Note: Hello! Sorry!!!! I just realized I never got to post an ending for Horizons. I'll try to do that. Pasensya na!
Also, I have no control over the ads coming out. I get nothing from WP. Not that there's anything wrong with paid work ha? Just saying that for the ads that come out here, nothing gets to me and I have no control there.
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Paolo
Ang init sa Pilipinas!
That was my first thought upon landing back home. In spite of my initial complaints, I was happy. I looked forward to being with my mom again and attending all the parties we pinoys love to put together.
Iba pa rin sa Pinas.
Unsurprisingly, my mom had to throw a coming home party for me.
"Buong angkan na naman ba yan, Mommy?" I asked.
My mom nodded, her eyes twinkling. "Yes! And our neighbors, too! We have food carts and your favorite dishes."
When I heard that neighbors were invited, I asked, "Is Arra coming?"
"Of course! I told Tita Rina that Arra must come," she said.
I laughed. Poor Arra, I'm sure she was guilt-tripped by her mom just to go to the party.
Arra and I have kept in touch over the years.
We first met when they moved to the house across ours when she was just four. I was eight at the time.
She and Pauline would often have play dates but Arra wouldn't talk to me. She was an extremely shy child.
One day, while I was biking around I saw her at their front yard, crying with her pink bike beside her.
"Hello! Are you okay?"
With her chubby fingers, she wiped her tears and slowly told me, "Hin- di ko nah-habol si Mis- ter Sorbetes. I want ice cream!"
I suppressed a chuckle knowing how serious it was for her. I could still hear the bell from a distance so I said, "Wait lang. Hahabulin ko. Diyan ka lang ha?"
I then went raising down the street, finding the ice cream man at one of the houses. "Kuya! Bibili yung bata dun. Pwede ka ba pong bumalik?"
He agreed and Arra got her ice cream. She was happily eating already when I reminder her. "You should say thank you."
She beamed up at the man and said, "THANK YOUUUUU!"
"Thank you 'po'." I reminded.
She frowned as if processing what I just said then turned to me and said, "Akala ko P- Paolo ang name mo. Okay... thank you din, Pong."
And ever since then, she took to calling me Pong.
Turning my attention back to my mom, I asked, "Food carts? Did you hire a sorbetero for Arra, Mom? You know how she loves those."
"Of course!"
And that's how I found her.
After arriving, I was pulled to say hi and hello to different aunties, uncles, cousins and it took a while for me to check if I had said hello to everyone. When I was scanning the place, I noticed one Arra Salaverria haggling the sorbetero for more scoops. "Sige na, Kuya! Kaya pa niyan ng isa. Yung chocolate please?"
When he handed the cone to her, she beamed like a kid. "Yehey!!!"
"Grabe yung pag harass mo kay, Kuya!"
Her eyes widened. "Pong!!!!!!" Careful with her ice cream, she gave me a quick sideways hug. "Kamusta ka na?"
"I'm good. Sweating kasi hindi pa sanay sa init. You? Finally nagkita na din tayo!"
It had been years since we last saw each other and it was nice to see her in 3D and not on a video call.
"I know. I'm good. We should catch up soon. Not now because marami pang gustong makipagkwentuhan sayo," she said.
As another cousin pulled me, I said, "Soon. Tatawagan kita."
She nodded. "I'm glad you're home, Pong."
