My family and I were having a journey. We stopped over a street full of shops and restaurants. As some stores are full of life, some are empty, lifeless, and barren. We reached our stopover, a shop with almost no items. I can only see shelves and old stock items covered in cobwebs and dust. It’s like an item store that also offers a little bit of dining. I could only see the tables and chairs turned upside down.
My mom said we need to take a rest for the journey ahead will be tiring. As I wait and as my family made preparations for our journey, from the little stocks the place has to offer, I journeyed outside. At the corner of the street is an entryway to a school. I saw students clothed in their white uniforms entering the place.
As I approach the entrance of the building, I saw a stall, the one that the stall owner can just pull and push away so she can sell to many places. The shop owner looked at me as if I have something to buy on her wares. As much as I want to, she doesn’t sell anything I felt I needed. I went back to the old store. A man who might be a friend of the owner of the place showed telling me to buy a double-sided mirror as it will be a sort of protection when we travel to where we are supposed to go. I remembered seeing it being sold by the stall owner.
My mom asked me where I’m supposed to go since we’re about to leave. I told her I need to buy something for protection. I hurried outside and went back to the corner of the street where a school building resides. The stall owner had the ware I was looking for. I asked how much and I gave her more of the item’s value. She never reacted that I paid more and maybe thought that maybe I paid by mistake and just accepted the extra cash.
I returned to the old store. This time someone with a face of a bee but has a human body told me and my family that he would like to go with us. He said he has other companions too and we will be meeting them along the way. I asked my mom where are we supposed to go and why we were packing so much. It’s late afternoon and I thought that wherever we will be going, the night will already welcome us. My mom said that we will hike Makiling. And we will camp out there.
I objected. I mean not that I don’t want to. But I believed it was unsafe. She doesn’t know how dark it can be there and how steep the trails are. She said that there’s gonna be a hut waiting for us at the top. I recalled that there were no huts you can find there as you begin the ascent. It’s not safe to hike the mountain especially if you will begin hiking after the dark. I reasoned with her and told her it would be dangerous especially for my two younger sisters. We decided not to push through. The man with the bee head was disappointed but he understood.
My family packed up and decided to go home instead. I know I was about to wake up. And I realized that the mountain was calling me. It was inviting me to walk its trails again. To meet Makiling again.