A letter to Roland.

RR :)

The last time that I was sitting in front of the computer- now, it's just me.
I walked the same road home - it only felt a bit farther and wider this time.
And the walk, well, it was twice as fast as before, and twice as boring.
I bought our favorite Minute Burger with egg and cheese bread (at Panaderia).
It was the same bread.
I arrived at the door step.
It was just the sound of the wind that welcomed me.

No kiss. No hug.
Not the way I am used to.

I entered the room with the burger and bread in my hand.
I looked at the bed, it was empty.
The things inside the house are ten folds more gloomy and shaded in grey and black.
I filled the glass with water, gulped it as soon it gone on the mouth of the container.
No more seconds since I know that I'll be the only one to drink it.
No more filling up another glass and hand it to you.
Just another refill since i'm getting ready to eat my burger.

I sat on the bed.
No sound, just the air echoing around the walls and the friction of each blade of leaf.

Each munch of the burger tastes a bit bitter than the last time I remembered it eating with someone.
It was a burger, a smile, a kiss, a little joke and a sound of laughter.
Not an empty room and a tuneless echo of air.

I just slept with the burger half eaten and the glass of water untouched.
The bed felt twice bigger as soon as my skin touched the bed.
It was sleep alone that made me feel normal.
Because sleep suspends time.
Sleep makes your ears, eyes and skin numb.

And from that moment, I knew that it was sleep.
It was just sleep that I needed so for just one moment, I can feel nothing.
A temporary numbness away from loneliness that I was left with.

I miss you.
And I hope that someday, we could do things together again.

Maria Christina Falls

Running Down Memory Lane (YAFS 4 Recollection)

 Aside from our super-packed backpacks and over sized luggage (up to the point that you have to sit on them just so you can zip them up), these boxes are our travel VIP's (Very Important Papers).  

 LODGING. ACCOMMODATION.

The pretty pink house in the photo was our haven for a few days. We stayed there for almost a week (or was it more than a week). When I say We, it's either "us, our bags and our boxes" or "just the bags and boxes" while we're out there for the rides of our lives.

 This photo with umbrellas, well, I cannot really find a good description as to describe how we slept like babies that night. I'm not sure if it was because of the nice "banig" or maybe it's all because of the shade brought about by our umbrella that it made us feel like we're already in the Britania Islands of Surigao del Sur. (Seriously, we find it hard to sleep with lights on. Maam Esther Briones was still busy editing forms so we thought, an umbrella would be a great help.) 

 We just love Barangay Offices with Television- (a working television). It's like a reward sent from the heavens after a long day's work. For this photo, Kudos to Ate Judith for the Interior design. For us who don't have anything but blankets and "malong", OFF LOTION works almost the same.

This photo was taken in Sabang Gibong (a floating barangay within the Agusan Marsh). This is their Kagawad's house where we stayed for a night. There are times during our sleep where we feel like we're lying in a wooden hammock- their homes somehow sway along with the current of the river (wait, what? river currents?).

 So far, for me, this was the best we've had in all our accommodation offers. I can't thank Mayor Mondejar enough for the very warm welcome (that includes breakfast and lunch buffet plus transportation arrangement going to the next municipality- such an effective leader! No wonder he gets a lot of awards from different agencies).

This was only one of the few photos wherein we get to stay on lodging houses. Hmm. The bags really take so much space, don't they. :)

TRANSPORTATION.