Our English teacher told my classmate and I to make a flashback story and it should be posted on the wall of the Grade 7 Facebook Page(of my school). Well, I decided to post it here on Blogger (or Blog); I'm pretty much bored, having all the tons of homework. So here's my Flashback story.
The Eagle, the Twig, and the Pool
Strolling around the garden, the scent of flowers were tingling my nose. Nearby was a forest with a cacophony of feral noises. And on the other side was the ocean so vast and clear. I walked along the coastline, the fine sand felt quite rough as I strode with my soft sole against it. The flowers were diffident in the early morning, had no gut to bloom with my presence yet. In a minute, it seemed like the ocean was calling me. And so, I dove into the placid ocean before me, and in front of my eyes, the water seemed to be a swaying blanket of blue shade. As I poked my head out of the water, my oculi darted towards the sky, and there appeared the silver cottons swimming in the vast sky. Not far from my reach, a brown twig was slowly plunging into the water, like the Titanic that dramatically sunk into the depths of death. Then as I lifted my head up, an eagle caught my attention.
“If I were an eagle,” I uttered in a sotto voce. How nice could life be if the sky’s the limit, like everything’s infinite. The deafening waves were slapping against my back; my hair, which appeared like thin polished black sea weeds, was lustrous as it was illuminated by the warm rays of the golden sun. Well, the sun seemed like an egg yolk to me, and the clouds were the scattered egg white, and the sky would be the oil. But no, the sky appeared to be a mirror as it reflected the blue ocean below, somehow telling me that I had been trapped inside this world since the day of my birth. Like, the sky and the horizon have been an indefatigable shield wherein no one could ever escape. Antipathy had swirled inside my heart, feeling such animosity between the world and me. Or should I say, between the world and my life. With this thought, the awful moment of the past went flashing in my head.
Once, my family and I had our vacation, few years ago, in Roxas Park. I had fun, swimming in the pool with my aunt, mother’s 2nd degree cousin, and younger brother. The pool was 6 feet deep. As I was known to be a stubborn girl, I swam to the deepest part, securing myself with my right hand feeling the concrete edge of the pool. I kept wiggling my feet and body, like a naiant mermaid. It was not long enough when my hand slipped, which was pretty unanticipated, and I was afraid for I can’t swim so well. The way I swim was so-so. Realizing that I was about to drown, I yelled for help because the water’s deep and I kinda had phobia of water, aside from things that goes up and down. Seeing me swimming like a dog, my aunt dove into the pool to rescue me. She was quite farther from me but she had managed to swim closer and pull my hand. But, I lost grip. My aunt swam farther and was already in the shallow part of the pool, leaving me in total fear. She was calling me out, yelling, “Swim DJ, swim!” Yeah, my aunt can’t really help me.
Well, I used to swim wherein the water’s shallow and that I could feel the bed of the pool (or ocean) beneath my feet. But as I was thinking that time, I felt like my body was hanging a hundred feet from the ground. Did idiocy cross my mind? The pool was only 6 feet and I was already having obsolete imaginations. And so then, I started to talk to myself in my head as I trying to save my life.
"Daisy, are you really that stupid? The pool is only 6 feet deep and you are more or less 4 feet!"
"WOW! Are you really out of your mind? 2 feet is making a difference! And remember, this isn’t the first time you have drowned. Having the experience gave you the slight fear of water and waves."
"Urrrghh. Just try! Come on and help yourself."
That little argument in my head petered out as I heard my brother calling out my name, “Ate DJ, Ate DJ!” In a second, I was wondering, if I were in brother’s shoes and he’s gonna lose a sibling, who’s there to be left at home to play or simply talk with?
As quickly as I could, I swam to the edge of the pool. My aunt, waiting on the edge, pulled me. Well, instead of giving comfort, my aunt spanked me and said,
“You have been so stubborn that you wouldn’t listen to a simple command. DON’T SWIM FARTHER.”
I wasn’t well to respond; I was hyperventilating.
My parents were in the restaurant of the park and my aunt hurriedly told them what happened. I was dripping wet; I tried not to run, cautious not to slip. As we reached there, my aunt reported what happened and my mother flashed me a sad face. All of us were speechless. At the end of the tiring day, we decided to head back home.
When we arrived, my mother had a serious conversation with me in the dining room.
“You have been aware of your elder brother’s death, right?” She said; her eyes locked on me.
“Yes,” I responded; my lips were quivering. I could hardly prognosticate to where this conversation would be leading to.
“And I suppose you know how you r father and I felt when your Kuya died. We spent our Christmas mourning over his death. And you? Do you even know what you were doing in the pool? You could have gotten yourself killed! You could have drowned and died!”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t want to lose my only daughter, okay? You should make sure that you are safe all the time. I love you and your brother very much. Everything that I am doing now? They’re all for your own good. So, I hope you’ll understand why I’m yelling at you now. And also, please don’t be so stubborn.”
With what she was saying, little rivulets of tears were starting to flow from my eyes. I hugged her; she pecked my cheek in return.
Then my mother continued, “You are a strong girl. But, you should remember that God can take your life in just a single click. Not even the strongest person can ever prevent death. Life’s precious and short.”
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Until now, I have been keeping my mother’s words in my mind and heart. Though three of my siblings died because of the miscarriages and one, who is the elder brother that my mother was referring to, because of dengue, they will remain as a part of me. I even got afraid when my mother told me that on the whole second to the last week of November (2012), my brother suffered severe asthma and his face turned purple at around two to three o’clock at dawn; He could hardly breathe. When they consulted the doctor, the doctor said that he was really, really close to death. Hearing that, my body felt so heavy. Dead heavy. My brother is the only sibling that I have. God shouldn’t take him, you know. Though we fight oftentimes, I still love him.
All these talks about “death” always make me cry. It is even hard for me to enjoy the times when I am around with my friends. I get too serious and hard to be understood.
Life is always full of hardships and ineffable situations. Like an eagle, you can soar BUT you can’t taste infinity. Even life itself has its limit, an unanticipated period that would put an end to it. You can also be the sinking twig that I saw in the beach, its failure of floating was slowly pulling it down. Or, life can be the pool. It sucks you in and will cause you to drown and die, or let you stay afloat and live.
We may drown or save ourselves from tragedies in this life. But no matter what we’ll do, we only live once.
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Thank You For reading! Hope you like it :)
