Arts of Heart (Compilation of OSS)

ART 113

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
(Try to listen "Marry Me" by Jason Derulo while reading this)

"Hiwalayan mo na 'yan, Grace. Wala kang kinabukasan sa lalaking 'yan," dinig kong bulong sa kaniya ng kaniyang mama.

Nanatili akong nakatayo sa kabila ng kaba at takot na nararamdaman. Hindi na ako nagulat nang sabihin 'yon ng kaniyang ina, dahil maging sa sarili ko ay hindi ako sigurado kung may kinabukasan nga ba siya sa akin.

Ito ang unang pagkakataon na ipinakilala niya ako sa mga magulang niya. Hindi naman masama ang turing nila sa akin ngunit alam kong ayaw nila sa akin para sa kanilang anak. Nakakadown at sampal 'yon para sa akin.

Ngunit sa kabila noon ay hindi ako iniwan ni Grace. She keeps me. She ignores whatever her parents told to her. She closed her ears and continue loving me.

I was 13 years old when my parents died due to a car accident. Sa kasamaang palad, napadpad ako sa mga kamag-anak kong mapang-alipusta. Hindi ko man lang naramdaman ang pagmamahal mula sa kanila.

During that dark days, Grace came. She was aware of all the worst things happened in my life. I rarely tell her my problems but I know that she also felt it. She never leave me. Kahit napakahirap kong intindihin, pinipilit niya akong intindihin.

"A hundred and five is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you
Wake up every morning with you in my bed
That's precisely what I plan to do

And you know one of these days when I get my money right
Buy you everything and show you all the finer things in life
We'll forever be in love, so there ain't no need to rush
But one day I won't be able to ask you loud enough
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"

'Yan ang madalas kong kinakanta sa kaniya. She would watch me strumming guitar and singing then at the end she'd answer me, "I do" like I was proposing to her. Her smile when she's with me makes me feel that I'm loved, that I'm not alone, and I'm worth to keep.

She knows that I can't afford to bring her to elegant places for our date. She knows that I can't buy her expensive things. She knows that  I wasn't like those men that a girl like her dreamed of. Pero ang mahalin siya ay sapat na sa kaniya. She embraced my flaws that even myself can't do.

Sa mga simpleng effort ko ay masaya na siya. Marinig niya lang ang boses ko kinikilig na siya. Napakababaw man na bagay para sa iba pero napakahalaga para sa kaniya kaya mas lalo ko siyang minamahal dahil doon.

N'ong una, naisip ko na talagang hindi kami magtatagal. Naisip ko na iiwan niya rin ako dahil ganoon naman lagi, lagi akong naiiwan. But I'm wrong, she's the person I never thought who would stay with a messed and fucked up me. So I started letting myself getting attached with her; imagining my future with her.

Grace is with me while I was reaching my dreams. Tinutulungan niya ako kapag nahihirapan ako sa schoolworks ko at ganoon din ako sa kaniya. Kapag short ako financially, nandiyan siya para pahiramin ako. Hanggang sa makatapos ako ng pag-aaral, hindi niya ako iniwan.

"Bakit ako? Hindi naman ako mayaman. P'wede ka namang humanap ng mas better sa akin." Minsang tanong ko sa kaniya but she always surprises me with her answer.

"Then let's get rich together. Why do I need to find someone if I already found you? Let me be a part of your success. I want to witness my man achieved his dreams with me beside him."

And now, I can't utter any word while walking towards her. My tears just keep on streaming down my cheeks. My hands are also shaking and my heart races its beat.

Noong mga oras na walang naniniwala sa akin, si Grace lang ang tanging naniwala sa akin. Noong mga panahon na nag-iisa at iniwan ako ng lahat, si Grace lang ang nanatili at nagmahal sa akin. Sa tuwing may pagkakataon na nilalamon ako ng kadiliman, si Grace ang nagiging liwanag ko. Siya lang ang naging yaman ko noong mga panahon na walang-wala ako.

And I haven't imagine that I will go this far. Those people who didn't believe in me before are now presents in my wedding. They are now proud of me.

"How many girls in the world can make me feel like this?
Baby I don't ever plan to find out
The more I look, the more I find the reasons why
You're the love of my life"

I'm now an engineer and an owner of one of the famous businesses in the Philippines. I can now buy her anything she wants. I can now bring her to wherever she wants us to travel to. I am now a version of man she ever dreamt of.

For the nth, I wiped again my tears as I stared at her beautiful face.

"You know one of these days when I get my money right
Buy you everything and show you all the finer things in life
We'll forever be in love, so there ain't no need to rush"

But fate tricked us. It took away my love of life. My heart shattered into million pieces.

Paano ko pa magagawa ang mga bagay na iyon kung ang taong pinangarap kong paglaanan ay kinuha na sa akin?

Grace died because of her cancer that she kept on us for years. Kung kailan mayroon na akong karangyaan saka pa niya ako iniwan.

"But one day I won't be able to ask you loud enough
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"

Kasabay ng tugtog ng paborito naming kanta ay siya ring pagtupad ko sa pangako ko sa kaniya.

"I do, father."

With her parents and my family who're crying while looking at us, I married the cold body of Grace.