Mak
"Lord of the Crops! Yooohooo!"
I decided to spend a week on Earth to get away from Tala. I often did this and came down as one of the farmers so that I could see how the current environment affected the growth of the seeds planted.
But now, hindi lang yun ang reason.
Nakakainis kasi si Tala.
Well, I forgot she is powerful and can still annoy me from where she watched.
"Children of the Corn! Ay iba pala yun," she kept calling to me telepathically.
"Notice me, King Golden Corn!"
She kept bugging me the entire day while I planted and tended to the farm. Mid afternoon, I headed to a waterfall and took a dive.
"Wooooo! Gold Member, baka may makakita sa'yo!"
"Tala, stop bugging me and stop looking!" I called out to seemingly no one.
"Can't help it! It's big and long and, man, that one bright -"
"Shush, Tala."
I could hear her giggling and in a matter or seconds, she appeared before me. "Hi, Mak!"
I turned my back and swam to the opposite direction. She was there when I reached it.
I rolled my eyes and swam away again. This happened a few times until she finally decided to floated above the water beside me. "Ang pointless nung paglangoy palayo mo 'no?"
She started poking my side. "Huy, peace na tayo."
"Alam mo ba bakit ako nagalit?"
Tala furrowed her brows. "Not exactly but —"
"Ay ewan!"
"Huy! King Corn naman kasi. Peace na! Please? I want to spend sometime ulit dito and I want you to go with me."
I looked at her. "Ano na naman balak mo?"
"Well, I want to do something to make people happy."
"Gusto mo maging clown?"
She rolled her eyes. "Nakakatakot kaya yung clowns. Hindi yun. Pero yung... yung madidistract sila from their problems for a little bit? Or mae-entertain."
"Mag-a-artista ka?"
She rolled her eyes again. "Oo, payag ka maging love team ko?"
"Hindi no. Magiging tabloid writer ako. Bash kita."
She was about to roll her eyes again, but then realized... "Nakikipaglokohan ka na! Bati na tayo?"
I sighed. "Ano pa nga ba? Hindi naman talaga kita kayang tiisin. Ikaw lang naman parati nakakatiis na hindi ako kausapin."
"AH SUUUUUUSSS! Ikaw na lang kaya mag-artista? Ang arte mo eh."
I would've swam away again (Walkout King nga eh) but she yelled, "King Corn wag ka umalis! Halika ka dito." Tala set up a picnic spot and took some of the fruits around the area. "Tulungan mo naman ako? Gusto ko yung parang mga Make-A-Wish foundation and yung mga tao who do random acts of kindness? Basta. Gusto ko lang silang mapasaya."
"Ewan ko ba bakit mo pa pinapahirapan sarili mo mag-isip. Yun na! Sumali ka sa mga ganung foundation. Tapos yung random acts, gawin mo lang. Random nga eh. For a star, hindi ka masyadong bright."
She threw a piece of fruit at me. "Bwiset. Pero may point ka. So, sasamahan mo ako?"
"Bakit kailangan kasama pa ako?"
"Kasama kaya kita parati? Ngayon mo pa ba ako iiwan?"
She had me there. Once, we were playing around and blew up a star and ended up being punished by Bathala. Years later, that was the first supernova viewed from the Earth. Another time, we decided to play tag around space — walang reason... gusto lang namin try... we almost messed up the orbit of a comet. Again, punished by Bathala. We had a more serious misstep and decided to punish a human we did not approve of, and Bathala almost banished us to clean a the entire planet without using our powers.
"So, Partner King Corn, sasamahan mo ba ako? Let's do this? Para for once naman hindi lang puro tambay ang ginagawa mo."
I chuckled. "Oo na. Oo na. Nakakahiya naman kasi na ako buong araw akong nagtatanim tapos yung isa diyan palutang lutang lang."
She laughed. "Bati na tayo?"
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oo na. Ikaw pa ba?"
When I headed back to the skies that day, Lakan looked at me, disappointed. "You still have not told Tita, Uncle Mak!"
"Lakan. Kasi.... paano kung hindi ako love ng Tita mo?"
"You'll survive it, Uncle."
Wow. Laking tulong ng batang 'to.
Tama naman siya. I'll survive it. Masasaktan lang siguro ako for five million years.
I'm looking forward to our next stay on Earth though. I cannot wait.
