| Current mood: |  contemplative |
| Current music: | the television |
memory lane
it's been raining for days. a storm has been raging at us like a tongue-lashing from God. i love storms. i love rain. i always feel that light excitement within my chest whenever it pours - the world seems so different to me somehow.
one of my favorite memories from childhood involves rain. i was 7 and i was living with my grandparents in the province. my parents and my siblings had gone off ahead to the city where my parents were looking for their luck (this was after my father had gone bankrupt and we had lost our house and everything else).
that afternoon my cousin James and I had gone to this house in another street where they let you in with a five-peso fee (or maybe it was less) so that you could watch a movie on their VCR (it was like the theater but a very localized version). most of those who frequented this place were kids and tricycle or jeepney drivers.
it was my first time to go to this house and i think it was my first time to watch a video too (it was the 80s and i grew up in the province of a third-world country) so the whole thing was an adventure for me. it even took us a while to convince my grandmother to let us go.
the film that they played that afternoon was a sylvester stallone film. i think it was "first blood" or maybe it was "over the top". i remember sitting on that cold and bare floor, fascinated by this hero who punched bad guys and saved the day. i walked out of that house with a feeling of such contentment. it had started to drizzle and my cousin told me that we had to hurry home before my grandmother got on our case.
we raced back home, getting wet by the rain. when i saw my grandparents' house - my home - i felt exhilirated and content. i think it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
i'm fond of that memory.
another one was in high school. i was in my third year and i had signed in to become an officer in the civilian army training. part of the training and part of an officer's responsibilities was to take part in parades or activities that promote national pride. it was edsa revolution day i think. i remembered it being so hot that my white shirt was sticking to me. one of my sneakers kept irritating me - its shoelaces kept unlacing themselves and i kept pausing to tie them properly. my fellow officers had noticed.
one of them was my big crush - i've had my eye on him since first year. he was sort of my friend but we were only on-the-surface-friends. we've had this strange sort-of-courtship for years. we both knew we liked each other but none of us acted on it except for hidden glances and all those cheesy crap. and he was confused by this other girl - this gorgeous popular girl who was so in love with him and who also happened to be our fellow officer. (everyone was pushing him to choose her. i was the strange and little one - i wasn't much competition.)
anyway that afternoon, my crush noticed my frustration. my shoelaces untied themselves once more and i had paused again to retie them. he suddenly came up to me, knelt in front of me, took the said shoelaces and said, "Here let me do that for you." i was taken aback so i just sort of stared like a fool while he tied them. he was telling me how to do it properly, a soft amused smile on his lips. then he stood and smiled at me, "There." i said "Thanks" quietly and watched him go back to the gorgeous girl's side.
that is such a sweet memory.
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