A Vampire was Born

As I sat in the stairways of an isolated haven of night dwellers, the cold breeze from the open doors aroused my memories and stirred my thoughts. Decrepit paintings of a dream, a proverbial nightmare perhaps? No. It was a life I had once lived under the radiance of the cheerful sun.

A young man filled with a passion for exploring new places. A man with a humble wage and a loving woman. His love for her was without equal and his pride was never sovereign when measured against her happiness.

The young man knew, he would need to seek a fortune to build a dream worthy of his love for her. He sought out a task he would be well compensated for. In his search for such treasures, he had lost the emotional capacity to sustain his love for her....

He lost her one rainy day with a goodbye over the phone....

He moved on with his life as if nothing happened. Numb from the pain, he continued on his quest for financial gain. Until one fateful day, the darkness called out to him promising him of his dream and the unfeeling embrace of the night to save him from the senseless lamentations of a lost life. He accepted the offer...

He was a prisoner of a life he could not have and each day was a testament that hardened his heart. Like the pharaoh of Egypt, he was witnessing the hand of God but grew more unbelieving and unconvinced...

Fate, it would seem, if not with a sense of irony that as he hid in the darkness, the light has found him. It reminded him of the good things he had forgotten and the man that he once was. The love of a woman brought her back to the light. He was no longer living in the dark, yet he chose to stay there. His servitude under the reign of darkness has a purpose once again...

The cold breeze has passed and with it the memories as well. The rushing throng of modern day vampires welcome me to the gates once again. It is time to work...

I shall miss you. Hope to hear from you in the morning. Love you! Message sent....

My Funny Valentine

The waves, I remember them from my youth. It rushes quickly to greet the shores and retreats to the ocean just as quickly as it appeared. It doesn't wait for your contemplation, your remorse, your desires nor does it care for the passage of time. It takes away those who are careless enough to get caught in its tide and it brings to shore those who have drifted away. My life has been a series of waves, each new surge washes away the previous and I'm left with nothing.

I outgrew my temperate youth and saw the waves again. She is no longer the cruel mistress, a bandit of time. She has become my inevitable end, the whisperer of my fate. The things she has taken from me, I no longer require. The treasures she washed up on my shores, I keep close to my heart.

It has been a bad habit of mine to complain about my unfortunate state during the month of hearts. This month is different from the rest although I had spent it exactly the same from the previous years. I have been blessed. No matter how fast the waves come and go, it's the riches the waves leave behind that I look forward to the most.

My dear, you have been an inspiration to me. I love you. Thanks for everything.

The Love Month Cometh!

Like a snatcher from the streets of Quiapo, it crept up from behind once again. The dreaded day of hearts draw near like an overwhelming army of orcs rushing to crush the gates of sanity. I do not wish to to ride this storm like the rest of the feeble minded human race yet, I feel compelled to act on it. Despite my rational meanderings and pedagogic reasoning, it feels utterly unjustified if I do not exert any effort to show I care. Valentine's day is the epitome of the love's commercialism.

Diamonds are forever. Chocolates for my sweet. Flowers for my love. Has the human race become so materialistic that they need earthly things to manifest their emotions? Can love be summed up in one day and forever be the measure of a man's resolve to win the affections of his loved one? How can we stoop to the level of animals who determine their mate by a single dance of seduction? Pitiful, if not pathetic. Try explaining that to an envious woman who didn't get her gift on February 14. Hell hath no fury... Makes judgment day look like a birthday party at McDonald's. Some things cannot be rationalized, explained and sometimes conveyed properly when it comes to the matters of the heart. Be that as it may, I still feel stupid about the whole thing.

I do hope that I won't have to explain all this to the flower lady at Dangwa. I don't think she would appreciate it very much. I'm too old to fight this sort of thing, all I can do is complain about it. Ultimately, like a huge boulder on the beach, the strong and constant crashing of the waves will eventually turn the hardest of rocks into small and minute sand particles being washed up on the beach. Broken, defeated and virtually indistinguishable from the rest, that's where it all ends. I will promise you though, the tossing, turning and whirlwind of emotions will forever be a distinguished and unforgettable chapter if ever they write a story about you and your one true love. To those who have found their better half, I raise my glass in appreciation of your journey. To those who have not, I envy you completely for the exciting times ahead. This year, let us celebrate love and not Valentine's day. It would be nice if we could do away with the presents too....

Just an Ordinary Day

I woke up with the same glazed expression as I stare down at my cellphone checking the time. It's going to be an ordinary day. I stood up and outlined my thoughts for a smoother flow of action. I could do this in my sleep, it's the same as yesterday. Or so I thought.

In the middle of my shower, I ran out of shampoo. Ironically, I don't need a lot since I got my aerodynamic hairdo this month. Still, the plastic container failed to even yield a pinch amount. Crap. I said to myself.

I got out of the house at my usual time, I even had the luxury of watching a noon time show before I went out. Halfway down the road to my first pit stop, I realized I didn't bring an umbrella. Experience has taught me that every time I bring an umbrella, God finds it funny that it should be sunny all day. And when I don't, He sees it fit that I should be showered with the rain's blessing. It's too far to go back. Crap. I said to myself again.

I got to the LRT on time and I was going over my expenses. Having paid the bill and payday 10 days from now, everything is in order. As my stored value pass card went through the fare machine, it read a measly P10.00. It won't last another day and I have to buy another. From then on, I was P100.00 short of my budget. Crap. Its the third time today.

As I went down the LRT, I saw the elderly woman who regularly comes there to beg for some loose change. I gave her a few like I always do and felt good about myself. Bait mo, tsong! When I was boarding the bus, I realized I had given away the only loose change I had. Don't say crap. I said to myself. I was saved, there was a P20.00 stuck at the bottom of my wallet. You see, I told you, it'd work out well. A bus worker on strike asked for donations. Absentmindedly, I gave him my change. Crap. I had to see the annoyed look on the bus conductor's face as I handed him a P500.00 bill.

I finally got at the office and got my usual cup of brew from the vending machine. This would calm me down. I realized I haven't reviewed for the proficiency test yet. While my thoughts were dwelling on it... Natatapon and kape mo! Ryan's voice broke me out of my trance. The coffee spill missed my pants but landed on my shoe...the part where my skin was exposed. Crap. Its official, I'm having a bad day.

Proficiency exam. I was first to finish despite Kathy's claim that she finished first. I felt confident and sure of my answers. Someone whispered that we booked the flight in the wrong class. Minor set back. I was collected and confident. After the results went out, my flight was perfectly booked. My answers to the cheap questions were 50% wrong. Crap. There goes my ego.

The day is done, I'm on my way home. I stopped by a small kitchenette to buy siopao like I always do. After I got home, my order of 2 asado siopaos had a turn out of 1 bola-bola and 1 almost empty siopao.... Crap. I checked at the bottom of the plastic bag. No sauce. Double crap.

Just when you think your day is becoming too routine, it turns out to be one heck of an exciting day.

"Life is like a box of chocolates, pag iniwan mo sa ref... kahon ang matitira sa 'yo".-- Words of Wisdom from my Dad.