Finding a perfect gift. My entry to Reedsy weekly challenge #150, August 8, 2019

This is a compilation of my works in the year of 2016. I was pretty active that year, really inspired by love and friends, and started reading and discussing philosophical things. It was also the year that our group the Ice Cream Club did the 100 days of poetry challenge. We didn't finish though, as personal life and work etc. got in the way. But it was fun and I'm still hoping we're gonna start a new challenge and complete it next time. Anyway, I'm still compiling these, but can originally be found in my Deviantart account (search Venusoftherain in DA). I still have lots of old poetry and prose in my laptop (they're from my notebooks and I typed them up in Word), and I'm gonna upload them too. So for now, enjoy this 2016 compilation. :) Book cover is a free-to-use photo by Evie Shaffer on Unsplash. :)

soon...

Built walls and whispers of charity. Seeping through cracks was enough... or was it really? Uncertainty and hopes were all he had, but he heed through the whispers and embraced her tender novelty. in progress...

Feeling the surging passion of being in love... just like the first day of spring where you feel like everything is positive and exciting... What if you feel it with a person, but that person makes you question your worth? Would you rather be with that person as you unravel every flaw and predicament he has, or choose to live a simple but incomplete fragmented life? Clamentine Caceres has always lived a simple life despite being born in a family who lives an extravagant life. Being a noticeably timid person, her goodness gets often abused by unethical people. However, she was never naïve. She knows her worth. Or so as she thought... She knows that picking pieces of broken glass could hurt her, but she still insisted and wished in her soft melody to mend his shattered trust.

It's as if Pride and Prejudice all over again, taking a modern twist, tearing love apart into two compelling narratives. Her pride clashes with his prejudice, creating a magnetic tension that neither can escape. Lalapit s'ya, at s'ya namang iiwas palayo-nang ang una naman ang lumayo ay s'ya namang pagpursigi ng isang bumalik sa buhay nito. Mistulang magugulo ang isipan at 'di magkatugma. Marjorie Alaia Bernaldez's life has always been a whirlwind of craziness and unpredictability. Bilang unica hija ng isa sa pinaka-maimpluwensyang tao sa politika, sanay s'yang itinatratong parang prinsesa. Ngunit iba ang lalaking pumukaw ng kan'yang pansin sa lahat. He doesn't seem to like her at all. Salungat sa kan'yang buhay, s'ya ay lumaki sa simpleng pamumuhay na hindi karangyaan. Despite different worlds, their fates intertwine inescapably, defying the odds and drawing them towards each other. They know that seeking solace in each other's arms challenges the cruel world as they know it, yet the ineffable euphoria they share remains an irresistible force, binding them beyond the constraints of the world.

The pleasing waves at the shore, fresh air around the trees, calming moon at every peaceful night, summer breeze through the beach... Euphie Raine Diwa indeed love her own country-Philippines. Lahat ng mahal n'ya ay nasa Pilipinas, mag mula sa mapagmahal na magulang, kamag-anak, mga kaibigan, lugar, o pagkain man 'yan, lahat ay nasa iisang bansa lang. Marami mang may ayaw sa kan'ya dahil sa hindi maipagkakaila nitong tabas ng dila, she's still keeping her head up high because she knows herself better than anyone. Love is all around us, but then, if you find your love living thousands of miles away from you, will you sacrifice the solace life that you're living to fly across the seas, just to be with someone who's making you feel alive, loved, protected... makes you feel at home? Would you risk it? Everything can happen on the spur of the moment, and for Euphie? It was just one click, yet a Serendipitous Encounter happened.