A Foresight Through A Retrospect

By Kim Vistar

mawag kay tita.

"Thesa, saglit!" mayamaya pa'y lumapit si Emma sa kinatatayuan namin ni tita.

Nagulat naman kami ni tita kaya ramdam ko na parang nanigas si tita sa kinatatayuan nito.

"Thesa, salamat. Salamat, dahil nanatili kang kaibigan hanggang sa huli. Salamat, kasi kahit walang naniwala saakin ng panahong 'yon nagtiwala ka parin saakin. Ito…" sabay abot ni Emma sa diary niya.

"Para sayo ‘to. Liham ko para sayo."

Ilang saglit pa'y tumulo na ang luha ni tita at sabay naman ng pagbabago ng emosyon ni Emma.

"Akin to! Bakit mo kukunin sa akin to? Akin to!" pagsisigaw nito sa tita ko kaya kinuha na si Emma ng kanyang bantay.

Napaupo si tita sa sahig, ni hindi ko na alam ang gagawin kaya niyakap ko nalang si tita sabay sabing…

“Hindi ka niya mahagilap ng panahong iyon kaya naisipan niyang isulat ang lahat ng gusto niyang ikwento sayo. Kaya tita, kumawala ka na rin sa sakit dahil wala kang kasalanan at lubos na nagpapasalamat si Emma sayo."

“Anong gagawin natin dito, ta?”

“Edi, ipapakilala kita kay Emma,” maikling sagot nito habang nag patuloy sa paglalakad.

Iniwan ako ni tita sa isang bakanteng upuan sa ilalim ng puno at mayamaya pa ay tinawag ako nito.

“Ito si Emma. Ang may-ari ng diary na ‘ yan. ”

“Matagal niya na hinahanap yan.”

Hindi ako makagalaw sa kinatatayuan ko sapagkat ang Emma na nasa diary ay ibangiba na sa Emma na nasa harapan ko. Napakalaki ng kanyang ngiti at nangungusap ang kanyang mga mata.

Isa lang ang masasabi ko. Sinayang ng lalaking ‘yon ang buhay ng magandang nilalang na ito dahil ngayon, hindi lang siya sa masakit na alaala nakakulong kung hindi pati na rin sa apat na sulok ng mental hospital na ito.

“Liham ko,” paulit-ulit na sambit ni Emma pagtanggap nito sa diary.

Habang hawak hawak ni Emma ang diary niyayakap niya ito ng nakangiti. Mas lalo namang nangibabaw ang awa ko kay Emma. Ang biktima ng gahasa at cyber bullying sa social media.

“Ngayong kilala mo na si Emma.”

Napalingon naman ako sa aking tita na nagsasalita.

“Sana maging mapanuri ka sa mga bagay bagay hindi lang sa social media kung hindi pati na rin sa iyong mga kaibigan,” sabay lakas ng hampas ng hangin.

“Dahil kahit ngayon, araw-araw akong binabalikan ng panahon na ‘yon at iniisip ko kung sana nagkaroon ako ng oras na makinig kay Emma, hindi niya sana makikilala si Rus at higit sa lahat wala sanang trahedya ang nangyari sa buhay niya,” napaluha na kwento ni tita.

Matapos ang maikling pag-uusap ay naglakad na kami palabas, hanggang sa may tu- nakita?

Bakit imbes na tulungan ako ng pamilya ko’y hindi nila ako kayang tingnan sa mata?

Bakit tinanggalan ako ng karapatan ng paaralan mangarap?

Bakit ba ang hina ng hustiya dito sa bansa?

Bakit?

“Hoy, ano yan?” tanong ni Nina.

“Nakita ko sa bookshelf ni tita ang ganda ng sulat kaya aking binasa,” pagpapaliwanag ko.

“Ah, ‘yan ata ang talambuhay ni Emma,” sabay lapit nito sa pwesto kung saan ako nakaupo.

“Talambuhay as in diary? Bakit nandito?”

“Hindi ko din alam. Mamaya tanong mo si tita.”

Habang naghihintay kay tita ay muli kong binuksan ang diary ni Emma. Doon ko nabasa ang iba pa nitong mga masasakit na mga alaala. Ang hirap naman ng ginagawa niya. Sa panahong naganap ang nangyari sa kanya tanging ang ballpen at diary lang ang kasangga niya. Mas gusto ko na tuloy makilala itong si Emma.

Mayamaya pa’y dumating na si tita.

“Sabi ni Nina binasa mo daw ang diary ni Emma?”

“Opo, tita.”

“

Tamang tama may pupuntahan ako ngayon. Gusto mo bang sumama?”

Hindi ako tumanggi sa imbitasyon ni tita at nagtungo nga kami sa kung nasaan si Emma.

Tumigil ang dyip sa isang malawak na lupain.

“Ayaw mo uminom?” pag-anyaya nito sa’kin.

“Hindi ako umiinom,” kabado kong sagot.

Sa una ay hindi niya naman ako pinilit pero ng malasing si Rus ay hindi niya ako tinigilan hanggang sa uminom na rin ako ng isang beses.

Kinabukasan, nagising ako na sobrang sakit ng aking ulo at nasa bahay na ako. Paglabas ng kwarto bumungad agad ang magulang kong umiiyak. Nang makita nila ako ay agad akong sinugod ng aking ina sabay sampal ng malakas sa aking mukha.

“Ano bang kasalanan namin sa’yo at pinaparusahan mo ang pamilya natin.”

“Ma?” gulat kong tanong.

Wala akong alam.

Hindi ko alam.

“Talagang nagmamaang-maangan ka pa. Nakakahiya ka Emma! Nakakadiri ka!”

Sa simula ay para akong nagbibilang ng buhangin sa sagot ng aking ina pero ng makita ko ang bidyo doon ko nalang naunawaan ang sitwasyon ko.

Pero teka… kasalanan ko ba?

Hindi ba’t ako’y isa lang ding biktima?

Bakit parang walang nakakaunawa?

At ngayon, ang bidyo sa social media kumakalat na.

Hindi ako makalabas ng bahay at hindi ko na rin maibabalik ang dati kong buhay. Kaya sa pagsusulat ko ibinaling ang aking oras. Kaya gusto ko lang din ilabas ang aking saloobin.

Bakit ang biktima ay mas lalong pinagpyestahan ng masa?

Bakit hindi man lang nila inalam kung ano ang totoong nangyari sa likod ng kanilang

Emma

By Charmmy Plangca

Pangarap ko ang mabuhay ng maayos at mapayapa ngunit ng dahil sa internet at makabagong teknolohiya nabago ang takbo ng aking mundo. Noon, sapat na sakin ang makabasa ng balita mula sa dyaryo, ang makipag-usap sa mga kaibigan ko at maging ang paggawa ng takdang aralin sa paaralan na walang kodigo. Maraming nagawa ang makabagong teknolohiya sa akin kung may masama man itong naidulot may mabuti din naman itong naitulong.

Sa edad na bente, napagtanto ko na tama nga ang sinasabi nila. Susubukin ka talaga ng tadhana hanggang sa mapapasabi ka na hindi mo na kaya. Lahat ng bagay alalahanin mo katulad ng iyong itsura, marka, at pera. Pero katulad ng karamihan, alam kong ito’y aking malalampasan. Kaya lang mahirap pala magkwento sa kaibigan lalo na't alam mong may sarili din silang problemang kinakaharap.

Kaya sa social media ako’y naingganyo. Kahit may mga kaibigan naman ako, naghahanap pa rin ako ng bago at sa limang nakilala ko si Rus ang bukod tanging hindi nagsawa na makinig sa hinaing ko sa buhay.

“Sa totoo lang ayaw kong maniwalang totoo ka.” Iyan ang mga salitang nasabi ko sa una naming pagkikita.

“Sabagay, madami na kayang na i-scam sa social media.” relief and took a moment to catch my breath.

Lubos kong ikinagagalak na nakilala ko kasi si Rus sapagkat hindi naman talaga madaling makahanap ng taong mapagkakatiwalaan. 'Yon bang hindi ka huhusgahan sa kwento mo at higit sa lahat bukas ang kanyang pag unawa.

Isang araw, sumama ako sa lakad ni Rus kasama ang kanyang barkada. Laking gulat ko at sa mesa’y may alak na nakalapag. Kinakabahan ako sa hindi maipaliwanag na dahilan. Dito ko lang din napagtanto na hindi ko pa pala gaano kakilala si Rus.

But as I turned to leave, I noticed something else. The scenery was changing. The buildings, the trees, the roads – they were all morphing into something else entirely. And then I saw the figure again, but this time it was closer, and I could make out its features. It was me, or at least it looked like me.

Panic set in as I realized that I was trapped in some kind of loop. No matter how far I ran, I would always end up back in this same place. And worse yet, I was being chased by myself. The figure was gaining on me, and I could feel its cold breath on the back of my neck.

I knew I had to do something, but what? I was lost, confused, and terrified. I thought about the watch my lolo gave me and how it had brought me here. Maybe it could take me back out again. I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up to my face.

Suddenly, everything went black. I felt a jolt, and then I was back in my own world, lying on my bed with the watch in my hand. I can hear the ringing of the bells again and the unwavering noise that came from the near tindahan, the click and clacks of the tiles of mahjong, and the empty tin cans. It took me a moment to realize what had just happened, and then a wave of relief washed over me. I had made it out of that nightmarish world.

But then, I looked closer at the watch again, and something caught my eye. It wasn't ticking anymore. In fact, it wasn't moving at all. It was frozen in time, just like I had been. And then I understood – I was never traveling in reverse.

Am I?

And then,

I found myself in a place I didn't recognize.

I tried to stay quiet, hoping they would go away, but they didn't. The whispers grew louder and more urgent until I finally couldn't take it anymore. I burst out of the cave, ready to face whatever was waiting for me.

But as soon as I stepped out, everything went silent. The world around me was frozen, like time had stopped. And then, without warning, everything began to move in reverse. The trees shrank back into the ground, the birds flew backwards into the sky, and I felt myself being pulled back the way I had come.

I tried to fight it, but it was no use. The world was moving in reverse, and I was helpless to stop it. I was pulled back to the beginning of my journey, back to where I had first entered this strange world.

And then I realized the truth. I had never moved at all. I had been stuck in a time loop, endlessly reliving the same experience over and over again. The strange world, the whispers, the feeling of being lost - it was all just a trap to keep me there, trapped in the loop forever.

I felt a cold fear wash over me as I realized I was doomed to repeat this experience for eternity. But then, a small glimmer of hope appeared. If I had never moved at all, then maybe there was a way to break the loop.

I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling of being pulled backwards. And then, with all the strength I could muster, I fought against it. I pushed forward, even as the world moved backwards around me.

But then I saw something that made me stop in my tracks. It was a figure, or at least I thought it was a figure, standing motionless in the distance. It was too far to make out any features, but I could tell it was human-shaped. My heart started to race as I realized that I wasn't alone in this strange world.

I cautiously approached the figure, but as I got closer, I realized that it wasn't a person at all. It was a statue, frozen in time like everything else in this bizarre place. I let out a sigh of

Barangay Tiempo

By Yzi Oquindo

Ugh, Sunday. The supposed to be the rest day, but it is impossible at Barangay Tiempo.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the noisy town, casting a warm glow on the clamoring street of Barangay Tiempo. I could hear the distant sound of church bells ringing, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of sizzling pork tocino filling the air, the click and clacks of the mahjong tiles from the neighborhood, and flying tin cans from tumbang-baka’ s tournament.

This is what a normal Sunday here in Barangay Tiempo looks like. "It's too early," I said as I looked at my watch, and I dozed off.

I found myself in a place I didn't recognize. No clamoring, no kids playing, no mahjong. The world around me was completely unfamiliar, and everything was overturning. It was silent. The trees seemed to be growing upside down, and the birds were flying backwards. Even the air felt heavy like it was pressing down on me.

I tried to leave, but I couldn't find my way out. Every step I took only seemed to lead me further in, and soon I was completely lost. I wandered for hours, hoping to find some way out of this bizarre world, but the more I walked, the more lost I became.

As the sun began to set, I realized I was going to be stuck here for the night. I looked around for some kind of shelter, but everything was backward. The houses had no doors, and the windows were on the roof. I eventually found a small cave that seemed to be facing the right way, and I curled up inside, hoping to find some kind of peace.

But as the night wore on, I heard strange noises coming from outside the cave. They were like whispers, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. They seemed to be coming closer and closer, and soon I could feel their presence just outside the cave.

With one swift move, she kicks Jerry out. She whispers, "Live for me."

As he fell off, all of his blood returned, reverting him to his original state. "Trish, NOOO!" Jerry screams in terror.

Some time passed.

Another couple approached the orb. Two remains caught their sight, gray hairs hinted death due to old age.

Both suffered the same fate, waiting for their lovers and never left.

“There’s that sound again.” your mark in the world. This could be the breakthrough we’ve been searching for. This could hold the cure.”

“And what if it’s not?”

“Then we’ve got nothing to lose. I’m tired of being the laughing stock of the scientific community. Like you, I want to die in a hospice, and my life celebrated after I depart.”

“People say that it’s primed in the human condition to fear the dark. Darkness represents the unknown. But since when did people of science like us feared the unknown?” he boasted.

“But at what cost, Jerry?” she objected. “Dreams are made from the same stuff as nightmares.”

“For you, Trish, everything.”

Without thought, Jerry ran into the void. Trish, afraid of abandoning his lifelong partner, followed suit.

Jerry wakes up and sees Trish aging backwards, rapidly. Both naked. The cut in her heart was slowly fading. "Trish!" he tries to call out, but the sound is only muffled in the empty void. Blood leaks and spools from his body and enters her. Trish, meanwhile, sees Jerry aging forward and fast. Skin mounting upon skin, and gray engulfing his body. She can only assume that the void is draining Jerry's life to the bareness of being.

The fountain was never a place but a rift in space-time. A corporeal realm existing between two planes of existence: life and death. A vacuum where time loses its grip on the body. Where one's cup is emptied to fill the other.

A tear sheds from Jerry’ s eye.

“It’s okay,” he gestures with his mouth.

Trish musters up all the energy she has left. "Thank you for trying, but..."

“There it is again, Jerry!” Trisha muttered. The light started to change colors. Warping the room with every chroma in the spectrum.

The warping sounds like pool tides crashing against filtration gates or the pompous breathing of a dying cow. The narrow walls did nothing but amplify its ominous echo.

“Well, I guess there’s no other way but forward,” Jerry said.

The couple continued to walk. Jerry dragged Trish's weight, leaving blood trails in their wake. As they got closer to the light, they felt a brush of cold wind. The chatter of birds was strange and felt out of place. As they neared the exit, their eyes were rushed with light. They stumbled upon a lush green paradise teeming with life. This place was akin to a snow globe, lying at the heart of the mountain. A myriad of vibrant birds flocked the bubble. Fruits and flowers grew abundantly. And the water was surging down the rocky ceiling. "This must be it, Jerry."

“Surely, the Fountain of Youth was also called the Fountain of Life,” he replied.

But no fountain was in sight. Nor any mysterious body of water that could hold magical properties.

“VHUM VHUM VHUM ”

“There’s that sound again,” both jinxed.

They followed the sound and saw an orb of darkness floating above the grass floor. Its aura distorts the space around it, warping the light. Meanwhile, besides it, the remains of what seemed to be another traveler rest. Dead due to old age.

“Jerry, this is not something to be trifled with. We should go.”

“Trish, this is it. All maps lead here, all clues pinpoint to this exact location. You had always said that it only takes one moment, one defining act of bravery and brilliance, to make travelers. “Now this is a good way to die,” declared the other. Armed with only battery-powered flashlights and the will to save the other, both showed no signs of fear and charged headfirst until their figures were swallowed by the darkness.

Time passed, and it felt like they were walking in circles.

“

My whole life has been a wild goose chase. And ironically, on my last day, I’m chasing a children’s fantasy.” The second one scoffed, “Fountain of Youth. Who are we kidding?”

“

Well, there must be some sense of truth to it,” defended the first one. “The myth must be grounded on reality.”

“You really believe that? Stories survive only by conquest. It feeds off our own ambitions. With outcomes decided only by winners, it thrives with deception. For us losers, we’ re merely footnotes and misplaced commas in the stories of others. It’s not our birthright to ask for a better end.” “VHUM VHUM VHUM ”

“

Wha what is that?” the second one stuttered. Struck by a sudden chill, the faint alien sound stopped them in their tracks, quivering. “Don’ t move. ” Underneath, the earth slowly cracked. Their youthful enthusiasm was replaced with a sudden ring on the ear and momentary paralysis. The hollow floor caved in, and both fell into a chasm.

“Trish, are you alright?” he coughed. “You’re bleeding!”

“Disappointing but, yeah, still not dead,” she humored. The pair regrouped and looked around.

It was a small enclosure, but the blackness suggested an otherwise endless space. It made the space seem bigger than it was. However, there was an obstruction to the darkness. From a distance, a beam of light slithers its way into the confinement, just enough to provide a slight reprieve of the senses but not enough to lit the way. For a moment, that small beam of light pierced the veil of darkness and allowed the pair to recoup their belongings.