"Who put this here?" I asked in a low voice. There was a sunflower on my desk. I asked my co-teachers who were still there but they just shrugged. "We don't know. When I arrived, it's already there." I just nodded."How sweet! You have a suitor, Amira? Who is it? Or is it from our students?" our department head asked.My forehead creased. Mabilis na napailing. I picked it up and read the note that was written; it was written in a cursive form handwriting. Nahahalimuyak ang mamahaling pabango sa bulaklak. Pamilyar ang amoy.'you look lovely when you smile, have a nice day ahead'Tinignan ko ang likod nito pero walang nakalagay kung kanino galing. Pinagkibit-balikat ko nalang iyon, iginilid ito para makapaghanda na sa panibagong araw. Late na din kasi ako at wala rin naman akong vase kaya iginilid ko nalang kahit na medyo agaw pansin pa rin ito.My morning went well. Sunod-sunod ang klase ko at walang bakante. Nahuli pa akong magpalabas bago maglunch dahil nagpa-exam. Ayos lang din

I held my lower lip with my thumb. Natulala at hindi pa rin maproseso ang nangyari. He closed his eyes as he swallowed hard. Napasandal siya sa barandilya, doon humanap ng suporta."Let's go. My head is spinning." he finally said after some minutes. He then pulled my hand. Dire-diretso ang lakad namin hanggang sa makalabas na kami ng bar. Agad kaming dumiretso sa mga nakahilerang kotse."H-how about Maureen? How can she go home?" sa wakas ay natanong ko na rin."I'm pretty sure she's with my friend by now. Stop worrying about her. Let's go." sagot niya habang naglalakad pa rin."How about her car? What will she use? Did you bring your car with you how-""If you will not stop asking I will kiss you again."He said looks threatening. I bit my lower lip to stop myself from saying something. His forehead twitched while his eyes focused on my lips.Napaiwas ito ng tingin. He swallowed hard, gumalaw ang adams apple nito habang inililibot ang mga mata sa mga kotseng nakaparada."Where's her

"What do you do for a living, Papa?" tanong ni Alu.Nakakandong ito sa kanya ngayon habang nagmamaneho. Napairap ako. Hindi pa rin magkamayaw ang inis kay Lazarus."I advise individuals on legal issues and disputes, and then I represent them in court and legal transactions." he said in his tone casual and light. Alu's mouth turned to 'o'. He's looking at his father with so much amusement and adoration."You are practicing law, Papa?" he asked still amuzed.He nodded. "Yes, son. I'm a lawyer.""Oh, my. My father is a lawyer! Is that your dream, Papa?"Bahagya niyang ipinilig ang kanyang ulo at ngumuso. Ang mga mata ay nasa unahan pa rin at ang kamay ay abala sa manibela. Nakaangat naman ang tingin ng anak namin sa kanya. Parang may sariling mundo ang dalawa. Hindi ko alam kung bakit pa ako sa kanila sumama."To be honest... no."Of course he will answer no to that. Bahagya tuloy akong napaisip. Ano bang pangarap talaga nito? He was only forced to become a priest because of his grand

"Uhm, so..." Mr. Del Madrid started after the long silence.No one dared to speak. Their gazed were all plastered to Alu who's sitting beside me; wondering, like a puzzle that needs to assemble.Lazarus was still holding my hand. Kanina ko pa kinakagat ang pang-ibabang labi ko dahil hindi ako kumportable sa presensya nila."Care to explain everything, Lazarus?" his father finally asked. Tahimik namang nakaupo sa tabi niya ang nanay ni Lazarus na taimtim na nakamasid sa anak ko. Grabe ang tensyon, tunog ng kalabog ng puso ko lang ang naririnig ko.Tumikhim si Lazarus at umayos ng upo. "Surprise? Lolo at lola na kayo!" Lazarus let out a warm hearty laugh. It echoed in the corners of the room. No one dared to laugh or say something though. Mas ramdam pa rin ang tensyon ngayon."Gago. Paano?" Aquilino finally asked after the long minutes of silence.Hindi ito mapakali. Hanggang sa lumingon ito sa akin at tinuro ako. "Akala namin patay ka na, Aviona!""She isn't, obviously, that's why sh

One thing I know for sure, it's hard...It's hard to forgive someone who hurt us.It's hard to forgive someone we put on a pedestal and they knocked themselves off of it. It's hard to forgive the closest people in our life when they hurt us or abandon us or neglect us or tell us things we can't forget.It's hard to forgive those we sacrificed a lot for.It's hard to look at someone who caused us so much pain and still love them with all our heart or treat them with the same respect but sometimes we have to forgive those people and remember that they're also human.That we have had our days when we erred too and hurt people we loved because we were still healing our own issues, we were still growing and learning how to love again, we were still evolving and we got many things wrong.I think sometimes we get caught up in the wrongs that people inflict on us. We get hurt and we get bitter. Understandably so, but instead of letting that pain dissipate, we keep it close to our hearts. We