A Day to Cherish

Okay, so guys, it's early afternoon(mind you, I mean early as in outrageously early) here in the Philippines, time on my clock is 12:33 PM. Okay, so, You might be expecting a "Ang mga Taong Makikilala Mo sa Buhay" post. But that is not the case right now. I WILL try to write one later, but right now, let me entertain you with a short story.

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Dark brown eyes fluttered open to the sound of a door being closed. The humming of the air-con rang in the teen's ears. He raked his hands through his dark brown-streaked hair while stifling a yawn. Without getting up, the young man fumbled around for his watch, and checked the time. It was 4:57 AM. He concluded that it was his mother getting ready for a trip to some office, to apply for a nursing job in Canada. His younger brother stirred, sat on his bed and turned the TV on. Brown eyes squinted in the sudden flood of light as he berated his brother for turning the TV on so early.

Then, the young man realized, his brother was going with his mom to have a check-up as well. He grinned, knowing he'll have the house to himself. The smug look on his face slipped when he remembered that he was going on a trip with his friends to watch a movie. His mom called "Charles! Get your brother out here, we need to prepare for the trip. It's a long way from here to our destination!" "Sure mom!" came the earnest reply "Dan, go to mom already, she calling" he said sternly, looking at his younger sibling. The other simply grunted in response and turned the Television off, and wearily walked toward the door.

The door shut behind Charles' sibling, leaving him in the darkness. As he stared at the ceiling, a stray thought entered his mind "What if, I had to leave all my friends all of a sudden... We've been through quite a lot... and, we're like family now..." He dismissed the thought and returned to sleep.

---

Dawn broke to a silent village and a silent house. The first shafts of sunlight penetrated into Charles' room. It was barely enough to even wake him. The room, however, seemed something straight out of a fairytale. Neat, and comfy, it made for a beautiful place to stay. The sunlight illuminated motes of dust floating in the wind and cast everything in its brass glow.

The clock struck 6:30 and the young man awoke. He stretched and headed on down to their kitchen. He ate breakfast wearily and took a bath after watching some TV. He dressed in his favorite getup, jeans with a shirt. His choice of clothing was quite simple for a guy his age. His mind immediately told him, "What if Grace sees you this way, would she come to like you?" He said softly "No, no, she's just a friend, best friend come to think of it. The feeling's not mutual I guess..."

It was 7:30AM by the time he finished, or so the clock on his computer told him so. He absentmindedly logged into Yahoo! Messenger and talked to one of his close friends. They then agreed to leave home at 8:30AM and go to the meeting place, although the actual meeting time was 9:30AM. He was a kind person, at heart, or so the others told him. He did have the knack of cheering people up and giving them the strength to fix their problems when they needed him.

He browsed through his archive of messages, filing through past conversations with his close circle of friends. Even through the letters he received during his recollection. He was surprised to see messages. Messages such as:

~You know what, you're my guardian angel!~
~You're the best older brother anyone could ever have!~
~I can only get through the pain and suffering because of your kind words.~

These brought a small smile to his face. Once again, the same stray thought brushed against his consciousness. He batted it away, and as though freed from a trance, dropped the letters and closed the archive. He ran his hands through his hair, as though puzzled from why he had read those conversations.

His chat-partner already went offline, and the alarm on his watch was bleeping. It was 8:30, he bid his dad goodbye, since his mother was not home and rode a trike to the meeting place. Once there, he met with his friends. A couple were late and no one waited for them. Evidently, the people who were late didn't come at all. Then, they left for the mall.

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Once there, they went to the arcade and played a lot. Charles bonded a little more with those of his small circle of friends. But, in his gut, he felt wrenched, knowing that he couldn't always be there for them. Barely a minute went by that he didn't think on this. He still managed to enjoy though, especially after meeting their teacher at a restaurant.

They went to the cinema and watched a movie, Charles loved the movie and connected to one of the lead roles. He heaved a heavy sigh and said... "Oh Grace..." And as luck would have it, Grace wasn't able to come with them. He was really jealous of her and this other guy. But, he told himself that as long as Grace was happy, he would be happy as well.

It didn't take long and the movie ended. The group wound its way down to the food court. They had a picture taken, but it needed a half hour to develop. They then went to starbucks, as tradition compelled them. Charles, didn't buy anything though. One of them was picked up by her parents, right after the developed copies of the picture were distributed.

Charles felt warm around three of the members of the group. Simply because, they were part of his smaller circle of close friends. A guy, and two gals. They returned to the previous rendezvous point, grinning like idiots. And said their goodbyes as they all separated to go back to their homes. Charles took the picture and stuck it in his wallet.

He got into their car and journeyed home. On the way, the driver piped up "I hear you'll be going to Canada in 8 months." "How did you know? Is it true?" asked Charles, heart pounding, not wanting to hear a specific answer. "I heard your parents talking, and yes, or so they say" replied the driver. "Oh..." said Charles, voice heavy, his fears were confirmed.

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Charles lay down in bed, heart heavy and mind roiling with confused emotions. He looked to the sky and prayed to God, leaving his fate in the good Lord's hands. He took out his wallet and his cellphone. In the dim glow of the cellphone screen, he ran his hands over the picture they had taken. He took it out, and wrote on its back:

~Today was beautiful...
Today was fantastic...
Today was a day to cherish...
for a lifetime...~

Heart heavy, he closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.