:)

SHE'S BAAAACK!

"What if nobody else reads this blog? Ah, does it really matter?, I ask myself. Well, does it matter if no one else hears a sigh in the dark, or a giggle in an open park, or, in a somewhat similar vein, a fart in an empty elevator? They all feel good nevertheless." --Petite

Hey Mrs. G! Welcome back to blog-land. :)

And here's something Petite started couple of years ago but never quite finished:

Chapter Four

A fat drop of oil-slicked rain fell on Michelle’s upturned face. She wiped it off impatiently, her eyes fixed on the hulking shadow of the EDSA Central MRT station. From this distance, crazy shapes seemed to be dancing on the station’s walls. Michelle walked faster.

It was 10 minutes to midnight. She wanted to catch Gani before the night’s skooging began. If not, then she’d have to wait until the next day. By then it would be too late.

She took the steps two at a time. A film of perspiration formed on her forehead by the time she got to the rail floor, but her breathing was still even. The recent exercise wasn’t much to her.

Dark figures zipped across the MRT’s tracks as she nimbly jumped over the turnstiles. The railscooters who saw her grinned. They were her friends. This was Michelle’s playground.

"Hey, Mich, where’s your scoot?," a thin kid in frayed shorts yelled out. He was holding a silver scooter, similar to those that became fashionable at the turn of the century. But instead of small wheels, this one had bearings. And it had never touched the ground. This type of scooter and others like it were only used in one place, and only at a certain time - the MRT tracks, from midnight to 4 am. This was the unbreakable rule of railscooting.

"Where’s Gani?" Michelle asked in response, as the thin kid did a double twist in front of her. That was easy stuff. Michelle could do it in her sleep. Gani was different. He was one of only three skoogers - scooter lugers - who could make the jump from the end of the south MRT rail to where the LRT rail began. He was the best.

"What’s up, Mich? What are you so excited about?" Gani asked her from his perch on the guardrail.

"They’re filming a Fotun Lao action movie here in Manila for real, Michelle couldn’t get the words out fast enough. And they’ve heard about skooging and worked it into the script. They’re looking for a real skooger to play a role, but they have to get him or her by tomorrow. Ryan and Zara already know about it, and they’ll be there. You interested?"

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SPACE TIME WARP

Last Saturday, went to Cecille’s birthday party. She just turned 23. The party was held at the lanai of her house, which had red brick walls and pillars. In the middle of the lanai was a pool table. All of this reminded me of the house we left five years ago.

As I watched Cecille and her friends laugh and talk about movies, comic books, their first jobs, and college days, I could not help but I flashback to seven year ago and remember the nights we spent on that lanai in La Vista and just talked until the sun rose. Back then we were so energized. Optimistic. Invulnerable. Unstoppable. No dream was too stupid. We had plans to conquer the world.

As the bottles of beer and vodka piled on the table, I stood up, felt the buzz hit me one more time, and said I really had to go. Cecille said I had to stay and wait til the sun rise. I smiled, shook my head, and just felt really tired and old, old compared to the lot of them.

Before I left, I felt like a time traveler given the chance to warn my younger self about all the stupid shit that will happen to me. But it wasn’t like that at all. And even if I warned them, I might have just sounded like their mom or dad talking about things in “the old days” and they’d just wave me away and think they’ve got the better plan, the better idea, that they know exactly what to do and no one can stop them. They are invulnerable. They can conquer the world.



PORN OR PLANT

Held on the same night was Drake’s “Porn or Plant” party. Technically, it was a housewarming party, but since nothing is ever normal in our group, they decided to make it a “Porn or Plant” party. Ever one was supposed to bring a plant for Drake’s condo unit or some pornographic material. I was planning to bring a copy of Swamp Thing which would have shown plants doing pornographic acts.

That will just have to wait til next time.