30 Doors

21st Door

"Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems"
―Epictetus

***

What made me worried was the peaceful transition we had from 23rd and 22nd floor. Mas lalo akong kinabahan sa susunod na mangyayari. Nagsimula na akong pagpawisan habang hindi mapakali ang utak ko sa kakaisip kung ano ang susunod na mangyayari.

Ano nga ba ang susunod na mangyayari?

Are we going to be all dead soon that's why the killer spared us on the 22nd and 23rd?

Madilim na sa labas. My laptop is going to ran out of battery soon. What's next? Ano na ang kasunod kapag deadbat na ang MacBook?

"This ends us all. This ends us all. Holly fuck!" Narinig kong sigaw ni Natas habang padausdos na bumagsak sa sahig. Kaagad naman siyang nilapitan ni Larryson na may pasa sa kaliwang pisngi. Sykyoe might have hit him solid.

The guy sat next to Natas. Then he said, "Nate right? Nasa resume mo, I remember... you prefer to be called Nate."

Hindi umimik si Natas. Nagpipigil ito habang nakaupo sa tabi ni Larryson.

"We all die in His time, Nate. May mauuna, may sabay, may mga aabutan ng ilang dekada. I know we're here because we have reasons. Like me, I'm here because of the opportunity. The rewards that can change my daughter's life. Tell me, why are you here in the first place?" Larry's voice is calming. Parang alam nito kung paano pakakalmahin ang mga kagaya ni Natas. He is the head of the Human Resource Department after all.

Nate's jaw trembled as he opens his mouth. Halata ang labis na kabiguan sa ekspresyon ng mukha nito. "I don't want to live under the shadows of my parents." He paused to gather his guts. "That's why I'm here."

Larry tapped Nate's back like a big brother to his younger sibling. Then he uttered, "That's what we always want to do. Be free from all the shadows. Live the way how we wished life could be. But, it isn't always the case Nate."

"Yeah, it isn't." The young lad agreed. Pain blurted in his eyes.

"Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of it. This... this thing that's killing us, the deaths we just witnessed, they're part of the failures which we view as our downfall. Pero hindi ba dapat mas matuto tayo sa mga ganitong sitwasyon? If we learn from our failures, we have not really lost. So, we learn from our failures, we change from it, we change to try again to succeed." Larry delivered spontaneously.

Napangiti si Natas. He tapped Larry's right shoulder and sighed deeply. Mas maliwanag na sa kanya ang lahat. "Thank you, sir."

Tumawa si Larryson saka umiling-iling, "Just Larry. Huwag mo na akong sini-sir."

"Ay, taray. May philosophical discussion sa bandang 'yon. Life discussion. Makabuluhan. Makatotohanan. Bongga! Ganern!" Bulong ni Satana na nakaupo sa may sofang nakaharap sa buong lounge area ng MOS tower.

"HR manager 'yan. Siyempre alam na alam niyang i-handle ang mga kagaya ni Natas." Susol naman ng nurse na si Athena na nakaupo sa pang-isahang sofa paharap kay Satana.

"Mga kagaya ni Natas? Bakit ano ba si Nate?" Natatawang tanong ni Kid na nasa tabi ng kaibigang si Satana.

Satana smiled crookedly as she raised her eyebrows and crossed her legs. "Pakawala? Gangster?" She suggested saka humagikgik.

Pigil na tumawa si Athena saka nagsalita, "Juvenile delinquent. Juvie. Diba kagaya ni Zyril na may frustrated murder case?"

"So we call them juvie?" Kid asked for approval. "What do you think Nics?" Baling ng lalaki sa tahimik na nakikinig na si Nicolla.