For the Sake of Ten Pesos
Author's Note: Ipinasa ko po ito para sa school paper namin. Hahaha. Kaya short story lang ito.
I kicked the can of softdrink in front of me. It is around 5 o’clock in the afternoon after our class has finally dismissed. I am walking in a long road on the way to our house.. a long, quiet road. I can endure the fatigue feeling – even if I have spent all my energy in school already. Well, I can walk up to my house from school, rather than riding a tricycle. For the sake of ten pesos.
While walking, I’ve feel an uncomfortable feeling down there at my shoe. I looked down -- and there, I saw my left shoe tearing apart. Oh great! I look around. I am totally alone in this road, except to the little boy sitting beside the bakery of this street, maybe some meters away from me. Oh well, I might not be embarrassed walking in this street with my bare foot -- except from that boy. I stood there and decided to remove my left shoe with my socks. Now I look miserable.
I started walking with my bare foot and another with a shoe. I’ve imagine my classmates looking on my situation. They could be laughing right now, and I would have been teased couple of months from now on. I immediately erased the thought.
I can feel every bits of dirt and dust under my feet. It tickles me sometimes, but it hurts most of the times. But I should be thankful. It is late afternoon, so the ground by now is not burning hot. I sighed. Yes -- from my pitiful situation, there’s always a thing I should be grateful of.
After some walk, I can hear my cellphone ringing. My old-fashion cellphone to be precise -- I’m not that rich to buy what my classmates have. I think I’ve got a message. I quickly grab it from my pocket and I saw my mom’s name. Uh oh. She’s probably waiting for me. I press the button of my phone to see her message, but unfortunately, it shut down. I gritted my teeth. Oh what a day--
I think I’ve bumped hard. My head bumped into a post in front of me. Ugh, my mom always told me to be aware of my stupidity. Double – no, I mean “triple badluck” in this afternoon. This is so much for a day. But instead of thinking about my burdens, I just proceed walking. Starring at nowhere with complete annoyance is nonsense. So I force myself to ignore my unfortunate journey on my way to our house.
Several minutes passed, I thought my badluck has vanished. But I’m wrong.
When I’ve reached the spot where the bakery lies, I saw the little boy sitting innocently under the lamppost of the street. Ragged clothes, filthy hands, and dark eyes. I don’t even know if I should place empathy on him or I should be frightened -- because you know, people nowadays can commit crime. Underage people is not an exemption.
I hear him begging for some coins. "I have no money, kid." I abhorrently replied while rolling my eyes heavenwards. But the boy is still bugging me. He even followed me while walking! I started walking more quickly than the usual. Regardless of my poor, naked foot.
When I’ve reached the next two lamppost, I noticed that the boy was gone. I looked around, once again. I sighed in relief. But my chest almost jumped when I saw the boy grabbing my wallet inside my pocket. He ran rapidly away from me, but I didn’t hesitate to run after him. Great. I’ve endured many sufferings on this unfortunate journey, for the sake of ten pesos -- now my entire wallet was gone. I remembered of how much money was left in there. Ten for my supposed to be fare in the tricycle, twenty five for my savings last day, thirty for selling ice in our home, and another ten for some other reason I forgot. Dang it! Php 75 was lost. My knees weakened in the thought.
I fell on the ground, probably because of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. I don’t have the guts to stand up. I am really ashamed of myself. After two, or three seconds lying on the cold ground, I heard footsteps coming towards me. If it is another beggar-slash-snatcher, I will let him grab all of my stuffs. I am too tired to pay attention. I closed my eyes.
But the half of me is eager to see the one who is poking at my shoulders.
I open my eyes. I saw a guy -- probably at my age – starring at my face. He sat at the ground to level at my eyes. I blinked twice. No, not just twice, maybe five times, before he started to speak.
"Hi. Why are you lying on the ground?" he asked enthusiastically, waiting for a precise answer from me. But instead of answering, I just starred at his lovely eyes. Maybe this unfortunate journey of mine is not that bad at all.
His eyebrows meet, still curious of my situation. I managed to smile despite of my dreadful position. "Well, I just slipped. Someone snatched my wallet, and there, I ran after him," I explained. I saw empathy on his eyes. Instead of responding, he smiled back and offer me his hand. I accepted it and stood up. I fixed myself before thanking him.
"Where do you live? I think you can’t walk with.. with that--" he pointed towards my foot, "with that situation." I told him my address.
I was surprised when he squatted. "Ride on." He said. I blinked once again, thinking of the reason why he is helping me to ease this horrible problem of mine. Well, I ride on his back, rather than declining his offer.
While on our way, he randomly said, "I can’t resist to leave a beautiful lady innocently lying on the ground." My heart skipped a beat.
For the sake of ten pesos, I endured a lot of misfortunes. But on the other side, because of ten pesos, I am smiling heavenwards on my way home.
