Siena
"Bagwis! Nasaan ka na?" I asked the skies and got no response. It had been like this for weeks now.
Weeks that feel like an eternity.
They took him.
I was watching him take shallow breaths, knowing that if he were human this was one of the last he will take. But he wasn't mortal and I did not want to ponder what happens next.
In the background, I heard Tala muttering, "Ama! Ganun nalang ba yun? Tulungan niyo naman si Bagwis! Ikaw nagsabi na bantayan niya yung bata eh! Pauso mo yun! Ama! Yoohoo, Ama!"
Mak was warning her. "Hoy, ingat. Kapag nagalit si Bathala sayo baka gawin ka niyang asteroid."
"Aba keri. Mabuti yung maging bato ako para masakit kapag hinampas kita kapag pinagpalit mo ako," Tala retorted.
"Hindi naman kita ipagpapalit. Ngayon pa lang na bato na yang puso mo, mahal pa din kita eh," Mak said.
Bagwis gave a pained chuckle. "Mamamatay na yata ako dito, naglalandian pa yung mag-asawang mais."
"Don't say that," I warned.
"Mais naman talaga sila."
"Don't say you're dying!"
He smiled sadly.
He lost more strength after that. "Sana we had time to be as happy as Tala and Mak."
As he slowly drifted away, a booming voice from afar came. "ADARNA!"
A beautiful giant birdlike creature appeared. She looked at me, "It will all be alright."
Then, she was gone.
And so was Bagwis.
*
I busied myself with matters of the sea. There were a lot of problems at hand, and though I worked on them, Bagwis was never far from my mind.
Was this how he felt when I didn't show up at our meeting place?
Why did I waste all that time?
Where is he? Does he still exist?
Will he come back?
And every night, when the world was quiet, I would sit on that rock and weep.
I miss you.
Tala
Yas! Ako nga.
Broken hearted yung kapatid ko eh so ako na muna ang magke-kwento mga bes.
Hindi ko rin alam ang ganap. Nagulat kaming lahat nung dumating si Adarna. Bihira naman kasi namin makita ang uri nila pero alam na gawa pa din sila ng aming Ama.
Sabi sa inyo, maraming secret si Papa B (Bathala).
Mahal na mahal ko si Siena, siyempre kapatid ko yun eh. Kaya ako na yung umalma para sa kanya, sobrang bait din kasi ni Siena. "Ama!!!!!!! Ano naaaaaaa? Sabihin mo man lang kung may Bagwis pa?????"
Takot din si Mak na gawin akong hangin ni Bathala dahil ang tapang ng mukha ko.
"Nagtatanong lang naman ako!"
"Eh bakit ka sumisigaw?"
"Ewan ko... para may feelings?"
Eventually, kinausap na ako ni Ama. "Nakakalungkot na kailangan pagdaanan ni Siena ito. But Bagwis had to go through many changes."
Yan po si Ama. Mysterious.
Pero may tiwala ako diyan.
"Puntahan niyo na siya. At sa hudyat ni Adarna, maaari niyo ng dalhin si Siena sa kanya."
We went to where Adarna resided.
Floating in what looked like an oval bubble that reflected all the colors of the rainbow, lay Bagwis.
It looked like a body in a coffin.
"Buhay ba yan?" Mak asked no one.
"Oo. Binubuo na ang kanyang bagong anyo."
Then, it dawned on me. Incubation.
I elbowed Mak. "Tama ako. Magiging pato na talaga si Bagwis!"
