What does Gladys want from the future?

Love.

The Way I See It #36

Mother-love is not inevitable. The good mother is a great artist ever creating beauty out of chaos.

-Alice Randall, Novelist, The Wind Done Gone, and fist black woman to write a No.1 country song.

From Starbucks

The Way I See It #294

Insensitivity makes arrogance ugly; empathy is what makes humility beautiful.

- Renford Reese, Ph.D. Author, professor and founder of the Colorful Flags Program at Cal Poly Pomoma University.

From Starbucks

The Way I See It #223

The greatest difficulty of travel is that one is forced to take oneself along.

- Alain de Botton, Author of The Consolations of Philosophy and the Architecture of Happiness.

What I am reading now...

Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk

Snow by Orhan Pamuk

(I'm still writing the reviews...)

Miss, Pakwan nga...

Actually it is supposed to be a Melon.

"Amoy Melon", not "Melon Amoy"

Warning: Child-proof your lesson plans #1

Me: On the square with a picture of a bear, draw pictures of things that bears eat. It must start with the letter B.

1st Grader Girl: I know! Berries!

Me: That's right! Who else knows what bears eat? Remember it has to start with a letter B!

1st Grader: Oh I know! Boy!

Alligator River

Once there was a girl named Abigail who was in love with a boy named Gregory. Gregory had an unfortunate accident and broke his glasses, Abigail, being a true friend, volunteered to take them to be repaired. But the repair shop was across the river, and during a flash flood the bridge was washed away. Poor Gregory could see nothing without his glasses, so Abigail was desperate to get across the river to the repair shop. While she was standing forlornly on the bank of the river, clutching the broke glasses in her hands, a boy named Sinbad glided by in a rowboat.

She Asked Sinbad if he would take her across, He greed to on the condition that while she was having the glasses repaired, she would go to a nearby store and steal a transistor radio that he had been wanting, Abigail refused to do this and went to see a friend named Ivan who has a boat.

When Abigail told Ivan her problem, he said he was too busy to help her out and didn’t want to be involved. Abigail, feeling that she has no other choice, returned to Sinbad and told him she would agree to his plan.

When Abigail returned the repaired glasses to Gregory, she told him what she had had to do. Gregory was so mad at what she had done he told her that he never wanted to see her again.

Abigail, upset, turned to Slug with her take of woe. Slug was so sorry for Abigail that he promised her he would get even with Gregory, They went to the school playground where Gregory was playing ball and Abigail watched happily while Slug beat Gregory up and broke his glasses.

_____________________________________________________________

Rank these characters from “best” to “worst”. Give reasons for your decisions.

The adventure continues...

So tuloy pa rin dapat ang pakikipagsapalaran. Naisip ko nga, susuko na ako, wala na ganito na lang ako talaga, di na dadapuan ng pag-ibig. Pero kahapon naisip ko rin na mali un, dapat lagi pa rin akong may pag-asa, kasi ang Pag-ibig dakila yan at bigay ng Ama sa lahat. Dapat lagi ko un asahan kasi parte na un ng pagkatao ko. Masasayang ang puso ko kung itatago ko na lang at magpapakabato. E ano kung di ko alam kung may kahahantungan nga itong pag-asa ko? Mas aasamin ko pa na lagutan ng hininga na pag-asa sa Pag-ibig.

Love is the thing, you know!

_____________________________________

So I have to continue the fight. I even thought, I should just give up, I will just be like this, never finding love. But yesterday I realized that this was wrong, I should still keep the hope up because love is great and God gave it to everyone. I have no other choice but to hope for it because the hope is a part of me. My heart will be wasted if I will hide it and become rigid. So what if I don't know if this wait and hope will lead to love? I would rather breathe my last without losing faith in love.

Love is the Thing you know!

This is all I can do

Keep Breathing - by Ingrid Michaelson

The storm is coming but I don't mind
People are dying, I close my blinds

All that i know is I'm breathing now

I want to change the world...instead I sleep
I want to believe in more than you and me

But all that I know is I'm breathing
All i can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing now
now
now
now

All that I know is I'm breathing
All I can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing

All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing

All we can do is keep breathing,
now

I will leave it here...

Ah! another 'chasing pavements' moment...

Last Saturday I saw him again. You know him, and unfortunately, I knew him too well now. After I prayed and waited for the hymn singing, I looked at him at the choir loft and wondered why I liked him the way I did (and probably still do). I liked sitting next to him, I liked bringing him food and talking about trivial things, I anticipate his actions, ergo I like him. But still this does not answer the first "why".

I just couldn’t help but try to talk to him again. I know, it’s crazy and foolish and I should just stop trying to make him see me, because he wouldn't, even with his glasses on. I hate myself for trying to ask him out (yes I did it a few times). I just wanted to understand why he doesn’t want me and would not accept that it is simply that way. I even talked to him on the phone for 1 hour (again hurting myself in the process) and made a comment that I didn’t like, one after the other. I was caught several times trying hard to be agreeable and not look like I am ready to kill him.

So this evening as we talked he hit a chord on me. He told me one day I'll find someone for me and that maybe I should go and wave my passport at NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport). Why did I keep him on the phone? Why do I talk to him when he irritates me with his off color jokes and insensitivity? Why do I stay and listen when all he can throw at me are cliche phrases that don't make sense?

I really should stop wondering about the "why" avoid him at all cost before I hit him with the hammer.

I knew of someone who did that before and I just don't want to be a copy cat :-)

Even if it leads nowhere...

Today I ate a school of Breams (Taiyaki) alone.

How do you keep cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter?

All dressed in Love - Jennifer Hudson (SATC OST)

When you can wear
What you feel
What do you wanna say?
Now love
Is a little number
That you can
Wear each day
As long as you let me
Be the accessory
Simply send me
On my way
Style of love
I look good in love

When it's been
Out of sight
And out of mind
For such a long time
That's how one forgets
So I reached
In the back
Of my closet
And pulled it out
And tried it on
And it still fits

So I covered the pain up
With lots of MAC make-up
But I can't help but blush
Because I'm in love
All dressed up in love
All Dressed In Love lyrics on
http://music.yeucahat.com/song/Movie-Game-Ads/41009-All-Dressed-In-Love~Jennifer-Hudson.html

Chorus:
Cool in the summer
Warm in the winter
I'm dressed up in love
I'm cool in the summer
Warm in the winter
Cuz I'm in love
All dressed up in love

People are looking
Some even staring
I don't know it
When they ask me
What I'm wearing
This or that
It's made
For any weather
My friend
And I sit down
And we both
Make it together

Now if you really want
One of your own
I hope your shoes
Are made for walking
Cuz I found love
And I you must find love

(Chorus)

Cuz I'm in love
And you must find love

Take a Picture by Filter

awake on my airplane
awake on my airplane
my skin is bare
my skin is theirs
awake on my airplane
awake on my airplane
my skin is bare
my skin is theirs
I feel like a newborn
and I feel like a newborn
awake on my airplane
awake on my airplane
I feel so real

[chorus:]
could you take my picture
cuz I won't remember
could you take my picture
cuz I won't remember
could you take my picture
cuz I won't remember
could you take my picture
cuz I won't remember
yeah

I don't believe in
I don't believe in
in your sanctity
your privacy
I don't believe in
I don't believe in
sanctity
a hyprocrisy
could everyone agree that
no one should be left alone
could everyone agree that
they should not be left alone...yeah
and I feel like newborn
and I feel like a newborn [kicking and screaming]

[chorus]

hey dad...what do you think of your son now
ah...hey dad what do you think of your son now?

[chorus (x4)]

Awikins!

I have read your blogs :-)

Shall we agree to disagree? :-)

Boys do fall in love

Baby said you had to be a lover
One way or the other
Nobody wins without once giving in
So dont cry now , dont cry now

Love is just a game you played in high school
Girls know how to be cruel
Most of the time girls are cruel to be kind
So dont cry now , dont cry now

And we try to be cool as we dance in a crowded room
At the end of the day , makin love to a paper moon

She said , boys do fall in love , they make time
They get love on a saturday night
And she said , hearts beat as they dance
In the street to a radio , oh
Boys fall in love

Baby knows I like to be excited
No one wants to fight it
Its getting late so Ill just demonstrate
Dont cry now , dont cry now

And we try to be cool as we dance in a crowded room
At the end of the day , makin love to a paper moon

And she said , boys do fall in love , they make love
They get love on a saturday night
And she said , hearts beat as they dance
In the street to a radio , oh

Oh , boys do fall in love ,they make time (they make time)
They get love on a saturday night
And she said , hearts beat as they dance
In the street to a radio
Oh, boys fall in love

Boys, boys , oh , boys , boys , boys , oh
Boys, boys , boys , oh
Boys, boys , boys , boys

Boys do fall in love , etc (fade out)

- By BEE GEES

Gotta be somebody - Nickelback

This time, I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life, the one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holding my own breath, right up 'til the end
Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight
And dammit this feels too right, it's just like deja vu
Me standing here with you
So I'll be holding my own breath, could this be the end
Is it that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

You can't give up, looking for a diamond in the rough
You never know, when it shows up, make sure you're holding on
Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on
Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me, ohhh

Nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know their not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Prove yourself (Radiohead)

I can't afford to breath in this town
Nowhere to sit without a gun in my hand
Hooked back up to my cathode ray
I'm better off dead
I'm better off dead
I'm better off

Prove yourself
Prove yourself
Prove yourself

I wanna breath
I wanna grow
I'd say I want it but I don't know how
I work, I bleed, I beg, I pray
But I'm better off dead

Prove yourself
Prove yourself
Prove yourself

I'm better off dead
I'm better off dead
I'm better off dead

Prove yourself
Prove yourself
Prove yourself
Why?

Perdido sin tus cartas...

The Way I See It #27

Do not kiss your children

so they will kiss you back

but so they will kiss their children,

and their children's children.

-Noah benShea, Poet, philosopher and author of Jacob the baker, Jacob's Journey and Remember this my children.

Why it isn't advisable to date at a younger age

1st Grader Z: Ms. ____ A is my girlfriend!

Ms_____: Is that true, A?

1st Grader A: *nods" uhuh!

1st Grader Z: She is my girlfriend because she likes me!

Someone's Waiting for you

Someone's waiting to love you - by Lea Salonga

Be brave little one
Make a wish for each sad little tear
Hold your head up though no one is near
Someone's waiting for you
Don't cry little one
There'll be a smile where a frown used to be
You'll be part of a love that you see
Someone's waiting for you

Refrain:
Always keep a little pray'r in your pocket
And you're sure to see the light
Soon, there'll be joy and happiness
And your little world will be bright
Have faith little one
'Til your hopes and your wishes come true
You must try to be brave little one
Someone's waiting to love you
Always keep a little pray'r in your pocket
And you're sure to see the light
Soon, there'll be joy and happiness
And your little world will be bright
Have faith little one
'Til your hopes and your wishes come true
You must try to be brave little one
Someone's waiting to love you

What I am trying to find...

Cure for Pain - Jon Foreman

I'm not sure why it always goes downhill
Why broken cisterns never could stay filled
I've spent ten years singing gravity away
But the water keeps on falling from the sky

And here tonight while the stars are blacking out
With every hope and dream I've ever had in doubt
I've spent ten years trying to sing these doubts away
But the water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my lord! to suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away

So blood is fire pulsing through our veins
We're either riders or fools behind the reigns
I've spent ten years trying to sing it all away
But the water keeps on falling from my tries

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my lord! to suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away
A lie to run, it would be a lie
It would be a lie to run away

It keeps on falling
Water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my lord! to suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away

The age concept

N: How old do you think I am?

Kinder: I don't know. 26?

N: Close. I'm 22.

L: How about me? guess how old I am.

Kinder: I don't know.

L: come on, guess.

Kinder: I don't know.

L. I'm 12 (He is actually in his 20s)

Kinder: Oh really? I thought you were 9.

Theories of Time and Space - by Natasha Trethewey

You can get there from here, though

there's no going home.

Everywhere you go will be somewhere

you've never been. Try this:

head south on Mississippi 49, one-

by-one mile markers ticking off

another minute of your life. Follow this

to its natural conclusion - dead end

at the coast, the pier at Gulfport where

riggings of shrimp boats are loose stitches

in a sky threatening rain. Cross over

the man-made beach, 26 miles of sand

dumped on a mangrove swamp - buried

terrain of the past. Bring only

what you must carry - tome of memory

its random blank pages. On the dock

where you board the boat for Ship Island,

someone will take your picture:

the photograph - who you were -

will be waiting when you return

Final Exam Questions

The CSET essay questions are not far from the preplexity of these questions. Just be thankful that, 1.you are done with college 2. your major is nursing, 3. and Your final exam will probably not include any of the questions below.

WORLD HISTORY
Describe the history of the papacy from its origins to the present day, concentrating especially, but not exclusively, on its social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical impact on Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. Be brief and concise, yet specific.

ASTRONOMY
Define the universe; give three examples.

MEDICINE
You will be provided with a razor blade, a piece of gauze, and a bottle of Scotch. Remove your appendix. Do not suture until your work has been inspected. You have 15 minutes.

COMPUTER SCIENCE
Write a fifth-generation computer language. Using this language, create a computer program to finish the rest of this exam for you.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Twenty-five hundred riot-crazed aborigines are storming the classroom. Calm them. You may use any ancient language except Latin, Hebrew, or Greek.

CIVIL ENGINEERING
This is a practical test of your design and building skills. With the boxes of toothpicks and glue present, build a platform that will support your weight when you and your platform are suspended over a vat of nitric acid.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
The disassembled parts of a howitzer have been placed in a box on your desk. You will also find an instruction manual, printed in Swahili. In 10 minutes a hungry Bengal tiger will be admitted to the room. Take whatever action you feel is appropriate. Be prepared to justify your decision.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
You will be placed in a nuclear reactor and given a partial copy of the electrical layout. The electrical system has been tampered with. You have seventeen minutes to find the problem and correct it before the reactor melts down.

BIOLOGY
Create life. Estimate the differences in subsequent human culture if this form of life had developed 500,000 years earlier, with special attention to the probable effect, if any, on the Philippine social spectrum circa 1640. Prove your thesis.

RELIGION
Perform a miracle. Creativity will be judged.

MUSIC
Write a full piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with a flute and drum. You will find a piano under your seat.

LOGIC
Take a position for or against truth. Prove the validity of your position.

CHEMISTRY
You must identify a poison sample which you will find at your lab table. All necessary equipment has been provided. There are two beakers at your desk, one of which holds the antidote. If the wrong substance is used, it causes instant death. You may begin as soon as the professor injects you with a sample of the poison.

PSYCHOLOGY
Based on your knowledge of their early works, evaluate the emotional stability, degree of adjustment, and repressed frustrations of each of the following: Alexander of Aphrodisias, Ramses II, Gregory of Nicea, and Hammurabi. Support your evaluations with quotations from each man's work, making appropriate references. Translate all quotations in Tagalog.

SOCIOLOGY
Identify the sociological problems which might be associated with the end of the world. Construct an experiment to test your theory.

ECONOMICS
Describe in four hundred words or less what you would have done to prevent the Great Depression.

MATHEMATICS
You have 60 seconds to mentally solve the mathematical problem below. Begin.

8,256.091 + _________ - ________ x ________ ¸ ________ = -38.07623

(Bonus question: Why is 11 not pronounced onety one? Provide a full numerical analysis in justifying your answer.)

POLITICAL SCIENCE
There is a red telephone on the desk beside you. Start World War III. Report at length on its socio-political effects, if any.

ART
Given one eight-count box of crayons and three sheets of notebook paper, recreate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Skin tones should be true to life.

PHYSICS
Explain the nature of matter. Include in your answer an in-depth evaluation of the impact of the development of mathematics on science.

METAPHYSICS
Describe in detail the nature of life after death. Test your hypothesis.

PHILOSOPHY
Sketch the development of human thought. Estimate its significance. Compare with the development of any other kind of thought.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Describe in detail. Be objective and specific.

Young Writers' Sample

"Takunuva, would you reshingle my roof?" Scott asked.

- Third Grader.

*****************************

In the far reaches of the arctic circle, a little girl and a baby penguin sat huddled together...

- Fourth Grader

Asya Kazanci's Personal Manifesto of Nihilism

Article Ten: If you find a dear friend, make sure you don't get so accustomed to him/her as to forget that in the end, each one of us is existentially lonely and that sooner or later the everlasting solitude will overtake any fortuitous friendships.

- Excerpt from the Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

From 32 third graders and one class bunny - by Philip Done

"The Main reason I became a teacher is that I like being the first one to introduce kids to words and music and books and people and numbers and concepts and ideas that they have never heard about or thought about before. I like being the first one to tell them about Long John Silver and negative numbers and Beethoven and alliteration and "Oh What a beautiful Morning" and similes and right angles and Ebenezer Scrooge... Just think about what you know today, You read. You write. You work with numbers, You solve problems. We take all these things for granted. But of course you haven't always read. You haven't always known how to write. You weren't born knowing how to subtract 199 from 600. Someone showed you. There was a moment when you moved from not knowing to knowing, from not understanding to understanding. That's why I became a teacher."

Excerpted from 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life lessons from teaching, by Philip Done

Thoughts #3

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken."

-James Dent

______________________________

What about if one's summer days are exactly the opposite of the above? I am experiencing the opposite right now...

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;  Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,  And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.  I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.       -- Robert Frost

Thoughts #2

There is gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.

-Marlene Dietrich

I wear a thousand Masks - Annonymous

I wear a thousand masks
I hope you won’t be fooled by me for I wear a mask. I wear a thousand masks – masks that I’m afraid to take off, and one of them is me.
I am likely to give you the impression that I’m secure, that confidence is my name, and coolness is my game – that the water’s calm and I’m in command, and that I need no one. But I hope you won’t believe me.
My surface may seem smooth…beneath I dwell in confusion, in fear, in aloneness. But I hide this. I panic at the thought of my weakness and fear of being exposed. That’s why I frantically create a mood to hide behind, a nonchalant, sophisticated façade to shield me from your understanding. But such understanding is my salvation. My only salvation and I know it.
If I don’t keep the mask in front of myself, I’m afraid you’ll think less of me, that you’ll laugh and your laugh would kill me.
So I play the game, my desperate pretending game, with the façade of assurance without, and trembling feeling within, and so my life becomes a front, I idly chatter to you in suave surface tones… I tell you everything that is nothing and nothing of what is everything, of what’s crying within me, So when I go into my routine, I hope you won’t be fooled but what I’m saying, I hope you listen carefully to hear what I’m not saying.
I dislike the superficial, phony game I’m playing. I’d really like to be even, genuine, and spontaneous. I want your help in doing this I want you to risk approaching me even when that’s the last thing I seem to want or need. I want this from you so I can be alive, each time you’re kind and gentle and encouraging, each time you try to understand because you really care, my courage to risk sharing myself with you increases.
I wan to you to know how important you are to me, how you can be a creator of the person that is me if you choose, But it will not be easy for you. A long conviction of worthlessness leads me to maintain distance.
The nearer you approach me the blinder I may strike back. It is self-defeating but at the time, iit seems the safest thing to do. I fight against the very things that I cry out for. But I am told that empathy is stronger that the walls and there in lies my hope. I desperately want you to understand me in spite of my distancing tactics.
Who I am you may wonder, I am someone you know very well. I am every man and every woman you meet.

Set Up by Maru Peter

Set-up (Reposted from 04-05)
Itangan mo sakin ang iyong mga kamay
At sa bisig ko giliw ika'y humimlay
O, lilikas na tayo sa tunay na mundo...

Ang tadhana'y pinagbuklod tayo
Wala nang makapagbabago
Habang ikaw ay nariyan sa aking tabi
Hindi sasayangin ang kahit saglit...

Kalimutan ang sakit mula sa kahapon
Sa bawat bagyo giliw sakin sumilong
Ako ang iyong kalasag...

Wala nang aawat...
Walang sisikil...
Damdaming nagaalab...
Sinong pipigil?
________________________
English Translation of “Set Up”

lay down your hands on me
And on my arms darling, rest
O we will be free from the real world

Faith has binded us together
Nothing will change
As long as you are right there by my side
We will not waste even a moment

Forget about the pain from yesterday
To every storm seek shelter from me
I am your shield

Nothing can stop
No one will stifle
Ardent feelings
Who will fetter?

Thoughts #1

"As we grow older and realize more clearly the limitations of human hapiness, we come to see that the only real and abiding pleasure in life is to give pleasure to other people"

- P.G. Wodehouse

Real Life (from Real Simple)

I read this magazine called Real Simple and they have a section at the back where a reader would answer these questions that only celebrities are asked. So I thought I'd answer the questions, feel like a celebrity or atleast a middle-aged woman:-)

Gladys Fernandez

Age: 27 / grad student San Bruno, CA / Single

Q: What is your favorite feature?

A: My teeth. I was fortunate to have a Dentist for an Auntie and she took care of my teeth for free for like 15 years.

Q: What was your most embarassing moment?

A: There is too many to mention and hard to chose just one:-) But I am always embarrassed whenever my friends who've known me since childhood would recount those embarrassing moments.

Q: What are you most proud of?

A: That I have a great relationship with my parents. We all put in extra effort to improve our communications and I have outmost respect for them. Not a lot of people know this but my father and I are close and we can talk about almost anything.

Q: What is something no one knows about you?

A: I can cook and sew by hand.

Q: What's the one thing you'll never understand?

A: Men. Enough said.

Q: What's the perfect age?

A: Probably the 40's because one would have had accomplishments worth talking about. At that age the akwardness of one's teen years would have be shed compeletely, or so we hope. I'm not liking my 20's right now, it is proving to be a mixed bag.

Q: The big decision I'm currently wrestling with is...

A: What I will do in the fall semester. I'm not student teaching until Spring of 2009 and I need to work on getting a credential and getting a job to pay bills etc, etc.

Q: Cats or Dogs?

A: Cats. But please don't tell my dog.

Ang Kawal at Kondessa - Huling Yugto

Bigla na lang tumunog ang trumpeta ng digmaan. Nagmadaling bumalik sa Palasyo ang Kondessa at ang Kawal. Malungkot na inihatid ng Kawal ang Kondessa sa isang Barko na pabalik sa Bayang Mahamog. Nagpaalaman ang dalawa na puno ng lunkot ang kanilang mga mata.
"Mapanganib ang manatili ka dito sa Isla, Kondessa" Ang sabi ng Kawal. "Yumaon ka na sa iyong bayan at mas ligtas ka doon."
Tumango na lang ang Kondessa. HIndi nya malaman kung bakit hindi tumutulo ang kanyang luha kahit na nag-uumapaw ang kalungkutan sa kanyang dibdib.
Lumipas ang ilang araw, linggo at buwan na walang sulat ni balita sa Kawal. Unti unting nagbago ang Kondessa.Umalis sya sa kanyang katungkulan sa Bayang Mahamog dahil sa nawala na ang kanyang magandang boses na kailanggan sa pagbiigay enerhiya sa buong syudad. Nagpunta sya sa mga dekampanilyang doktor sa bayang Mahamog (malakas kasi sila sa Hari) upang malaman ang lunas sa kanyang sakit ngunit ni isa sa kanila ay walang nakatulong.
Sa kanyang desperasyon, pumunta sya sa albularyo ng bayang Mahamog.
"Malubha ang kalagayan mo Kondesa. Wala na ang iyong puso." sabi ng albularyo.
"Imposible!" ang halos pasigaw na sagot ng Kondessa. "Kung wala akong puso'y di na ako mabubuhay!"

"Yon ang paniniwala ng mga doktor. Sa katunayan ay maari kang mabuhay ng hanggang isang taon nang walang puso. Kung ano man ang ipinakita sa iyo ng mga doktor, hindi iyon ang puso mo. Isang pumipintig na lalagyan na lang iyon. Wala ka nang puso. Kung hindi mo ito makukuha muli, unti unti kang mamatay sa loob ng isang linggo."
At pinaharap ng Albularyo ang Kondessa sa isang salamin. Doon nakita ng kondessa ang kanyang sarili: maputla at nangingitim na mga labi.
"Anong dapat kong gawin? Saan ako makakabili ng bagong puso?"
"Hindi nabibili ang puso.Kailanggang maglakbay kang muli at kunin mo ang iyong puso at patayin ang magnankaw. Ikaw lamang ang makakagawa nito. Kailanggan mo itong gawin sa lalong madaling panahon, habang may lakas ka pa."Kinabuhasan ay bumalik ang mga agila sa bayang mahamog na may malungkot na balita: Hindi pa rin tapos ang Digmaan sa Disyerto at ang Kawal ay nawawala. Hindi maiulat ng mga opsiyal na patay na ang Kawal dahil sa hindi pa rin nakikita ang kanyang bankay.
May isang luhang tumulo sa kanang mata ng naghihingalong Kondessa. At isa pang luha sa kaliwa hanggang sa marining ang mahina nyang pag-iyak.Naghanda sya para sa mahabang paglalakbay.
"Alam ko kung ano talaga ang nangyari," ang sabi ng albularyo nang bumalik ang Kondessa."Ibinigay mo ang puso mo ng walang naging kapalit."
Hindi kumibo ang Kondessa. Pinagpatuloy nya ang paghahanda ng mga kakailangganin nya. Totoo ang sinabi ng Albularyo. I binigay nga nya ang kanyang puso sa Kawal.
Bumalik sa kanyang alala ang huli nilang pagsasama ng Kawal.

"Alaala mo lang ang pwede kong dalhin sa digmaan" Ang nasabi ng Kawal bago umuwi ang Kondessa
Nagtitigan sila ng matagal. Walang tinig na lumabas sa kanilang mga labi. Ibinigay ng Kondessa sa Kawal ang isang kwintas na may kristal na bato. Iyon ang kanyang puso.

"Dalhin mo ito." ang sabi ng albularyo habang iniaabot ang isang kriss na gawa sa lantay na pilak. "Kakailangganin mo sa iyong paglalakbay".

Sa Isla nagpunta ang Kondessa at hindi sa Disyerto. May nagsasabi sa kanyang isip na masmalapit ang kanyang puso sa Isla. Dinala sya ng kanyang mga paa sa isang gubat na madawag at madilim. Halos isang buong araw din syang naglakad hanggang sa nakita nya ang isang dampa.
Pumasok sya sa loob ng dampa. At doon nakita nya ang Kawal na sugatan.
"Nagbalik ka." Ang pabulong na sabi ng Kawal.
HIndi sumagot ang Kondessa. Lumapit pa sya ng kaunti para makita ng lubusan ang Kawal.
"Binalak mo bang kunin ang puso ko?"
Napangiti ang kawal. Bumalik sa alala ng Kondessa ang Pigiging mga isang taon na ang nakalilipas...

"Pagbalik ko, dito na tayo maninirahan sa Isla." Ang sabi ng Kawal habang sumasayaw sila ng Kondessa. Napagiti sa saya ang Kondessa. Ngunit sa likod ng kanyang isip aya alam nyang hindi na sya maaring mabuhay na wala ang hamog, at isang daang taon na ang nakalipas ng huling magkaroon ng hamog sa Isla.
"At paano ka nakaksisigurong makababalik ka? " Ang tanong ng Kondessa.
"Habang nasa akin ang puso mo, hindi ako mamatay". Ang sabi ng nakangiting Kawal.

At ang ngiting iyon ay hindi naalis sa isipan ng Kondessa, hanggang sa sumadaling iyon, sa kabila ng mga sugat ay hindi pa rin nagbabago ang ngiti ng Kawal.
"Oo." At tumawa ng nmahina ang kawal. "Pwede mo na ring sabihing natatakot akong mamatay, at kailanggan ko ng isa pang puso para makaligtas sa Digmaan."
"Minahal kita!" Ang sabi ng Kondessa na lumuluha.
"At minahal din kita!" Ang sabi ng Kawal. "Pero hindi mo sinabi sa akin na ikaw pala ang tagapagmana ng Reyna ng Nieve!"
Ang reyna ng nieve ay may kapangyarihang magpaulan o magpaaraw. Sya ang may-ari ng panahon...

Nanumbalik ang kulay sa mukha ng Kodessa at makalipas ang isa pang araw at tuluyan na syang gumaling.

Makalipas ang ilang taon ay nakabalik na rin sa kanyang trabaho ang Kondessa. Sya pa rin ang pinagtitiwalaan ng Reyna.

Unang Sulat

Mabuhay!