I rushed to the hill where we first met all those years ago.
"Sari! Sari, mahal ko! Kailangan kitang makausap. Maaari ba kitang makita ngayon?"
I called out to the higher branches of the tree.
In spite of my dilemma, I couldn't help but smile when I remember how we first met.
I was a child of ten years, born under a blue moon on the first month of another solar revolution. I was trying to climb up this very tree which had always been immensely tall and whose top seemed to reach the sky.
Midway through the trunk, I slipped, badly scraped my knee and hurt my ankle. "Ikaw puno ka! Bakit mo ako ihinulog?"
"Wala akong kinalaman sa iyong pagkalaglag! Ikaw ay talaga lamang lampa."
I was surprised at the sweet voice that replied, and was slightly annoyed at the giggles that followed the reprimand. "Sino ka? Magpakita ka sa akin."
"Inuutusan mo ako?! Hindi mo ba ako kilala?"
"Hindi. Hindi nga kita makita, paano kita makikilala?"
There was giggling again.
I was about to say something but the pain in my leg became excruciating. "ARGH!"
Just then, a beautiful girl around my age appeared by my foot and examined it. "Masakit."
I nodded even if it didn't seem like she was waiting for a reply. She started humming — a sweet song just above a whisper that seemed to blend with the wind.
First, I noticed the bleeding stop. And then, the pain went away. Finally, much to my surprise, my wound started to close until only an odd shaped scar was left — a scar that looked like a cockscomb.
"Maraming salamat, -" I paused, realizing I didn't know her name.
"Sari, mula sa tribo ng mga Adarna."
"Isa kang diwata?"
She nodded.
I knelt and thanked her again. "Maraming, maraming salamat po. Utang ko sa inyo ang aking buhay."
She looked at me. "Sabay tayong ipinanganak."
"Po?"
"Noong ako ay isinilang ng aking Ina, mayroong isang bituin na inialay at isinama sa aking katawan. Ngunit, mayroong ibang nakawala at napunta sa nag-i-isang taga-lupa na iniluwal kasabay ko."
We were born at the same time and part of me was hers. I looked at her in awe.
"Maaari ba kitang handugan ng mga prutas galing sa aming tribo, Mahal na Diwata?"
We shared our first meal together, followed by many other meals after that. When my mother couldn't find me, she knew I was with the diwata.
We always met under her tree, almost every day when the weather would permit for me, and share stories of new discoveries in our respective worlds.
When I had turned 18 years on this Earth, Sari shared with me, "Ito na ang aking anyo habang-buhay."
I looked at her beautiful face, long flowing colorful hair and skin that glowed like the stars in the night. "Napakaganda."
Her smile turned sour a few moments later when I shared that I think I had fallen in love with a girl from our tribe. "Ayon sa aking Ina, mabibigyan ako ng maraming anak ni Dalisay. At siya ay napakabuti. Napakaganda din niya."
"Mahal mo ba siya, Malikdem?"
I nodded. "Sa aking palagay ay oo."
"Ngunit paano mo nasabi?"
"Nagiging mas maliwanag ang lahat, Sari. Gumigising ako at sabik na sabik akong makita siya. Walang pagsidlan ang aking kasiyahan kapag kasama ko siya."
"At ito ay hindi mo nararamdaman kapag tayo ay magkasama?" She asked.
"Sari, ikaw ay isang diwata. Ikaw na din ang nagsabi na bawal sa inyong magmahal ng taga-lupa."
She looked forlorn. "Kailangan ko ng umalis."
"Sandali!"
But, she was gone.
