PHANTOM: Tierra Firme Book 1

10: Mia

I WAS IN THAT ISLAND for weeks.

I knew, because there was a calendar in the house. It was a bewitched house, iyong klase na lahat ng kailangan ko mag-a-appear na lang kahit wala namang ibang tao.

May pagkain. Kung gaano karami ang kailangan ko, kahit anong pagkain ang gustuhin ko, pagbukas ko sa fridge ay naroroon. Na nakakainis dahil kailangan ko iyon. Gaya noong umaga pagkatapos ng 'bonding' namin ni Gio, ang lakas kong kumain! As if having an activated... updated... upgraded... or triggered... majik made my body process energy faster than the speed of light. Or parang ganoon.

May mga damit sa eksaktong sukat at style ko. Komportable ang furniture. Kumpleto ang kitchen. May Art room kung saan ako makakapagpinta. May work room para sa wood carvings ko. There's even a spot in there where I could do clay projects.

May entertainment room na may giant screen TV kung saan ko pwedeng panoorin lahat ng movies na gusto ko, nasa memory na. I suspected it got updated everytime there was a new movie premiering in the outside world. Not through the net, but by majik.

May mini-library. Naroon lahat ng mga paborito kong libro, libro ng paborito kong mga authors, at mga genres na paborito kong basahin. Mga bagong limbag at meron din iyong mga luma.

Pero walang phone.

May computer, pero walang internet.

Everything was there that could distract me from being alone.

And it distracted me for a while.

For a day.

Pero pagkatapos niyon ay nagbalik ang galit ko. How dare them throw me there and leave me alone, with all my questions semi-answered, leaving me with more complicated questions to ask about?

I was too angry, I destroyed each room except the one I slept in.

Kinabukasan, walang sira. Lahat ay nabalik sa dating ayos. Malapit na sana akong kumalma noon. Even I felt weirded out. My emotions were on haywire mode. Hindi naman ako natural na emosyonal, o ganoon ka-emotional na parang bata nagta-tantrums, ever. Pero hindi ko mapigil ang sarili ko.

Pero noong nakita kong parang wala man lang nangyari sa efforts kong magwala at magmaktol, nabwisit ako.

At sinira ko na naman lahat.

Kinabukasan, balik na naman uli nga sa dati. It was fascinating – kahit galit pa rin ako.

I was discovering majik, power that I never thought I had before. Iyong nagagamit ko nang hindi nagkokotrol o nag-iingat. Iyong klase na kayang wasakin hanggang sa mapulbos ang buong bahay na iyon.

Pero kinabukasan, buo na naman ang bahay.

I wasn't raised by a cheerful mother so I would go crazy over something as pathetic as a house I couldn't pulverize long enough to get me satisfied.

Napagbalingan ko ang kakahuyan sa likod ng bahay. It was harder doing that one, because I truly loved trees.

The first week, I was angry at feeling betrayed by everyone. Naputol ko nang ilang piraso ang isang malaking puno.

The second week, I was mad still. Kasi wala man lang nagpaparamdam. Wala man lang dumarating para samahan ako. Wala man lang akong makausap.

Isa na namang puno ang bumagsak.

The third week was when I decided I'd bank my emotions as I waited for when they would get me out of there. Pangatlong puno na ang naputol ko noon, mga punong kasing kapal nang siguro ay limang dipa ang diameter. I couldn't do anymore.