The Future?

What if you were given the chance to talk to you, after 10 years?

Me? I'd just want to make sure if I will still be who I am now.

Keeping things Simple

In front of me, she stood firm, our eyes locked, not noticing all the chaos around us. I asked her for a little chat at a tea shop just around the corner. Somehow, I sensed that she would be something interesting to write about. And disturbingly, I noticed some things that were similar between us, her hair, her face, and her smile. Even in the way we sat down, we were the same. Breaking my string of thought, she told me to make this quick because she still had to go somewhere. I opened my backpack, reaching for a pen and paper. With these in hand, my mind started to flood with thoughts. I bombarded her with all the questions I could think of that she even had to stop me from speaking. I apologized profusely and she then declared that she should just introduce herself instead of me asking all those questions one at a time. With one breath, she said "I am Stephanie Hugo, and at 25 I am a writer for the New York Times. Basically, I love writing and music. My hobbies are playing the piano and guitar, and reading A LOT of books. My favorite books are "The Five People you meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom, and "By the river Piedra, I sat down and wept" by Paolo Coelho. I have a younger brother and sister who I will visit later after this interview. I love my siblings and my family more than anything else, and I want them to have a happy and successful life. I hate people who discriminate others and people who intentionally do bad things just for them to be noticed. I am currently engaged to a person I really love, but will decide to marry after I establish myself in the society. I want to make the world a better place for others to live in. And my motto in life is to keep things simple and, enjoy and love life as it is." She took a deep breath and said, "Any more questions?" When she finished, my head was spinning and my hands were trembling. Trying to pull myself together, I managed to shake my head. I wasn't sure if she understood my awkward gesture because I think I heard her say "Thank you...", though I couldn't make anything out of the rest of the sentence. She finally stormed off leaving the payment for the tea. Dazed, I went off as well.

It is July 15, 2008 and I just woke up from a not-so-bad dream. I dreamt about seeing myself, 10 years from now and actually interviewing myself face-to-face. I realized that that person in front of me was the person who I really wanted to be. I was thankful at the thought that probably, after 10 years, or maybe more, I'd still be who I am right now. I wouldn't change my beliefs, my attitude, myself. I will always remember that dream, that one dream, where I had a glimpse of my future.

Lost and Found

This is another write-up I found in my old files here. Comments please :).

Alone

She was walking down the 18^th avenue, grieving for the loss of a loved one, alone. Along this road, she saw a lot of things that reminded her of ‘their’ past. She saw a hair salon called ‘The Hairy Edge’ and then and there, she remembered her memories with him. They used to go there together whenever he thought that she needed a new haircut. He would always want to see her new look and tell her that she looks beautiful, and as always, she would try to convince him that she wasn’t. Though in her heart, she knew that he meant it. And as they argued, little by little, without realizing it, their lips were just inches apart…back to reality, she smiles and goes on her way.

Now, distinctly she sees police cars everywhere because it seems that there has been a robbery at the guitar store. Not minding all the chaos, she remembers how he loved guitars. She’d sometimes get jealous and think that he loved guitars more than he loved her. She’d have this stern look on her face, and then sweetly, he’d say “If I ever lost my guitar I could easily buy a new one. But if I ever lost you, I’d never be able to find another. I’d simply feel incomplete and eventually, die.”

She continued to walk and saw two children chasing each other across the street and remembered how they would run after each other and when she could, she would try to hide. But, her ‘great-hidden-super-secret-hiding-places’ never worked for him. With a smug smile, he’ll say, “Brilliant, what a great hiding place. Tell me, how do you do it?” sarcastically. Then she would act like she was angry and he’d always say sorry. And as usual, they’ll end up ok.

As she walks, she sees this old sign with the words ‘Dance and leap’ and she remembered in an instant what these words mean to her. This was where they had their first dance and their first date. She cried as she saw the sign and stared at the words. She remembered when he said that “This may not be the ideal ‘date’ place for you. This is not like a five-star restaurant or something but this is the only place where I know I could be with you, alone. I thought of arranging this dinner with all pink candles and the other stuff you wanted because I wanted to remember this day for the rest of my life, because I spent it with you”…she then wiped her tears and went on.

She peeped through a small window and she saw a woman, sick, lying on her bed with a man holding her hand as if he was praying to God that she would get better. This reminded her of how he took care of her whenever she was sick. He’d always have this calm face, as if he was thinking. Though she can sense that, deep inside, he’s worried sick about her. He took care of her, he cooked for her, he gave her medicine, and he told her to rest and whispered in her ear that everything would be ok. He’d pray for her every night and whenever she wakes up, she’ll see him asleep, holding her hand…Pushing her tears back, she thought, everything was but a memory to her now.

She goes farther on reaching the end of the road when she noticed a man sitting on a bench, reading a newspaper. Curiously she sat down beside him. His face was covered with the newspaper he was reading when she asked him, “Mister, what are you reading about?” he answered, “Oh, this? I was reading about the Dance and Leap, I wonder what happened to that place. You see, me and my girl---“. Her heart was rushing, pounding hard. Thoughts flooded her mind as this man spoke. “This man, his voice…it just can’t be…All this time?...” she thought. And without thinking she took the newspaper and threw it. She moved forward to him, held the man tightly in her arms. She was sobbing hard and shakingly said “I’d know that voice from anywhere…I…I thought—“, he interrupted, “that I’d really be gone forever? I wouldn’t let that happen you know. I told my parents that I didn’t want to go, and well, they sort of disowned me already. But who cares, I’m with you now. And we’d be together for the rest of our life”. Smiling, he held her closely to his bosom and let her hear his heart, his heart, calling her name, only her name. Then she finally said, “I thought I was going to lose you…I don’t want to be alone, not without you…” He kissed her and said “You were never alone.”

My Ending

I made this last year since it was a requirement for our CLE class.
I've edited it for publishing purposes.

NOTE: I am an admitted lesbian, though it is not one of my principles to post anything with malicious content concerning the said matter. I just hope you like it.
I accept comments and suggestions on my writing.

And this is how the story goes…

All of my life I have been wondering how my life would end. I believe that at one point in my life, when I have served my purpose and found eternal happiness, God would give me rest, a rest for eternity. And this time, I am to write how I would want my ‘ending’ to be.

It was the night before my 81^st birthday. We were eating in a classy restaurant, me and the love of my life. Dimmed lights surrounded us with a candle light at the center. As we ate, we talked of our memories from the past (every bit we can remember). Remembering it all alone gave me a hard time, but whenever I would stop and think of what happened next, she would remember exactly how the rest of the story went. Slowly, we walked back to our home, and in a instant, I felt an exhilarating rush of blood as she grabbed my hand and held it in her hands - that feeling had never changed ever since the first time she held it. When we reached home, she took away her hand from my grasp and tightly wrapped her arms around me. We stood there, in each others' arms, wishing for that moment to last forever. Letting go of each other, we prepared ourselves for sleep, and as we lay down on the bed, we said our long ‘I love you’s to each other, hands intertwined.

Before I slept, I stared at the face beside me, sleeping like an angel. The face of the only person I have ever loved. I shed tears, tears of what seemed to be an unending happiness. I whispered then to her ear, “After all the hardships, we made it through, even if we had to go against the world, you were there with me, holding my hand. And after all those years, I've loved you more each and every day. Nothing has changed, and nothing will ever change.”

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself with my arms wrapped around my love. I slept again, so I could just make the moment seem longer. And once again, I woke up. There was this cold, different feeling around my arms…It was my love.

As I tried to awake my love, there was no movement nor any response. Again and again, I would call out her name; I would try and make her move, make her speak, make her open her eyes...Nothing. I broke down and cried…my love was gone.

You may be confused right now because this was supposed to be my ending,and not of another. but let me just tell you what happened next. I brought my love to the hospital, crying my heart out, ordering the doctors to do something...even if they couldn’t do anything anymore. I was broken.

A few days after I have regained my sanity, my love was buried at the cemetery. After the ceremonies, I waited for the crowd to disperse until I was the only one left. I lay on the grass beside my love’s final resting place. I closed my eyes, shed my last tears, and all was gone.

In the first part of the story, I said that your ending should come when you have served your purpose and obtained happiness. In my ending, I wanted to show that my ending would be the loss of the only source of my happiness. I have fulfilled my purpose, to love and be loved. My life ended when my love’s life did. And that’s how the story goes…