Traffic Jam

I hate traffic jams. Not only because it wastes my precious time but also because it gives me ample time to think about things I’d rather forget. Who wants to remember things which are really embarrassing like when you went on stage in front of so many people with your pants unzipped? Who wants to think about piles of assignments that one has to do urgently? Like the one I have to do for the writing workshop I am attending. Our teacher wants to know what we remember most in high school.

“Gilbert, hi!”

“Hi, Rica!”

That’s it! She is the one I remember most in high school. Who will forget those attractive dimples that she usually displays? Who will forget those expressive eyes that twinkle every time she wants you to give her a portion of your banana cue.

“Are you going to Baguio for vacation?”

“No, I live there,” I replied.

“You no longer live in Tondo? The one I used to go to?”

She often visited me in our place then. I think that is one of the reasons why I fell in love with her. Though, most often she visited me just to ask me if I can lend her my notes in Physics.

“What did you do after graduation?”, she asked.

I want to tell her that I did not go out of the house for more than two months. I did not do anything. I just cried inside my room. Sulking while listening to the song that says, “some good things never last.”

Graduation day was the saddest day for me. We parted ways. It was really tragic. Anyway, all great love stories end up in tragedies. Isn’t it that Florante and Laura, Romeo and Juliet and Jack and Rose all parted their ways?

“Went to U.P. tyo study Philosophy,” I replied.

“I also took some philosophy subjects in the monastery.”

“You entered monastery?’, I inquired.

“I am a nun.”

No doubt about it. Even during our high school years she was the most behaved in class. She is really an angel. She never did cut her classes just to watch movies or play video games at a nearby amusement center. But most of all she did not call our teacher Miss Piggy even if our teacher was 350 pounds.

“Oh, I already have to get off. See you soon, Gilbert. Bye. By the way, I will always remember our high school days.”

“Me too.”

Really, I will always remember our happy moments together. Incidentally, it is also the one I’d rather forget. I really hate this traffic jam.

“Goodbye, Rica!”