was Mom, our personal doctor.

She looked at her patient solemnly and I saw tears threatening to fall from her dear chinky eyes. She recomposed herself and forced a sweet smile when her patient turned to look at her.

"What happened to me Ma? I had a difficulty in breathing back there. Ano po bang problema?" Her patient asked her solemnly.

"Oh it's nothing son, you just got heavily stressed and that means you have to rest for a little while and stop playing basketball." Mom told her patient casually.

"How long will I stop?" The young and helpless Jeron asked again.

"A year will do Son. A year will do, it's for your own good so you better listen to Mommy okay?" Mom replied in between sobs.

I can't help but wonder why, why is Mommy sobbing? I was able to recall that time when I stopped playing basketball for a year because of my condition, that's as far as I can remember. Now that I witnessed this scene again, I'm not convinced with Mom's excuse anymore, there's something wrong, something wrong with me. I can feel it.