Reaching The Night Sky (Lopéz Series #1)

Kabanata 6

——————
Visit
————–

Once I made sure that everything is fine in my clothes and got everything I needed, I went outside just to be greeted by our smiling house maids.

I greeted them all back with also a smile in my face. Napansin kong hindi narin sila masyado atang nagugulat sa pagbabago ng ugali ko. And that's so fine with me.

Pagbaba ko ng hagdanan ay hindi inaasahang makuha ng isang vase ang atensyon ko. Actually, it's not the vase itself that caught my attention but it's color. Gray. It's pretty unusual to see a vase with a gray color but then, I just remembered someone from it.

Someone who's really close to me.

And because of that, an idea came to my mind. Why don't I visit her? I also did forgot to tell her that I'm in the country right? She would probably be surprised, I'm sure of it.

"Aria, halika na't kumain na. Lalamig na ang pagkain mo."

"Sige po nay." I said smiling and followed her pace.

Katulad ng normal na ginagawa ko palagi sa umaga ay kumain ako ng agahan mag-isa dahil may ginagawa at gagawin daw sina Mira at nanay. Maaga pa naman at mamaya pa dadating si Art kaya naisipan kong maglibot-libot muna sa buong mansyon. Grabe naman, halos mag-iisang buwan na'ko dito pero hindi ko padin alam ang buong sakop at laman ng sarili naming mansyon.

Una kong pinuntahan ang harap na parte ng mansyon. Wala parin itong pinagbago simula nung una akong dumating dito. Malalago at alaga padin ang mga bulaklak na may iba't-ibang kulay. Malinis din ang fountain sa gitnang bahagi at malinis ang tubig. Halatang alagang-alaga.

Sinunod ko naman ang likod bahay. Katulad ng nasa harap ay may hardin din dito pero mas maliit. Dito ko nakita si nanay nuon nung may kailangan ako sa kanya. Maganda din dito dahil syempre, si nanay ang nag-aalaga.

Naglakad-lakad pa'ko hanggang sa mapadpad ako sa may dulo ng lupang kinatitirikan nitong mansyon. Sa tingin ko isa itong bodega dahil narin sa disenyo at anyo nito. Alam kong wala naman akong makikita dito sa loob bukod sa mga lumang gamit lang at mga sirang bagay pero hinahatak padin ako ng kuryosidad ko.

Hindi naman sya nakakatakot kaya hinawakan ko ang hamba ng pintuan nito at binuksan paloob. It even made an eerie sound but I did not thought so much of it and just fed my curiosity.

Alikabok. Maraming alikabok. Napa-ubo ako at napatakip ng ilong at bibig. Ng masiguro kong ayos na'ko ay hinanap ko agad ang switch para mabuksan ang ilaw na salamat ay gumagana naman.

The light from the bulb illuminated the wide room with so much boxes and covered wall paintings. As I thought, I will find nothing in here aside from this antique memorabilias from our family's past.

But, even though it's just as it is, I still want to stroll the whole room and look into each boxes. Wala lang, para naman kasi akong meron pang ibang magagawa kapag bumalik ako sa loob.

I just found my old toys, our old kitchen tools, old paintings, drawings, antique furnitures, old cassette tapes, cassette players, vinyl discs, vinyl planks and many more. But one that really caught my attention is the photo album entitled "The Lopéz Clan".

Right when I red it, my curiosity spilled. I hurried to the box where it was put on and remove the dusts it covered.

"Lopéz Clan..." I red it once more.

Binuksan ko ang unang pahina ng album at unang bumungad sa'kin ang black and white na larawan ng isang gwapo at matipunong lalaki na naka black suit. Naka-upo ito sa isang pang-mayamang upuan at may hawak na isa ding mamahaling tungkod sa kaliwang kamay. Kung titignan sya ay mahahalata mo talaga ang pagka-aristocrat sa tindig at itsura palang nya. Kung sya ang nasa pinaka-una ng family clan album na'to then I must say that he is my great great grandfather, Don Virgilio Christiano Ymir Lopéz.