"Hija?"
"Yes..." Tinitigan ko muna ang babaeng kumalabit sa akin. "...Ma'am?" Saka ko pa lang napagtanto na guro pala siya dito sa university namin.
"Are you Aurelia?"
Nagulat ako. How did she know my name? "Opo Ma'am, ako nga po. P-pero...paano niyo po nalaman?" Nagtatakang tanong ko.
"Your ID." Napayuko naman ako nang itinuro niya ito. Oo nga pala, ang tanga ko talaga!
Natawa na lamang ako sa sariling katangahan. "Ano nga po palang sadya niyo Ma'am?"
"I just thought you dropped this." She handed me a notebook. With my forehead creased, tinanggap ko ito at binuksan.
Sa akin nga.
Ngunit paanong nahulog? Natatandaan kong nilagay ko 'to sa bag kanina, ah?
Oh well...
"Thank you po Ma'am," I bowed a bit to express my gratitude. She just offered me a smile before walking away.
She looks somehow...familiar.
"Aurelia!"
Nakita ko agad si Therese na kumakaway sa direksyon ko. I felt relieved nang makitang nakapaghanap pa siya ng bakanteng pwesto dito sa isang milktea house malapit sa university namin.
"What were you going to say nga pala last night?" She asked as soon as I took my seat. "Excited na sana akong makinig kagabi eh!"
"Just...a random thing." I shrugged. "You know...weird dreams and stuffs."
"Ay bet ko 'yang mga ganiyan fren! Sige gora chika mo na!"
"Ganito kasi 'yun...I have been dreaming of this certain guy--"
"Gwapo ba?"
I gave her a poker face. "Seriously? 'Yan talaga ang tanong mo?"
"Ngi, huwag kang strong fren! Nagtatanong lang naman ako eh," she pouted like a child.
"Anyway, so ayun nga. But I never saw this guy in person, not once, not twice, but neveeerrr."
Napaisip naman siya. "Hmm...maybe it's a coincidence? Perhaps you've seen this guy somewhere, hindi mo lang matandaan? You know kasi, our brain is a very powerful organ. We don't exactly know what it's actually capable of doing."
I too at first, thought it was just a mere coincidence. But dreaming about the same guy for the seventh time? Now that's unusual since I am not the type of person who easily remembers my dreams.
Yet my dreams of him were so vivid. Mas malinaw pa sa nanlalabo niyong relasyon. He was almost real! We even talked inside my dream and I was greatly challenged kasi english-speaking siya, goodness gracious!
"Therese, it's my seventh time dreaming of him."
Her mouth formed an 'O'.
"Since when did those dreams of yours occur?"
"About...7 months ago. July."
Ngayon, nakuha ko na ang atensyon niya. "And you're saying it's your 7th dream na, right?"
"Yup," pagsang-ayon ko. "Actually, it started on July 7 then my second dream occured on August 7 and so on. Every 7th day of the month, napapanaginipan ko siya."
Saglit siyang natulala. "Wow. Hindi halatang mahilig ka sa 7 'no?" Natawa ako. "Ano nga pala ang napapanaginipan mo sa kaniya?"
"Well...we talk about random things every time we meet. But I noticed na 'yung mga panaginip ko, tumatagal lang ng pitong minuto." Mukhang gusto ko nga yata ang 7. "I don't know if he exists somewhere kasi para talagang totoo siya."
