Wearing a red blouse and dashing as usual, she met me at the entrance of one of the biggest buildings on that avenue. The place is the biggest TV Network in the Philippines, ABS-CBN. I remember I was in a violent effort asking for her autograph while the security guards around just kept pushing the barricades to avoid a stampede as there was a mob. Everybody was just so dying to hold a piece of her popular figure.
Her name is Korina Sanchez, one of the best Newscasters in the Philippines in the actual world. Idolizing her could have been the reason why she had a special participation in my dreams. She had this smile like she was very eager to take me to the newsroom and give me some tour around. I was blabbering how much of a fanatic I was when she noticed me earlier at the entrance with the big crowd of people dying to get her autograph and sense of her fame.
She asked me to join her and gave me a pat on the back as we entered the building. I never got the reaction of the other people when we left the outdoor. She said she was giving me a tour for the privilege of meeting one of her fans. The baggage counter did ask to inspect my bag(my backpack again) before getting on the elevator.
As we got on the the upper floor of the building, we entered what seemed like a library. The area was divided into two, near the entrance of the floor were students quietly studying their lessons and after the wooden divider was a group of what seemed like Russian students because of their milky complexion and their semi-blonde hair. I think they were highschool students. It was a big class and to my estimate, there were around sixty of them all seated around several long wooden desks, each of them holding a rifle, and familiarizing themselves with the parts of the rifle and the proper handling skills.
Their instructor was a plomp guy whose countenance resembled that of Dumbledoor. He was busy and intensely teaching the students the importance of war and how necessary it is to be violent for survival while telling them to look at the big TV set or what might have been a projector.
My eyes were fastened at the class that I forgot Korina had been calling me to enter her booth. "You know, I really wanted you to appear on primetime news because you deserve to be there than the current news anchor at that time slot." "Too bad I had to follow the directive of the executives here," she said. "There are already plans for me going back to the primetime slot and you should just wait," she added.
I couldn't just resist looking at the big TV set outside the booth as Korina started explaining the basics of the console. I was immersed into a scene by the seaside, where three Russian teens were snowballing so hard that each of them had bloody faces. The instructor of the Violence Class kept reminding his students to emulate such acts. In a wink of an eye, I was totally immersed as I was on the boob tube.
I was spying the three teens hurling balled wads of snow onto each other under a vague kind of tree. I moved my eyes upward and I saw another Russian teen in the tree with a giant sling shot aiming at the other three down there. He was half naked, without any underwear as I could see his shrunk dick between his balls. I tried to squeeze myself under the tree because of fear that he might just make me his target. When I looked at the three teens again by the seaside, they were all dead piled up onto each other, the blood stains all over their bodies and the snow made the scene so gory.
/Stumble This/ Fave This Post/
For the nth time, my emerald green bag made its presence felt in my dreams last night.
With it on my back, I went to the school where I worked at four years ago. I met old faces and new teachers and my former Korean boss who gave me a very special welcome. The atmosphere was covered with anticipation and happiness and I got the chance to see and interact with my old colleagues. On my arrival, I was given a special task at once to collect unpaid tuition fees from the students. With a piece of pen and a notebook I headed for the company driver's house as someone had told me earlier students remitted their money to him.
With my dragged feet, I went to a familiar place where at the gate, relatives of the driver met me and my presence created a stir. Someone had told me that he keeps some students' money and I had to see him to gather the amount. The driver's house was an ordinary two-storey house without ceilings and windows. Everybody in the place told me he wasn't there. I couldn't believe them, I insisted I had to go inside the house and start looking for him. The amount of the money was huge that I really had to have it collected.
I stormed in and the driver, already a senior citizen as he seemed in my dream quickly got out of his bed on the upper floor of the house. I saw no stairs from the inconcrete ground floor extending to the man's room. I wondered how he could go down. Then, out of the braces of the ceiling, he pulled out what looked like as a rusty galvanized gutter, cascaded it down and he descended.
Tucking the money inside my bag, I hastily left the place. Then I was drifted into a place barricaded by tendrils of some tropical vines and vegetables that I had to make my way out of the compound. The house gate I saw earlier just vanished into thin air. Next sightings showed me some small huts and I was having a hard time finding exits.
The place was so defeaning other than the rustling water under. It seemed desolate despite the presence of some households. I was supposed to meet my boss after. When I looked down, I saw the barefoot me. I don't know where I put my shoes and I don't even recall taking them off, then I had to fold my slacks to knee-level while sluggishly proceeding downwards a muddy slope with the running water aggravating the slimy condition of the soil. I was struggling hard not to slip as I was making my way to the first hut down the slope.
A woman was eagerly standing by the window of the hut and pointing her hands to some rubbish drifted along the water. There were empty plastic bottles of mineral water and shampoo. Out of compulsion, my submissive mind started picking them up that I ceased to recall my original intention-to meet my boss. Suddenly, when I grabbed my backpack, it turned into an empty sack of rice and I remember putting the litters there.
My descent was so freaky that another woman at the base who surely recognized me was losing it and started saying at the top of her lungs, "Because you are a gambler and you shoud stop gambling...." Well..
WARNING: PG 13
Done counting the only money we have left(one five-hundred peso bill, two twenty-peso bills, and two five-peso coins to be exact), my boyfriend and I were about to leave home for a dine outside when a knock at the door prompted me to pocket in the money and open the door. To my surprise, it was Joel, a highschool classmate of mine.
Of all the time and all the people there are who may be intrusive to ruin my plans, why Joel? Standing at the door, his skinny built and fair complexion well matched the frame of the door and the light radiating from the outside. I don't know but he just appeared in my dreams. I haven't seen this guy in the last ten years and from what I have heard, he is already married and is happily enjoying an agrestic life in the lowlands.
He was damn good looking that I remember leaving the place and my boyfriend at once. My boyfriend just vanished from the scene, thus I didn't picture his reaction. He was there to invite me to his home after showing him the money I got. He told me of a plan to have fun and pleasure with another guy friend waiting for us at his place. I told him I just got little money but he said it was enough and he insisted I should just follow him.
While we were walking on the road, obviously enjoying the company of each other, some friends of mine in the neigborhood saw my presence. All of a sudden, Joel through body language told me that he would rent a bike to reach his place and I should just follow soon. I had no choice but to talk to some of my friends whom I have not seen for several years. How they missed me a lot that I almost forgot I had to go after Joel since I didn't know the route to his place. When I searched for my money to hail for a jeepney, what came out of my pocket was an envelope and I remember taking a bicycle out of it.
Following him on the same road, I caught a glimpse of several half-naked construction workers digging a hole along. I stopped and in my hand, all of sudden appeared a shovel. I was trying to attract the guys' attention that I think I volunteered to lend a helping hand. After a few rounds of casting up some lumps of soil, my shovel got stuck. I looked down to see what happened and I saw a strange creature between the blade of my shovel and the soil under.
The Strange Creature
I got scared at what I saw next, and I had to push my shovel even harder to avoid its fleeing it's position. While doing so, I was calling in some of the construction workers to help me catch it. The creature had the tail of a mouse, the body of a stingray and the head of a snake. It started moving its way onto my shovel and started biting the iron. It's head was blazingly red and the neck connected to the stingray-like body seemed like a flexible metal. I just kept screaming.... I forgot to follow Joel and I forgot that I was just dreaming.
Stumble This Post: Fave This Blog:
Arriving at Norjane's place gave me a nostalgic picture of twelve years ago-those years when their house mirrorred poverty in that area of the neighborhood. Made of dilapidated galvanized iron, the ground floor of the two-storey house was left unfinished even before their father passed away.
Norjane is one of those cousins whom I have shared the bitterness of life. I find sweetness though in one of our experiences in our childhood. After exhausting ourselves playing under the scorching heat of the sun, she would often invite me to her home and since there was nothing else to eat, we would sneak in for some cold rice mixed with brown sugar. Her mom was always outside then as well as her dad. Sometimes, her not-so-younger sister would join us leaving the small jar of sugar and the sooty pot of rice empty. I would have preferred rice mixed with salt but the consolation of eating for free already gave me the satisfaction.
In my dreams, I saw the younger version of me collecting some debts from the people I know in the neighborhood. I just came from Norjane's place and her younger sister told me that Norjane had been gone for a long time to settle her own family in a far away place. I don't remember her borrowing any money from me but I don't know why I had to see her in my dreams last night.
With a pen and a notebook in my hands, my feet took me to a nearby sari-sari store (a variety store or a store smaller than a convenience store). From the entrance, I saw some people drinking beer with the store owner busily serving them at the veranda next to the store. I moved closer to the veranda and some familiar faces there created a stir. They all approached my presence.
At first when I saw them at the veranda, they were all Filipinos but as they started to gather around me some Korean faces also appeared. Two Korean females sporting some long hair who seemed like my previous students took each of my arms and led me to a stairs extending to the interior of the compound. One of them kissed my cheek and I screamed in disgust. Near the stairs, I laid down some receipts and list of debts and while doing some inventory, I came to a halt...
I felt like puking when I noticed a long strand of hair protruding out of my mouth. I started pulling it out but it seemed so long that I felt exhausted in doing so. I asked the help of one of the Korean females I met earlier, she helped me pull it out and while she was doing it, I freaked out as the hair turned into a copper wire. While she was enjoyably removing it out of my system, the copper wire was forming into a spider web and some tiny spiders came to life crawling onto the web. When I looked at her to tell her to stop, she turned into someone who looked like "Sadako"-the character in the movie, "The Ring."
We were looking for a pizza restaurant. I saw myself and my boyfriend enjoyably taking a walk at an unfamiliar park. The park was U-shaped. Both edges of the park were small stairs which served as the entrance and the exit. Many unfamiliar faces congested the surroundings-both Filipinos and foreigners. At the curve was a short bridge with pristine running water under. The curve was somewhat elevated giving its look a beautiful stage. The park seemed like a very wonderful stage with its small stairs intermittently scattered around.
As we were enjoying ourselves around, I saw a lot of tables and hundreds of people eating pizza. There were also cubicles with classy tables inside for VIP customers. To my estimate the circumference or the length of the park was around 300 hundred to five hundred meters. It looked huge.
We managed to get our own table and ordered pizza. While eating, some loud noise started to fill the air. I saw Stevie Wonders, Madonna, The Pussycat Dolls giving their performances one after the other while going around the park. The mood was so festive that everybody was so happy enjoying their pizza. There were also a bunch of drummers in costumes adding to the jolly ambiance. More people were starting to flock the place and we decided to leave.
I saw myself with some take-home pizza in my hand having a hard time climbing a spot and I failed. My boyfriend was waiting for me at the top.
As I looked inside the coach, I saw four people seated waiting for me to fill the empty slot. I moved in and as I looked at the coach driver, he gave me a familiar physicality of a male neighbor in my hometown who also happens to be a ponyboy in real life.
The carriage swaggered down the road and it even moved faster as the driver whipped it with its leather strap. All of a sudden, the carriage got dismantled and I was left behind standing on the road. The carriage was still in motion though. When I looked down, I saw two wheels under my feet and I was pantily having a chase.
The distance got longer and while I continued my pursuit, I gave another glance at my feet. The carriage wheels under turned into two spokeless wheels like that of a sofa rollers. When I took another look, the wheels shifted to my hands and turned into carriage wheels again. Though the wheels had shifted to my hands, I felt like I was riding on a something and just kept moving forward.
I started to slow down and as I approached a nearby waiting shed, the two wheels in my hands turned into two pots of beautifully hanging phlox plants.
Things like, "What If just went home and never returned the whistle?" "This is a good piece of a present for my sister whom I haven't seen for a long time." But I think my conscience played a major role. I kept thinking outside the restaurant about what to do with the whistle. It was just beside the main entrance of the church. I decided to just give it to the male sextons I met at the church's backdoor.
The church's front door was still open at that time and to my amazement the lights were still on. I got inside and I saw there were already a lot of people praying inside. The priest was giving a sermon and I saw lots of umbrellas sprawled on the side aisle to the right. I think I saw my umbrella and I quickly grabbed it. A woman in yellow shirt rose up from the pew and started telling me it was her umbrella. Feeling restless that the scene might create a stir, I just put up the umbrella and lay it on the aisle. I remember ruining one of its hinged ribs and the woman in yellow started yelling at me. I quickly ran towards the backdoor not minding the people there. I saw a priest whose face I can't picture waiting for me at the backdoor. The doors were again open. He handed me my umbrella and gladly gave me a twenty-peso bill and told me to leave.
The incident made me feel more guilty and I lost my guts to confess about the whistle. The whistle was still in my pocket. The male sextons again closed the door and as I looked at the restaurant's reception area, its door was already shut. The place was dark. The priest and the sextons have gone and I was alone. I felt I was trapped and there was no way out. The place at the back seemed like a barricaded compound.
I moved to the right past the restaurant groping for my steps. It has begun raining again. I found a pathway extending further, I followed it and beside me on my right were bushes of what seemed hibiscus or bushy tea plants. On my left was a mass of soil slanted upward. I tried to mount the slope and I saw a small opening through the barb wires obstructing the exterior of the place. I was starting to feel exhausted. Felt like my umbrella and the whistle inside my pants were burdens. When I moved closer, I saw a road going down to my right and I saw students passing by. Just a few feet on my left, I saw a military post and I saw around three sentinels in fatigue attires. Each of them holding a rifle.
I tried to remain still in my position. I was bent under a small bench put up at the side of the road and near the military's post. Still with my umbrella in my right hand, I could clearly see the soldiers as it was dawning. One of the soldiers was on the look out at the post and the other two were seated on the ground facing the bench where I was under. They were pointing to my direction and I doubted they could see me because it was dark in my spot. A few seconds later, the surrounding has gone brighter and I was caught. I dropped my umbrella as it has turned into a rifle. Got scared of being charged with illegal possession of firearms. The two soldiers grabbed me by the left shoulder and I started crying. I told them I had to go to church on foot under the lashing storm just to pray and they shouldn't catch me. Later, the two sextons arrived and they tried to argue with the soldiers for my release.
When I got up, my right shoulder was so achy. I think I might have leaned too much to my right for a long time while I was asleep.
