one shot – just bite the apple.

i still love you

Julles

The rain was pouring down on me.

I felt the water seeped inside my boots while Yen and I ran. The wind was howling, as leaves fly away from its branches. I couldn’t even decipher what was on the road because the rain was already distorting it.

“There!” I looked at Yen after she shouted. As I trailed her finger to what she was pointing, I saw a well-lit coffee shop from a distant. We dashed to the café, our squeaking boots singing along the pouring rain.

“Why didn’t we bring the car?” I asked her as we entered. There was nobody inside, just fully-stocked treats everywhere and the banging window at the end of the shop.

I was about to speak again before I saw the establishment’s sign plastered on the door. Then it finally made perfect sense why there weren’t any personnel on sight.

“Honesty Coffee Shop,” I told Yen, who was settling her own traveler bag on a wooden table. “The one we searched yesterday.”

She didn’t answer because she was so preoccupied with squeezing rain out of her yellow scarf. She then opened her bag and pulled out its content. Her camera, her journals, her snacks, every piece inside of it.

“You told me there weren’t any chance of raining today. It’s basically storming outside,” she ranted while she was pinching the bridge of her nose.

I was about to answer her back when she suddenly stood up and walked towards the cookies on display. She was pissed off because of the sudden change of the weather, but I know deep down there are other things bothering and pissing her more.

The rain was still kissing the store’s roof, so heavily that I wouldn’t hope that it’ll pass any minute.

“Climate change isn’t my fault, you know?” I told her and laughed to ease down the tension.

My boots squeaked as I walked towards her. Then that was the time I noticed that her shoulders started shaking. She began to sniff and I already know she was crying.

I rested my chin on her shoulder and whispered, “What’s the matter?”

Silence enveloped us, as I was waiting for her to spit out the truth on why she was so devastated; and I know that it isn’t just this stupid rain ruining our travel here in Batanes.

“Want to say what’s wrong?” urging her more to speak up.

She was wiping the tears falling from her eyes when she finally decided to face me, “Let’s just stop this, Julles. Let’s call off the wedding.”

I felt her hand reached mine and stuffed something in my palm. She was about to walk away from me, doing her best to create a dramatic exit, when the rain poured harder as if telling her to stop. I saw the panic from her when she realized that she had nowhere to go now.

“Really?” I was trying so hard not to let out a laugh as I waved the thing she gave to me: her engagement ring.

the night we met

Alex

“August 1, 2001.”

The calendar had said as I was pouring coffee into my cup. I opened the curtains and watched the sunshine flowed across our kitchen tiled floor. The birds outside started to chirp and sound of the leaves started to rustle within their voices. As I peeked out the window, a vast bed of Siargao Island’s ocean waved at me from the distance. It’s already a year in this island living, but I still haven’t fully adjusted.

I turned behind me when I heard footsteps walking down the stairs and there she was, the most beautiful woman I ever saw. Her hair was flowing down to her chest over her velvet pajama. She was still yawning and a huge smile was plastered all over her face as she saw me.

“Good morning, pretty lady,” I complimented her as I gave her a peck on her right cheek.

We walked back to the kitchen counter and gave her a cup of newly-brewed coffee. She reached for two sugar cubes and dumped it down the black liquid. The usual.

“Did you wash the dishes last night?” she asked after seeing the dirty plates on the sink. But before I could even answer, she continued, “I loved the smell of my bedroom. Was that your perfume? Also I saw the clothes you put on the bed, are we going somewhere?”

I just nodded as an answer and said, “We’re going out tonight.”

Her lips formed into a curve then she squealed in excitement. Seeing her happy gives me air to breathe and warmth to be calm. I felt her wrapped her arms around me and said, “It’s going to be a great day!”

It is a nice day, indeed.

true colors

This is a bad idea.

“I think this is a bad idea.” I gave an exasperated face when I heard my sister, Sheena, complained once we got off a bus. Even if she was hugging herself, I could still see her slightly shivering. I couldn’t laugh at her because even I was shivering, too. It looked like my beige hoodie wasn’t enough to keep me warm in this city.

“No, it is not,” I lied to her as a reply.

She’s right, though. This is really a bad idea but I need to make it work. We didn’t waste time and money to take a bus from Metro Manila and ride to the coldest city of the country, Baguio. And no, we weren’t here for the strawberries or to take pictures of the Lion’s Head.

“Well, you still have his address?” Sheena asked as she was already rummaging through his bag. “Because we need to go already. It’s freezing here.”

After I tied my hair into a neat bun, I fetched my phone and looked at my photo gallery. Pictures of family and friends showed through the screen. I kept on scrolling until I found the picture that I was looking for: a picture of a man and a picture of the address on where he lives.

Got it.

I tighten the slings of my backpack and looked at my sister with determination, and said, “Let’s go find him.”

love myself

Have you ever had someone you felt so attached to? That it felt that that person was a part of you already, a person helping you function and breathe.

As the cold wind breeze of the sea brushed against my face, the sound of the sailing ship echoed with the wind. People around me were rushing, trying to secure tickets for the next trip. Some were struggling pulling their luggage; an old man was even holding a huge box in his shoulders. Some kids were gawking in awe at the ship drifting away in the horizon.

“Finally! That was a long line,” a man was running towards me with a long strip of ticket on his right hand. Sweat was dripping down his neck and his sunglass was on top of his head.

Before he could even speak again, I rushed to him and wrapped my arms around his body. His heartbeat was crawling down my ear and into my own heart. I savored his warmth because maybe this would be the last time I would ever see him.

He tapped on my head, making me to hug him tighter.

“I don’t want you to leave.” I looked at his face as tears were already pouring down. Then I pleaded once more, “Please, Dad.”

love letter

Matt

A friend once asked me, “If you will be given a chance to have any superpower, what would it be?”

It was the most random and ridiculous question a person would ask after meeting someone. When I first met her at a port in Bicol that was the first decent question she asked me. Of course, I told her my answer. I said that I would want to have mind-control. I could even still remember her judgmental face when I told her that.

“That’s manipulative.”

The way she rolls her eyes away from me was still evident in my memory. But I told her why. I told her that a part of having mind control, you can implant and take away something from a person’s memory. And that was the thing that I needed the most. I mean, I literally need something to be erased in my own brain.

“Finally…” I whispered to myself as I watch the flames swallow the wood that I have set. And as the sound of crickets enveloped the night, I lay down on the grass and watched the stars twinkle above me.

I tried to close my eyes and drift into relaxation of my surroundings, but I could still see her.

Julia.

three empty words

Before you start reading, I would like to welcome you to another segment. This is the first one-shot from the ‘glimpse’ series, so I took a challenge that I found from the internet that I will let people give me two names, one song, and one place and turn it into a story. And I have decided to only write 500 – 1,000 words for every entry.

So, here we are! I do hope you enjoy it because I find it so challenging to make the entries unique in their own way lol.

Is it really possible to fall out of love?

Is it possible that one day you will stop loving that person despite the years you have been together? Like you finally had enough of the bland relationship you had, that can make you wonder why you’re still together.