Babysitting The Frog Princess

Chapter XXIX: A Frozen Heart

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Aika Villavicencio

I didn't know that I fell asleep, when I woke up? Nasa loob na ako ng isang birdcage na kulay ginto at napakatibay talaga nito kaya hindi ko magawang sirain. Wala akong ideya kung nasaan ako, at bakit ba umuuga ang kulungan na 'to?

Nag-lalakad ata ang may hawak ng kulungan ko, hindi ko makita ang tanawin sa labas dahil nakatakip ng tela ang kulungan. Medyo madilim din sa labas kaya wala talaga akong maaninag na kahit na ano'ng bagay o tao, makalipas ang ilang minuto ay tumigil na ang pag-galaw ng kulungan ko.

Nararamdaman ko na ibinaba na niya ang birdcage kaya tumigil na rin ito sa pag-galaw pero hindi niya naman inalis ang tela na nakapatong kaya wala pa rin akong makita na kahit na ano'ng bagay, doon ako naiinis. A few seconds later, someone seemed to be in the same room as me. I can hear his or her footsteps loud and clear.

It's probably a"her" dahil high heels ng babae iyon, out of the blue? Someone removed the piece of fabric on my cage. It's a woman indeed and guess who? It's Zairine Ong! My Dad's second wife!! What the hell!? What does she want?! and how does she know about my condition??!

"Hi little frog, or should I say Aerin?". She greeted and even uttered my name in a weird tone. Ngayon ko lang nalaman na pwede pa lang mag-karoon ng goosebumps ang mga palaka, kinilabutan ako dahil sa pag-bati niya sa'kin.

"Ikaw?! What do you want?! Let go of me!". Utos ko sa kaniya.

"Up until now, you're still as clueless as your deceased mother. Parehas talaga kayong walang mga utak at palaging hadlang sa mga plano ko!". She yelled at me.

Me and my Mom? Ano namang kinalaman ni Mommy dito? Ang tagal-tagal na niyang wala sa mundong ibabaw, even if I wished she was here with me right now? Walang mang yayari dahil wala na siya. Hindi na siya babalik kahit ano'ng gawin ko so hearing her say those words? Para akong nainsulto or what but I definitely hate her from the start.

"Luckily, nag-mana ka sa'kin. You and I are the same, Aerin". She added then inilapit niya ang mukha niya sa kulungan kung saan ako naka-kulong.

I've never imprisoned Coco, Sierra nor any single one of my pets but this woman? She's really cruel! Tingnan niyo na lang ang ginawa niya sa'kin, nilagay niya ako sa birdcage kahit palaka ako! Hindi naman ako ibon or what!! Maiintindihan ko pa kung parrot ako pero hindi naman!

"Stop your delusions, Zairine. You and I will never be the same! You're not my Mother! And you are nothing like her!". Malakas kong sigaw sa kaniya. What I said made her furious, her facial expression is too obvious na nagalit siya sa'kin o sa sinabi ko.

It seems like I hit the right spot but I don't know kung alin ba sa mga sinabi ko ang dahilan kung bakit siya biglang nagalit. I mean, what I said was a fact. She's not my Mother and she will never be my Mother, she and I are not the same and she's nothing like my Mom dahil isa siyang baliw.

"That's right! I'm nothing like your Mom, why? I'm still alive while she's already rotten her coffin!". She yelled at me again. Kapag pikon, talo. But aminado akong nainis ako sa sinabi niya kahit alam kong totoo naman iyon.

"You are the witch who cursed me, right? Why?". I fearlessly questioned her about what she had done to me because I've been wanting to know why she did it.