Destination Unknown

Go to my more active blog. It’s more fun there.

http://nightdreamer.i.ph

"Save the earth" said the newly purchased
notebook. I bought it neither for its message nor for its viridity. I
bought it because I just wanted to scrawl. Back in high school, I would
end the day curled on my bed, scribbling on a notebook. I paid little
attention to words, but I delighted at the marked union of pen and
paper, like lissome twirlings of ballerinas. Presently, I am spoiled by
the amenities of word processors, and I rarely willed to do
manuscripts. But today, I wanted to redo manuscripts. I wanted to
relive the days when writing was less slapdash, for corrections were
salient and looked like punishments.

I have a favorite spot in Ortigas Center. It’s the
Ortigas Park. Though it is as small as a bum’s bum, it is calming for
its greenness, distinct from neighbors of gray skyscrapers and orange
lamps. It’s at the middle of a commercial district, but is isolated
from activities. It also has a coffee shop - Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf -
where I loll at when I need reposes. And today was a day when I needed
reposes, for getting away from noises of shoes-clopping and
cars-tooralooming will bring peace of mind. I was alone. I seated at a
sofa, coffee mug at hand, notebook at the table, drowned by the
rhythmic hums of coffee blenders and fragmented yaks of other
customers, each having a different story of being here.

When I had just arrived, I was forcefully filling
my notebook with words that only made sense to me. Three persons - a
guy, two girls - were at the table next to mine. They had a laptop up
and were, to their surroundings, oblivious, as I momentarily was to
them. The guy did legerdemains. Card tricks. Coin tricks. He could be
doing that to impress the chicks, which he’s quite successful at, for
he was applauded. He even taught few of his tricks to his friends, and,
though curious, I was too shy to look their way - for they were
strangers - long.

And then he played a movie on his laptop, showing
a video he recommends his girl friends (that bastard) to watch. It was
in Japanese, so I didn’t understand what was happening, and I went back
to writing (or the pretense of). But then, I heard Ludwig von’s music,
played so passionately the thespians bickered about it. And then I
recalled an anime with the same premises. I peeked, and sure enough, I
knew what was being played. Nodame Cantabile, live version. I knew this! I was just as dorky as that guy. Oh my God.

They ended their jolly meeting and they parted
ways tearfully. They seemed like they had kinships, but had long been
absent from each other. And then they disappeared, resuming a life
comparatively plebeian. I was left at my seat. I thought, these people
were pretty swell. I could have sought their friendship and we would
get along. But, I was too reticent, and all I did was look from afar,
yearning to soon claim possession of a glee like theirs; yearning that
I, too, would soon converge with my faraway friends and catch up on
each other’s life.

It’s funny how much I empathized with these strangers.