Just another "F" Word

Our lives are bound to a lot of farewells. But this fact is just so unforgiving that most of us have never really learned to come to terms with it. Tomorrow you might be hearing the "F" word. And you could very well respond with yet another "F" word.

Today was Sir Philip Kim's last day in Duzon. His resignation was unwelcome, as it was unexpected, for those who love him. But for those who don't, well, I won't give a damn writing about what they could have felt. When I was a terrorized newbie in Duzon, Sir Philip became my reassurance that there is Good--as there is Bad--in any 'race'. To Team Rio, he was more than just a competent class manager; he was a friend, a good adviser, he was loved than feared. To others, Sir Philip could just be a source of abundant laman-tiyan. He won't mind. For so long as you'll be eating pichi-pichi, so long as you'll be passing by Amber, his name would just become more indelibly written on your memory. Philip. Pichi. Philip. Pichi.

Amber.

The Girl and His Cat

It was the warmest, most feline hug I have ever seen in my life. I almost felt it myself when the Cat hugged the Girl. They were always together, not wavering in their love for each other. Wherever the Girl goes, she brings with her the Cat. I saw them blithely playing on top of a small green hill where an old catholic chapel and a playground stand. They were enjoying under the summer sky and the light, crisp wind from the East when the dogs arrived. The dogs ran after the Cat. But the Girl lifted the Cat up to her bosom and the Cat clung to her like a vulnerable human soul. The girl scared the dogs away and warned them not to harm her Cat ever again.

The Cat thought: "Why do I feel such connection with this Girl? I cannot remember...Why? ..."But try as she may, she cannot put to rest the mysterious feeling. The Girl, too, thought about the affection she holds towards the cat. She couldn't figure the whyness of it all either.

But Fate knows.

The Girl had a friend who died not so long ago...