Chapter 25 – Letters from the Past
518 Words
Tahimik ang umaga sa bayan.
Ang hangin ay malamig, at ang amoy ng bagong timplang kape ay kumalat sa loob ng maliit na klinika.
Si Dr. Lara Santos ay nag-aayos ng mga medical charts nang pumasok si Ethan Ramirez, may dalang maliit na sobre na medyo luma at kupas na.
“Hey,” bati ni Lara, napansin ang hawak niya.
“Ano ‘yan?”
“Mail from the base. Colonel Reyes sent it. Sabi niya, may delayed dispatch from the Mindanao unit — mga letter na hindi naipadala noon.”
Ngumiti si Lara. “Old letters?”
Tumango si Ethan, pero bakas ang tensyon sa mukha.
“Yeah. One of them’s… mine.”
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Tahimik na binuksan ni Ethan ang sobre.
Sa loob ay isang sulat, luma na, bahagyang basa, pero maayos pa rin ang sulat-kamay.
Sinimulan niyang basahin nang marahan.
> “To Dr. Lara Santos — if ever this reaches you…”
I don’t know where I’ll be when you read this. Maybe I’m still out there fighting, maybe I’m gone. But I needed you to know — you changed how I see this life.
Before you, I only fought because it was my job. But after meeting you… I finally had something to come home to. You made me believe peace wasn’t just an order — it’s a choice.
If I don’t make it back, please don’t stop saving people. You’re the only light I’ve ever known in all this chaos.
— Corporal Ethan Ramirez
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Tahimik ang silid.
Ang tanging naririnig ay ang marahang paghinga ni Lara.
“Ethan…” mahina niyang sabi, habang tinitingnan ito. “You wrote this?”
Tumango siya, mahina ang ngiti.
“Yeah. The night before the ambush. I didn’t think I’d survive. I just… needed you to know.”
Napaluhod si Lara, hawak ang sulat na parang kayamanan.
“Bakit hindi ko ‘to nabasa noon?”
“Because it wasn’t time yet,” sagot ni Ethan, marahang nakatingin sa kanya.
“Maybe the universe waited — until we were both ready.”
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Lumapit si Lara at niyakap siya nang mahigpit, parang ayaw nang bitiwan.
“Ethan… you’ve always been a soldier. Not because you fought wars — but because you fought to live, to love, to heal.”
Ngumiti siya, sabay bulong,
“And you, doc… you’re the reason I survived them.”
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Kinahapunan, inilagay ni Lara ang sulat sa maliit na kahon sa tabi ng kama nila —
kasama ng lumang dog tag ni Ethan at isang polaroid nilang dalawa sa community clinic.
Sa likod ng larawan, sinulatan niya ng maliit na linya:
> “Peace is not the absence of war — it’s the presence of you.”
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Paglabas nila sa veranda, magkahawak-kamay silang tumingin sa malayo.
Ang langit ay maliwanag, at may bahaghari sa dulo ng ulap.
“Guess the past finally found us,” sabi ni Ethan.
Ngumiti si Lara. “And it’s good it did.
Because now, we can finally stop looking back.”
Tumango siya, sabay halik sa kamay niya.
“And start building what’s next.”
- Writer
