"Aachoo...!""And that"s the fifteenth time," Apprentice said while laughing.
"I got to blame you with this," I pouted as I wipe the snot away from my nose.
Earlier, I am just wandering around to do something after I"m done doing everything. By fate, I found this handsome guy taking his time liesurly bathing here. Hindi ko akalaing isasama niya ako sa kalokohan na ginagawa niya. Kaya ngayon, nandito ako sa malamig na pangpang habang nakaupo sa isang kahoy na ginawa niyang upuan. Mabuti na lang at gumawa ng apoy si Apprentice na ginagamit kong pampatuyo ng sarili. Salamat din kay Aries na nasa may likod na mahimbing na natutulog.
"Yeah, yeah, I"m sorry, okay?" He said teasingly.
"Ako naman ang manghahagis sa iyo sa susunod," belat ko.
"Ha ha, sure I"ll wait for that."
k.u.muha siya ng kahoy at ginamit ito para sa apoy na binabaga niya. Pagkatapos niya inayos ito pumunta siya sa tabi ko at umupo. Napahikab siya sabay inat sa mga braso paitaas.
"Oh man, I"m dead tired," he said.
"Sino ba ang hindi mapapaG.o.d sa ginawa mo?"
"Yeah, you"re right. You see, I really wanna sleep right now," napahikab siya uli. Pinunasan niya ang mumunting tubig ng luha na lumabas mula sa gilid ng mga mata niya.
"Matulog ka muna. Huwag kang mag-alala maghihintay ako rito hanggang sa magising ka," sabi ko.
"I really wanted to accept your offer but that"s entirely not possible."
I leaned down to look at his face. "Why?"
"Well, I"m a dream slaughter, right?"
"Yeah...?"
"I also told you that I get people"s dream in exchange of their lives..."
"U-huh...?"
"If I sleep, who will wake me up then?"
"..."
"Ha ha, don"t worry. I"m not going to do that. Yeah, I might get tired sometimes but sleeping is not an option for us."
Napatango na lang ako. Come to think of it, I never saw him sleep or even take a nap. Lagi lang siyang gising kahit nga sa gabing nalaman ko kung sino ako. He continued playing that familiar tune on the terrace. Hindi pa rin maalis sa ulo ko ang tono na iyon. Nasaan ko nga ba talaga narinig ang bagay na iyon?
"Flowers?"
Biglang ipinakita ni Apprentice ang sarili niyang palad. Nagtaka ako nung una pero napalitan ito ng mangha nang may lumabas na bulaklak mula rito. Iba"t ibang klase ng makukulay na bulaklak ang tumubo mula sa kamay niya. Nagmukhang may itinanim na mga binhi sa balat niya.
"How did you do that?" Tanong ko sabay pitas ng isang bulaklak. Ibinigay rin naman niya ang lahat sa akin.
"Magic..." He said.
"Oh well, of course. I should"ve expected that answer coming," I chuckled.
"Why won"t you try doing it, Princess? I"m pretty sure that you can do it."
"Papaano? Ni wala nga akong alam na magic spells."
"hey, you"re in a dream, right? Everything here is possible. Now, why not do it?"
Tama. Oo nga at nasa panaginip ko lang pala kami. Ibig sabihin kaya kong gawin ang paglipad at ang pagpapalabas ng mga gamit. Hindi ko naisip ang mga bagay na iyon dahil si Apprentice ang lagging gumagawa ng mga kakaibang bagay na iyon. Oo nga pala kung nasa panaginip ako ngayon, natutulog rin kaya si Apprentice sa totoong mundo?
"Diba sabi mo na dream slaughter ka? Ibig sabihin ba nito natutulog ka sa totoong mundo?" I asked.
"Eh? What made you think that?"
"Eh diba kasi natutulog ako ngayon kaya nandirito ako. Maaari bang pareho tayong tulog?"
"Hmmm... Not exactly. I travel throught dreams and that is literal."
"Then how can you enter easily? Do you close your eyes and count one, two and three?"
"It"s harder to explain because you"re a mortal, Aurora. But in a sense, we are somewhat like a shadow. You see, you know why kids usually got scared at night? Like how they freak out because they saw a shadow walking outside? That"s us. And when people sleep I can somehow jump into your mind like it is a portal or something and observe for the whole night until the moment come that I have to fetch things out."
"Then you don"t have a physical body?"
"I have, of course. I"m not a G.o.d or something. I am still a human like you. I ma born in flesh with my parents so don"t worry. Being a shadow is just our way of travelling. But it"s not a shadow, really. But mortals like you see us in that way."
"That"s quite amazing, huh?" I nodded.
"Yeah, I am cool, right?" He chuckled.
Natutuyo na rin ang damit ko dahil sa mainit na paligid. Kahit papaano natuwa ako sa ginawa namin ngayon. Pero may naramdaman din akong kahihiyan. May sinabi ako sa kanya kanina na hindi ko dapat masabi. I mean, we already have the mood and everything. And what"s with that kiss underwater? Well, I"m not sure if it"s considered kissing but it still bugs me. Hindi naman ako makararamdam ng ganito kung wala siyang ginagawa para magbigay motibo.
"Hey, wanna hear a story?" Bigla niyang tawag.
"Sure... What is it?" Umusog ako ng kaunti palapit sa kanya para making.
"Well, the story is all about a maiden with a name of a flower. Well, I guess you"re pretty familiar with it," he just gave me a smirk.
"Somehow... it sounds familiar," I smirked. He chuckled.
"You see, this maiden is a princess. Though, she"s cursed. Thanks to the fairy who gave her a very unique gift."
"Hey, I already know that story. Why do you have to repeat it," And it"s my story. Halatang ako ang ikinukwento niya.
"But you didn"t know what the end of the story is. What you only know is in the middle part and to where you are now, right?"
"Uh... are you telling me that you know what will happen next?" I guess he got some point there. But he knows what will happen next?
"Nope. But I guess, I did. Father Time is almost our close relative so no wonder we might able to know the future for better judgements."
"Hindi ba masama iyon? Yung malaman mo kung ano ang mangyayari sa hinaharap ng isang tao?"
"We"ve no problem with that. Whatever we do we never affect people"s life. But, we still don"t know what lies ahead. What we saw in the future is just a vision. That might still change."
"Then... What will happen to me...?" I am just curious. Pero alam ko naman kung anong mangyayari. He said a long time ago that a kiss of true love will just wake me up.
"Uh... Yeah. The princess is asleep for almost a century until the prince came to save her. With a kiss the princess wakes up. Yes, she woke up... And then they live happily ever after. Nice story, isn"t it?" He grinned.
"I already know that, idiot," sabi ko sabay batok sa kanya.
"But it is still nice, right? To have a happy ending," he smiled with the thought. I nodded.
"... And I hope you"ll be that prince..." I looked at him. Mukhang nagulat siya sa sinabi ko at tinignan rin ako. Nakita kong namula siya sa sinabi ko.
"That would be very impossible, princess. I"m not a prince!" He suddenly became fl.u.s.tered. How adorable.
"Inside a dream everything is possible. This is my dream so in my dream you are my prince. How"s that?" I smiled.
Mukhang mas naging pula pa ang mukha niya sa sinabi ko ngayon. Napatayo siya bigla at naglakad lakad sa paligid ng apoy. Halata sa mga galaw niya na kinakabahan siya. Pagkatapos umikot ng ilang beses ay umupo na siya uli sa tabi ko. Pero sa pagkakataon na ito may ibinigay siya sa akin.
"Ano ito?" Tanong ko sabay tanggap sa isang bagay na bilog.
"It"s a compa.s.s," he pointed at it.
Mukhang isang pocket watch ang ibinigay niya dahil may takip ito. Ng binuksan nakita ko na walang mga numero at kamay na gumagalaw. Imbes, isang kulay pulang maliit na patpat ang parang nakalutang. May apat na linya ito sa bawat gilid na may nakasulat na "north" "east" at "south".
"West...?" Sabi ko sabay tingin sa nawawalang direksyon.
"Hmmm? What?" Tinignan niya ako.
"Where"s the west? There"s no west here?" Sabi ko na ipinakita ang compa.s.s. Tinignan niya ito. Napakunot-noo siya.
"West is here. The opposite of east," sabi niya na tinuro ang east pagkatapos gumawa ng parang linya papunta sa kabila.
"I already know that. I mean, where"s the word west?" Tama rin naman ang sagot niya. Mali ang itinanong ko.
"It"s pretty obvious where you can find west so why are you worrying?" He said mockingly.
Tinignan ko ang compa.s.s na bigay niya. Sa pagkakataong ito nakatutok ang pulang linya sa north.
"Ibinibigay mo ba ito sa akin?" Tanong ko.
"Yeah, sort of."
"Bakit naman?"
"Bawal bang magbigay ng regalo sa isang tao?" He said.
"Nakapagtataka lang. Alam kong marami kang ibinibigay sa akin pero mukhang mahalaga kasi ang bagay na ito sa iyo."
"Yeah, that"s a very important thing to me."
"Eh? Bakit mo naman ito ibinibigay sa akin?"
"So that I"ll have a reason to see you again..."
Nagulat ako sa sinabi niya. It"s my time to be embarra.s.sed. Dahan dahan ko siyang tinignan. Mukhang namumula rin siya dahil sa mga nasabi niya. Napatawa tuloy ako.
"Then... I"ll accept it. Thank you."
"You"re welcome," he answered smiling.