I opened my right eye slowly, and there I saw that our door was still closed. I carefully roll over to my left so that I can monitor the door closely. I know Mother will soon come to open it, and that's the moment I'm anticipating. Loi was still sleeping beside me, and I know I'll have a hard time waking her up later.
Suddenly the alarm blared, and with that, I pretended to groggily wake up. Well, I've been awake for quite some time, but I need to convince my mother that I've slept until 4:00 p.m., so I need to put in an act. The door creaked, and my mother peered to see if we were already awake. She saw me, so she got inside and turned off the alarm. I neatly folded the blanket, and after that, I laid it on top of my pillow.
"Have you really slept, Gette? You look like you haven't slept well," my mother said calmly as she headed towards the kitchen.
"Yes, Mama, I slept well," I said as I followed her.
Even since then, sleeping has been a hard thing for me. I don't fall asleep easily, and also I'm most of the time a light sleeper, so I ended up waking up early. My mother eyed me suspiciously, and then after that, she proceeded to scrape off the left-over rice.
"Here, get this—eat before you play, and don't forget to wear those close-fitting jogging pants! There's a lot of mosquitoes out there, and I don't want you catching those nasty dengue, understood?", she asked while handing me the bowl of scraped left-over rice.
I just nodded at her while reaching out for the thermos across the table. I soaked the leftover rice with hot water, and after soaking it with water, I added a considerable amount of sugar. I stirred it well, and with that, I have my favorite before-play snack: our tinughong!
I'm almost done eating when Loi wakes up and descends to our kitchen. She looks really groggy and still sleepy, but her face suddenly became active when she saw me.
"Hey, are you already done, Gette? No? Ok—wait for me because I'll eat in jiffy," she said hastily while getting a small bowl. She ate fast, and after that, we changed our clothes. Finally, securing that we're all set, we immediately went to our mother to ask permission.
"Don't go home late, huh? Be home before 5:30, or else I'll fetch you there with something you don't want."
We just giggled when we heard that something. We knew it would be a grave mistake to arrive home late, so we excitedly raced our way towards the grassland near the bulldozed field.
That field was once part of the mountain, but the owner of the land close by decided to make the sloping area near the road into a village. Since he needed land to make the sloping area even, a large part of the land was taken from that mountain. The once slightly sloped area became a steep one, and that's where we usually play. Together with the children in our neighborhood, we play from late afternoon until dusk.
Due to our frequent playtime sessions during those late afternoons, we became a close-knit group of children.
The moment we arrived in that field, our group was already there. Wasting no time, we immediately went to our close friends.
"What took you so long, Gette? Did Loi overslept again?", Elen asked while scratching her legs, which were obviously bitten by the big red ants. I went closer to her while she said, "Kinda, but that doesn't matter because your injury needs to be treated!"
She looked at me, and as if on cue, we started our child's play.
"Yes! I almost forgot Nurse Gette. I'm here because I've been bitten by a bad red ant. Can you help me?", she said while mimicking a baby's voice.
I giggled when she pouted her lips, but anyway, I continued on with my act and got some stray weeds nearby. I crushed it using the rock that I picked, and then I placed it on the part where the ant bit her. We continued further on our act until we got bored, and when we finally felt that, we joined the boys in their war play.
"Attack!!!!!!", I shouted as I gripped tight on the dangling branch of the palm tree. I swung my body forward, and the branch swung forward also. The moment I was about to swing back to the palm tree, I kicked its trunk to propel myself forward again.
"Don't surrender, comrades! Don't let those ugly pirates defeat us!", I shouted as I hugged the trunk of the palm tree.
The boys howled in response. Their leader shouted taunts at us.
"Seize their ship, boys! Let's defeat their scrawny captain!", Sel shouted as he pointed the wooden stick in our direction.
Rotten fruits were thrown at us, but my girl comrades dodged them.
"Hey, that's not fair!", Lyn shouted as she dodged the rotten fruit that almost hit her.
"Yeah! Stop it, brother, or else I'm gonna tell Mama about this!", Elen shouted.
"Don't worry, crybaby, I won't hit you because I'll hit your captain!", Charles said as he lunged forward to pick up a rotten fruit and throw it to me.
I gasped when it almost hit me. It splattered just right above my head, and when I recovered from shock, I immediately shouted taunts back at them.
I scowled at Charles, who was laughing manically at me, but his laugh stopped when I gave him a devilish grin. As if knowing what I'm smiling at, he immediately ran forward, but I used the dangling palm tree to get to the rotten fruit first. I swung violently its branch, and the moment it swung highly, I reached out for the fruit. It was a close-run thing, but I managed to grab it first, and when it swung down, I immediately threw it hard towards Charles' gaping face.
Unfortunately, it didn't hit him. The fruit just splattered on his t-shirt, which made his comrades laugh. I hugged the trunk when I finally made it back. I also laughed when I saw his scowling face, but later, when everybody was already laughing, he also laughed with us.
"How's that nasty pirate? Have you learned your lesson?", I said loudly in a fake gruff voice.
My comrades giggled when they heard me cough after the fake gruff voice. It seems the shouting has taken a toll on my throat.
"Of 'course not, because he will come back tomorrow! And mark our words, we will avenge our fallen comrade!", Sel shouted as he gazed on Charles, who's now acting as if he's been shot.
That was the closing part of our act, and after that, we started to rest for awhile.
I sat on the grass as I watched the sun begin to set. I felt a presence near me, and I was flustered when I saw Charles sitting beside me. His closeness somehow made nervous.
"Nice aim, Gette," he said while staring ahead.
I just snorted at his compliment. "Well, you're just careless, Charles," I said nonchalantly.
"Ouch, that hurts... Anyway, you shouldn't call me by my name. I mean I'm way older than you, so have some respect, will you?", he jokingly chided as he ruffled my hair.
I clicked my tongue and slapped his hands out of my hair, but he caught it, and I immediately yelped.
"Oi, what's wrong?", he asked with a hint of concern.
I tried to pull back my hands, but he held them tightly. I closed my palms immediately, but he forced me to open them.
"Ach, you indeed hurt your palm while swinging violently! That's what you get when you act like a monkey instead of a princess," he said in jest while gently massaging my palm.
I scowled and immediately pulled back my palm. He let me pull it back, and then he laughed when he saw my scowling face.
"Loiiii, we're going home," I shouted as I stood up. I immediately saw my younger sister running towards me. Seeing his outstretched hand, I grabbed him and pulled him up, but it seems he's intentionally adding weight so that I can't pull him up.
"Nevermind," I said impatiently as I turned my back to him.
My sister already reached me, and we're about to leave the field when he calls out to me.
"See you tomorrow, monkey!", he shouted.
I looked over my shoulder, and when I met his gaze, I just rolled my eyes at him. He grinned and then laughed loudly as we left the field.
His laughter slowly faded as the sun set below the horizon. It faded until the deafening silence consumed our walk towards home.
NOTE:
Tinughong : Cebuano ; a rice gruel—made with leftover rice, boiled and cooked again in water, and sweetened with sugar [Source].
