Still Here

True friendship would always transcend time and distance... no matter how much sacrifice it would take, it will always prevail. For a friendship that lasts a lifetime is a friendship that stands upon love.

Nothing has changed, nothing is new

Time moves and flicks in the coming of the day

Call me by the name you always knew

Love me by the way you always say

Nothing has changed, nothing has gone

I’ll just be here while you’ll just be there

I’ll love you still...I’ll just be here

In my heart forever...

All is well.

 

 

It’s been a while. Too long a while. And yes, it is true. Things have never been the same at all.

Or perhaps… it is because there are some truths in life that one finds so hard to accept… that you never want to let go. You know you should but you couldn’t. You know you must… yet you disobey that wisdom for the sake of what you believe is injustice.

It’s just like what I’m doing now. Like staring at the sunset. You’ve enjoyed the beauty of the sky aflame with the pastel colors of crimson and red so much… that you would hope the sun would never have to set. But you know it has to sooner or later-- that you would have to leave as the dark, evening colors would take over the canvass of the heavens.

One can never have it all.

---

 

It was the last day of classes, the last day of the semester. Things do change as fast as Time runs in its enmity against the earth.

Unlike any other student rejoicing in the coming of vacation, I find no joy in this step towards freedom from months of toil and study. Somehow, I wished it wouldn’t end. But I know I shouldn’t. Because that’s how things have to be. That’s how things are supposed to be…

It was just one of those days when Faith and I wallowed along the sidewalks of the Adriatico, talking and chattering by the nearby Village Plaza over an afternoon meal. The place was great, which was exactly the reason why we enjoyed going here oftentimes. Too bad we can’t really enjoy the sights.

Well, she can’t.

Faith was blinded since an accident disabled her sight simply a few months ago. She’s still not that accustomed into this sudden change in her life but still, as anyone left with hope amidst the suffering, she went on.

Perhaps, that was the divine spark that I really loved in her…as a friend.

So we went on. Walking… treading… going on to wherever our feet would bring us.

All the usual, I accompanied her as we pressed on. But this time, I can’t help but be sad, solemn and tranquil every time I look at her.

“Are we there yet?” she usually asked.

“No, not yet,” was my usual answer. “You’ve been growing impatient lately,” I added.

“Nah. I’ve just gone a bit more anxious,” was her reply.

Well, it was really quite difficult getting a grip on my bag and at the same time trying to get a hold on a blind girl nearly less than five feet high (while you’re already a few inches short of a six-footer) while walking roughly a kilometer or two just to get to the other side of the road- another sidewalk by the bay. It’s not something we do everyday, but when we do, I have nothing to complain at her in doing so (she tells me I need to take long walks every now and then). I know I’ll be on the losing side if I mutter anything. And besides, I wanted to walk with her. And another thing, though she was blind, she never acted as if she was really an invalid (she never wanted to be treated like an invalid, let alone be called one), though I really don’t want her walking in the wrong direction and get hit by anything speeding on the way.

But what I really hate is when she goes into her playful tantrums on some occasions, making everything go hard to keep in order that I was on the verges of letting go of my grip on her and let her fall. Well, maybe ‘hate’ is too strong a word. Since she does that on a regular basis, I somehow grew a little more tolerant. In the end of all those, she just reminds me with her tagline, “Patience, Marco. Patience.”

Yet after all those, I just find our 30- to 45-minute walk worth it. The sunset is unfurling unprecedented right in front of us- with nothing but the meeting of sky and sea.

Ever gentle and radiant, the sun was ever the same, majestic monarch of light that glimmered upon an ocean of glitters. The clouds turned aflame with their rosy complexion that would’ve made the morning blossoms shiver if they could feel envy. It was a riot of colors, of wonder, of splendor.

And somehow, Faith still manages to see it and appreciate it past the darkness covering her eyes.

That moment when we sat down a nearby bench, for some reason I couldn’t help but extend my right arm on her to hug her lightly. She just sighed and nestles her head on my shoulder.

 After hours of talking, we suddenly found ourselves silent. It was a moment of words no longer.

That time, I couldn’t help but look at her—to look at her chubby, small but bubbly face, adorned with those beautiful but blank dark brown eyes. And when I see those eyes, I couldn’t help myself but hug her even more tightly.

Because it’s not in her words that told it all. It’s what she saw that matters.

She didn’t smile at all. And that was something that broke mine, as well. I never wanted to see her frown. But there she was. And the reason was simply obvious.

“Marco?” she finally asked.

“Hm?” I responded, which was followed by a long pause.

“Have I been a good friend?” she asked.

“Of course, you are!” I assured her. “You are the best I ever met,” I added.

She only smiled and warmed herself closer to me.

“So what do we have tonight? Is it pretty?” she inquired.

“Oh, yes!” I answered. “Very pretty. It’s getting dark now, though. Just a little more and it’ll get darker.”

She simply sighed. “The sun must be setting, then. And I do recall how beautiful it has always been.”

I just looked at her, seeing her disappointment welling along the curvature of her lips and in her eyes, as well.

“You will see it again, Faith,” I reminded her. “Things would get better and you would see the world again.”

“No. Not the way I saw it before,” was her enigmatic reply.

Faith has always been the philosophical one- which was the very nature of hers which appealed to me the most about her. Her thoughts are unpredictable yet her words are sagely.

“A blind person would never truly appreciate something because of how it looks…they appreciate things with how it could change and transform life itself,” she continued.

“So you appreciate this situation you’re in?” I asked her.

“Yes… and no,” she answered. “Yes… because I would be given what was lost to me. And no…”

She stopped and searched for my hand. When she found it, she rested her palm on it gently and turned her head in such a way as if she’s looking at me.

 “No… because I would be losing what was given to me,” she went on.

Slowly, a teardrop fell down her blank eyes. All that I could do is wipe that teardrop away and draw her closer.

“Marco, I’m afraid,” she disclosed.

“Don’t be,” I responded. “This is part of life. You gain, you lose. You receive so you have to give. In the end, you will realize… all is well.”

Soon, the sunset has come to pass. The last rays of the sun bid farewell as the giver of light slowly receded into the horizon. And with it, the golden sky began to fade. The burning clouds began to subside and slowly, darkness intervened in the absence of the light.

“The sun has set now,” I told her. “But you know that it would once again rise up in the morning,” I said as my fingers ran into her hair, trying to calm her down.

Then, she faintly smiled and asked, “Could I be sure mine would rise up eventually?”

“Yes,” I hastily answered.

“I’m still here, Faith. And I will still be here for you…as much as you were for me,” I assured her.

She, in turn, clung ever more tightly on my hand and once more nestled on my shoulder.

“Thank you, Marco,” she replied.

---

 

And that was the last time we were together.

The following Sunday morning, she left for America for medical treatment. But after that, she'll be staying for good. Faith is no more.

Yes, we still catch up with each other through the e-mails she has asked to be typed whenever I send my quickest reply to her messages. But it simply didn’t suffice those times we used to spend with the other. It began to be simply a distant memory.

But I still pass by the Adriatico every now and then. I still walk the same route, reaching the same spot where the sunset remained in its riot of colors.

And I still hope that the sun would never set. I knew it still has to sooner or later… that things would have to change.

But then, I realized. Nothing really changed.

Yes, I miss Faith badly because she’s no longer around with me. But I knew…

…all is well.

 

 

 

 

“There’s nothing on this earth that could ever be too beautiful or too wonderful without disaster befalling it. Love is a sorrowful path to tread on…but still we only go on because we are looking for the beauty beyond the disaster. I make sure I know enough to write about it.”

Kevin Soriano [synEcd0che_sEnEschAL16]

11^th of May, 2009

Sacred Sonnet

Unending Reminiscence- An Anthology of Short Stories (Book I) © 2009

Author's Note

A story inspired by a dear friend.
Miss her already.

Reviews

[WriterMe]

Oh this was so touching. It really pulled a few strings my heart. The philosophy was very interesting:
"This is part of life. You gain, you lose. You receive so you have to give. In the end, you will realize� all is well."

I loved it =] The entire warmth of the atmosphere you created in your story was just spectacular.
Great work.