Viewpoint Vol 1. Issue 1 | Student's musings amidst the pandemic

VOL 1 ISSUE 1 | DECEMBER 2020

Viewpoint STUDENT'S MUSINGS AMIDST THE PANDEMIC

Photo by Rafael Tamises

Photo by Jeraldine Miranda

Table of

Contents 01

POEMS

20

STORIES

26

COMICS

33

ART

Poetry is emotion put into measure.

THOMAS HARDY

VIEWPOINT VOL 1 ISSUE 1 A literary zine by Sci-Link AY '20-'21 L a y o u t b y CARLOS MANUEL EUSOYA

©

All rights reserved. 2020.

The Moon and the Church David Bryan Lao

I wrapped my arms around her the way she always loved And leaned close to her ear and gently whispered these words of mine: "My love, Oh how many lovers must have stared at the moon with undying passion, With fiery love in their hearts, and all those emotions they whispered to her; And oh how many lovers must have stared at the church with eternity in sight, Seeing their whole lives before them, together in each other's arms.

Photo by Jeraldine Miranda

How blessed are we then tonight, to be staring at them both; Full of passion and love for each other, With the thought of forever in our hearts."

1 • Poems

Photo by Ellen Faye Yabut

Death David Bryan Lao Death Does not come piece by piece But all at once A sudden arrival No signs No warnings No alarms A sudden loss It despises time It disrespects the place Unpredictable Unknowable Unforeseeable A grand enigma Inescapable fate No one is exempt So Do then what good you can do Love then as hard as you can Live then like today is your last Because death Does not come piece by piece But all at once

2 • Poems

Hope Will Come David Bryan Lao I can see a new day dawning Despite the hardships yesterday brought on My heart, once frightened, now exultant Is rest assured that hope will come.

In every corner of history, We find men and women of evil intentions Oppressing humanity with their lies And still, we prevail however; I tell you, hope will come.

The results of our laborious work May not stand in good ratio To the amount of effort we put in Continue in your diligence however; I tell you, hope will come.

When your closest friends desert you Destroying your hard-earned reputation By staining your name Be wary but don't let it destroy you; I tell you, hope will come.

When a lover is lost When your heart runs dry Filling your soul with dreadful strife Be hurt but don't you lose your mind; I tell you, hope will come.

Hope will come, hope will come.

The rays of the sun always come through Hope will come, hope will come.

No other phrase could ever ring true When the burden of life is too heavy When the darkness of the world is too much Continue to struggle and move forward, my friend I tell you, hope will come!

Photo by Rafael Tamises

3 • Poems

Torn Apart

Rikka Grace Sombiro – a poem about battling with darkness and dealing with the exhaustion of trying to be alive in this world

The fall of dusk marks the start of the fog That creeps into my lungs and burns my throat My mind is clouded, my eyes filled with tears Stars once bright, now dim, can no more be reached Candles stop burning; it's darkness once more.

Head lies on the softness of the pillow I stay crushed by the harshness of the world Its claws that don't stop ripping at my throat Until the sheets are just blood and torn skin Left to wonder if the pain ever stops.

Eyes stay wide open whenever I sleep Sometimes I dream of rest taking over The fragility of my body that Would soon break apart at any moment

Dreams of airplanes flying high in the sky Crash in the river of flames fueled by The disappointment of never being Able to reach enough despite having All of the engines of the plane running.

Poison mixed with the particles of air Seeping into my skin, I boil inside Every breath turns on the killing machine That churns my insides and tears me apart Slowly so I don't miss out on the pain.

There goes the shooting star, I’ll make my wish To have the blood flow in my veins again Give me a moment to actually breathe Just one more chance to feel alive once more Let my plea to the universe be heard.

Lately, there is never peace in my soul.

Collisions with no time to recover From the bruises and the fresh bleeding wounds Before I am beat up once again by The giant boulders that life throws at me.

My heart stops beating, and I stop breathing Try to hold on to the last remaining Piece of my sanity, but there's nothing For me to grasp any longer, no hope To keep me afloat — an empty vessel.

4 • Poems

I’ve been stabbed in the heart a thousand times With an arrow so sharp, it can cut through All my deepest vulnerabilities So if you can hear my screams of terror All I ask is for you to make it stop.

End it all.

Photo by KZ Galvan

Too many things crash into me at once

Skyscrapers Ma. Rosette Dela Cruz I told myself Since the night I had dreamt of skyscrapers That these hands must pledge to master the art of outstretching themselves Farther and farther, That they might become much like the idle line that separates salt air from sea water Even beyond that, They go And stop Only until these hands could get a tight-hold of something unreachable I told myself Since the night I had dreamt of skyscrapers That my head would be banned from hitching Back and forth cloud rides On trips that take me to nowhere Instead I would inflate 5714 balloons With my dreams used as helium In hopes that I would be carried somewhere up, To see if sky is truly the limit I told myself Since the night I had dreamt of skyscrapers That I would tape my heart upon stars So that each time I lay my head On top of some field's grass pillow

Photo by Jeraldine Miranda

While the crickets orchestrate nature's symphony at dark They would make me remember In case I come to forget Of the whys behind twinkling eyes Throughout the nightly moments Glimpsing at the things I have long loved But when this world Even with this unending extending Surpassing every existing extra mile Still refuses to let me hold dreams by the hand While the breeze slowly blows me astray To somewhere Away from the landing place Or even if sometimes The stars would not shine For me to find my way It is okay All is okay I told myself Since the night I had dreamt of skyscrapers For I will build skyscrapers Maybe, just not today But I will I will Someday

5 • Poems

Photo by KZ Galvan

Enigma She had a heart for mystery Had a mind of ciphers Observed puzzles with scrutiny Precision never wavers When the day comes to an end She looks into a mirror and catchesA mirage of conundrums, herself A code yet to be broken

How I Cure Anxiety Imagine the dreadful worst Makes you feel to not grasp for air Feel like drowning, heart bursts Everyone else seemed not to care As though the adrenaline reached its limits Claim my hand, pull you out of the deep

Poems by

Maria Isabelle Rentino

But what caused you aches and trembles The nonentity that dares you to weep So remain fearless, my friend You will not be shaken Battle demons in your head You must believe you can

6 • Poems

Poems by

Ellen Faye Yabut

The Light Within

Love Unites We stand poles apart

Shadows eat ealive And if darkness can hurt us Ignite our own light

And face cruel trials but Love will bind us all

Photo by KZ Galvan

Above the Same Stars Two lovers sundered And stand on different roofs Wishing on same stars

7 • Poems

Moon in Chain Look how beautiful the stars lit Above the lonely sky How I wish there’ll be more jewels That will gaze by and by

Part of A Whole Find a button, you’ll make a dress Start a trouble, you’ll make a mess

I see myself as the moon

Add some sugar to the cup, you’ll stir a great

Old and tired

coffee

Finding its courage and strength

Keep the pennies, and you’ll save a great sum of

To grow and conquer the wild

money

I hated the sun

Read a page, and maybe you’ll love the book

For it shines in the day

Tidy your bed, it’ll give your room quite a look

Spreading its happiness and joy

Grow some plants, you’ll create a green, healthy

On near and away

garden Imbued with virtues, you’ll raise yourself a fine

I hope once I can have my light

maiden

To help me see something with delight And dazzle, gaze, and to explore Search for my missing art and glamour I was locked and so is my sheer Afraid never to light again My heart is occupied with fear

When these things of little value vanish into thin air That’s where we realize that life’s not as good and fair You and I play a significant role And everything’s a part of a whole

To grasp freedom? God knows when Time passed, yet nothing happened My story was torn and saddened I am still the moon, swell and cold

Poems by

Ellen Faye Yabut

Heart is in chain, my story untold

8 • Poems

Photo by Rafael Tamises

Photo by Jheruss Pereira

My Friend Jheruss Pereira At first, I thought I knew you.

It turns out that I did not yet even know you.

Very bright lights shone, People fell around me.

Sparkles appeared, The people disappeared.

Then, I came crashing down, But you didn't let me hit the ground.

You took me to a place where it was just you and me.

I can't hide the way I felt from you and me.

A couple of years past and I still did not forget you, And I hope you do too.

I still remember the time we used to go out at twelve o’clock midnight, Holding a map and a single flashlight, Heading again to that enchanted place, And keeping our pace.

Let's start running.

We will make it.

But I was lost by looking at your eyes, Those blue ocean eyes.

I changed my mind.

And if you mind, Let me admire you first, And tell you how beautiful you are, My friend.

9 • Poems

Amplify Carlos Manuel Eusoya I had four brothers, and sisters, I had three One of them was a nurse who just wanted to feed our family She guarded the front line and rescued lives of many But cents, she did not have that plenty.

I was with him that day, and I couldn’t think of something more bane A thief stormed our house, and my father ran out in the rain “Help! Help!” He clamored in pain!

Then I found him the next day with a shirt full of blood stains.

Shoot them dead? You do not know the pain you create.

My father never caused trouble, so why did you denigrate?

Much worse, you shot him and justice, I never received any!

All she wanted to do is to put food on our plates She did not mind if she had to stay up late.

Hazard pay, a little charity, she had none And so now my little brothers, all gone.

The PNP, AFP, I understand they serve the country.

But why give all the treasure to those who already have plenty?

Those in the front line cannot even fill their belly, Why must they suffer when they’re also the ones facing the enemy?

For you were in the army and everyone

My grandfather was the kindest man But when he got sick, help, there was none.

No kits in our area, they say So finding a guaranteed case, there is no plausible way.

Then how come dozens are arrested in my hometown each day?

We have enough kits, why do we play?

Mass tests, not arrests! Please, listen to the youth.

10 • Poems

To you alone could these problems be impute!

Photo by KZ Galvan

sided with the military.

Safe behind Doors Carlos Manuel Eusoya When the solar-spiked ball set into motion An unexpected plague that’s now in exponential accretion Families were locked from the town, in a reason so abstruse Thoughts of freedom running in his head, in a form so amorphous.

He picked up his guitar and strum four strings He wanted to contravene, break out of the time being Talking to the blonde-haired nurse who escorted him home, he said, “Why must I be afraid of the concomitant of death?”

The lady straightened her posture and she began to speak, “Do not be recalcitrant, for against the disease, you are weak, Go home and stay. Do not leave, promise me.”

The young boy raised his hand and spoke lies, mendacious as he.

Photo by Kristine Dioso Arnesto

Flying a kite in his backyard, he felt the zephyr blew cold It was telling him to escape, be brave, be bold.

Seeing his buddies pass by, he thought of saying “Hi”, And they asked him to join them, be their neophyte.

They tumbled across the streets, sneaking their way out the guards Ran lawlessly around, they traveled yards and yards A whistle kissed their ears; it was from a cop wearing blue “What are you boys doing here? Go home, all of you.”

He was watching the stars alone that night When his mother approached him with a sudden look of fright “Why did you leave, my son? Why did you leave my sight?”

She cried and he did not budge, yet she hugged him tight.

He woke up in a fragrance that was not of his safe haven He wore white, and it was bright. Was he in heaven?

11 • Poems

12 • Poems

He thought he heard a knell, and he peeked through the door.

He saw the cop in pain he could never endure.

After hearing the news from a doctor, he was hapless The cop passed away because of the virus He wanted to see the fellow, but he could not leave outside He viewed the window and saw other people who mourned and cried.

Their tears were for someone else who is now evanescent, It was the nurse who left this world, like a waning crescent They sung an elegy for her, and he was taken aback Two people who knew him died back-to-back.

But – alas! – it was not two, but three For his best friend whom he adored, suffered the same fate as he Stuck on a hospital, but unlike him, she was not fortuitous She was short-lived, and her death was onerous.

“My son, remember, Mama loves you.”

Her last words lingered with his heart, that was true It was his furtive sneaking that was their deaths’ reason.

He picked up his guitar and strum four strings For the loved ones he lost, due to his apathetic wrongdoing Talking to his son in the year two thousand forty-five, “If only I stayed safe behind doors, they would have been alive.”

Photo by Rafael Tamises

For he loved her mother, but now he felt compunction

13 • Poems

Angels Among Us One day, I suddenly cried because of a slap of a hand at my side I was very tired of crying.

As soon as I did, all of my thoughts were amazing because I'm alive and that's just a signal The baby is born by a woman.

A woman, who had a baby in her womb for nine months until they hear their baby cry.

In excess of joy, tears start to fall because finally the baby was born.

A baby to be called child.

One day, I suddenly cried.

I saw a man and a woman happy.

Who can't cope the difficulty of going through and trying to sacrifice.

Suddenly, they wave their hands happier.

A man and a woman Who are consider to be called Father and mother.

One day, I suddenly cried because of hunger and thirst.

At that moment, there was a woman who was resentful to raise and carry me.

Photo by Rafael Tamises

KZ Galvan

14 • Poems

Despite of tiredness, she tried to sing me a lullaby.

And that's the reason why I rested as if an angel uttered nearby.

A woman, a woman who deserves to be called mother.

One day, I suddenly cried because I tripped and fell to the ground.

At that moment, a man run towards me like there was a dog chasing him around.

I saw his eyes full of sadness.

He saw my wound and gently blew it.

He pulls me closer, and hugged me.

And that's the reason why I stopped crying as if an angel uttered nearby.

A man, a man who deserves to be called father.

One day, I suddenly cried Because of sadness of knowing a man is leaving.

A man who I called father is now leaving at the time I saw him inside the vehicle until I saw the vehicle become smaller and smaller

Photo by Rafael Tamises

Knowing he is getting away from where I am And that's the reason why my tears are still falling whenever I wiped them As if my angel who leaves me all of the sudden One day, I suddenly cried His smile, laugh, hug and his face All of the memories with him were in my mind.

A woman walk towards me and hugged me.

"He left for work" she said And that's why I stop crying as if an angel uttered nearby.

It's Christmas day.

At that moment, I suddenly cried.

I saw him and I was surprised.

I run towards him and I saw him smiling while holding a box wrapped with colorful papers.

I didn't help but cry because I knew that he worked hard for that surprise.

He gave it to me and I hugged him As if an angel came back right by my side.

16 • Poems

A Two-week Lapse Chaos and havoc, mistakes and pride Conquered this world as this year arrived A pandemic brought upon our daily lives In fear of virus, we try to survive A two-week break for our motherland Two-week break to stop what’s there The virus left free due to failure of prevention A two-week break dragged for months The calendar’s pages turned and turned Yet the healing that was supposed to be Turned to further chaos and mistake A hell in reality it was perceived People desperate for a helping hand While unalike folks relied on greed Turned to corruption and villainy While people suffer in cries of help This motherland inhabited by divided folks Supporting gods of politics Neither nationalistic nor patriots To politicians their heart devotes And what was supposed to protect Revolved and destroyed its subject Unconcerned of the state Of its citizens mental shape

Photo by KZ Galvan

Jamie Rafaella Gemoto Folks have tried raising their voice Met with cancellation and naivete While others lost prophesy Of the triumph in this life After cycles of moons have passed Disaster’s came to attack And almost never did the masters thought That prevention is better than the cure Once more, repeated throughout this land’s history The suffering and resiliency glorified, Tears were shed, hearts were touched, And yet actions of prevention never sufficed The future is endangered For this generation and the next Mistakes repeated through cycles That brought upon this disastrous age A two-week break dragged for months Flaunted the sequel of people’s ignorance A lapse in our life that pleaded change For nature and for life

Ode to a Gambler Jeraldine Miranda

I danced with a gambler one twilit eve With no music but the beating of our hearts, Not knowing the steps, we swayed to and fro Like we were born the play the part With a slightly upturned grin, he bowed And with spirits soaring high He held out a hand and whispered soft, "My dear angel, shall we fly?

In his embrace, the world stands still As if Heaven itself dated not breathe He takes me up high, into the skies With a gentle caress and with ease His eyes make the earth writhe with envy His hair mocks the sunset's blaze What seemed vivid and clear before I met him, Now seems like a dull haze For what could ever compare to him?

To my Darling, whose laughter the nightingale echoes?

Whose voice could make the angels weep?

Whose touch is softer than a rose?

17 • Poems

Your smile, I'll keep in my heart Ask anyone and you'll find You'll never be out of mind Though, by time and distance, we're apart For you - and only you - my skin is set aflame You are the sun, I am Icarus falling Lean in and kiss me; I won't know that I'm burning In your arms, Apollo, I won't mind the pain You are a vandal, are you not? For in my chest, You've painted your name across my core And now, my dear, more and more, My heart beats only to your breath You are a thousand unspoken wishes come to life Like a Galatea of my own, No longer am I alone, Now that I've found my guiding light You are my north star, with me wherever I may roam For I know that even if this world will pass away, If all else fades, if night consumes day, Forever shall you be my hearth and home

Photo by Jeraldine Miranda

18 • Poems

O Lady Moon, won't you stay a while?

I beg you, just a little bit longer For in the morn, the bells shall sound And steal away my gambler O my Darling, pull me close Whisper fervently as a prayer 'Til we meet once more one Thursday eve In Tipperary square Oh, yes, I danced with a gambler one twilit eve On and on, 'til the last star left the sky He hummed a tune and whispered soft, "Once more, dear angel, shall we fly?"

Photo by Jeraldine Miranda

Poems by

Rafael Gabriel Tamises

Stuck at Home

We Fight as One

Gentle breeze I’ve felt

Claiming people’s lives

As I lay on the hammock

Overcoming this illness

Drops of rain tapping

Valor’s what we need

Just right above the ceiling

In this combat we’re against

While at home, stuck and

Doing the best that we can

sleeping

Photo by Jeraldine Miranda

A New Day Nowadays, we hope Everything goes normal By tomorrow's dawn

19 • Poems

20 • Stories

Quiet, Peaceful, Still Ewemiz Insigne

Photo by Jamie Rafaella Gemoto

Today is a silent and blissful morning: quiet, peaceful, still. Maybe, I think, if I don't move, time would be kind enough to stop for a moment, and then I can live in this blanket of tranquility for a bit. Perhaps forever. How wonderful that would be, to no longer have to worry about responsibilities. I smile at the thought and close my eyes, content in the warmth that this morning wraps me in.

Before I am able to slip back into unconsciousness, my alarm clock breaks through my reverie. I've heard this sound multiple times throughout the week – with every iteration, it grows on my nerves, making me more sick and weary of it.

As it sings its annoyingly sweet song, I furrow my eyebrows, the notes ringing in my ears and reminding me that time waits for no one, not even for a 17-year-old girl who just wants to lie down on her bed and let time pass her by. I sigh, glaring at my alarm, and then reach out to quiet it.

The silence starts to echo then. I retract my arm, draping it over my stomach, itching but not really itchy. I lie on my bed, the breeze of my electric fan cooling me down. There are birds chirping outside my window; wind whistling through the air; sunlight streaming through my windows and grazing the corner of my eyes - yet I stare at the plain, white ceiling. There is a gnawing feeling in my gut and a nagging voice in my head: get up, it says. Get up and do something.

Yet I lie there: quiet, peaceful, still.

A few more seconds pass by, and the gnawing feeling continues. I sigh in defeat and bring up my phone. Time to check my notifications.

Some of my group chats are lit with new messages, and Twitter is showing me updates around the world, maybe a meme or two. In Facebook, I see my cousin has released a web comic and an upperclassman just launched a startup for her app.

I feel queasy. You should be like them, the voice from earlier returns. Productive, especially now that you have time. A cloud of anxiety blankets over me, gripping at my insecurities and stretching them out until my entirety is filled with thoughts of doubt and self-loathing. I should be like them, I think.

A thought comes by before I’m able to stop it - hey, whatever happened that to that woman I read about in an article three months ago? Also, man I should probably check up on my friends. Oh, I just remembered that obscure TV show my cousin’s friend recommended me half a year ago. Hey, has my teacher replied to my email yet?

Oh, I think I should probably follow-up that other email. Oh, speaking of teachers, I'll need to ask them about their college life. College - hmm. What about me? I should be thinking about college. I should also be thinking about my career and future. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, though. Too many paths to choose from. So many paths to choose from and we only ever have one shot at this; seems unfair, isn’t it? Does the universe exist for us to choose only ever choose one path and stick with it? Will it matter in the end, whether we pick this path or the other? Will it ever matter?

A messy web of thoughts weave through my panicked mind. I shouldn’t be lying down. I should be working. I should be moving. I should be writing, drawing, cleaning, reading, emailing, chatting, researching, pondering, debating, doing something – A chicken clucks in the distance; it shakes me out of my thoughts. I sigh deeply one more time. One at a time, I tell myself. You will get to each one of them soon enough.

I let myself breathe. I close my eyes again, and let the warmth of the morning seep into my lonely, tired bones.

Quiet, peaceful, still.

There is no voice in my head but my own. One task at a time: each small step is a success worthy of celebration.

First, I think, I should open my eyes. I do.

Step one: check.

21 • Stories

Photo by Rafael Tamises

I look at the pile of unread books on the table. I've been meaning to get to those.

My unfinished painting lies drying in the corner. I should work on that. I look around, taking in the mess that is my bedroom. I should probably fix this up.

People say, “We want to return to our normal lives.” We can go back, but it’s under what we call “New Normal” and well, it won’t be the same.

Last March 16, 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte decided to impose Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) on the whole island of Luzon, followed by the rest of the country by March 20, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Counter measures such as staying at home, closure of school, postponing public activities, putting up checkpoints to limit the mobility of the mass, and following ECQ and GCQ guidelines are taken to contain the spread of the virus.

Without physical classes, students can enjoy the comfort of home – not needing to wake up early to travel to school, enjoying homemade food, or just pass school requirements with a single click rather than going around the campus to look for your teacher. For sure students will gain weight and have to face problem on how to diet.

But nevertheless, don’t forget why there are online classes in the first place.

Though online classes can be fun, it can also be a stressful.

Student’s life during Quarantine Maria Romero 22 • Stories

Photo by KZ Galvan

On the other hand people still need to work, and students still need to learn. Even with school postponed, there are other ways of learning possibilities awaits students.

The DepEd and DOST have implemented online classes for students, to continue the academic requirements to make up for the lost time caused by the pandemic. With more learning materials and internet access at home, we can still learn, looking for new methods, amid the pandemic. Academic learning programs might have other learning options – games and quizzes for example – to get the students attention. It’ll be also useful to teachers since it could organize tasks and assignments.

Note that online classes can have some not good effects to students physical and mental wellbeing. Longer screen time can result to fatigue and irregular sleeping patterns, greatly affecting motivation to learn. Prolonged home confinement can bring anxiety as it means that COVID cases are still on the rise. It has a psychological impact; take social isolation as an example. The student can have a breakdown because they cannot meet their friends in person anymore. The reason behind all of this is that COVID infection is still rising and nobody wants to be infected. Pandemic is real around the world and cabin fever is happening to students.

Managing academic demands under the pandemic quarantine is just as vital as to your wellbeing. To balance this “quarantine academic life” and keeping you off that cabin fever is to look at the bigger picture. Try to get physically fit by just doing simple home exercises, stay connected by playing games, connect with others via online, do what you enjoy and keep a daily schedule. Just accept that things are different now and everyone is adjusting. Remember that this is temporary and all things will end one way or another.

Photo by KZ Galvan

23 • Stories

Photo by KZ Galvan

24 • Stories

Maybe a drop of liquor would do. No, a glass perhaps, or a dozen glasses. Just to, at least, take myself into deeper into my fantasies and illusions, away from reality.

Away from the reality the messed me up bad, really bad. But no, I can't get drunk now.

It'll be a shame, especially here in their wedding reception, in my best friend’s and my love's wedding reception.

She was my best friend, both of them are, actually. But I was the one who met him first. I was the one he really grew with him. I was his childhood friend and now. He was my prince ever since childhood years. Eight? Seven? Six? Five. Maybe it was since I was five when we were together as friends. 20 years have, yet I never had the courage to tell him what I felt. I was the first to meet him, to know him, to be close to him, but I ended up as the bride's maid, not the bride.

Unlike me, she was daring. We became friends on our exact first day of being in college. The three of us were in the same course. Just a month or two after that, she admitted that she liked him. That was the thing I could not do my entire life. They kept things casual, until he told me he also liked her. And I could say no more than an advise for him to pursue her. Yes, I told him to court her. It actually did not took a month before they became officially in a relationship, I never tried to break them. For what? I knew I'll never have the courage to tell them what I feel, even until now.

I was jealous, of course I was. That led me to pursue a new course. But my connections with them were never broken. I just can't let him be out of my reach for that far. Their relationship undergone many breakups, and he would always come to me and cry his heart out. I could have took the opportunity, but what I always did was so different. I was the one giving them advises for their relationship. I was the one who helped them be back together. I was the one who always helped bring their relationship back.

Maybe

Jamie Rafaella Gemoto

I changed my course but I always wanted to keep my eyes on him. And that's what brought my grades into a diving situation. My university were far from theirs but I still chose to leave in an apartment near my old university where they're studying. I always gave my time listening to the both of them; their stories full of what happened to the both of them for the day that I've missed. I had time chatting with him late at night.

That's what caused me to repeat my second year college for two more years. My family was disappointed of me. They sent me to study abroad to avoid distractions, but that made things worse. I always go back without my parents knowing just to keep in touch with him. For me, it was like video calls were not enough. So my parents needed me to go back and had me home-schooled for college. Yes, for college.

That pretty much helped me. They locked me inside our house, with no means of communication with anyone except my teachers and all my neighbors in the house. I had not contact with them for years. But as I graduated, I met them and everything felt the same. My parents were proud of me again. I'm now the one managing our company. puppet of the society, a puppet of my parents, and a puppet of my own fears.

"Hey." It's him. "Congratulations to your wedding." I replied with a smile. It was a bitter one, but it must have looked like a happy and genuine smile." Are you alright?

"Of course I am. Happy, indeed." I said trying to smile. I felt the cool wind blow on my bare back. It felt cold. I turned around the balcony to see the dark surroundings. I could not see the waves of the sea but I could hear its calm sound, as the waves rise and fall.

Photo by KZ Galvan

I'm successful, in the eyes of others. But for me, I am not. I am merely a puppet now. A

"Thank you. Thank you for staying with us. If there was someone who knows our love story like we do, it would be you. But you know what, I also want to thank you. For not falling in love with me." He chuckled. He sounded so sexy but what caught my ears was what he said. I turned my hear to face him beside me and asked him why."

Because back then, I had a great liking of you, but I knew you'll never be interested. And then she came, and I fell in love with her. Thank you for not falling in love with me. If you did, this would have been a totally different wedding." He said. We heard someone from behind call him and he needed to leave me there.

It was a good thing. So that he could not see the tears falling down my cheek to the floor. So that he could not see how regretful I am for not talking him what I felt. If I did took all the chances I had since I was young to tell him what I really feel, maybe, just maybe, this could have been a totally different wedding after all.

Maybe.

25 • Stories

Comics!

26

b y Cielo Alabado

Comics!

27

b y Cielo Alabado

Comics!

28

b y Cielo Alabado

Comics!

29

b y Cielo Alabado

30

Comics!

b y Maria Cassundra Romero

Comics!

31

b y Maria Cassundra Romero

Comics!

32

b y Maria Cassundra Romero

33

Art Lockdown Reminder

b y Jamie Rafaella Gemoto

34

Art Terror Bill

b y Jusseff Robles

Photo by Rafael Tamises

a zine by

SCI-LINK AY 2020-2021