The humid, metropolitan air blasts into my
face the second I step out of the automatic, sliding doors and into the front
of the crowded Aquino Airport sidewalk in Manila Philippines. The heavy, brown
smog that came from the excess of tricycles, jeeps and taxis fills my nostrils
as I carefully push the cart full of my family’s suitcases stacked on top of
one another. On the other side of the ‘Passenger Pick-Up’ lane are my mother’s
sides of the family fervently waving at us.
Adrenaline
pumped into my veins as my nimble, seven years old hand grabbed onto a loose,
tree branch pulling my small body upwards ignoring the irritable ache in my
shoulders. Sweat beads trailed down my eyebrows and into the corners of my eye,
slightly blurring my vision. However, I was too excited to regret why I even
bother begging my older sister to allow me to join her mountain hiking in the
middle of the hot summer. The scorching heat from the sun profusely beats down
on my bloated face as I tried to get a proper holding of my foot on top of a
larger rock that was wedged inside the brown, dried dirt. I reached for another
sturdier branch while lifting my other feet on the next available rock that I
could find almost catching up to my sister. I winced at the irritable pain when
my ankles brushed along the sharp thorns of the vines that grew close to the
ascending ground and grimaced at the tiny multiple holes of my white, cotton
shirt. After hiking for a while, the small, narrow path that leads to the flat
peak of the mountain came to view. The pathway seems to be swallowed up by
ominous, native Kalayaan trees blocking the sun’s rays from penetrating into the
ground creating tall, wide shadows that gleefully danced within the winded,
exiguous road. A tiny shiver of excitement ran down my spine like a cold bucket
of water of the thought of passing through it. Lastly I blissfully gazed down at
the rural people tending to their rice fields at the base of the immature
mountain as their bright color straw hats slightly simmered at the sweltering
sun. I must have been watching at them for too long because my sister suddenly
calls out.
“Bonn!
Come on! We don’t have all day long!” She yells as her dark figure went deeper
into the shadowy road.
“Wait
up!” I shouted as loud as my lungs can carry.
The
cool, oppressed air heavily shrouded above the gray, colorless pathway creating
an illusion as silver mist made of water vapors casually drifted and shifted
into incoherent shapes mostly covering the top of the trees and slightly letting
few drops of sunlight pass through. As we forced our way, slowly ascending to
the top, the foreboding mist gradually disappeared and my eyes swiftly noticed
the pearly, red berries glistening in the faint, golden rays as if tempting me
to stop and have a taste. Hearing my sudden footsteps stopped, my sister turned
around seeing my eyes glued to the particular shrubs and swiftly cautioned me
of the bright, ruby poisonous berries that grew alongside of the rocky trail. I
loudly sighed in discontent resisting against the urge to pluck the small,
forbidden fruits and shoving them inside my pocket. My muddy, brown sneakers
crunched the small, rounded pebbles that littered across the path while I distracted
myself ogling in full awe of the Kalayaan trees that greatly flourished and
thrived under the incinerating sun as its thick, multiple branches dreamingly
reaches further into the indigo sky creating transparent shadows that
artistically blending in with the luscious background. As we dwelled deeper
into the passage way, the number of annoying pebbles decreased and tiny patches
of green grasses began to grow associated with grasshoppers. The subjugating
atmosphere that appeared in the beginning of our trek was gradually lifted and
was replaced by a more cheerful, breezy wind. The winded road suddenly came to
a stop revealing a fresh, secluded pasture it seemingly tried to protect from
outsiders. I involuntary covered my mouth holding my breath to prevent the
meager gasp to escape thus ruining the everlasting peace that settles across
the grass field. My eyes widened in veneration absorbing the sudden calmness
that overcame my whole body as if my burdens were taken away from my shoulders
and slowly closed my eyes barely listening for the soft tweeting of the mocking
birds to the delicate swaying of the copious, meadow flowers. My exhaustion was
completely erased and forgotten while my newly-formed bruises were suddenly healed at the
indescribable sight.
I
hesitantly blink as the image is pull back inside the dark abyss of my mind
while acknowledging that after that fateful day, we kept that place a secret as
our own shelter from the outside world and also a place to escape from the
harsh world of reality. The simple feelings that I once felt and deemed as the
greatest moment of my childish life became just a tiny, distant memory that’s
barely out of reach. I once again stare at the bare hill that now sags; all of
the life drained away from excess logging and erosion continuously wears away
its proud figure. I swallow the remaining last piece of the Indian mango
leaving a faint, bittersweet aftertaste in the back of my tongue as I wonder
whether the pasture has been eroded away or been trying to cling to life ever
since.
Ten
days have passed, and our newly front yard blossoms with newly plant yellow
daisies. I happily skip towards our red, rusting gate unaware of the gathering
of the hazy, pitch-dark clouds. In my hand holds a particularly red, straw bag
ideal for storing organic fruits and vegetables. I open the red, rusting gate
cringing at the screeching sound it made. I step out of our newly painted house
overlooking at the newly, concrete foundation that replaced the ancient bike
path that used to ran across our land. Customized, vintage jeeps slowly zoom
past me one after another till there was a silence gap with just me and the
empty road. It's a different sort of foreboding silence. My eyes unknowingly
glue itself at the white stripes on the middle of the black road as
overwhelming sadness sweeps over me. All of the sudden as if clawing its way
out of my locked, forbidden memories, the sound of faint yelps gradually
increases replacing the heavy, menacing silence.