We got drag 
to life's race
that we forgot
to pray
He is always
listening to our
heart's whisperings

/22/ Silent Prayer

[JUNIPER]

"OKAY, guys, I want you to find a partner for our baking lesson today."

"Hi? Uhm... Pweede ba kitang maging partner?"

A beautiful lady from the other side of the room approached me that day. She has a long dark hair, halos magkasingtangkad lang kaming dalawa at ang una kong naisip kung bakit ako ang napili niya siguro marahil ay parehas kami ng ethnicity. Her eyes are also like mine, chinky, and her accent sounds expensive.

"Yeah, sure. What's your name?"

"Galilee Manzano, but you can call me Gal."

"I'm---"

"Guys, come closer here for a while." I was cut off by Lizzie when she called us.

"Let's go."

That was the first time that I met her, Galilee Manzano. She's kind, a soft-spoken lady, almost perfect kung tutuusin. Though I found it strange because that wasn't the first time that I met her.

"Juniper?" someone called me while I was busy typing a business plan for Hema's Coffee. I looked up and I saw her standing while smiling widely. "Hi!"

"Galilee? Oh my god, hi!"

"Ikaw lang mag-isa? Mind if I join you?"

"Of course!"

That was our second meeting. We chatted for the whole day and I learned that she's not just a beautiful gal, but she's also an intellectual. Matalino si Galilee, napag-alaman ko na graduate siya sa prestihiyosong Unibersidad ng Pilipinas at nagtapos sa kursong Fine Arts. Marami kaming napag-usapan noong araw na 'yon dahil nagkakasundo ang wavelength ng utak naming dalawa. That was the day I considered her to be my friend.

Pero isa lang ang hindi ko naisip noong mga panahon na 'yon, kung paano nalaman ni Galilee ang pangalan ko.

Marami pa kaming naging mga sunod na pagkikita ni Galilee, at karamihan doon ay puro 'coincidence', minsan bigla ko na lang siyang mababangga sa isang botique sa mall at kung minsan naman ay natataon na iniwan ako saglit ni Theo tsaka siya lilitaw.

"Galilee Manzano, the body that you're using, is the first lover of my nephew. Dahil tutol ako at ang tatay ni Galilee sa relasyon nila, binura ko si Galilee sa memorya ni Theo."

"Gal? What a small world talaga!" bati ko sa kanya nang minsang magkita kami sa department store.

"Hi, Juni. Ikaw lang mag-isa?"

"No, may kasama ako, boyfriend ko, nasa fitting room lang siya. Wait, ipapakilala kita."

"A-ah, sorry, Juni, nagmamadali kasi ako. Bye."

It was strange because I mentioned Galilee to Theo several times, I even showed her our selfie together but he didn't seem to know her. Kaya naman hindi ko lubos na matanggap ang sinabi ni Ivan.

Theo and Galilee are lovers long ago. At dahil tutol ang mga magulang ni Galilee sa relasyon na 'yon ay pinaghiwalay silang dalawa. Ivan erased Galilee's memories of Theo's mind.

At ngayon, gamit-gamit ko ang katawan ni Galilee para makapiling ulit si Theo. How fate can be so cruel to us?

The devils must be laughing right now, I'm supposed to be dead and yet here I am. What kind of Karma is this?

I'm currently feeling helpless. My hands and feet are tied, and it's no use to struggle. Dinala ako ng lalaking pumatay sa'kin, na nagngangalang Raul sa isang silid sa basement. At ang silid na 'to? It's a room full of clocks with different sizes, and different designs.

Napapapikit na 'ko dahil anumang sandali ay maaari akong masiraan ng bait sa kakaisip, kasabay pa ng tunog ng mga orasan. TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK

It triggered my memory of the past and at the same time, it pressures me because I got only five hours left before twelve midnight.

Kapag hindi ako nakaalis dito, hindi ko maliligtas si Theo, and only God knows what would happen to him. Pag sapit ng alas dose ay maaalis na ako sa katawang 'to at makakalimutan ni Theo ang lahat ng nangyari. All of this would be for nothing, I sacrificed my remaining days just to find Theo at ngayon nawawalan na ako ng pag-asa.

It's no use to scream because no one would probably hear me right now. This place is the Heartless Society's Headquarters and I got a hunch what would happen if Theo won't escape this place immediately.

Minulat ko ang mga mata ko nang maramdaman kong may paparating, at tama nga ako nang bumukas ang pinto at niluwa roon ang taong kinamumuwian ko ngayong kasalukuyan, si Evangelion Gomez.

"Enjoying your stay?" nakangiti nitong saad at naglakad siya patungo sa sofa na kaharap ko at umupo roon. "Do you want some tea?"

I want to yell at him, scream nasty things, curse him but nothing came out from my mouth. Nakatingin lang ako ng masama sa kanya.

"Kahit na nakasimangot ka ay maganda ka pa rin, hija," puri niya sa'kin at mas lalo lang akong nangilabot. "Sorry to make you wait here because the bidding just ended."

"Where is Theo? Ano'ng ginawa mo sa kanya?" mariin kong tanong.

"I want you to congratulate me because I won the bidding," hindi niya pinansin ang mga sinabi ko at parang wala lang nagsalin ng tsaa sa tasa. "Levi's very generous to give me a huge amount of reward."

"For burning Hema's Coffee?"

"You got it right," nakangiti niyang sabi sa'kin. "You see, Theo is actually a special candidate, at siya ang pinag-agawan ng lahat ng members kaninang bidding. You see, it's a rule of our group, even though blood related ang candidate you must still be the highest bidder to get the body."

Hindi na ako nakapagpigil pa at sumigaw sa kanya, "Damn you! How could you do this to your own blood?! Theo's your nephew and he trusts you like a father!"

Pero nanatiling kalmado si Ivan at wala man lang bahid ng kahit anong emosyon ang mga mata niya.

"Between us, you're the real heartless here!"

"Ah, father," iyon lang ang nasabi niya. "I hated Theo's father so much, my older brother, Tadeus."

Sumulyap si Ivan sa likuran niya kung saan ay napakaraming orasan ang nakasabit.

"You only got five hours and Galilee will return to her body, and you... your soul will probably go either to heaven or hell if those places even exist," muli siyang humarap sa'kin. "At para naman hindi maaksaya ang mga natitira mong oras, let me tell you an interesting story, hija."

Nagkuyom lang ako at nangilid ang mga luha sa'king mata. Where can I get hope? Tumikhim muna si Ivan bago siya muling magsalita.

"I really admired my older brother, Tadeus, magmula nang bumalik siya mula sa isang mistikal na lugar sa Israel ay tila nagbago siya. Everyone from our town seems to love and adore him, and he helps the people with all his heart. I admired his leadership, his charisma, but he didn't want to rule our people like our grandfather did. Maraming naghahangad na tumakbo siya sa pagiging mayor ng bayan pero mariin niyang tinanggihan. That's why I wanted to claim his position, I wanted to lead people too, but it's not natural for me, unlike him, he was way more powerful than I am, that's why I became obsessed about gaining the power to influence people. I even studied the human brain to find the secret but I still failed. No matter how hard I try, I can't be like my brother. I hated him for denying his power, for denying the chance to lead the people."

Naalala ko ang mga kinwento sa'kin noon ni Theo tungkol sa tatay niya, katulad na katulad nitong sinabi ni Ivan ang reputasyon ng tatay niya.

"I knew that there's a secret behind my older brother's enigma, he passed it down to Theo and that's why when they died, I took Theo under my wing to get that secret. But that's not the end of the story, on my venture of unraveling the secrets of the human brain, I was offered to take part in Project: Afterlife, and after almost two decades we succeeded. The founder Azrael made a huge rift with one of our partners, and that's why Heartless Society is born, our leader stole Azrael's accomplishments to use for our own means. I was recruited to join the society when my granddaughter Rosy fell ill."

"You kidnapped those children!" naalala ko si Camille at ang pangungulila ng kanyang ina.

"Kung tutuusin ay masuswerte ang mga batang 'yon."

"W-what?"

"Lahat sila'y galing sa mga pabayang pamilya, lahat sila ngayon ay nasa mararangyang pamumuhay at hindi na kailangang maghirap pa."

Wala... wala na akong masabi sa kasamaan ng taong kaharap ko ngayon. Hindi ko sukat akalain na may mga tao pala na katulad nila na pinaniniwalaan lang ang sarili at walang moralidad.

"Unfortunately, one of my sweet nephew, Arlo, accidentally discovered Heartless Society's secret. Our members wanted to kill him but I suggested that Arlo can be a candidate too. Another unfortunate event, when Raul's chasing him, Arlo's car crashed."

"Are you even saying na hindi mo kasalanan ang kamatayan ni Arlo? Pinatay ninyo siya!"

"It's a waste of life, Arlo's pretty young and vigorous, his body can be a good use but he died early. I guess iyon 'yung tinatawag nilang 'kapag oras mo na, oras mo na talaga'. Parang ikaw, oras mo na pero heto binigyan ka ni Satanas ng pagkakataon para makabalik sa mundong 'to gamit ang katawan ng ibang 'to."

Gusto kong kumawala at gusto ko siyang saktan pero hindi ko nagawa.

"Anyway, the past is past. Let's go back in the present, matutuwa ka sa mga susunod kong sasabihin, hija. I guess life has caught me, Karma kung tawagin nila, very soon I'm going to die. Its Cancer, the doctors said."

Tumitig siya sa'kin saglit, inaasahan siguro niya na matutuwa ako o matatawa sa oras na marinig 'yon pero nanataling masama ang tingin ko sa kanya.

"But my time is not over yet, my noble mission in this world is not yet done. That's why I will take over Theo's body. I used Levi's money to win this bidding."

"Hayop ka! Hindi ka tao! Mamatay ka na!" Tumawa lang siya sa mga sinigaw ko sa kanya.

"Did you know that Theo wanted to die before."

"That's not true!"

"Bago ko burahin sa memory niya si Galilee, napaghiwalay na silang dalawa. He loved her so much to the point he wanted to die. He sought my counsel and to help him ease the pain, I erased Galilee on his mind. Isn't that pathetic, he wanted to die because he can't live without her?" sinasadya niya 'yon para mas lalo akong magalit. "But don't be so jealous, hija, when you didn't show up to your wedding day, it was an opportunity for me to erase you on Theo's mind. Clearly, your grandmother would agree on that too."

"I-ikaw... I-ikaw ang may kagagawan kung bakit..." Kaya pala... Kaya pala na kahit ano'ng tangka kong kausapin siya, b-binura rin ako ni Ivan sa mga alaala ni Theo. Sunud-sunod na pumatak ang luha ko dahil hindi ko na napigilan ang halu-halong emosyon na nararamdaman ko.

"Now, to answer your question, where is Theo? They're still preparing the ritual, after that, my consciousness will be transferred to him tonight."

"N-no."

"You can't do anything about it, Juniper. Just accept the truth, you're dead and you have to rest in peace."

Tumayo si Ivan at nagsukatan kaming dalawa ng tingin, my eyes are swollen because of tears and he must be laughing inside his head. They're right on what they said, there is no hell because all the devils are here, and one of them is the man standing in front of me.

Time began to ran fast when Ivan left me, all I can do now is to stare all the clocks ticking in front of me. TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK

Crying won't help at all, and I realized that the only thing that I didn't do yet and the only way for me at this moment... is to pray. So, I closed my eyes.

Dear Lord, I can't remember since the last time I talked to you like this. I may not be religious and active in our church when I'm still living, but I still firmly believed in your grandiose love. I'm praising you for being such a loving God to all human beings. My life has been very good to me since I was a kid, even though I died with injustice, I still thank you for giving me another chance to go back in this world to protect the love of my life, Theo. And now, two hours left and I will be removed from Galilee's body, I still have so much fear, I fear for Theo that he might lose his life. So, I'm begging you, if you can hear me at this moment, to help me. Please, God, help me, help me to save Theo. That's what my last desire using the body you lend me. I believe in you, because your love is eternal, and I believe that you will never abandon your children.

I didn't open my eyes after my prayer. I let out a sigh and tried to calm myself. Suddenly, there's this soothing feeling that embraces me, it's cold but it's comforting. The pain inside me suddenly lighten. And I heard a small voice inside me, 'Love conquers all.'

"Love conquers all."

"Juniper!" napamulat ako at nagulat nang biglang bumukas ang pinto.

"N-Nadia?" she rushed to my side and began to untie me.

"You need to get out here, you need to save Theo!"