Trigger Warning: Suicide
This is the last chapter of String of Lights! See you in the epilogue.
———
Lifetime
On the next day, tinuruan niya ako mag surf. It was kind of hard. Kakatayo ko pa lang, hahampasin na agad ako ng alon at itutulak pabalik sa dalampasigan.
Trison didn't give up teaching me until I mastered how to stand up, at least while he's behind me holding my waist as I try to balance myself, and we rode some of the rough waves together until we'd both drifted to the water.
It was one of the things we did in Siargao. We'd explore the sea and surf together. On the third day of surfing, I could already balance myself alone on my own surf board, as Trison would watch me on the shore while I confidently smirked at him.
Bukod sa surfing, we both spend our time snorkeling too.
I swam to the deepest part, wearing my snorkeling mask and a swim fin on my feet, as I smoothly dove where the fish were.
Trison swam over me as we both swam in sync, while I flipped my body so I could face him and swam upwards as I joined the group of fish dancing in a spiral and mingled with them.
Inabot ni Trison ang kamay ko. I pulled him toward me until he lifted my hand and made me turn, while we were now swimming back to the surface of the water.
Around five PM, while the sunset was almost peeking through the leaves of the forest as I laid against his stomach while reading a book and Trison's hand gently caressed my long, soft hair while he was using his other arm as his pillow, it was one of our bonds to have a picnic while we would hear the crashing of the shore from somewhere, the chirping of the birds over the trees, and the light kissing us softly.
"Did you know that this book was just a gift from a fan?" sabi ko nang maalala.
"Mahal ka nila," ani Trison.
"Yup. I have a lot of fans who are showering me with gifts. I used some of them too," I bragged.
Tahimik lamang niyang hinaplos ang aking buhok kaya nagpatuloy ako sa pagbabasa.
"In the movie, the man died."
Namilog ang mga mata ko at napabangon. My jaw dropped.
"Nabasa mo na 'to? And did you just spoil the plot twist?!"
"There are a lot of plot twists in the book," he chuckled.
Sa iritasyon ko, hinampas ko sa kanyang tiyan ang libro. Nangingiti niyang hinila akong muli pahiga sa kanya. I groaned against the pages of the book out of frustration.
"Ayokong may namamatay na bida! Those kinds of authors are heartless! How come they killed the main characters instead of the villains?!"
Tumikhim si Trison.
"I mean..." Tumikhim din ako nang unti-unti kong napagtanto ang sinabi ko.
Isinara ko ang libro at patihayang isinandal ang aking mga kamay sa kanyang dibdib habang nakapatong na ang aking baba.
"You know, out of all the people to become bad, I would understand if you turned one. But I'm happy that in spite of the cruelty of the world, you chose to remain gentle..."
He looked at me gently while caressing the side of my face and putting the other strand of my hair at the back of my ear.
"Pero kahit alam kong mabigat ang rason mo, nananalangin ako lagi na hindi iyon magiging sapat para mag-iba ka ng landas."
