First Summer [One Shot]

A green, almost worn out slipper flew in the air, hitting an empty tin can causing it to tumble across the street. “Yes! I won! I told you I’d beat you in this game again! You need more practice targeting the tin can.” The short haired little girl bragged to her best friend.

Every summer, when school was out, all afternoons were spent outside on the streets, under the sun, playing every game they could think of. Patintero, hide and seek, and tumbang preso were their usual activities. Even if there were only two of them playing, they were so happy and carefree. They were contented with just the two of them in their own little world with the street as their huge playground.

They were having so much fun that it confused the little boy when the little girl began to cry. He didn’t know how or what to do to make her stop crying.

“What’s wrong, Maia?” the boy asked.

The little girl looked up and said, “I had a dream last night and it was awful. I was lost somewhere I didn’t know and I tried looking for you but you weren’t there. I was all alone and scared. I just... I don’t know. Maybe I got scared that I had lost you forever,” and sniffed.

The boy smiled and the girl felt secured which calmed her down. “Don’t worry. I will never leave you alone. We will always be best friends no matter what!” the boy said. The girl stopped crying and before she knew it, he was going for a head start for their race back home.

“Ang mahuli taya! Loser gets to do whatever the winner wants!” the little boy said as he started to run. Being the competitive, little girl that she was, Maia started to run after him. They started pulling on each other’s clothes to slow each other down. Their laughter reverberated in the air.

They were having so much fun… so happy…

All of a sudden, the scene faded out and Darren jolted out of the dream, and he was awakened back into reality.

“Just another dream…” Darren told himself.

The dream had been recurring to him for a week now since he made plans of going back to the one place he never thought he’d go back to.

The searing heat of the sun that made the children playing in the streets soaked in their sweat, the scent of the summer breeze, the ringing of the bell of the mamang sorbetero selling sorbetes or what people usually called ‘dirty ice cream’, and the cry of the magtataho—they were all too familiar for Darren as he walked down the pavement of his childhood neighborhood. It had been fifteen years since he had last been on that very pavement.

It was summer of 1994 when at the age of six, the most unforgettable moment of Darren’s life happened. For all the other kids, it was just another ordinary summer. However, for Darren, it was the summer that he could never forget. It was the first time he ever went to the dentist for a tooth extraction that morning of the 14th of May. When afternoon came, he and Maia, his best friend since he could remember, were supposed to go out and play patintero or tumbang preso in the streets as they usually did during the afternoons of every summer. Due to the pain after the tooth extraction, Darren wasn’t in the mood to play with Maia. He just sat by the side of the road sulking. He noticed an outstretched hand holding an ice cream in a cone. He looked up and saw Maia licking her own ice cream in one hand and handing him an ice cream on the other.

“Come on, Dan Dan. Try eating ice cream. It can make the pain go away. You know how I always get sick. I just eat an ice cream and I’d feel all better!” Maia said as Darren took it from her hand.

“You know you can’t eat too much ice cream or you might get sick again.” Darren told Maia.

“I know but seeing you all sad made me sad that’s why I’m eating ice cream, too.” Maia answered.

For a while, they sat on the pavement, side by side, licking ice cream in silence. As they were enjoying the ice cream, they caught each other’s eyes and instantly they began to laugh even if there was nothing funny. They were always like that, as if they need not speak any word at all and still were able to understand what the other was thinking.

Maia had been weak since she was born due to her mother being sickly when she was pregnant with her. But Maia always had a positive and cheerful outlook in life. Her tough image on the outside was the opposite of Darren’s meek attitude, which was the reason why he always got bullied by Baldo who was a year older than they were. Maia was always the one who defended Darren from Baldo.

The cry of the magtataho made them stop laughing. Maia hurried over and ordered two cups of taho for both of them. The magtataho handed them two cups as they paid and went on with his hawking.

Maia took a sip of taho and said, “Hmmm… I just love taho! Its warmth and sweetness really soothes my bad mood. I especially like the tiny sago in it!”

As they started to walk down the pavement, Baldo and his two other bratty friends were waiting by the end of the pavement eyeing to bully Darren again. “What do you want, Baldo?” Maia asked defensively.

“Nagtatago ka na sa likod ng babae ngayon, Darren? Bakla ka ba? Bakla! Bakla! Bakla!”Baldo taunted.

Maia pushed Baldo to make him stop teasing Darren and to go away. Baldo pushed back and the two began to wrestle each other pushing back and forth. Baldo’s two friends held on to Darren so that he cannot go and stop Maia and Baldo from fighting.

Everything happened in an instant. The next thing Darren knew, Maia was already falling backwards to the ground when the big bully pushed back really hard. Maia’s head hit the side of the pavement hard which caused it to bleed. Her ice cream and taho were thrown asunder to the ground. Baldo and his friends scampered away in fear of what happened. Darren and all the other children began to scream for help. Soon, people gathered around and Maia was rushed to the hospital. She remained unconscious for two days but her weak body eventually gave up. Darren’s family moved away after a week because they thought it would be hard for him to stay there.

            Darren still cannot forget that first summer when he had his first trip to the dentist and the first time he and Maia did not spend the summer together. It was nobody’s fault but he can’t seem to forgive himself for being such a weakling.

“Maia was wrong…” Darren thought.

Ice cream could not seem to numb the pain that he felt whenever he remembered his bittersweet first love. He merely stared at the ice cream and the cup of taho in his hand. The ice cream had already melted and was slowly dripping down his hand just as his heart melted inside him. The cup of taho was no good either in making him feel better. Its warmth and sweetness always made Maia’s day better but no matter how sweet the taho was, it could only make the memories of his first love just as sweet.

However, its warmth wasn’t enough to warm his heart that had been cold and longing since Maia left his life forever. Darren had to spend every summer of his life alone, wishing he could have his best friend back in his life.

            Darren’s tears rolled down his cheeks. He wiped it away and tried to eat the ice cream. Then he noticed a little girl, who was also eating ice cream, sitting beside him silently while glancing at him discreetly. And when he caught her eyes, she flashed him the most innocent and cheerful smile.

For the first time since that summer, he did not feel so alone.