Sketched Memories of Yesterday (Insomniac Series 1)

38

I never dared to look at it before because it's too many. I'm lazy to check on every picture I have on my phone. Sa tuwing binubuksan ko rin kasi 'yon ay puro mukha ng mga ka-team ko sa basketball. Nakakaumay lang tignan. Lalo na mukha ni Jayden.

Most pictures of Michelle that I have were her candids and every shots were perfect. Mayroon pang itinuro si Lily na litrato kung saan may suot siyang singsing. Mukha siyang bagong engage doon. "Remember that promise ring? That was the very first jewelry you gave her. You bought that for her actually. She used to wear that everyday. Unfortunately, she gave it back."

"What? Why?" Napakunot ang noo ko.

"Nag-away kayo no'n pagkatapos ay nagkita kami ni Ate no'n sa coffee shop para ibalik 'yong singsing na bigay mo. That was the intense fight between you two as far as I can remember. She thought that the two of you would break up after that. That's why she handed me the ring. She told me not tell you that time, though."

"Anong pinag-awayan namin sa pagkakatanda mo?"

"Tungkol kay Kuya Jayden ang pinag-awayan niyo noon. Ate's the first one to distant herself from the both of you because she don't want to ruin your friendship. Also, Ate's dealing with something in her family that time. You became busy with your team. Everything just started to fall apart that she also loses hope. You misunderstood each other."

"Does she keep secrets from everyone back then?"

"She always do. She always keep things to herself because she don't want to bother people around her. I can't never tell that it's harmless because it did a lot of damage to her, though. I always wanted to help her but she's used to do things alone. Pero lagi kong sinisigurado kay Ate na nandito lang ako palagi kapag hindi na niya kaya dahil hindi lang siya basta kaibigan sa'kin. Kapatid na rin ang turing ko sa kanya."

Pinahiga ko siya sa mga hita ko habang hinahaplos ang buhok niya. That explains why she was close to my mom and sister. She wasn't just a classmate that I introduced to them at dinner but instead she was more like a family. "Can you tell me more?" I asked.

I know there's a lot of things that I need to know and I'm glad for having my sister around to tell me everything I used to forget. "Noong araw na nag-away kayo at 'yong araw na ibinalik niya ang singsing na bigay mo, iyon din ang araw na naaksidente kayo ni Daddy. He died on a car accident. You're the only who survived but it made you suffer for a while especially at remembering things. You had anoxia that affected your brain that caused you memory loss. But thanked God it wasn't that severe so the memory loss was just temporary."

That also gave me relief.

"It was just a mild anoxic brain injury which capable of making a full or partial recovery. And you're on the process of forming new memories and retrieving some of them. That's why I'm helping you to remember these." Inabot niya sa'kin ulit ang sketchedpad. "Especially the person in it."

I smiled as I take a look at the pages again. Saka ko lang din nakita ang drawing ko ro'n na yakap-yakap niya si Hugo. "When was this, if you can still remember?"

"Oh, that! Hugo was a stray dog Ate Mitch adopted. She took care of him and when your last dog died, she made Hugo as gift for you. She gave it on your birthday. That was their first photo you took to sketch. Anak niyo 'yan, Kuya!" She laughed.

No wonder Hugo was so excited to see her the night I brought her to have a dinner with us. He was once hers...  And after all this time, the feeling of mine where I lost her once isn't just a feeling but it really did happened. We really did lost each other before. Fate divided us for a while yet it brought us back together.