Into the Storm

1| Before The Storm

You'd think after hearing a super typhoon was going to landfall in my country, directly at our province, I would be screaming; panicking; and ripping my hair out as I sacrificed my sister to the church, praying and begging on my knees that this typhoon would get kicked right back into the Pacific Ocean.

In all honesty, the day before it really struck, I really didn't care.

I was ten at that time, turning eleven on November 17. So don't judge me if I was acting like a complete coward and making terrible life decisions that I knew I would regret.

Anyway, it was November 7, 2013. I was at school, you know boring myself to death and having roasting battles with the people that ride in the same vehicle with me in going to and fro school.

The weather was fine that day --- just kidding. It was FREAKING. HOT.

Like it was so hot, I didn't even leave the classroom even for snack. The sun shone really bright, I swore that if I looked at it any longer, my eyes would've shriveled up and fall out of their sockets.

I was sweating like mad that day, and almost everything I touched that had been under the sun was so hot that my hands instantly recoiled from the stimuli.

The only happy thing about that school day was that it was announced that it was half-day classes due to our principal's concern that the typhoon would come early.

Skipping through the boring half-day of classes. I went home cruising on an air-conditioned car, and jamming to Fairy Tail music, and since I had no headphones at that time, I held my phone next to my ear so people thought I was singing along to the person I was calling.

Once I reached home, I was more than happy.

Strange enough though, only a few people were home. According to my grandfather's sister they went to buy food and other things to prepare us for the typhoon.

Normally, I would've snorted and criticized them for being too worried. But the computer was waiting for me.

After changing into my home attire, I immediately went to the computer and went to my favorite gaming website: Y8.com.

I skimmed passed a few games and played a Winx dress-up game (don't judge), I was in the middle of dressing up Bloom, when I noticed that my aunt had printed pictures of the typhoon, and it looked like they had been researching about it too in the computer.

I frowned, these thoughts running in my head: why were they so worried? It was sunny as hell.

I decided to ignore it and go back to making Bloom look as fabulous as I was. (Insert here clip of me flipping my hair)

A few hours later, I was sitting on the chair of the dining room, waiting patiently for my aunt to be done using the computer. They had come home a few hours ago and borrowed the computer for research purposes. I was bored as hell because I couldn't watch TV, since the TV was occupied by my grandmother. Normally, I would be listening to the news, but I was too busy eating and waiting.

You may be wondering, where were my parents. Well, before school started, they asked me where I'd like to study, in my hometown, or in the capital of my country, Manila.

I chose my hometown, so I was separated from my parents and siblings, and was currently living in the family house with my two aunts, my grandparents , my great grandmother, my grandfather's three siblings and my four-year old cousin.

Anyway, as far as I knew, the typhoon was named Typhoon Haiyan (internationally) but was nationally known as Typhoon Yolanda. We were currently in signal no. 4 and blah blah blah.
Ten year old me couldn't care less.

"They say that trees could be uprooted, roofs could fly off the beams! Zero visibility!"

I heard my aunts discuss details with my grandmother, their foreheads creased with worry.

But me? I was chilling at the table eating something, I'm not sure what I ate at that time, but I was pretty sure it was delicious.

My four-year old cousin was playing with her scooter. Zipping across the hallway, cruising on a purple Dora kiddie scooter, she zipped back and forth, grabbing random objects, before vanishing into the kitchen.

I wasn't sure if she was playing, or just being too lazy to walk.

Finally, my aunt got off the computer and I sat on the empty chair and proceeded to playing random Dress Up Games (Don't judge me).

*-*

After dinner, I was about to go and sleep in my grandfather's sister's house, which was right on the lot, but separated from the other houses.

There were four houses you see, the big house which belonged to my grandparents, another belonged to my grandfather's sister, and two more for his two brothers.

I liked to spend my nights at my grandfather's sister's house. Her name was Uya. At least, that's what I call her. You see, when I was a kid, I couldn't pronounce anything except 'mama' 'papa' and 'baaaa'.

So when they asked me to say 'lola' ( translation: grandmother) I was pressured so much that it came out as: 'Uya'. That's how I spelled it. But my relatives still thinks I said 'Oya' (translation: grandmother) but to me, I said and spelled it with a 'U'.

Anyway, skipping pass that details I wanted to sleep in her house, but what my aunt told me scared me a bit. She had told me that I should sleep with them tonight, I would've said no, but I realized maybe I should?

So I did, I said goodbye and gave a hug to Uya. And made my way to my aunt's bedroom, while Uya went outside the back door.

I couldn't read her expression, but I remembered that part of the night very well. In fact, it was one of my most vivid memories.

Why?

Because that was the last time I ever saw her.