AMACON 4: SERENDIPITOUS (30-Day Writing Challenge)

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AMACon 4: Serendipitous
English FF Day Twenty Three: My salvation lies in your love.

She took another and swallowed it whole before going for the tenth one. It was another bad day and all she could do to cope was to grab the bottle of pills from her bathroom medicine cabinet, pour out the white, long tablets on the counter, and swallow each, one by one.

Ever since that day when she felt that everything had ended for her, she'd run to her bathroom to empty out the contents of the bottle and take each tablet into her mouth like candies. But she'd always limit herself to ten. Ten is enough, she would tell herself. Ten is a good number.

Being an only daughter, she had always been the family's spoiled baby. Everything she wanted, she got. Her parents indulged her in every way they could, in everything she pointed at. She grew up to be a happy girl, with the most loyal and loving friends by her side. She was always on top of her class and liked by a lot of people, especially her teachers. She was shaping up to become a very successful woman.

Until one day, her world crumbled down and she lost the will to live.

Her parents were never worry warts, as she had always been responsible. But everything changed when one night, she came home, drunk dead to the world with only one shoe, smeared lipstick and mascara, being dropped off by an Uber driver.

"What are we going to do with her?" Her father asked, worry etched on his face, and looked as if he wanted to cry in despair as he watched his daughter passed out on the couch.

"We're going to take care of her until she gets better." Her mother firmly said, as she started lifting her arm.

"Totoo ba yan? Nung una ikaw ang may sabing itali sa poste para hindi makalamyerda at sirain ang buhay nya." Her father countered. Her mother just stood there, with mouth agape, at a loss for any words to say because it was true. She was the one who was firm on keeping her at home by her side, just to keep her safe. But she always gave in and even whispered encouragements to her to go out as late as she wanted.

"Just help me take her to her room, can you? Wag na tayo magsisihan. Buti mabait yung uber driver. Tulungan mo na lang ako dito."

That was the worst state they've seen their daughter ever since the accident. Her dad carried her to her room, her mom trailed behind them. They're worried as any parents could get, but they couldn't think of any other way to help her deal with her depression. When she was finally on her bed, her mom started removing her socks and shoes, while her dad prepared a basin with warm water and face towel. They cleaned her up, her mother weeping while wiping the make up off her face, her father choking back his own tears while pulling a pajama set from her closet.

"Sige na dear, ako na dito. Thank you." Her father left the room after affectionately squeezing her mother's shoulder. Her mother went on to clean her up and change her clothes. When she began gaining consciousness, she heard her mother crying by her bed, praying to God to bring back her happy daughter again, to take her pain away, and to heal her heart.

The next day, she woke up early and prepared breakfast. She stopped going out like she did the weeks before. She showed her parents she was well... if only to make them stop worrying. A year later, after turning twenty two, she accepted a job in a city eight hours away from her family home and moved out. It was the only way she could free her parents from her pain. She left her guilt at home and started a new life in the city.

But her sadness never went away. She tried everything she could to cope with it, but only the pills helped. So whenever something would trigger the pain in her heart, she'd take them, one by one until she could feel no more.

After swallowing the tenth pill, she waited for it to consume all the darkness she was feeling. "Any minute now," she thought. She waited an hour, two, three. She didn't know she fell asleep, until she was suddenly awaken by her mother on her bedside.

"Anak, why don't you come home? Sige na anak. Maybe all you need is go back to find your happiness again. Malay mo anak, andun lang pala yung kailangan mo to move on?" She felt her mother's soft fingers stroke her hair, as her tears streamed down her face and finally succumbed to sleep again.

The eight hour drive home the next day felt longer than usual. It's been five years since she left their family home and she realized that she missed it as soon as she saw their familiar red gate. She parked her car outside and went in through the small side gate. She smiled at the sight of the well maintained garden, her mother's white roses in full bloom. She took a mental note to thank the gardener she maintained for the job. She walked the cobbled steps toward the front door while reigning in her emotions at the memories that started to flood her. As soon as she opened the door and the smell of home invaded her senses, her tears started pooling and one by one fell on her cheeks. She missed her home and the feeling of being safe and happy. She walked around and saw that everything was just how she left them, save for some cobwebs and layers of dust everywhere. She should've covered the furnitures, she thought. She walked in the kitchen and saw her mother smiling at her while mixing her favorite pancake batter in a huge stainless mixing bowl, while her father sat by the kitchen island while reading a newspaper. The sun seeped through the yellow eyelet curtains of the kitchen window that illuminated the room. It was a perfect Sunday morning, and suddenly she was sixteen again. Her life have always been perfect, until that fateful day when her parents never made it home from their New York trip. She broke down at the onslaught of memories and held on to the kitchen counter as the pain of losing her parents all came back again. But just as her knees were about to give out, that would have send her falling on the floor, the doorbell rang.

She sniffed and wiped her tears from her cheeks and tried to calm herself down. She wondered who it could be, as she did not tell anyone that she was coming home. She walked slowly to the door to check who rang the bell at the gate. She could only see the back of a head. A guy. She thought, maybe it's some solicitor or something so she ignored it and picked up her bag that she left by the door. She was about to run up the stairs when the bell rang again. She looked outside and saw the guy craning his neck to see inside. He even jumped twice to get a peek inside her home. She also noticed how he was trying to take a peek inside her car parked outside their gate. He looked harmless enough, so she decided to open for him. When she opened the gate, she was stunned when he turned around and smiled, dimples and all, at her from ear to ear, like he just saw a long lost friend.

"Hi! I just saw you go in. I'm guessing you live here so that makes me your next door neighbor! I'm RJ!"

(Originally published in "Tapunan Ng Feelings" on January 25, 2017.)