Daniel loves sunsets. He loves how the day ends for him watching how the mountains swallow the sun slowly like a predator savoring its prey. How the mountains' peaks reach the ends of its rays. The perfect blend of reds and oranges and yellows that slowly turns into pink and indigo. He loves how the humidity drops and how the breeze turns cold. Daniel loves sunsets as much as he loves poetry. He writes songs and poems every single sunset. He doesn't miss a single day. Not until that accident.
Daniel lost his sight on his way to see the setting sun. The jeepney he's on was full and noisy and then all he remembers was a loud screeching of the wheels. Since then, he never got the chance of seeing the beauty of the sun setting nor write beautiful poems and melodic songs.
"Ma? Can you take me back to the shore? I just want to feel the sea breeze again, even when I can't see the sea itself."
His mother agreed and brought him to his favorite spot. A bench facing a vast landscape of the sea and the mountains. A beautiful canvas he wanted someone to paint for him.
"Come back for me when the sun has completely set, please? I want to be alone and count the minutes till it sets."
His mother hesitated at first but then, if this is what makes her son cheer up, she agreed. "I'll be waiting not far from here. Don't go anywhere." She reminds.
"Yes, ma."
His mother left with her heart heavy. The routine went on every day until Daniel decided to go alone. It was approximately 3 months since he lost his sight. Since he stopped seeing the sun set, but never misses it. 3 months of making bitter poems and poetry that he can't write down. He doesn't want to write it down.
Then one sunset, he feels someone sit beside him. He knows it is a girl. The way her hair hits his face with a soft clap, he can confirm. The lady was quite, almost like there was nobody there.
"Ma?", he called out thinking it was just his mother. He received no response.
"Isn't it lovely, ma?" he giggles. "Sometimes, I want to curse God for doing this to me. Why did he have to take away the only thing I valued most? Why won't he allow me to see the beauty of his craft? He's so... greedy." He murmured as hot liquid started to flow down his pale cheeks. "I'm crying? Haha." he wipes them away instantly.
"Asdffghjjkl", he hears the lady beside him groans... no, she was trying to speak. She can't.
"Are you.. mute?" Daniel asked carefully.
There was a groan once again. "Oh. I''m sorry. You come here often??"
A single groan. He learns that a single groan means a yes and a double is a no. He asks more. "Is it beautiful? Funny. You can see what I can't see and I can say what you can't say."
The lady hheld his hand in comfort. "I wish you can tell me the beauty that you can see now. I really want to know."
The lady lets out a long groan, he can't understand.
He pulls out the notebook he brought with him. "You can read, right?" A soft groan. "Everyday, I go here. I tell the setting sun all my problems in life and all the joys I've had every single day. The sun knows everything. I bare my soul to it."
The lady listens intently. She wants to say something. That she knows because she's been there for a long time too. On the third bench while he was on the fifth. She saw how mesmerized he was at the setting sun. She comes not to see the sunset but to see him. And seeing him not being able to see the sun, she feels pain. Pain of knowing how he must have felt. She knows the agony because she'd been there. Only a little earlier.
