Chasing Sunsets

Prologue

CHASING SUNSETS

Book One: Summer Elise

Somewhere between the Tallest buildings, Subdivisions and the trees, in a sleepy Manila where tricycles rattled past sari-sari stores and the air always smelled like pandesal and smoke from the vehicles, there lived three girls with names that sounded like poetry: Summer Elise, Rain Althea, and Winter Celeste.

They were not friends they were family.

Magkakapatid ang mga nanay nila.

Tatlong magkakaibang babae. Tatlong magkakaibang anak.

But somehow, it worked.

Summer Elise Navarro was eight years old, freckle-faced, and always barefoot kahit ilang beses nang pinagalitan. She ran like the wind, talked like she's a teleserye bida, and had the kind of laugh that made strangers smile even if they didn’t know what was funny.

Rain Althea Sarmiento, seven, was the soft one. mahinhin, tahimik, laging may hawak na notebook. She liked collecting fallen petals, naming clouds, and writing “Rain was here” in the margins of her mom’s old planner. Minsan, umiiyak siya sa cartoons at Hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit.

And Winter Celeste Dela Cruz, six, was the youngest and the most brutally honest. She wore sweaters in the summer, bit into calamansi like candy, and once told a neighbor na “pangit po yung haircut n’yo, tita.” She didn’t mean to be rude. She was just... Winter.

They were cousins. born just a year apart from each other raised in three houses standing side by side on the same sleepy street: Navarro, Sarmiento, Dela Cruz. Their mothers, Marina, Isla, and Aurora were the Navarro sisters, famous in the barangay for being beautiful, successful, and always fighting over the karaoke mic at every family reunion.

It was a warm July afternoon, the kind where the sky looked like mangoes and the ground was still drying from the morning rain. The girls were in the backyard of Tita Marina’s house, sprawled on a giant banig, surrounded by Yakult ice candies, a Tupperware of peanut butter sandwiches, and a dying radio that played old OPM love songs.

“Let’s make a pact,” Summer declared, sitting up like she was in a K-Drama.

“Like in the movies.”

“A pact for what?” Rain asked, picking a blade of grass and twirling it around her finger.

Summer turned to face them, her eyes serious. “That we’ll never leave each other. Kahit tumanda na tayo. Kahit magka-boyfriend si Winter.”

“Excuse me?” Winter raised a brow. “Ako agad? Hindi ba p’wede ikaw?”

“Hello, focus ako sa magiging modeling career ko. Hindi ko pa priority ang love life, 'no,” Summer said, flipping her hair dramatically.

Rain giggled. “Anong klaseng pact 'to?”

“pact u...” sabat ni winter.

Her two cousins shoot her a warning glare. Winter just raised her brows at them.

Wala na nagawa si Summer kundi wag nalang pansinin ang sinabi ng pinsan n'ya, kasi alam n'yang hindi s'ya mananalo doon. She might be the smallest and the youngest but she's the one acting like she's a 45 year old woman.

“Yung forever. As in, kahit old na tayo, we’ll still be us. The three of us. Forever.” summer said as She held out her pinky. “Come on. Hindi totoo 'pag walang pinky swear.”

Winter gave Rain a look. “Is she serious?”

Rain just smiled. “Let’s do it.”

Their tiny pinkies curled together over the banig. Above them, the sky glowed like it had been painted with orange, rose gold, and a hint of lavender.

“I, Summer Elise, promise to always chase sunsets with you, kahit uugud-ugod na ako. At kahit maging super model ako hindi ako mag babago, i will lingon to my pinanggalingan like mommy said.”

“I, Rain Althea, promise to write poems about us… forever!! Kahit sumakit pa fingers ko. And i will be a Flight Attendant. The first one will fly in our Families.”

“I, Winter Celeste, promise not to replace you with boring people. Unless sikat sila. Or mayaman. And i will be a Lawyer like Daddy. So i can roast people while they paying me. And sana hindi na maging conyo si ate summer, my ears is getting hurt na kasi.”

“Winter!” both girls chorused.

“Kidding,” she deadpanned, but her pinky stayed locked with theirs.

In the background, the radio crackled through an old Rivermaya song.

Somewhere, a tricycle honked. A dog barked twice and then went quiet again.

And in that moment, lying under a sky painted with sun and after-rain mist, the three cousins made a promise that they didn’t know they’d spend the rest of their lives chasing.

“hmm, ano kaya mangyayari satin 10 years from now or maybe more years?" Summer said.

“i see winter in a jail” Rain said while eating her sandwich with peanut butter.

“And why so??” Winters asked while she's raised her brow.

“Kasi you are a trouble maker, kahit now. You always in trouble, tita Aurora's head is hurting na because of you.” Summer said then drinks her Yakult.

Rain nods then she adds. “Marami na naiinis sa'yo, kahit si Lola Marie sa kabilang tindahan.”

Winter Rolled her eyes. “eh totoo naman na pangit yung shade ng eye shadow n'ya, and she's old naman na why she still using eyeshadow”

Rain shake her head and Summer Rolled her eyes at her cousin.

“Winter, let her be. Be nice you getting bad na. I think tita Aurora needs to palo-palo your ass because you always saying like that to olders.” summer said.

Rain nods again “sabi ni mommy dapat maging magalang daw tayo sa mga matatanda even tho they're not so kind to us.”

Winter just rolled her eyes “hmp, sige na nga nga. Mag s-sorry ako sakanya mamaya. Ayaw ko mapalo ni mama pwet ko kasi masakit.” winter pouts but she whispers “hindi naman kasi bagay sakanya yung blue eyeshadow” while pouting and fidgeting her fingers.

Rain and Summer just shake their heads. Wala na sila magagawa dahil yung nakaka batang pinsan nila ang pinaka matigas ang ulo. Lagi nalang s'ya napapalo sa pwet ng Mama n'ya dahil hindi na s'ya kinakaya.

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