CHAPTER 1

          The cold was overwhelming. Streetlights were out and the storm continued to terrorize the duelers of the small village of Minde. And in that dark night, two people covered with rags ran to shelter in a small, broken-down hut. And as rain continued to poor outside, a young mother prepared to give birth to a baby boy despite all the odds. The coldness of the night’s wind, the lack of proper apparatus and the pains of childbirth. A child’s cry began to echo above the rain.

          “Run!!! Take him and run!!! Here”, shouted the mother as she pointed her manservant out through one of the back openings. And without second thoughts, she kissed her baby and placed her necklace around him. “Now go. Leave and keep him safe no matter what happens”, bellowed the mother as the manservant rushed out to the rain. He looked back, wanting to return to his mistress but as he did the door to the hut burst open. Shocked as he is, the manservant took cover behind a fence and hid himself and the baby with the wet and bloody rags which was all he had.

          Greek “Where’s the first artifact? Give it to us or we will kill you!!!” shouted the man who seems to be leading the group. The group was composed of four men; each had the same kind of dagger sheathed in their chest. The leader lowered his body to see the woman’s face clearly.

          “What difference does it make if I give it to you? You’ll still kill me? And besides, I don’t know what you’re looking for” whispered the mother as she lay helpless in the ground. Already tired from the run in the rain and the giving-birth, all she could do was lie there and smile at the men. The leader smiled and stood up.

          Greek “Why you!!!” howled one of the four as he drew out his dagger and sliced the woman’s arm. The leader turned his back on the woman and walked towards the hut’s door. “Search her then kill her… Slowly” said the leader as the rest of the group uncarefully searched the woman. They looked around the hut in search of any probable place where the woman might have hid the artifact. Unsuccessful as they were, they returned their attention to the woman and killed her in the slowest, most painful way they can think of. Then they left her body hanging using a chain they tied around its neck.

          The manservant, now in tears after seeing the whole thing, shook in where he hid. And even though he can’t talk, his heart was shouting for his mistress as he watched the inhumane things the group performed. With the baby still in his embrace, he waited for the four to leave. And a few minutes after they left, he ran back, stumbling as he rushed. With each step he took, his knees shook more and upon reaching the hut, he froze to his feet.

          Blood, slashes and a dagger stabbed through the heart. He wanted to shout but he can’t. He fell to his knees, crying. As thunders roared through the night, the manservant stood to his feet. He wiped his eyes with his free hand. He covered the baby in rags and laid it temporarily in a dry spot. He took his mistress or what’s left of her, down and pulled out the dagger. He cleaned it and wrapped it in rags, the same rags he used to cover his mistress with. After doing so, he took the baby and walked out of the hut, uncertain of where to go next. He walked out of the village as the storm ferociously engulfed him. The baby still crying in his arms, and with his mistress gone, he had to raise him as his own.

          Morning came. Hands shook Z as his sister woke him up. “It’s already 9 AM. You have a class at 11”.

          “Turn of the lights” said Z as he covered his eyes with a pillow, blinded by the fluorescent lamp that his sister thoughtfully turned on. Five minutes later, Z stood up and went to the bathroom for his daily routine. “It’s that dream again. How come I keep stumbling into it when I don’t plan to”, he thought as he splashed his face with water. Thoughts raced through his head as he showered.

          “Why do I keep seeing that dream?” “What would I wear to school today?” “Who were those men?” “What’s for breakfast?” “Why were they after the baby?”

          “Why do you have to take so long” shouted Z’s sister as she banged on the bathroom door. “Hurry up! Its quarter to 10.” Upon hearing this, he finished his bath, dressed, ate breakfast and walked out of the house in 10 minutes. “BYE!!!”

          It was a normal day again. School was boring, as always for our dear Z. Z is a third year college student taking up Psychology for reasons even he don’t know. But unlike every normal student, Z enjoyed going into his boring classes and taking down whatever he wishes to write down in his notebook of his.

          “Ok guys! Pop quiz” announced his professor upon entering the room. And for the next 45 minutes, questions threatened the blank-minded students as they explained theories they never heard of, but not Z. He even accidentally slept for the first 30 minutes (which should have been 45 if not for his concerned seatmate hoping for a glance in Z’s paper). And the silence was broken by the professor’s clear words. “Ok, that’s it. Please pass your papers and you may go. Don’t forget your group presentations on Monday. Have a nice weekend”

          “Hey Z, I need your cell phone number! Hey”, yelled the previously concerned seatmate at the yawning Z. “Here”, said Z as he held out his phone displaying his own number. “Done? Just text me okay, I don’t have your number yet also.”

          The rest of Z’s day proved less interesting than his previous hours. 4… 5… 6 PM. Alas, he can go back to his darling house where food didn’t cost him and bathrooms had no lines. 7 PM when he arrived and dinner was set. Dinner silence was much, much more preferable than classroom silence.

          “How was your day?”

          “Same as yesterday except that we had a pop quiz today.”

          “How’d you do?” asked his so-genuinely concerned sister.

          “I slept.” Answered Z to his sister who was so engrossed into the PC that all she said back was, “Good work. Go to sleep now. I’ll wait up for dad to get home.” Z, not certain if he should obey, just nodded once and head to his room. He changed into his pajamas and prepared for bed, and as expected, he couldn’t sleep. How could he? He slept through half his classes. 9… 10… 11 PM.

          “Haaaahhhh!!!” yawned Z as sleep finally engulfed his body. “At last…” He closed his eyes and thought. “That was a really boring day. I think I’ll give it another go”. And he kept thinking of all that has happened in his day. Thoughts raced through his mind again

          “Let me sleep” He thought of this for quite a while. His dad’s car can be heard pulling into their garage. “I want to enter Almiana…” sounds began to fade out. And when he opened his eyes, he was inside his first class again. “Ok guys! Pop quiz” said his professor. The class was so surprised but Z just smiled.

          “I’m in…”

        As you may know, all books have introductions, but unlike all books, this is different. Different for the simplest reason that this is not a book but merely writings posted by one who wishes not to waste your time but simply to provide you with something worth… time-wasting. Moving on…

        I write this to tell you about dreams. What are dreams? A parallel reality? A product of thought? Forgive me for even I cannot answer my own questions. But what benefits would we get if we can answer them? Surely nothing significant. Dreams are said to be products of a quiet. Meditative mind. It is reality or at least what the dreamer hopes to be reality. Dreams are products of our own imagination which we should be able to control. But no… we cannot.

        Dreams are always good. It is what the dreamer wants (sometimes unknowingly). There is no such thing as a good dream or a bad dream which I’m sure a lot of you will disagree with. There are only nightmares. Let me ask you this, if bad dreams do exist, what are nightmares? If they are the same, then would a good nightmare be the same with a dream? And, as ugly a sit may get, what happens when you enter a bad nightmare? Death?

        Which leads me to my nest concern… death. Is it possible to die inside a dream? Is that the case when people never wake up? I believe not. We have a sort of protection against death while inside a dream. As all of you might already have experienced, it is the sudden jerk or the feeling of slamming yourself into your body from somewhere else. As if your consciousness escaped and was forced back into your lifeless form. Wow…

        But when do you cross the line? When do you move from thinking in your sleep to actually moving (or at least you thought you were) in a dream? Can it be a conscious decision to cross such line? I say you can. But to be able to do so, you must first be able to differentiate whether you are in a dream or not. But enough of that for now. I believe it is almost time for my sister to wake me up. I hope I was successful in wasting your time. Good night and good bye.

 

        First chapter in July 23…

hello people... ill be posting a shonolary (short novel like story) for my enjoyment and for you to waste your time on. hehehe. ill start in a few days. i just hope that anyone who reads it will not grow tired of reading it. all comments, suggestions and violent reactions are very much welcome.

hay... sorry kung di ako nakakapagpost ng anything new. been very busy lately. actually wala akong ginagawa, tinatamad lang. hehehe. hay... di ko alam kung ano na isusulat ko. well. kwento na lang muna ko. june is the best month this year so far. so many reasons why. first dumating dad ko. yey!!! chocolates!!! joke... wala lang. parang may bumalik lang na barkada galing ibang bansa.

den... yun na. di ko na alam kung bakit june ang best month. its actually the worst. dumating nga dad ko umalis naman c hannah... =( tapos ni hindi ako nakapunta nung despedida niya kasi i needed to go home to bataan. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! naalala ko pa ung smile nya nung last kaming naghiwalay. sa katipunan sa ilalim nung bridge. grabe. sobrang nakakaiyak isipin... den tinawagan ko c kuya gelo after a few days. (dad ni hannah sa SV) usap kami at lalo lang akong lumungkot. di ko matanggal yung ngiti ni hannah sa isip ko. hay... isa pa naman daw ako sa mga gusto niya makita bago umalis tapos ako lang yata ung wala sa despedida. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! di ko pa naibigay ung parting gift ko sa kanya. asar... then after a long time, umiyak ako at kumain sa mcdo. grabe... parang ayoko ng kunin yung grad pic nya at baka maiyak lang ako lalo... naaalala ko pa nung nagkulitan kami one time at sinabi niya sa kin yung ilan sa mga bagay na gusto niyang gawin. hay... waaaaaaaaaaah!!!! miss ko na xa... susunod ako dun. wala namang makakamiss sa kin sa pinas e. migrate na rin kami. ^_^

my hands are shaking because it's very cold here sa computer lab! my fingers are numb yet my mind is warm and my heart wants to give comfort... i ignore this because i realize someone so gentle and kind has given me so much hope, courage and thoughts that are countless already... and this is my token of gratitude  not of what you have done and given me but because you are who you are when i need you.... a friend...